Birthday Adventures Part II - The Vanity Case

Last weekend I decided to have "Part II" of my birthday celebrations - why should birthdays be limited to one day or one weekend?

For the second half of my birthday I decided to have a glamour party with a local Wellington business - The Vanity Case. Its a bit like having a tupperware party - only about a MILLION times more awesome!

When you hold a glamour party, the lovely Claire will come over to your house and give you a vintage make-over, which includes hair and make up. Claire also sells a lovely range of products from the USA called Besame and as well as hair styling products.

Claire is also so knowledgeable about vintage beauty and make-up as well as the Hollywood starlets of old - she's part make-up artist, part historian and all awesome.

Before deciding upon my style she passed around this vintage hair styling book and asked my friends to choose a style for me. They actually chose something quite similar to the style on the cover - a kind of 1940's style with a fringe! I don't even remember last time I had a fringe - primary school I think.

Claire told us that most vintage hairstyles are based on curls - so first up I had to have my hair curled and then she worked her magic in regard to the style.

Oh DARLING - I look FABULOUS!

I think the I actually like this look better with my glasses than without - I actually meant to but my contact lenses in before Claire arrived for the party, but due to a little bit too much time spent at a jumble sale in the morning (opps) I kind of ran out of time to sort myself out. When Claire had finished up, all my friends were like - oh that looks great and when I put on my glasses they seemed really amazed. A good pair of glasses is certainly worth the investment. What do you all think about my 1940's style?

Claire also teaches vintage styling classes here and I'm hoping I can take some of these classes soon, I'm particularly interested in the 1960's class. But I'm always keen to learn more about hair and make-up and generally being fabulous!

Musical Note Skirt

I can't lie, this last week has been a tough one - there's been a lot of stuff happening at work and I feel like I'm struggling to get through everything. It's been making me seriously tired, I was suppose to be going to a salsa and tango class on Friday night but I was just too tired to go - my brain was fried.

On Saturday I went to lunch with a friend and then had every intention of sewing away the afternoon - but instead I had a nana nap! I know some people like a nap on a Saturday afternoon - but I'm not one of them. I'm the type of person who won't sleep at all on a 13 hour plane trip, so to have a mid-day nap means I must have been totally shattered.

This afternoon I was feeling slightly more alive, so I went to a pink ladies event in the afternoon - it was a vintage hair and make-up party with a company called "The Vanity Case". I found the perfect red lipstick to go with my glasses, but the price is a little steep for me at the moment, but I think I'll have to get it sometime in the next month or two.

The one thing I felt like I did achieve this weekend was finish this skirt - it's a simple circle skirt I made with this tutorial, its the second time I've made a skirt using this tutorial. My first attempt can be found here, I made that skirt back in December when the sun was still shining.

I have had the fabric that this skirt is made from lying about for a while, I bought it at a sale at Arthur Toye Fabric (my local fabric shop). It's a type of craft cotton and I got the last 2 metres they had - I have been wondering what to do with it for the longest time. Then last Thursday I decided, to hell with it, I'm going to make a circle skirt! Here's a close up of the fabric.

Just a quick update on Made by Me May - I did wear one item I made myself every day this week. EXCEPT for Thursday night when Emi and I went out to a comedy show and I decided I wanted to dress up, so I put on a frock that I received in a craft swap last year. It was still handmade - just not by me. But other than that I have managed to wear something I have made myself every day this month. Unfortunately with the work related stresses I haven't been able to sew as much as I would like to over the past couple of weeks - but I guess sometimes you have to accept there is only so much you can do in any one day.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend xoxox