The Grinch - Valentines Edition

After all the work that went into making Sir Grinch I felt that he needed to be part of my office decor 365 days a year.  Since Valentines Day is around the corner Grinchy Poo has been dressed accordingly.

Using the template I already had for his coat I cut out a piece of white felt.  I used Word to make 2 different size hearts and got to work cutting out the pieces. 

I glued hearts down the middle and smaller hearts on the sleeves.  I cut trim for the V-Neck and 4 stripes to put on the sleeves. 

I wanted Grinchy to have some fly kicks so I made him some Nikes from the template I made his Santa booties from.  

I stopped by the dollar store and picked up some hearts to embellish the background and here he is, all ready for V-Day.

The Grinch - The Beginning

During Christmas our office has a Door Decorating Contest which I have won 2 years running.  Last year we made a Frosty the Snowman out of Styrofoam cups after seeing something similar on Pintrest.  

2012 Door Contest Winner

All of the snow flakes were cut out using a Cricut machine and all together took 3 people 40 hours total to make.  I love the way he turned out and since we had won I knew we had to step it up a notch. 

I was all over Pintrest searching for inspiration on a door design.  Everything I saw was ok but nothing that was like BAM this is a winner.  I saw a Grinch door that looked ok but wasn't a winner.  

Then I came across this picture and I KNEW it was a winner:

Since there were 3 of us to do the door I assigned my coworkers the background and the Arrest Plate. I took on the enormous task of pulling the Grinch himself together. 

I spent the day researching what the Grinch's body looked like and started sketching out templates to use for his head, hands, belly, and legs.  I pulled up a full body pic of him and discovered the Grinch has some scrawny legs.  I used our office copy machine to enlarge his head to a good size then went from there.  I sketched out a pattern for his coat since it was going to be the focal piece of him.  From there I did a half oval for his belly.  I used my hands turned sideways on a piece of paper to use for his hands.  The legs were pretty easy.  I copped out on his feet and decided to cover them with booties instead.

I went by Michael's to get green poster board but found bulletin board paper instead.  I got green and red.  Using my templates, I cut out his hands, legs, and head using the green paper.  This really helped because I was all set with my basics and it was time to get supplies.  

I enlisted my mother for help and we hit Joann's Fabric Store to find some green felt or fun fur to use as his body.  I found neither.  I was so discouraged but my mom being the every optimistic light of my life said let's go look at the yarn.  Seriously mom but ok.  We're perusing the yarn section and they have 2 aisles full, who knew?  She found this very weird yarn called Fun Fur in the exact lime green that the Grinch is.  Then she says, "Hear me out, how about we crochet him?"  I said yeah no.  "Trust me he is going to be awesome."  Who am I to argue with the woman who gave birth to me?

We purchased 5 skeins of this stuff.  Thankfully I had a 40% off coupon so it ended up being $15 for the yarn. I also picked up Pipe Cleaners, foam sheets that had sticky stuff on the back in yellow and black, and some felt in red and green.  

My mom and I went back to her house to get started.  I was going to do the hands and feet, mom was doing the belly.  She taught me how to do a single chain stitch so I got busy.  After I had a chain long enough I started hot gluing to the background for his leg.  

Fingers + Hot Glue = OUCH

I burned my fingers more than I am going to admit on this blog.  It took me 4 hours to make his hands and legs.  My mom crocheted his belly for 6 hours.  We did this all day Saturday.  So Sunday we finished up and my mom started a circle for his head.  I had to go so she didn't get a chance to finish it up but my coworker knew how to crochet so she said she would help finish it.  

Go to work the next day and start the task of assembling.  My other coworker put up the background for the police lineup and drew in the lines for his height.  I cut out his coat using felt and lined the edges with cotton balls.  Using the head template as a guide, I used double sided sticky tape to put up the coat, belly, legs, and his booties. 

 
I started assembling his face using the head template and got a little silly

Then got it back together and this was the outside of his head.

His eyebrows and mouth are pipe cleaners that I shaped.  His eyes are made from the foam I purchased from Joann's.  My coworker was finished with the middle of his face so this is it put together.  

I used hot glue for the eye brows and mouth.  The foam for his eyes, nose, and forehead were already sticky.  So now came time to put his head on. I used a cheap dollar store hat embellished with cotton balls for his Santa hat. 

Next up was the sign.  My coworker made it at home and I strung it using satin cording.  This is the finished Grinch.

He is FABULOUS!  We won first place again!  I was out of town during the announcement of the winner so I received a text from my mom asking who won.  She had really gotten into it since she was a huge contributor to making this happen. 

DIY Thrift Store Jewelry Holder

I have an amazing amount of jewelry and on the weekends I put it all away.  During the week, it usually end up throwing it on my nightstand so it starts to pile up.  Not good when you live with someone who is OCD about clutter. 

I was on Pintrest one evening and came across this picture but it didn't have any instructions...

It was exactly what I was looking to make.  So I hit the Thrift Store and found 2 plates and a candle
stick to try this jewelry holder out.

Try #1

Sorry I don't have pictures of me making this, it was pretty easy.  I glued the top and bottom of the candle stick, then put the smaller plate on top, the bigger plate on the bottom.  I went to eat at PF Chang's and the waitress gave me the Lucky Cat figurine on top.  I glued him in the middle to hold my hoop earrings.  I now keep my most worn pairs here for easy accessorizing in the morning.

This option worked for a while but I felt like I needed another level.  So I was out at the thrift store (again) and found a plate that would work with the color scheme. It was 50% off of $1.90 and the candle stick was $0.90 so $1.85 for both items.

 I got my Tacky Glue out again and got to work.

First I glued the top and bottom of the candle stick, just like before.  I glued the bigger part to the middle of the plate, then the smaller part to the existing one I already had put together.

If I had planned on doing a 3 level holder I would have put the green candle stick on the very bottom since its bigger.  But it looks ok from the top and gives me more storage space.

Finished product.  I love the Lucky Cat the most of all.  He's so cute perched on top of the plate.

Just added to my store - Poshmark

Brand new additions to my Posh store

 

H&M Plus Size Pants 

 

H&M Conscious Collection kimono-style jacket 

Vintage Halston IV Caftan 

Plus Size Lace Shirt 

 Plus Size Checkered Print Shirt

Outfit of the Day - Shopping Trip

I love to be stylish but comfortable while shopping.  This is what I wore while out on my day shopping trip to Waldorf

Leggings - Old from Spiegel similar here
Grey Sweater - Jennifer Lopez Thrifted similar here

T Bags LA Printed top via Gwynie Bee 

Motorcycle Boots - 9 West Vintage from Nordstrom Rack

Purse - Michael Kors from last year

Thrift Store Review - Salvation Army Family Store Woodbridge, VA

I've heard great things about this place so I went by Saturday afternoon on my way home from my day shopping trip. Pull up and here it is:

Go in and it's pretty nice everything is organized by color not size. Which means lots and lots of digging. If you are in a rush you prob want to skip this store. But if you are patience you can find some stuff. 

I start looking around and half an hour in find a Vintage Christian Dior Men's Trenchcoat for $10. I start looking through the blazers and found this adorable blazer / moto jacket from Mossimo.

It unzips at the waist so you can make it shorter. $6 isn't too bad it's brand new. 

Cruised around for about an hour and ended up buying only the 2 items. Overall the store is a cool spot to hit. The aisles could be a wee bit bigger it's tight when pushing a cart.They have a TON of furniture just and FYI if you are looking!

Pics from store 

 

 

And they offer 25% off every Wednesday

The Salvation Army Family Store & Donation Center

13287 Gordon Boulevard
Woodbridge, Va 22191

Salvation Army Website

Day Trip - St. Charles Town Center Waldorf, MD

I ordered a really cute shirt from Fashion to Figure last month and loved it. The closest location to me is in Waldorf, MD about a 45 minute drive north from me. I checked out the mall that it was in and they had a Torrid, Lane Bryant, H&M, and Fashion to Figure.  I asked my friend if she wanted to go and she was like 'hell yeah!'

Saturday morning we met up and made the drive to St. Charles Town Center. The mall was not off a main road but Waze got me there without too much hassle. 

The mall is two level and fairly small. There are anchor stores Macys, JC Penny's, and Sears. We parked and went into LaneB first. 

The store was nicely laid out and clutter free. We were greeted as soon as we walked in and hit the racks. 

Loving this tee shirt wish I had bought it! 

LaneB was having an additional 50% off all sale and clearance merchandise

I scored a couple great items. 

Perforated Baseball Tee in white $20

Cute chunky necklace perfect for layering $10

  

Anyone who knows me can tell you I'm obsessed with maxi pants.
These have a great print and were $12.50

I couldn't resist taking a few selfies in their giant mirrors. This is me bring my crazy self 

My Outfit -
Leggings old spiegel, black vest from Avenue, grey sweater JLo - thrifted, Multi colored shirt is T-Bags Los Angeles via Gwynie Bee, my purse is Michael Kors from last summer. Caught it on sale for half off. Love this bag more than life!! All jewelry is Juicy Couture. 

Next stop was Fashion to Figure 

 

The store is very neat, well organized, and separated nicely. I start looking around and 90% of the items are not my style. If I had to describe the clothing it's plus size clubbing gear. I'm looking for work and chilling gear not party clothing. I'm not too discouraged and hit the sale rack. I get a few things and hit the fitting rooms.

They have large bright fitting rooms which is great because I need room to move lol. I am noticing that they run a size small.  This top is a 3X.  I selected 6 items but most of them were too small.

I love the orange color. It's on sale for $12 so this is a yes. 

The back has the cutest chain detail, this is it in Orange

So after trying on 6 items I decide in the two and head to the register. That's when I spy this:

OMG what did the fox say??? I'm going home with you!!!

We finished up and headed to Torrid.  I am learning that I have been VERY spoiled by my store at Potomac Mills so this was a hella disappointment. The store was crowded but not messy. My issue was the clearance. It was not organized by size and anyone who has been to Torrid knows it's a bitch to go through. I didn't buy anything but the ladies that worked there were really nice. 

We hit H&M on the way out and man that store looked like a gang of 2 year olds stayed the night and trashed the store. They don't carry plus sizes in this location so boo on you!! Again totally spoiled by my H&M as they have the plus line at PMills. 

Head out to grab a bite to eat and some thrifting afterwards. There was a Sakura very close by and the food was excellent!  While we were eating I did a search of Thrift Stores to see what was in the area.  Most of the ones that came up were 30 miles away and but I found one that was on the way back to VA called Waldorf Thrift Store Family.

Let's see how we can describe this place. 5 mins and I left. I'll be nice. The stuff was junk. The clothing was all used and a lot of it was stained. Prices were all over the place. You could tell that most of the items were stuff that should have been thrown away, not resold.  So these are a few pics of the store

 

 

I saw a beaded top for $24.99 and it wasn't even that nice. So after a brief tour of the place I left. I will not go back in there again. 

So after a half day of light shopping it was time to drive back to VA. I'm always on the lookout for great place to score plus size clothing. I had high hopes for today's excursion but it was kinda boo. I liked what I got just wish I found more. Until next time my Plus & Fabulous ladies. Thanks for stopping by.