Pretty, Pretty Princess

Anyone remember that game? All I remember about it was that the point was to put on all the jewelry, right?

Anyway! For Halloween this year, I've been working on a princess dress for my niece, who is 5. There is nothing more fun than ruffles, and ribbon, and poof, and glitter. I guess except when it's all over the floor (sorry roomie!)

I finally finished everything today and, if the shoes get done tonight and are dry, it'll go in the mail tomorrow! I'm excited, and I really hope she likes it. And it fits. That would be tragic. I did make it a little big so that she could grow in to it, so I guess that is a concern.

Without further ado, I give you... THE PRINCESS DRESS.

The Whole Shebang. It's hot pink, not red, I swear.

Bodice detail. I love the ruffled velvet ribbon.

The whole top. I love the sweetheart neckline.

Lots. Of. Ruffles. 

Hem detail. Finally using some of my fancy schmancy stitches!

The back. Sad they didn't have the right colored zipper. Tiny little train. 

I also made matching shoes, because a girl can never have too many! And WHAT IF THEY DIDN'T MATCH!? My first attempt was with scrapbooking microfine glitter. It was neat stuff, but the wrong color (too purple.) So, this morning, an emergency Hobby Lobby trip was in order! You can see the second attempt is much better, and much SHINIER!

We like shiny.

I bought some foofy silver trim to put around the black edges, but they were freshly glittered in this picture. The whole process went as follows: mod podge, glitter, repeat, clear coat with spray paint. I might repeat it when I get home. That's it, and you have some FABULOUS shoes ;-)

**Update! Almost forgot, I made a matching necklace and bracelet set that's just like my mom's that I've loved forever!

I also made some of those fabulous pens that Patricia recently posted about! I grabbed some pens and flowers from the dollar store and used some floral tape I had sitting around. For my "fall" pens, I stuck them in a mason jar full of kidney beans. Total cost for all the supplies: $4.



"Fall"



"Winter". I'll put these in epsoms salts when they go out on the desk :-)

 In non-frilly news, here's a picture of the new tank without the blue lights on, so you can see a little bit more what's going on!

And all four fish!

Hope you all have a good weekend, and stay warm! It's frigid here!
~Sarah

Salty Seas

Perhaps this is not so hippie, but I can't contain my excitement. I've had a saltwater tank, in various incarnations, for almost a year now. Recently, I moved the tank into my new apartment, and made some upgrades and changes! Although I personally love my tank because I love marine environments and love watching everything grow, they are also relaxing and therapeutic, and great for kids to watch! They do tend to be pricier than regular fish tanks, but usually because you just want bigger and better stuff! If you're interested in starting your own, I would look around your area and see if there is a local reef society to join. Other peoples' experiences are invaluable!

Anyway. Like I said, my favorite part of keeping corals is that it's just like an underwater garden: I like watching things grow! So, in honor of almost a year, let's take a trip down memory lane, and look at some before and afters!

This is my first tank. It was a 10 gallon rimless. Lovely, simple, and totally empty right here!

And here it is, right before I upgraded to a bigger tank.

 

Amazing, huh!

Then I moved it to a 29 gallon aquarium, and, unfortunately, it was near a window and grew a TON of algae. Lesson learned. Here's what that looks like:

Bigger, but definitely dirtier! This one also had a new metal halide light, that sucked up a lot of energy and produced a lot of heat. Bad hippie!

And finally, some friends and I moved it this weekend to a 15 gallon, with a brand new LED light, that is amazing, but doesn't photograph well! I swear it isn't that blue in real life.

This one is a bit more manageable, time and money-wise, and wastes less water space. The LED fixture also puts off practically NO heat, and takes a fraction of the energy. Sarah is an excited Sarah.

Now comes the fun part! Here are some comparison shots of things when I first got them, and now! You can see how much growth happens!

This was one of my first corals. It's called a trumpet (or a candy cane, depending on which you prefer. It's kind of like plant names.) It had two "mouths" when I got it, and was just a cute little thing.

This is what that same coral looks like today:

Wow! Now it has 7 mouths, 2 of which it's added in the past few days! Amazing!

Here is my Kenya tree, which hitchhiked on the rock that I got from a friend.

And here it is a few days ago (you can also see the trumpets here!)

Pretty good for a free coral!

And finally, here is one that is called a favia. I got it for $5, and wasn't sure if it would do anything or not. It was just kind of a boring red with a little bit of dark green in the middle.

And here it is today:

You can also see how different the same corals can look under different lights! It has also grown out over the rock a lot.

I hope you all found this interesting and informative. Growing corals can be just as satisfying as growing any plants (and it's a good thing to do when the weather drives you inside!)  Do any of you have saltwater tanks?

~Sarah