Tag: Amazon

Fashion Alert- “Grandpa” Sneakers

One of the big trends right now is the chunky or “Grandpa” sneaker.

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This look is great for several reasons.  One, they are super comfy!  Two, they come in a variety of colors so you can match any outfit.  Three, they look great with everything, dresses, skirts, pants or shorts.  Finally, they come in all price points, so everyone can enjoy this trend!

 

For example, I bought a couple of pair from Amazon, which were inexpensive.  I also bought a couple of pair on sale at Skechers, which after the markdown, were also inexpensive.  See below for some examples of some sneakers with shopping links.  I’ve started with the designer sneakers with the price to match and down to inexpensive.  To be honest, since this trend may not last, I would go with the inexpensive ones.  So far, I’ve worn them frequently and they still look great.

Fila Disruptor II Sneaker– Costs around $100 bucks

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Skechers D’Lites Sneakers– About $65 bucks

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Amazon Sneakers– About $30 bucks

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Happy Shopping!

Love, Kim and Benji

DIY: Make Your Own Teseract

I recently began building a screen accurate Captain Marvel cosplay (by build, I mean ordering various items, but I digress…).  Part of this cosplay is going to be the “The Fonz” lunchbox and teseract.  There are several teseracts available on Etsy, but I wanted to save a little money and make my own.

It is so easy, I wanted to share the DIY with you.  Shopping links below.

What you Need:

  • Acrylic box
  • Clear craft glue
  • Blue twinkle lights, battery operated
  • White parchment paper for cooking

Steps:

  • Take your parchment paper and cut into squares that fit inside each side of the acrylic box
  • Take a small amount of glue and attach each piece of paper into the inside of the box
  • Insert the twinkle lights and turn them on
  • Boom!  You’re done!

This is literally the easiest project ever.  It took me mere minutes for finish and now I have a great prop for various cosplays.  The great thing is that the little box has a swing lid, so you just open it, turn off the lights when you aren’t using them.

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Shopping Links:

Click on each link below to buy

Let me know what you guys come up with in the comments!  We love to hear from you!

Love, Kim and Benji

Outfit of the Day: Dragon Dress by Retrolicious

Our next outfit of the day is my new dragon dress by Retrolicious.

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Recently, Retrolicious had a warehouse super sale, and I cleaned up.  I really like their take on the “new look” with interesting fabrics.  They do have some great mid-century staples, like polka dots and bold colors, but to have a swing dress with dragons all over it, or witches or dinosaurs, really opens up your creativity.

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Nerd girls everywhere should check them out.  Click here for their website.

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I’m wearing the dragon dress in a 3xl.  They are true-to-size and have sizes up to 4xl available.

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I paired the dress with a cropped tee from Amazon.  Click on this link to buy.

Happy shopping!

Until next time…

Love, Kim and Benji

Lighting Solutions for Selfies

The more that I blog and the more that I post to Instagram, the better I get at taking selfies.  Part of getting better is the equipment that I’ve found to use as well.  So, for this post I thought I would highlight some useful products that I use in taking a better selfie.

The Ring Light

First up is the ring light.  Ring lights comes in a ton of sizes and intensities.  I have a clip on ring light for my phone.  The light has three different intensities and is rechargable with an android charger.  I got mine on Amazon, click on this link to buy.

small ring light

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I also have this eight inch ring light set-up.  This kit is fantastic!  The light comes with a tripod, an adjustable phone mount and a remote that uses Bluetooth so you don’t have to mess with a camera timer app.  If you have ever used those, they are kind of a pain.  This light has three different types of light, a warm light, sunlight and a bright bluish light as well.  All three of those types have varying intensities as well.  The power source is USB, so you can use a power pack with it, which makes this easily portable.  I also got this on Amazon, click on this link to buy.

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The Selfie Stick

Selfie sticks get a bad rep, but I disagree with that.  Used with safety in mind, they are a great tool to get a great selfie.  You can get a selfie stick almost anywhere.  I like this one from Amazon because it has a button on the handle that allows you to take your picture without using a timer app.  Click on the link to buy.

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Echo Look

The last tool I use quite often is my Echo Look by Amazon.  Part of the Alexa AI product line, this tool is specific for fashion and wardrobe planning.  You simply plug it into a wall socket and download the app (the app is free).  Set-up takes a couple of minutes.  After that, just say, “Alexa, take a picture.”, and she does.  Alexa takes the photo and blurs the background for you.  The Echo Look also has built in lighting that is perfect for selfies and flashes to reduce red eye issues.  The photos are put on the app, and from there you can share them to a number of social media sites or text them.  Another feature of the app is a “which outfit is better”, wherein fashion stylists compare two of your outfits and critique them for you.  You can also save your outfits in a gallery by occasion, style and even color.  It comes in very handy for this blog.  Obviously, you buy this on Amazon as well.  Click on that link to buy your own Echo.

echo look

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That’s it!  If you have any tools you use for taking a great selfie, put it in the comments below.

Until next time…

Love, Kim and Benji

I’ll Be in My Dressing Room!

I, like every other fashion-obsessed person, always wanted to have a big ‘ol closet.  I have a small closet at home that has always been a struggle to keep neat and tidy.  So, when the kiddo got old enough that he didn’t need a toy room anymore, I pounced on the opportunity to make-over the room into my own dressing room.

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We had the desk in the room already, so creating a vanity for myself was a simple task.  Just add a make-up mirror and some make-up, and I was good to go.  I kept the computer and printer in the room for the kiddo’s homework and for blogging too!  Get the lighted make-up mirror from Amazon.  The desk is from Wayfair.  The chair is from Amazon.  I get my plexiglass make-up organizers from various places, but here is a good one on Amazon.

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This small wardrobe with shelving is a great place to display some of my handbags, and I use it for skirts and cardigans.  I use these Loungefly mini-backpacks for Cons and theme park visits because they hold everything I need, and they are super cute and great for bounding.  For Loungefly’s website, click here.  The wardrobe is from Target.

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This cube storage unit is from Target from ages ago.  I actually traded furniture from Benji here.  He obviously did not want pink furniture in his room anymore, and I love pink, so it worked out.  I replaced the pastel cubes with cubes from Dollar Tree.  The vignette on the wall I put together with items from the 99 Cent Store.  The bat light is from Amazon.

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The wicker high-boy is the first piece of furniture I ever bought for myself back in 1990.  I will have it always.  The shield I glittered it myself because my shield got all scratched up, so I rehabbed it.  Click here for instructions.

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This clothing rack is from Bed Bath and Beyond.  It has shoe storage below and a shelf on top.  I keep my dresses here because they are much heavier.  And finally, the large zip-up wardrobes hold our cosplays and we’ve had them forever.  We purchased them at Bed Bath and Beyond.

So, I took the room and built it wall by wall to give myself the dressing room of my dreams.  I hope I’ve inspired you to do a make-over of a space within your space.

Love, Kim and Benji

 

Shop Your Closet Challenge!

I don’t know about you, but I do love to save some money.  Problem is, I also love to shop for new nerdy-themed wardrobe items.  The good news/bad news in that is that now, more than ever before, we have really good choices!

But, let’s say there’s nothing new catching your fancy out there on the interwebs, but you still have an event coming up.  You need to put on something new.  What is a nerd to do?

Well, try shopping your closet.  I recently had WonderCon coming up, and I wanted to dress in dapper/pin-up styles the whole Con, but I didn’t have enough pieces.  I couldn’t find anything I liked really, so I decided to shop my closet.  After all, I have a ton of pieces, so maybe I could put together something with what I already had.  Guess what?  I did just that, and now I have a new go-to fave, this Black Widow bound!

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Here’s a Team Build break-down:

The Leader– Skirt from Amazon

The Brick– T-shirt and shrug from Torrid

The Scientist– Shoes by Converse

The Exotic– Arrow Necklace from Amazon.  Belt from Amazon

The Blaster– My everyday make-up look

The best way to do this is to take something you really like and challenge yourself to find something in your closet you’ve never paired it with before.  If you usually wear something with jeans, then try pairing it with a skirt and vice versa.

I put together pieces that I didn’t buy to go together here, for this Tony Stark bound…

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Here’s a break-down of this look:

The Leader– Jacket from Her Universe

The Brick– Dress by Steady Clothing

The Scientist– Shoes by Converse

The Exotic– Belt from Amazon.  Arc reactor necklace from Amazon

The Blaster– My everyday make-up look

I recently did a Team Build break-down of my bobby soxer Avenger look here.

Have some fun with it, and you’ll be surprised at what you find!

Feel free to download and print your own Team Build Checklist download and print your own Team Build Checklist here.

Let me know what you “find” that you already have in the comments.  We love to hear from you.

Happy closet shopping!

Love, Kim and Benji

 

We Saw “Avengers Endgame”!!!

Well, I mean, who hasn’t yet?  I will warn you that there are tons ‘o spoilers here, but it has been over a week since the movie’s release, so the spoiler-free zone is over!

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As always, here are some of our favorite moments from the film.  We aren’t movie reviewers, and we aren’t going to start trying to be one now!

So we are in the Endgame now…

  • The addition of Captain Marvel to the Avengers is amazing!
  • All of the remaining Avengers going to space
  • Nebula is the MVP for most of the film
  • Korg and Meek are OK!!!
  • Hulk with glasses and dad wardrobe is the best thing ever!
  • Time Travel!
  • Chunky Thor has been problematic for some, and I can understand why.  However, I liked that we saw how the five years had really affected him in a visual way.  It is also important to note that he was taken back on the team “as is”.  No magic weight loss or anything of the sort.  He is valuable at whatever size he is
  • When Nebula isn’t the MVP, the rat that released Ant Man is
  • Carol got my haircut
  • Now I have to SA cosplay Carol
  • Everything Rocket
  • Cap is worthy, but we already knew that
  • I think Loki is alive, fight me!
  • America’s ass
  • The convo between Tony and Howard
  • Girl squad moment
  • “Hey there, Peter Parker.  You got something for me there?” #iheartcarol
  • Cap finally got his dance
  • Captain Sam!

OK, those are just some of our favorite moments.  Please let us know yours in the comments.

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Now for wardrobe… Benji’s hoodie is from Amazon.  My bobby soxer Avenger cosplay build has the following pieces:

The Leader– Avengers bomber jacket from Torrid (online exclusive)

The Brick– Dress from Amazon

The Scientist– My DIY saddle shoes

The Exotic– Scarf from Amazon; Belt also from Amazon; Star Necklace from Amazon as well and Infinity Gauntlet bracelet from Hot Topic

The Blaster– Wore a nice red lip from Revlon called “Love Is On”

Print your own Team Build Checklist here.

Happy Shopping and until next time…

Love, Kim and Benji