Spring Sophistication: Easy Coral and Gold Manicure

It's Spring (-ish), and that means it's time for pretty bright colors! It also means that it's wedding season, and I'm (thankfully) ridiculously busy. I needed a nail look that's cute, classy, and quick. Here's what I came up with:

I'm digging it. The most time consuming part was the coral base coat. I used Flower Beauty Nail'd It in What's the Daffodilly-O, and it takes about three coats for full, streak-free opacity. The gold tips were made with Urban Decay nail polish in Superfreak, from the Rollergirl palette. That palette has been discontinued, but you can still find it on ebay. A more readily-available option is Essie nail polish in Good As Gold. The topcoat is Finger Paints. I knocked this out while I watched TV Monday evening...and took the picture today. Friday. That's three solid days of wear without a single chip. I can't vouch that the Essie will be as chip-resistant, of course, but the Flower Beauty has great wear time on its own. This may be my new go-to look for the season.

Got any nail looks you want to share? Leave 'em in the comments!

Look At the Cute Brains! I Wanna Eat 'Em Up!

I saw this on Twitter today (courtesy of Jen Yates @cakewrecks. FOLLOW HER!), and had to share; partly because it's really cool, and partly because the author, Marc Brownlow, is just insanely talented.

 

Photo Credit: MakeProjects

 

These are Halloween Skull Truffles, and they are too cute for words. Basically, it's a white chocolate skull with a bittersweet chocolate ganache center, and a candy coated walnut "brain". Folks, you have no idea how badly I want these. The thing is, cute as these little guys are, they're also completely handmade, right down to the mold that popped them out. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create the silicone mold, whip up a ganache, temper the white chocolate, cover the walnuts, and even pipe on extra brains. There's a tremendous amount of love and artistry in these sweets. Way to go, Marc!

 

Much as I'd like to, I have neither the time nor the skill to make my own silicone mold. I did find a pre-made one, though ($9.99, Scorpio Innovations). You'll need to fill the skulls differently (fill halfway with chocolate, set slightly, then add the ganache center and fill the rest of the way), and you'll have to cut off the tops of the skulls (carefully!), but it is a workable solution. Still, if you have the resources and a few empty hours, give making your own mold a try. Once you've mastered it, imagine the possibilities!

 

Photo Credit: ebay

Preparing For the Future, Or: My Retriever Better Wear a Fez

It's Friday. It's been a heck of a week. Let's discuss something silly, shall we?

TIME TRAVEL!!!! (*cue Twilight Zone and/or Doctor Who theme music*)

Let's be honest. We've all dreamed of hopping in a Delorean and magically being transported through time. Right? Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to skip past the work week and go straight to Saturday. There's a college professor in Connecticutt who's been working on a theory since the early 2000s. Maybe he'll have a breakthrough soon, and we can all go and see Elvis in concert, or something.

But wait! What if we already have? (*fire up that creepy music again*) What if time travel is already possible, but mostly accidental? Syndicated columnist, Jason Offutt, asked on his blog, From the Shadows, if maybe "science just can’t achieve it – yet. But what if nature can?" His post from Wednesday gave eyewitness accounts of possible time travel incidents, where the travelers in question weren't even aware of their journeys until later evidence caused them to question their experiences.

Orfutt's life-long interest in the possiblity of time travel, coupled with accounts such as the ones he blogged about, prompted him to found the Time Travel Reporting Center, a website to catalog alleged time travel experiences. People who believe they have traveled through time are urged to submit the details of their experience to the site, in the hopes of furthering research, and fostering the realization that "you are not alone". As of this writing, no submissions have been made.

Now, there's at least one group out there who acknowledges that time travel isn't possible, yet, but they're not letting that stop them from preparing for it, anyway. The Time Travel Fund was set up to allow regular folks, like us, the opportunity to travel into the future. For a mere $10, you receive a certificate (suitable for framing!), and, should time travel ever come to pass, will be retrieved at some point for a trip into the future. How long you stay there is entirely up to you. Now, there are plenty of provisos, some quid pro quo, and a whole lot of covering their rear ends, should time travel never come to pass, and I have to say, these guys put a lot of thought into this. While the first thing you see on the site is a bunch of folks in Santa hats, don't be fooled. They're kooky, but certainly not dumb. No, I'm not sending them ten bucks (and I'm certainly not suggesting any of you should), but if I did, and if this actually worked out, I'd insist upon Christopher Lloyd himself retrieving me. I'm not sure I'd hop in a car with anyone else who tried to tell me it was time to go back to the future.

Photo Credit: ebay

But wait! There's more! If you're just dying to take a trip through time, there's a time machine up for grabs on ebay! The description is way too long for me to list here, but if you need a good giggle, click the link and read through it. It boasts such gems as:

"Serial of spells was chanted into this Time Machine, by very powerful Wicca masters.
Also, with this bidding, it comes with the book, "Mastering Time Travel: Voyages Through Time!"
Signed and autographed by author (usually it costs $26 per book with author's autograph in Amazon),
and blessed by author with magic $777-dollar-fountain-pen and magic ink,
It makes the Time Machine very powerful."

"When making this Ad, there are thunders and lightening out doors,
as if the sky is saying, 'Human are not suppose to know this device.'"

And my favorite:

"you can use this machine to view documents in another dimension,

it could also function similar like the Palm pilot on earth. Magical."

You know, I think I'll just stick with this:

Photo Credit: teecraze.com

That Mouse Is a Bad Influence

Photo Credit: MouseSurplus

Well, my productivity is shot today, and I blame my husband.

 

Thomas found this website, MouseSurplus, that sells Disney memorabilia and collectibles--but not just any collectibles. How would you like to own the FastPass entrance to Disneyland's It's a Small World? Maybe the MGM Studios Toy Story Van is more your style (fun fact: it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Van before the Pixar gang took it over)? Talk about taking home a piece of Disney! I, personally, have been mulling over the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire hot button from the park attraction. I think it'd look really nifty in the computer corner, plus, it actually works! 

 

The site itself was cool enough, and I spent a few minutes checking out the pretties. Then, I noticed the ebay link. Oh. My. God.

 

There were ten pages of auctions!! Be still my little Mickey-loving heart! Want a stage light prop from the Disney Store (I do)? Original Darby O'Gill press kit (Lord, I get tickled just thinking about Sean Connery singing)? How 'bout a Pirates of the Caribbean promotional pocket watch? What about a (*gasp*) seat from the Alien Encounters Magic Kingdom attraction?! 

 

Yes, some of this stuff is priced in the thousands, but there are things--many that would be considered historic--that the average person (read: ME) could afford. Now, I want to see what someone does with that monorail door that sold before I could get to it. 

Have a great weekend, folks!