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queercultleader · 4 years

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The Broom Closet Witch Guide

Hello, my dears! I’ve noticed since I’ve joined and also started posting, there’s quite a few witches who have to hide what they’re doing. The odd thing about me is that my family isn’t aware that I, y’know, dabble in witchcraft. It isn’t something we share at the Thanksgiving table. Living with a parent can make this difficult, though.

This short guide is mostly targeted at younger witches who are scared of their parents figuring things out or are in a dorm, however some of these tips can be used in other situations.

1.)

Altars

You may not be able to keep an altar in the open, but many witches use shoe boxes or old jewelry boxes to contain items. Mint tins have also been used to hold items or if you wanted to decorate the inside, you could use it as a way to pay respect to a deity. You could also use a suitcase to become an altar.

There’s some plane jane wooden boxes you can decorate at Walmart and Dollar General (that I’ve seen with my own four eyes, but obviously you can find them elsewhere). Also, I believe this is just a spring or easter type thing, at the Dollar Tree there’s currently decorative, small boxes of different sizes. The blue, glittery box at the end of this post is one I bought there.

I have an altar that’s out in the open but I also have a small travel altar I made from a mint tin. I have made a post about it previously where I discussed what I put inside of it and what the items’ purposes are-- that you can find right here.

2.)

Deities, Saints, & The Elements

It is not uncommon to use candles to represent deities but if you feel uncomfortable with owning many candles, you can get creative. You could gather rocks and paint them, draw a figure and cut them out, or use special items like coins or glass figures.

If you are wanting to have all the elements represented, there are ways to do this as well. In another blog of mine I mentioned that you could use fuzzy socks to represent fire because they would stand for warmth and comfort. You could use hand fans, small portable electric fans, or a feather to represent air. You can use a sea shell or a small spray bottle with water in it to represent water. For earth, you could collect rocks, dried flowers, or even make something from clay. Just like using rocks to represent deities, you could do the same for the elements by painting them with their symbols.

For my element rocks I created, they’re pictured at the bottom of this blog.

3.)

Resources & Books

If you’re scared of owning or buying physical copies of books, there’s still other ways of reading up and researching. Obviously, you have tumblr which provides so many ideas and tips. You can also find PDFs of books online through websites (example: PDF Drive). On eBay, there’s also very cheap PDFs of books.

Outside of this, public libraries still exist. You can read whatever book you’d like while you are there and then type in your phone’s notes what page you’re on. Continue where you left off when you return. There’s also normally library resources online where you use your library card number. Some of these sites are Hoopla, Freading, and Overdrive.

Lastly, there’s apps that can help inform you about astrology, moon phases, plants, oils, and crystals. I would suggest Plant Net, Spellcaster, Moon Calendar, My EO, Co-Star, Stone, and Picture This.

If you’re interested in tarot cards or runes, there’s apps also for this. I currently use an app called Rune.

4.)

Items For Your Altar

Using an empty candle holder, a small glass/ceramic/metal bowl, or a soap dish can have different uses. The candle holder or bowl can be used as an offering bowl or be used to burn sigils to activate them.The soap dish can be useful to become a make-shift incense holder or to also hold offerings or burn items. I have a soap dish shaped like a sea shell that is bowl-ish almost in shape that could work perfectly. To make an incense holder, use some candle wax to keep the incense in place.

For an altar cloth, you could use spare fabric for sewing or from old clothes, towels, and bandannas.

If you’re to buy any candle, a white candle is all-purpose. You could also use birthday candles. A small lighter would be perfect and discrete.

I also made a guide on easily obtained wands (that I haven’t posted on here, just amino) but one that may work perfectly if you’re trying to not raise suspicion —is using wooden pencils (yes, with their lead!). Some magical uses of lead include: concentration, protection, banishing negativity, providing stability, promoting contact with spirits, and etc.

5.)

Book of Shadows or Grimoire

Afraid of having your book found? You can use a secret language or.. use google docs or writing websites (take advantage of drafts, they aren’t published for the public but you can view them!) Google Docs can be used online or off if enabled in the settings. Writing websites used could be Wattpad, PoetBay, Quotev, Movellas, and etc.

6.)

Hiding Items and Material

You can always hide items in large books or inconspicuous places like pencil pouches, socks, and drawers. If you want to hide pieces of paper, try hiding them in scrapbooks, behind pictures in picture frames, or inside movie cases. There’s also hollowed out books that may be of use!

On apps like Instagram and Pinterest, you may find images of useful tips or spells that you want to save. To hide those pictures, you can install apps like Calculator+. This is a secret gallery of photos disguised as a calculator. You have a password you type in on the calculator and bam you get access to those pictures.

7.)

Divination

Pendulums are easy to make and take apart! You can use keys, rings, nails, and etc along with thread/string. If you want to make a pendulum board or mat to go along with them, they’re also easy to create. Just look at images of boards and make your own version.

I already mentioned there’s apps for tarot and runes but you can also use an ordinary deck of cards to read tarot. There’s guides online! I mentioned one guide in particular on my “Broke Ass Witch Guide: Dollar Tree Items” post you can find here.

You can also use dice for divination. For my pocket altar, I didn’t have any dice on me but I did have clay-- so I made one. You can do the same or maybe make one from paper using a ruler or an already existing template. However, I’ve also seen regular packs of dice at Dollar Tree.

Just A Note

Because I’m a sap.

You are still a witch with your current limitations and I adore you. Don’t threaten your safety if you’re in a strict household. One day you will be on your own and be able to do whatever makes you feel happy and complete. Witchcraft is not about expensive cauldrons, crystals bigger than Texas, rare herbs, and aesthetically pleasing photos for tumblr. Witches are crafty and adapt, they use what they have on them. Some items I would suggest as a basic kit would be: colored ink pens, a wooden pencil, paper, thread (for binding, for making a pendulum), a white candle (if possible!), a small lighter, a spray bottle with a mixture of water and salt (for cleansing), and your creativity. You have a big brain under that pointy hat, I know it.

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incoherentbabblings · 5 years

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First Date (4/9)

Tim has one more test to pass before Bruce will allow him out as Robin. Like Dick and Jason before him, he has to avoid being caught by Batman for one night. He has already failed once, and is determined to succeed this time. Determination which might not count for much when Stephanie Brown is on the run from the mob. Her mother kidnapped as a way to threaten her father, Stephanie manages to escape and run into Tim. Unable to leave Stephanie alone when she is in need, Tim decides to try and multi-task. All he has to do is rescue Stephanie’s mother, take down the mob, avoid Batman, and get Stephanie to agree to a proper date all in one night. Absolute anarchy ensues. Ao3 link here!

Bruce wasted no time on the screaming man thirty stories up above Gotham’s streets.

“What do you want with Crystal and Stephanie Brown?”

The man did not seem suitably composed to give a response and continued to screech like a bat out of hell.

Batman dropped him ten stories, then yanked him on the cord back up. The man was by then crying, tears flooding down his balding head. His trousers were also wet but Bruce tried valiantly to ignore that issue and repeated his question.

“Arthur Brown owes Ibanescu a loooooottttt of money.” The man sobbed. “He had time to pay it back when he got out of jail back in June, but he’s taking too long…” The man began to whimper, and the wet patch grew. Batman grabbed his hair and shook his head.

“And where have your friends taken Crystal?”

“I don’t know! We were supposed to call when we had them! Somewhere in the Narrows I’d guess!”

“How many are out looking for her?”

“Last I knew fifteen? But there’s maybe more now that the daughter’s gone… We’re not gonna hurt them before Arthur turned up…honest! They’re just bait! I nearly had the girl but some kid punched me out and I don’t know where either of them have gone…”

“You know where you’re going?”

“Prison?”

“Hmm.”

And then the man was dropped once more. Like a yo-yo, he was then tugged up, straight into Bruce’s waiting fist. The knocked-out man was left for the police to pick up on a nearby rooftop, with more than enough evidence for attempted murder and kidnapping in his shooting efforts towards Stephanie.

“I’m taking at look at what Dragos Ibanescu has been up to recently,” stated Oracle.

Bruce moved up high, getting ready to rooftop hop away from the city centre towards to quieter areas.

“More trafficking I suspect. Catwoman and he tangled recently.”

“Don’t know what Brown could possibly get from this guy. Cluemaster just wants his ego stroked right? That’s why he does what he does, so why Ibanescu?”

“…Any luck with the car?”

“Not quite, but if this guy thinks it’s heading to the Narrows that… well it narrows it down a bit.”

“When you find Crystal, Oracle, let me know. I need to speak to Tim, make sure he goes home.”

“Ah. About that.”

“What?”

“He and Stephanie left the hospital five or so minutes ago?”

“Which direction did they head in?”

“…Dunno.”

“Oracle.”

“I am busy! Black cars and Romanian gangsters aren’t going to find themselves. You’re the detective, track him down yourself –”

“Oracle do not –”

“Okay bye.” She teased and cut the line. Bruce was left standing awkwardly atop a pillar, trying to reconnect the line, but Barbara would only be contacted if she wanted to be spoken to.

She was ensuring Tim got a second shot, but he was being pursued by up to twenty men, all fully armed, whilst he had nothing but a backpack filled with energy drinks and a wallet.

Bruce looked down on the crowds. If they were heading to the Bristol safehouse then they would have gotten on the subway across the Avenue. He couldn’t follow them down there, but he could access the subway systems, and see who had bought tickets, who had gotten on, and who had gotten off. He would start there.

Batman jumped off the building, and moved towards the central hub.

Stephanie wasn’t safe with Tim, even if he was taking her somewhere safe, the route to the one safehouse Tim had access to was anything but… Batman needed to track them down, and quickly. Tim was in over his head, and Stephanie was probably terrified out of her mind.

***

“I need to pee. Can we use your staff bathroom?” Stephanie asked.

“No.” Said the boy, once he’d caught his breath. He sounded quite certain of his response. “It’s a staff bathroom, not for customers.”

Tim and Stephanie burst into the empty convenience store with such a bang that the young man behind the counter jumped a mile. He shuffled whatever magazine he’d been reading under the counter, face red with embarrassment.

Tim sighed and marched up to the counter. The boy took a nervous step back.

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much will it take for you to let her pee and wash her hair? One hundred?”

He pulled out his wallet and slammed two fifty-dollar bills down. The boy stared suspiciously.

“We have CCTV here you know. If I get caught taking money…”

“Then just let me pee! Be a good Samaritan!” Stephanie interjected. The boy looked increasingly uncomfortable. He no doubt saw her blood-stained jeans and her messy hair and makeup. He was right to want to have nothing to do with them. Stephanie decided to jump to drastic measures.

“Look man, you tell me which is worse: letting a customer pee all over your floor – which I will do if I don’t get my way – or allowing them to pee and clean up in peace. I have had a hell of a night and I just want to freshen up. I’m not a druggie, I’m not dangerous… there just aren’t any public bathrooms in Gotham and I’m really far from home still. “

The boy grew green at the thought of cleaning up some teenage girl’s urine, and acquiesced.

“Okay fine. Five minutes.” He lifted the counter to let her through.

“Wait, Steph.”

Stephanie jolted at him calling her by her nickname. She turned back, eyebrows raised.

Tim had his arm held out. “Let me hold your bag.”

“Oh! Thanks, sweetie.”

Tim smiled lopsidedly, but the cashier was unamused. He refused to give her the key and herded her through to the back.

He returned to find Tim piling high food, drink and other items. Tallying it up, the cashier eyed Tim suspiciously. Tim looked up at him and smiled awkwardly.

“I’ve had better first dates.” He joked. The cashier did not find it heart-warming and instead scanned the goods aggressively.

“You’re going to get me in trouble. Thirty-four sixty-nine total.”

Tim laughed uncomfortably and put down one fifty bill.

“You can keep the change. Honestly.”

The man harrumphed and cashed it in. Stuffing his bag full, Tim pulled out Stephanie’s phone, and put in the battery once more. He waited until it switched on, then moved towards the entrance of the shop. Looking through her contact lists, he saw she didn’t have that many. Her mother was one, but her father was not, and there were people who were probably a school mate or two, but the entire list fit onto her screen, no scrolling required. He looked back towards the door, wondering if she were lonely in her day to day life.

Taking a breath, knowing in the back of his head this was going to maybe be a mistake, but it was a risk he needed to take, he dialled for Stephanie’s mother. At the very least, Oracle would pick up the call, no doubt she would be watching for any activity from Crystal or Stephanie’s phone. If this risk didn’t help Tim and Stephanie, it would certainly help Barbara and Bruce. The call rang for a long while, but eventually was picked up, and a man’s voice answered, to which Tim immediately hung up.

Now it was a waiting game, someone – or several someones – would show up soon.

Tim’s stomach started to grow cold. He was missing the point of the assignment. He was to stay hidden, to only help others if absolutely necessary, and now he had invited trouble to him. He could handle himself, he was sure of that, but he still felt naked without his bo staff. Stephanie he was more unsure of, but he had been on the receiving end of her slaps, she wouldn’t go anywhere without a fight.

Five minutes passed and Stephanie and still had not emerged from the bathroom.

“Can I check on her?” Tim asked, becoming anxious that the cashier was going to be danger so long as he was out front of the shop.

“If anyone pinches anything whilst I’m in the back with you…” The boy threatened.

“Sounds fair.”

And he was led through.

Stephanie meanwhile had gone to great efforts of sticking her hair under a tap, running hot water and the sad bar of soap on the sink to get out the vomit which had been haunting her for hours.

She was probably going to get a cold now without any way of drying if, but she grabbed a tea towel from the tiny kitchen and rung out her tangled hair as best she could, running her fingers through then giving up when they’d hit a knot.

She looked in the mirror and wet a paper towel, dabbing her cheeks to clear off the runny eyeline and mascara. She had had to scrub a little, so her cheeks looked red and sore when she was done, but at least she didn’t look like such a mess anymore. More like someone who had just come from swimming practice rather than a shooting casualty on the run.

Speaking of shootings…

She worried about her leg. The glue might not have held up under the pressure of leaping and running and jumping that she had done. She couldn’t feel the blood flowing down her leg anymore, but the bandage just might be doing its job.

Rummaging through various cupboards in the back, she found the first aid kit, went into the bathroom and shut the door. Pulling down her jeans and plopping herself down on the toilet, she tentatively unwrapped her bandages.

Sure enough, at one end the skin had started to split apart, and blood was oozing out. Steph breathed out a curse, then rummaged through the kit, hoping to find something that could close the wound.

It would be messy, and she was bound to have a gnarly scar, but she needed to get it closed whilst the skin was still numb.

She was actually quite good at sewing, for one reason or another. She found a needle and thread and some disinfectant wipes.

It would have to do.

She set to work when Tim burst in.

“Jesus!” Stephanie shouted, nearly stabbing herself in the wrong place. “Knock first!”

Whatever he was going to say didn’t come out. Instead he shut the door and knelt next to her. Her embarrassment at being caught in her undies faded at his concerned look. Tentatively, he touched her leg, and she suppressed a shiver.

“It’s opened up?”

She sighed and looked down at her sliced leg. “It’s okay, I can stitch it.”

“I can help?”

“No. No, it’s quicker if I do it myself. I wanna just get it done before my leg’s not numb anymore.”

He watched her concentrated expression as she began stitching. Her fingers quickly grew bloody, but she was right. She was quick at sewing, and fairly neat at it too. She wiped away the blood with some wipes, and Tim helped her hold the bandage tight and she reapplied it.

“You’ve done this before haven’t you?”

“…Once or twice.” She replied reluctantly.

“I heard, back at the hospital, about your forehead –”

“It’s fine.” Her tone was short, but not rude. Her defensiveness made Tim feel like his heart was frozen. A jagged lump grew in his throat, and he realised he’d made a mistake.

Tim stayed knelt on the floor as she shimmied her jeans back on and washed her hands. She turned back to Tim, who had a slightly haunted look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, voice soft.

“I made a mistake.”

“What? Tim…”

“We need to go.” And he rose, opening the door to reveal the cashier far too close to have been doing anything but listening in. Tim tried not to make a face at him.

“Call the police.”

“What?” The boy sneered at them.

“Bad men are following us. They’re heading here. Hide back here and call the police.”

He didn’t move, and Tim felt his temper rise.

“Do it! This isn’t a joke! How do you think she got the blood on her?”

The boy looked at Stephanie, and seeing the utter lack of humour in either of their expressions, he pulled out his phone.

“We’ll get out here. Thank you for letting us rest up for a second.”

And Tim pulled Stephanie past the cashier, heading back out front to leave.

“Wait wait wait wait wait.” She puffed as they exited the store, zipping her coat back up. “What’s going on? You said we were going to find out where my mom is? We need to interrogate one of them ‘cause unless you –”

“I got in over my head. It’s too dangerous.”

“What? No-one’s even here!”

“But they will be! You’re too badly hurt and I didn’t think it through!”

It was the first time he had really shouted at her, but it wasn’t from anger, rather from fright. She could hear how scared he was. She stared him down, not moving with any of his tugs to her arm. An uncomfortable moment past them by. His free fist clenched around something, but she couldn’t see what he was holding. Something he’d bought in the shop probably. She briefly thought he might hit her with it, but she quickly quashed that thought. She had to constantly remind herself, Tim wouldn’t do that.

He wouldn’t.

The sound of a car racing around the corner made both of turn to look down the street.

“No.” Muttered Tim. He pushed Stephanie behind him then, uncomfortably aggressive, and she stumbled with a cry. A big black SUV pulled up and the pair were met by two men, a gun pointed at them each. Tim began pulling Stephanie into the alleyway. They’d reached a fair way down when a warning shot whizzed past their heads. Tim instinctively grabbed Stephanie, pressing his body in front of hers.

“Don’t try anything!” One of the yelled. “Turn around.”

Keeping Stephanie behind him still, they both turned to face the men, who stood at the entrance to the alleyway. The other, the fatter of the two, pulled out his phone and rang a number, confirming that they had Stephanie in hand.

Tim shakily held a hand up, trying to deescalate the situation.

Stephanie is seemed determined to do the opposite.

“Where’s my mom? Where’s my dad?”

“Get in the car and you’ll be with both of them. Out of the way, kid.” The man indicated for Tim to step aside, out of range of the guns. Tim supposed he was being kind. He shook his head.

“Look kid move! We’re sick and tired of chasing this girl down, and I get it, not your fault that your dad’s a massive fuck up Stephanie, but we have a job to do. Get in the car. We need you in one piece.”

One of the men crept forward, getting closer and closer, gun held out, level with Tim’s head. Tim didn’t say anything, and just glared at the man, like he was waiting for something. The hand that was clenched behind his back twitched anxiously.

The man clicked the gun.

“Don’t!” Stephanie throw herself forward, knocking over both Tim and the man. The other guy, further back, fired a shot that went wide and bounced off the metal pipes that stretched down the damp walls.

Tim swung out from the floor, knocking one man off his feet. Rising up quick, he threw whatever he’d been holding at the other man. With a swear he flinched, and Tim rushed over, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Stephanie rolled over to the man who had threatened Tim and punched his face. Hard. His grip on his gun loosened, and she managed to wrestle it away from him. She opened it up and scattered the cartridges.

Left with an empty gun and a lot of adrenaline, she began to pound the guys face in the pistol. She only got so far towards knocking him out, as he managed to tug her hair so painfully she felt strands be ripped out. She screeched and jolted upwards, kicking him before he could rise.

She looked over at Tim, who had pinned the fatter man to the floor. The arm was twisted at an awful angle, and she could see where blood was starting to spread on the dirty floor. He was yelling something at him, more full of anger than she had heard from him so far this night, but she couldn’t make it out. Her ears were ringing from the echoing gun shot, and her breathing was so laboured and heartbeat so loud her head felt like it was throbbing.

A sharp, stabbing pain made her leg give out then. The man she’d been standing over punched her in her shot wound, and the nerve endings vibrated the pain through her calf. She cried out and fell down. Her head was then picked up and smacked against the unforgiving floor. Vision blurring and sparking, she flailed, kicking the man straight in the groin. He gasped and leaned forward, giving her enough leverage to smack him hard again. His head connected with the wall, and with a sharp snap, he fell still, chest rising in short puffed out breaths.

“Tim?” She instinctively called out, rolling on to her stomach. The pain in her weak leg prevented her from getting up on her feet just yet. Tim was still perched over his foe.

“Who’s your boss?” Tim bit out.

The man writhed, not willing to give up his pride to a teenager.

“Fuck you.”

Tim smashed the guys head against the floor, to which he swore once more, even louder.

“Tell me!”

“Ibanescu! God fucking…”

Stephanie managed to crawl over to their pair. Tim took his eyes off the man, but not for too long, to see how hurt she was. She looked betrayed and horrified, but Tim couldn’t understand why.

“Why was my dad working with him?” She asked.

“More like for him. Your dad’s got a massive debt kiddo.”

Stephanie’s eyes grew wet, and Tim pressed his knee on the man’s neck.

“Where is her mother?”

“Told you,” The man choked out. “Don’t know. You or the police won’t find her.”

“Batman –”

“Batman has bigger problems than your mom.”

She didn’t argue, and Tim watched from the corner of his eye and she seemed to retreat into herself. She believed this random guy, and not Tim’s constant reassurances.

Tim felt his anger spike at her self-perception of unimportance.

“How many more are searching for her?”

“There’s twenty. All across the island, looking just for her.”

Tim’s muscles froze. God he’d messed up. Two he could deal with, maybe even four. But he wasn’t Batman, he was just a kid with some training and an injured girl to protect.

He needed to end this conversation and get her hidden once more.

“Tell your boss he can’t have her when you wake up.”

“What?”

And Tim gave such a hard punch Stephanie saw the man’s nose crunch, the cartilage shattering.

He pulled himself off the ground, then leaned over to Stephanie, raising her from the floor.

“We’re gonna pinch their car, okay? Get down the road a bit. I wanna check your head. But we need to leave. Now.”

“One more second. Okay?” She said. Limping, Stephanie rummaged through both men’s belongings, looking for anything of use. Both of their phones were locked, but she could see their more recent messages on the screen when or if they came in.

“Don’t bother with taking them, they’ll be tracked.”

“One second Tim.”

The phone’s screen was shattered as Stephanie ran her thumb over it.

A message was popped up on the locked screen. The entire text wasn’t visible, but she caught the jist all the same.

“Mom’s in the Narrows!” And she dropped the phone, the back breaking off as she did so. "Don’t know where but…“

“It narrows it down. Hah. That’s good.”

Tim poked his head into the driver’s seat of the car, seeing that the keys were still present. He snorted a laugh at how easy it was. He turned off the GPS and Bluetooth, and gestured Stephanie to get in as well.

She looked back, only to see the cashier from earlier was staring at them through the glass of the shop window, his mouth wide open. She blushed and quickly turned away, crawling into the passenger seat. Before she had pulled the door shut Tim was pulling away, heading in the opposite direction that the men had arrived. He took a few random turns here and there, always heading towards their original destination. Stephanie gripped the dashboard tight, unable to even put on her seat belt. She tried to calm down, but found she couldn’t.

Eventually he pulled up in a dark corner of the city and switched the car off.

They sat in the dark, still breathing heavy.

Stephanie’s breathing wobbled, and became shallow. Tim reached over and cradled her face.

“Steph…”

Stephanie began to cry softly.

“I can’t do this.”

Her breathing spiked, and her tears fell faster. “My dad has been working for a human trafficker. I didn’t think he could go so low and I don’t know where my mom is I don’t know what to do and I’m trusting you but I’m scared of how much I liked that violence and what if I’m just like him,” Her tears made her voice wet and slurred, and she sniffed, undignified and distraught, as the reality of what her father was doing sunk in.

“Steph.”

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this, you don’t deserve this, god I’m sorry…”

“Steph. It’s my choice. I want—”

“But it’s not mine!” She cut him off. “I didn’t choose any of this, I’m just getting pulled around and hiding! I’m not getting a say in anything!”

She was becoming hysterical, Tim could see, and he frantically wiped away large tears from her red cheeks. She looked at him then, the affection being all too much for her. Tim watched as her eyes widened a fraction, like an idea had suddenly occurred to her.

“Stephanie…” He muttered once more. She seemingly made up her mind with a huff, and Tim looked her quizzically. Almost as if from a third-party perspective he watched, practically in slow motion, as she leaned forward and kissed him.

Oh. Okay. This is definitely what I wanted.

#dc #timsteph #my fic tag #tim drake #stephanie brown

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witchyphlossy · 6 years

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Budget and Broom-Closeted Altar Ideas

So, as someone who is partially broom-closeted, and very much on a budget, let me share some tips I’ve learned with you. It’s sort of long, but I may come back and add more stuff to the list later. :)

1: Candles

White can be substituted for any color candle. Tea candles are super cheap and you can find them almost anywhere, and places like Walmart and the dollar store usually carry tea candles on various colors. My grocery store also carries white wax “emergency candles,” that have a long ass burn life. They’re more pricey but you have a logical reason to buy them (power outages) and you won’t have to buy them as often. Also, birthday candles can be used in a pinch as well. I especially like them for spells that require the candle to burn out entirely (I’m impatient), or for travel altars. You can also purchase candle making kits and claim you’ve developed a new hobby. Candle holders are super abundant at local thrift shops as well.

2: Incense

Not only does the dollar store typically carry some cheap incense and holders, but I noticed last night that my grocery store also carries incense and holders in their floral area! Also, in a pinch, a bowl or candle holder of pebbles or sand works really well for holding incense safely. If incense is too hard to explain, try scented candles, wax warmers, or oil diffusers. They’re all more expensive, but reasonably easy to explain. Also, something to think about: incense can also be found in gift sets with the holder, and sometimes boxes of incense (especially cone) will come with a holder. My box of Nag Champa cones came with a censor.

3: Crystals

So, this one really isn’t all that cheap or easily hidden to be honest (unless you buy a lot from Amazon). There’s some sellers on Amazon that sell bulk gemstone or crystal kits by the pound (either raw or tumbled), generally for less than $30 including shipping. It’s going to be a grab bag and you’re not going to be 100% sure what you’re getting, but it’s affordable as hell compared to buying crystals individually, and they work just as well. I managed to pass mine off as “just decoration,” by throwing them in a decorative glas bowl on my desk shelf. You can also explain having them by developing a new interest in jewelry making or geology, or by possibly putting them in the bottom of a vase of fake flowers. Bonus of keeping them in a bowl? Excellent impromptu incense holder!

4: Bowls, chalices, etc.

Again, this one can be sort of hard to explain. “Why do you have one wine glass?” “Real” chalices are fucking expensive (like I paid $16 for mine from a pagan website). The best place to purchase affordable glassware new is the dollar store. They also sometimes offer china/stoneware (like mugs, plates, etc) too, and usually in a variety of colors. Another place to look is local thrift stores. Frequently mismatched sets of things will be sold (like 5 wine glasses, or pairs). You can purchase the mismatched set and simply use four out of the five, or two out of three etc for kitchen ware, and the odd man out can become your chalice. The same goes for bowls. Single teacups are sold pretty often at thrift stores, and some of them are gorgeous. They can easily be used as offering bowls or chalices. Improvisation is one of the biggest gifts a witch can practice!

5: Bells.

Like chalices, bells can be pricey as hell. Thrift stores tend to carry decorative bells made of glass or porcelain, but..... breakage. Like those sorts of bells aren’t meant for daily ringing, if they’re meant to ring at all. I present to you an alternative: jingle bells. You can ge them extremely cheaply at craft stores, during Christmas in the form of ornaments, and my dollar store carries a children’s toy that’s essentially a Velcro band with jingle bells on it to be worn on the wrist. My first improv Bell was just a bunch of jingle bells wired together around a stick, like a handle. My current travel bell is just a Christmas jingle bell ornament on a ribbon loop. They make a gorgeous tinkling sound, and personally I find them more pleasing to the ear than “real” bells. I also have a friend who uses a triangle (like the instrument) rather than a bell, and I’ve heard of people using xylophones (like childrens toys), whistles, recorders/flutes, or wind chimes.

6: Cauldrons

Again, cauldrons are fucking expensive. Imo, you can’t beat a good cast iron cauldron with a lid. Unless you’re looking specifically for something small, a cast iron bean pot/dutch oven is the way to go. I found mine for $11 on Amazon, and it had prime shipping. Free shipping is great because cast iron is fucking expensive.

7: Color Magick

I can not recommend dyed hemp, yarn, ribbon, and embroidery floss enough. They’re reasonably priced (especially the floss), and so easy to find. I also keep a sewing kit with my travel altar for the thread and pins and such. Also, shop around your local thrift shops. Frequently you can find boxes of “sewing notions,” with thread and yarn and ribbon and such. I also use glass beads for color magick, and I’ve found some stuff like water buffalo teeth and gemstone and shell beads too. I’ve even found coral beads!

8: Herbs

You know what works just as well for magick as those herb packets you buy from pagan shops? Herbs from the grocery store. Not only do almost all stores carry an awesome selection of cooking herbs, but some carry more exotic spices in their international departments. I’ve also found some stuff in the tea aisle, like premixed herbs in herbal tea, straight chamomile, peppermint, etc. For travel altars or discreet storage, I purchased “pill towers,” which are essentially little plastic jars that screw together in a tower that are meant for medications. I bought mine at Walmart, but grocery stores usually also carry pill boxes and such.

#budget witchcraft #broom closet #budget friendly pagan #pagan on a budget #witchcraft #pagan #crystals #herbs #color magick #incense #candles #witchy stuff

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sylvaetria · 7 years

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Hi Hi! I've been interested in secular witchcraft for a long time, but i'm finally starting to stop just researching, and I want to try and start practicing! I've collected a bunch of resources, but what are some of the first things you'd suggest picking up from the store? Candles, herbs, oils, etc? Also, any beginner posts you could link me to would be wonderful. I'm all ears! Have a wonderful day

Hey, congrats on deciding to practice and doing your research! Are you excited? Nervous? Enjoying what you’ve seen so far? Is Tumblr your primary resource? :)

I wanna learn so much from new witches omg. (There’s irony in there.)

Well, it honestly depends on what you wanna do and use yourself. Because personally, I picked up a few of each - I got some tealights from WalMart, bought some cheap incense from somewhere else, picked up some dried herbs from the grocery store that I didn’t already have in the kitchen, and found like five or six crystals I liked from Green Earth. I spent maybe like twenty bucks. That was my beginner’s witch kit.

But, again, it all comes down to what you want to use. Are you more interested in working with candles in magic? Candle magic *is* a really easy but effective method of magic, and candles are everywhere, and really cheap. Most spells use candles in them, not necessarily as the focal point of the spell, but they also do wonders for boosting energies. A bag of 100 tea lights goes a long way in witchcraft. Color correspondences can help, but isn’t necessarily required.

Or maybe crystals are where you wanna go. Crystals have amazing energy, but are a bit more on the pricey side. It can also be hard for people who don’t know a lot about them to tell them apart - the “danger” in this is being swindled by people claiming their crystals are something they’re not. Doesn’t mean they won’t work for their “declared” intent, necessarily, but it means you just dropped a lot of money on something worth a tenth of that.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile to work with them, though. Because they’re an amazing tool, really - you just gotta do some more research, and be confident in where you’re buying from. Finding a reliable dealer with decent prices is where it’s at. But then, once you’ve got some crystals, they’re really versatile. They can be used on their own, or in conjunction with other spells, put them in jars and sachets, or in poppets, make grids, use them to charge other things, just stick like ten of them in your pockets - boom, witchcraft.

Oils aren’t something I necessarily recommend, to be honest. Not because they aren’t useful, because they are, just like any other tool can be (just gotta know how to use them). I just don’t know a lot about essential oils. xD If that is the area you wanna go in, however, it’s worthwhile to know that you’re gonna want to do some more research on the topic, and be wary of any allergies you may have, and for the love of god don’t put a crapton of pure oil straight on your skin.

Herbs is a little bit of a tricky area too, especially when using them as medicine. It requires a lot of research and safety if you plan on ingesting herbs for actual remedial purposes. If you just want to use dried herbs in, like, jars and spell bags, it isn’t nearly as bad, but you still want to keep an eye out for any poisonous / toxic plants and allergies. The stuff you can get pre-dried from grocery stores and dollar stores are honestly enough in most cases, and there’s lots of substitutes for more expensive or exotic plants, depending on intent.

If you wanna grow your own herbs too, that’s an option, but another area I don’t know a lot about, so I can’t give you any more advice on that besides do some more research. (It seriously never ends, so I hope you like studying.)

I guess this sort of answers your questions, but not really in the way you wanted. So, long story short, what you pick up depends on what and how you want to practice. However, I’ll give you a list of items I would recommend, purely based on my own craft, but I feel they’re pretty good staples to have all around.

candles - versatile as all hell; can be used on their own or in any other spell; bags of white tea lights are super cheap and easy to find; worry about colors later; scents can be used as correspondences as well but don’t hinder in any way

also, if you can’t have open flames for whatever reason, they have LED / battery powered candles in some dollar stores now; not to mention, tech magic?!

matches - they smell nice, and can light candles; suuuper cheap, but in bulk; unless you’re allergic to sulphur, then just a lighter will work

herbs - dried herbs from the grocery store seriously do the trick just as well as fresh / organic stuff; Bulk Barn / Barrel has a lot of awesome stuff for super cheap too; start off with just a few general / all-purpose ones, and then add to your collection as you go along; it starts to build up over time, trust me

sea salt - cleansing and protection; can be used as a base for most herbal mixtures

rosemary - considered a substitute for most other herbs

basil - has like a shit ton of correspondences

cinnamon is useful to have too

if you wanna curse, pepper flakes, paprika, or cayanne pepper should do the trick

jars - do I even need to explain?; dollar store, man; even thrift stores have some pretty amazing and cool looking bottles and stuff

notebooks - not something necessarily overly witchy, but more so to write down what you learn; trust me, you’ll wanna do that, especially with correspondences; also, sigils

also, though, keeping a blog can be a great way to have a magical book; can be password detected / kept secret; tags are useful for organiazation; and then you have us assholes in the community to hang out with too xD

writing utensils are also kinda required to, you know, write in books; black Sharpies are useful for actually drawing on stuff - candles, sachets, etc.; good for sigil work

scrap fabric - but some cool patterns from thrift stores or whatever; useful for making sachets and poppets

sealable plastic bags can do in a pinch though, really; also can be drawn on with Sharpie for easy sigil application

string / thread - tie up bags, herb bundles; make sachets and poppets; also useful for bindings, and that’s a good skill to know

mini sewing kit - super useful to have in general, and all parts of it can be used for something, somewhere

tea bags - seriously, tea has magical properties too; super discreet; and easy as hell; play around with different flavors for intents

crystals - clear quartz is super cheap and all-purpose; buy like five of them and just use them over and over; again, another thing it might be useful to have like three or four basic ones and then build your collection over time; that’s how most of us get our arsenal of supplies

clear quartz - substitutes for any other crystal

amethyst - super cheap and easy to find; variant of quartz; good for sleep and peace and divination; also purple

tiger’s eye - I’m biased because this is my favorite crystal; good for protection and courage; did I mention it’s awesome to look at?

incense - not necessarily required, but I like to have it; smells nice, useful; so many scents; can be found pretty cheap all over too

again, if you can’t have open flames in your place, you can try those wax melters; definitely pricier, but versatile for magic as well; and I mean, they just smell, so, good; my mom has one with like sugar cookie wax cubes; and I come home and think she’s baking, and I get super excited; but it’s a lie

So, yeah, that’s my list, and reasons for what I wrote. That’s just some ideas to get you started. If you choose a path that doesn’t need those things in them, obviously don’t bother then. And depending on what “type of magic” you wanna do, your basic supply list might be very different. For instance, a sea witch probably won’t care so much about kitchen herbs, and stock up on sand and seaweed, sea shells and salt water.

Since you asked for beginner’s posts, too, you can have my whole list:

Advice for Witchlings: [Part 01]; [Part 02]

[How to Start Being a Witch] (an ask)

[How to Begin to Do Magic, and Other Questions] (an ask)

[Advice to Baby Witches]

[Becoming a Witch] (an ask)

[For a Beginner] (an ask)

[Getting Started]

[How Do You Even Begin?] (tw: gif)

[“I’m Interested in Witchcraft, Where Do I Start?”]

[The Newbie Witch - What Others Often Don’t Tell You About Beginning the Practice]

[9 Practical Tips for New Witches]

[NSFW (Not Safe For Witches): Staying Safe in Magic]

[100 Tips for the Secret Witch]

[St.’s Short and Sweet Guide to (Not Asking Her) How to Get Started in Witchcraft and Magic]

[10 Common Misconceptions of Baby Witches]

[Things I Wish Somebody Had Told Me in the Beginning: Witch Edition]

[Tips for Beginner Witches] (an ask)

[Tips for Beginners] (an ask)

[Tips for Extremely New Witches] (an ask)

[Tips For Those Who Are Considering Witchcraft]

[Top Witch Tips]

[What I Wish I Knew Starting Out]

[“Where Do I Start?”]

[Where to Start] (an ask)

[Witchcraft, Where to Start?]

[Witchling Tips]

I did it! I made a post that wasn’t mostly links! :o Anyway, sorry for my smartass mouth, I was having fun with this. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I hope it gave you some ideas, and helped you out! Good luck! And if you need any more clarification or have more questions, you know where to find me. :D

#witchcraft 101 #supplies #I wrote a post!#long post #resource #masterpost #richtor's lists #richtors lists

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captaingardening100-blog · 5 years

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100+ Gift Ideas for Mum for Mother’s Day

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100+ Gift Ideas for Mum for Mother’s Day

Require some thoughtful gift ideas for Mum for all budgets? Whether “its for” Mother’s Day, Christmas, Mum’s birthday or just to say’ you’re special ‘, here are our suggestions for all cost ranges in mind.

Mother’s Day is one of the biggest Gift Giving days of the year for that special dame in our lives that wiped our butt and boogers, and still rings to check and see if we are okay, even though we are now all grown up. That dame, she is special. She is always there for us. But Mum’s can also be notoriously hard to buy for. My Mum isn’t really into anything which makes her really hard to shop for, I usually end up getting her flowers and earrings every year which is a bit snoozefest.

We cover all budgets- from FREE gifts- right up to fancy gifts worth hundreds of dollars.

Not this year, I’m going to shop around. She has had a big year, and I want to thank her for all the times she picked up my kids from school or did my food shopping because I simply didn’t have day. Thanks Mum.

If you want your business included in this guide- Please Click Here

1. Buy Mum some beautiful new linen from Bedloves

Bedloves has some great 100% pure flax linen bed sheets and doona coverings at reasonable costs if you want to give your mum some understated luxury in the bedroom. These sheets are environmentally and socially sustainable( GOTS) and come with sizing labels in the bottom right-hand corner and a labeled storage purse so you will never lose a sheet in that linen closet again!

2. Fluffy Dressing Gown and Slippers

All Mum’s love a beautifully soft dressing gown to snuggle into in the Winter.

We love these Mercer+ Reid Ultra Soft Bathrobes. Stockist: Adairs

3. A Diner’s Delight Gift Hamper

A delicious hamper from Byron Bay Gifts.

Stockist: Byron Bay Gifts 4. A New Coffee Machine

If Mum loves her coffee in the morning, why not upgrade her coffee machine. Don’t forget to include some coffee beans or pods!

The ultimate in coffee machines is’ The Oracle’ from Breville. Cheapest at Kogan 5. A Coffee Bean Subscription

Buy Mum a coffee bean subscription! There are loads of different stockists now that will post your Mum a monthly supply of her favourite coffee beans.

Beanhunter Coffee Subscription( 3 boxes from $58.50) Rumble Coffee Roasters Subscription Box( From $ 66)

6. A Breakfast Tray

Mum can have breakfast in bed every day without get crumbs in the sheets with this breakfast tray !!

Stockist: Adairs

7. A Embossed Leather Jewellery Box

This gorgeous leather embossed jewellery box is lockable( to keep little hands away) and features a mirror, lift-out tray and sections for rings and earrings.

Stockist: Pottery Barn

8. A Magazine Subscription

Does Mum have a favourite magazine that she loves? Why not get her a six or twelve month subscription. It is the gift that does keep on devoting!

Grab magazine subscriptions from iSubscribe

9. A Cheese Making Kit

If Mum has always talked about making her own cheese , now she knows how. This is a soft cheese kit- but there are also Hard Cheese Kits, Feta Kits and Camembert Kits.

Stockist: Green Living Australia

Stockist: Green Living Australia 10. Silk Sleeping Mask

If Mum travelings a lot or simply has difficulty sleep, this luxurious silk sleeping mask will pamper her skim and keep out the illuminate. Built of 100% Mulberry Silk, it is an item she will have forever.

Stockist: Pottery Barn

11. A Foodie Subscription Box

Subscription Boxes are all the rage at the moment and there are some beautiful ones available. This is a Foodies Collective Discovery Box with all Australian artisan food

Stockist: iSubscribe

12. The Gigi Ete Lounge PJ Set

All Mum’s wish we can stay in our pyjamas all day. But if the jammy jams are’ decent’ enough like this set, you can wear them all day and they don’t look so’ I just got out of bed ‘. Lounge wear is a thang!

Stockist: Hard to Find

13. A Twin Set of Silk Pillowcases

Silk Pillowcases are brilliant as they don’t’ fluff’ up your hair when you are sleeping( so less breakage)- and silk is also very gentle on your skin. These pillowcases are 100% Mulberry Silk and are naturally hypoallergenic and breathable.

Stockist: Hard to Find

14. A Bellabox Subscription

All girls love their fairlies. Bellabox sends out a beauty box to your Mum’s door every month, filled with 5+ beauty samples to try at home. You get to try the latest and greatest skincare, makeup and beauty items before everyone else- and it is a really affordable and thoughtful gift.

Stockist: Bellabox

15. A Pair of Mermaid Yoga Pants

I love these! Activewear can be so boring, but there are now cute and nerdy ones for every personality! These suck in your potbelly, support every move and smooth over any imperfections.

Stockist: Booty Sculpted

16. A Home Made Ice Cream Kit

If Mum loves ice cream- this is the ultimate gift to build her favorite recipes at home! The kit includes a Cuisinart Frozen Dessert Maker, Dessert sauce pack with four different flavors, a professional non-sick ice cream scoop, three tubs of confectionery to top the ice cream- all bundled in a gift box with a ribbon.

Stockist: Adrenaline

17. A Wine Glass Bottle

If Mum loves her wine, why not get her a real glass !!!

Stockist: Yellow Octopus

18. Friends Trivial Pursuit

600 questions on Mum’ s favourite Tv display of all time!

Stockist: Yellow Octopus

19. A Silk Scarf

A silk scarf is a beautiful and thoughtful gift for Mum- because it is a luxurious item that she can wear forever. Our pick is this Italian Luxury 100% Pure Silk Twill Satin 90 cm square scarf that can also be worn as a shawl.

Stockist: Dreamer Sydney

20. The Big Book of Kombucha

Learn how to brew your own Kombucha at home. This book has over 400 recipes for a fraction of the store bought price.

Stockist: Green Living Australia

21. An Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Series 3( 42 mm in silver) is perfect for all female who want the convenience of a phone without having to carry one with you. Just snap on the watch and off you go. Has a built in activity tracker so you can achieve your fitness aims, and even speak to Siri with the built-in speaker.

Stockist: Kogan

22. StylPro Makeup Brush Cleaner

Make sure that Mum’s makeup brushes are impeccably clean with this Brush Cleaner. It utilizes centrifugal spins so that brushes are literally ready to re-use immediately.

Stockist: The Shaver Shop

23. A Personalised Mother and Daughter Star Chart

Have a superstar chart that shows the sky at the exact moment both Mum and Daughter were born.

Stockist: Print Inspired

24. Momma and Me Shirts

Perfect for the Mum with a little one- these Momma and Me shirts are super adorable !!!!

Stockist: Baby K Designs

25. It’s Been a Rough Day Wine Glass

Mum will love this wine glass- it has been professionally laser engraved on a crystal glass that holds 350 ml.

Stockist: Giftware Direct

26. Welcome to Wellness Subscription Box

If Mum doesn’t get a whole lot of time to herself, maybe get her a’ Welcome to Wellness’ Subscription Box which gives her a some luxury and pamper time.

Stockist: iSubscribe

27. Construct a Homemade Coupon Book to Do Chore Around the House

This is a great( and free) one for kids to make at home. A booklet of chores that Mum can give you at any time- and you have to obey!

28. A Google Home

Play podcasts whilst you are cook dinner, ask Google what the weather will be like today without having to get up from the lounge chair!

Stockist: Kogan

29. Pink Marble Effect Acrylic Bangle Pack

This bangle pack from Lovisa is simply darling- and extremely inexpensive! The bangles can be worn all together, or separate- it is up to Mum.

Stockist: Lovisa for $17.99

30. Dyson Hair Dryer

The Dyson Supersonic hair dryer is engineered for fast dryer and accuracy styling at the same time.

Stockist: The Shaver Shop

31. A Life Assistant for the Busy Mum !

Give someone the gift of day this Christmas. What better way to show someone how much you care than by getting them period with their very own Life Assistant. Whatever there is a requirement to, a gift voucher for a little extra assist will go a long way to easing the mental load.

32. A Dinnerly Subscription

Give Mum the gift of gourmet. Dinnerly provide all the ingredients and step by step instructions on how to cook a quick and tasty masterpiece! Dinnerly has snacks from $5.75 per person.

Use this code to get $15 off your first box and $15 off the second box .~ ATAGEND

33. It’s Wine Time Gift Box

Wine and Chocolate in a beautiful box! Perfect for Mumma Bear. There are four different types of wines in this gift box- in CANS !!!!

Stockist: Brewquets

34. A Louis Vuitton Phone Case

Make Mum feel like she’s from Beverly Hills with a Louis Vuitton iPhone Case. Available in different iPhone models.

Stockist: Octop USA

Shipped from The United States

35. A Sewing Machine

Most dames would love to try a sewing machine at some time or another- I know I’ve always wanted one even though I have no idea how to use them. This one is cute in pink !!!

Stockist: Spotlight

36. A Bottle of Dom Perignon

What can tell Mum you love her more than a fancy bottle of French wine!

Stockist: Wine.com

37. An Outdoor Resort Hammock

Let Mum relax by reclining on a stylish resort style hammock. Holds up to 220 kg.

Stockist: Zanui

38. A Cheese and Wine Hamper

This hamper looks simply delicious- the best thing is that you can choose which wine and cheese that you want- so it is fully customisable!

Stockist: Gourmet Baskets

Price: $149.00

39. A Soda Stream Machine

Make all your favourite sparkling beverages at home with your own Soda Stream!

Stockist: Kogan

40. A Gurney

Every gal loves to gurney- we likely love it more than the men-folk …. So satisfying….

Our Pick: The K’A’Rcher Premium Full Control Plus

41. A HoMedics Pedi Luxe Foot Spa

Did foot spa’s ever genuinely go out of fashion? This one has a built in heater, has double the bubbles, 4 massage rollers and an easy pour water spout.

Stockist: Kogan

Price: $85.00+ delivery

41. A Mystery Box of 12 Wines( Mixed Red and White )

If you aren’t sure what brands of wine you would like or simply want an element of surprise with your bottles of wine, grab this Mystery Box. 12 bottles of wine, mixed white wine and red wine.

Stockist: Kogan for $59

42. A Gourmet Gift Hamper

A gift basket full of tasty gourmet goodies. All Australian fine foods and wine.

Stockist: Macarthur Baskets

43. Get Mum a Personal Stylist

Many Mum’s lose their sense of style after having babies … because every item we own objective up covered in vomiting .. If Mum is in a rut as to what to wear, why not get her a Stylist to help her style her wardrobe and be used to help choose pieces that are right for her!

We recommend Threadicated

44. Put Money Towards Get The Surgery Mum is Wanting

If Mum has always wanted to have her teeth fixed, a new situated of boob or lap band surgery – why not help contribute to her’ Surgery Fund’ I seriously require a nose job!

Get funding through MacCredit

46. A Weaving Starter Kit

Weaving is highly therapeutic- this is a small solid timber weaving loom along with yarn.

Stockist: Green Living Australia

47. A GHD Platinum White Styler

The latest and greatest in hair straighteners. The GHD Platinum adapts the heat to ensure your hair doesn’t burn!

Stockist: GHD

48. A Kate Spade Ring Holder

Have a safe and pretty place for Mum to maintain all of her rings. I love this gorgeous ring holder by Kate Spade- all of her stuff is so girly!

Stockist: Macy’s

49. A Bunch of Flowers

Flowers are always very traditional for Mother’s Day. I love this Mother’s Day bunch of blooms with soft pink roses, purple alstroemeria and white daisies.

Stockist: Petals Network

50. A Face Shaping Palette by Sephora

An all-in-one palette packed with 12 silky-smooth, Amazonian clay-powered tints that play with light and shadow to #slaywithclay. It’s your can’t-live-without-it beauty wardrobe- whether you’re feeling the low-key or high-key look.* Benefits* These essential, universally flattering shades sculpt, define and highlight your features. Nine neutral-to-smoky shadows( 6 matte, 3 lustre) generate unlimited wearable looks, while three face powders( including blush, bronzer and highlighter) add definition and build the skin light. Each creamy, microfine powder is infused with Amazonian clay, so it offers rich payoff that mixes to a natural, long-wearing finish without creasing, caking or flaking.

Stockist: Sephora

51. A Chanel Peony Art Print

This premium quality giclee art publish has been produced on German induced heavy weight( 230 gsm/ matte finish) fine art stock use use archival quality inks resulting in a superior print suitable for museum or gallery display.

Stockist: Hard to Find

Free but Thoughtful Gifts for Mum: 52. Clean the house for Mum

And then build her dinner!

53. Painted Hand-prints of the kids in a frame

A gift that you can keep forever. Grab some water based paint and paint your child’s hands and press them onto a piece of cardboard and allow to dry. Then cut the cardboard to fit into a frame. A simple, inexpensive and beautiful gift for Mother’s Day.

54. A framed poem or the words ‘Mummy” written by your little ones 55. Take Mum to a country market

Here is a list of where to find all the best country marketplaces :P TAGEND

Queensland Victoria New South Wales South Australia Western Australia Tasmania

56. Historical Walks or Heritage Trails

These are free and ego guided walks- here is just a few that I could find :P TAGEND

Gympie Heritage Trails Toowoomba 57. Cemetery walk or ghost tour

These are fantastic fun- and there are many all over the world. Here are just a few that we have found :P TAGEND

Gold Coast Pentridge Prison Ghost Tour( Melbourne ) The Lunatic Asylum Ghost Tour( Ararat ) Old Melbourne Ghost Tour Point Cook Homestead Ghost Tour( Melbourne ) Haunted Sydney Ghost Tour( The Rocks, Sydney ) Adelaide Gaol Ghost Tour

58. Organise a Progressive Dinner with the family. 59. Have a Board Game Marathon 60. Organise a fancy Breakfast in Bed 61. Watch her favourite movie without complaining( supplying popcorn and a foot rub) 62. Salt Dough Gifts from the Kids 63. Devote the Gift of Cookies in a Jar

Cookie in a Jar is a great inexpensive gift idea for Mum !

64. Buy her a Doubled pass to the cinema so she can watch any movie she wants! 65. Rock N Roll Dancing Lessons 66. Have beverages and dinner on a Tall Ship !

Twilight Dinner Cruise on Sydney Harbour The Tall Ship Enterprize Williamstown( Melbourne)

67. A Beauty voucher for a manicure, pedicure or facial 68. A Hair voucher for a Cut and Colour 69. A massage voucher 70. Organise to swim with the dolphins 71.Ballroom Dancing Lessons 72. Hot Air Balloon Experience

They are all over the place- but Mum will remember its own experience forever!

Yarra Valley( VIC ) Gold Coast( QLD ) Barossa Valley( SA ) Melbourne CBD( VIC ) Canberra( ACT ) Perth( WA ) Orange( NSW ) Byron Bay( NSW ) Cairns( QLD ) Alice Springs( NT ) Tasmania

73. Computer lessons( if a wannabe techno savvyMum) 74. Go Ten Pin Bowling as a family 75. Jewellery Making Workshop 76. Book a Bed& Breakfast weekend 77.Learn the Flying Trapeze

If Mum is a bit of a daredevil- look at booking her a lesson on learning the Flying Trapeze !!!!!!

Melbourne Sydney Brisbane Byron Bay

78. Wine Tasting Course or a Winery Tour

If your Mum loves wine, there is a variety of wine tasting courses or wine tours she can attend depending on where she is !!!!

Yarra Valley Wine Tour Wine Savor with Gourmet Cheeses in Sydney Champagne Tasting in Sydney Wine Education Class and Lunch, Swan Valley( Western Australia )

79. Invest in an educational Course for Mum 80. Tickets to a theatre reveal, celebration or concert

2019 is a big year for theater displays and concerts. Here are just a few that you can purchase tickets for right now!

Metallica

Metallica is touring Australia in October. Grab tickets here

Coachella 2019

Probably the biggest festival in the world. Grab tickets here

Justin Timberlake

Jussy is touring the United States in March 2019. Grab tickets here

Other Tours:

Ariana Grande The Beach Boys Norah Jones Offspring Tim McGraw Rob Thomas Ben Kweller

81. Enjoy a High Tea

A High Tea is a fun and fancy day out with the girls. Many of the fancier hotels do them- here are some that I know about :P TAGEND

High Tea on a Brisbane Paddlewheeler Sydney Harbour High Tea Sea Cruise

High Tea in the United States:

Alice’s Tea Cup( New York City ) The Ritz-Carlton Central Park( New York City ) The Millennium Biltmore Hotel( Los Angeles ) Langham Huntington Hotel( Pasadena )

82. Go for a drive in the country 83. A Chocolate Making Workshop

Everyone love feeing chocolate , now you are able to construct your own gourmet chocolates in the convenience of your own kitchen! The Ultimate Chocolate Workshop will show you how to :P TAGEND

Make ganache Melt chocolate Temper chocolate Mould chocolate Hand dipping Chocolate decorating

You will learn a variety of tricks and techniques allowing you to create a number of different sweet, chocolate treats to impress your friends and family.

Discover how to make a ganache for truffles, for cake and as a dessert, the key to melting chocolate and how to temper darknes, white and milk chocolate use a household bowl.

Locations: Sydney $150 Melbourne $150

84. Lunch at the local Pub 85. Visit the decide of Neighbours- The Tv Show 86. A journey to the beach 87. A trip to the zoo

Some of the best zoo’s to visit include :P TAGEND

Taronga Zoo( New South Wales ) Werribee Open Range Zoo( Victoria ) Featherdale Wildlife Park( Sydney ) Adelaide Zoo Currumbin Wildlife Santuary Australia Zoo( Queensland) Perth Zoo( Western Australia )

88. Soap Inducing Course 89. Lunch or dinner cruise 90. Belly Dancing Lessons 91. Weekend on a houseboat Gift Ideas for the Active and Outdoorsy Mum :

92. A beautiful herb growing kit 93. Take your Mum SKYDIVING !!!!!! 94. Gardening Gloves and Tools 95. Do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb 96. A potted plant in a fancy pot 97. Picnic at the local park 98. Electric Bicycle ride 99. A day out on a motorcycle with the family 100. Organise a Deep Sea Fishing journey 101. Go canoeing or white water rafting 102. A GPS watch for hiking 103. New Yoga Mat 104. Outdoors gear, tops, shorts 105. Latest athletics shoes 106. New sleeping bag or Swag 107. Water purifier 108. Waterproof/ life proof camera( Go Pro ) 109. Trendy outdoors rain jacket 110. Outdoors hat or cap 111. Headlamp/ Headtorch for hiking, camping or riding at night 112. Outdoors bag/ backpack to pack all accessories for any outdoors activity Gift Ideas for the Book Loving Mum:

Check out the most popular novels trending at the moment !

Cheese Making Books

A Romance Novel

Latest Crime or Thriller

Books on Mind, Body and Spirit

History or Military Book

Crossword Puzzle or Suduko Book

Biography

New Trendy or homemade Book markers

Book bag or library purse

Online Book Discount or library card

A new Book read nook

Relaxing book reading candles

A Matching Book defined

Meet and Greet with her favourite writer

Take her to a book signing

Go on an ancient library tour around the city

Reading pins

New Stylish Reading Glasses

Gifts Ideas for the Online Shopping Crazy Mum:

Subscription to shopping sites such as Ozsale, membership mean you get great deals all year round( I’m a tad addicted …)

Book her a seat on a Warehouse Outlet Shopping Day

Purchase Gift Cards to her favourite shops

Take her to shopping expos with her favourite items, clothes, make-up ect

Take her to try out op shopping or vice versa, go to the best decorator shops around

Grab Mum an online voucher. Here are some great notions:

Gift Ideas for the Mum that Likes to Travel:

A new situated of luggage

A pair of stillnes headphones for the plane.

A Crossbody Handbag

Packing Cubes

Hiking Boots or Good Walking Shoes

Compression Socks

Deposit on the Holiday of a Lifetime

Gift Ideas for the Foodie Mum:

A fancy bottle of Olive Oil( you can get different flavours now too- get a whole define !)

Chocolate Making Workshop

A hot cooked champagne breakfast

A good bottle of wineand a decide of wine glasses

Cookies in a Jar

Homemade shortbread

A home cooked cooked dinner- by you!

A chocolate fountain

A platter of her favourite nibbles like sundried tomatoes, gooey cheese and water crackers

A wine and cheese appreciation course

A yoghurt attaining kit

A cheese inducing kit

A homemade pie( like Lemon Meringue )

New saucepan set

Cookbooks

Gift pack of spices

Homemade chutneys and fancy butters etc

Cooking Classes

New chopping board and knife

Knife sharpener

A Juicer

Food Dehydrator

Stick Blender

Ice Cream Maker

Selection of imagination tea’s and a teacup

A bench top Pizza Oven

A Food Vacuum Sealer

Gourmet cookery class

Cheese inducing course

Home Delivered Cheese Making Kit

Electronic kitchen scales

Gift Ideas for the Fashionista Mum:

Some shops that you can buy online or just get her a voucher so she can choose her own!

The Iconic has a great range, a little on the pricey side, but good if you are off somewhere special.

Have your Mum Design and Make her own shoes !

Atomic Cherry has loadings of Rockabilly fashion- just beautiful- I buy most of clothing there!

Crossroads is a discount women’s garment store but they now sell online.

Cotton On Clothing have an online store and if you sign up you get an additional 30% off! Great basic pieces.

Ebay isn’t just for second-hand clothing- there are loads of great new apparel stores!

Sussan has a clearance segment online! Great for pj’s and women’s basics.

Target also has an online clearance segment! I get a tad excited when I watch’ clearance’ on any website!

Asos are US based but ship great pieces to Australia for very few. They have a great range of maternity dresses too!

Zodee are great for swimwear and underwear , not always the cheapest but their sales are terrific.

Birdsnestcomes highly recommend by our Facebook follower.

ModCloth is a US site but ships worldwide. Great little attires and outfits- and they have a terrific review section. Highly recommend!

Stop Staring is very glamorous and has some beautiful cocktail dresses fit for any occasion.

Pin Up Boutique has both cocktail and day to day wear.

Heartbreaker Fashion has some divine outfits.

Gift Ideas for the Arty or Crafty Mum:

Scrapbooking, painting, drawing or Twilling class

Pottery or ceramics classes

A new Sewing Machine

Dressmaking Dummy

Set of paints and canvasses

Drawing or Painting Lessons

Gift vouchers for an art supplier

Do an’ Art Experience’ tour

Trendy Arts carry container

Useful canvas easel

A new camera

Adult colouring or drawing volume

Sewing needles and threads

Needle pointing tools

New Glue gun or crafts tools

Crafts Storage instances, jars, shelving

Gift cards to mums favourite crafts or art stores

Gift Ideas for the Tech and Computer Savvy Mum:

A Kindle

The latest Ebook

New Headphones or Earphones

A Tile Dongle that will help you find your keys or purse if you have lost them

Latest trendy Laptop Case for all her gadgets

Cable case to store charges and other cables

Fitbit or Apple watch

New keyboard or iPad keyboard lawsuit

A wrist held phone case or new design case

An iPad stand

Wall mount shelf for devices

A smart camera

Smart Bracelet

A high-tech alarm clock

Multiple device charger

New tech coffee machine

Storage or USB, SD cards

Tile Dongle that will find your keys- from Amazon

Touch Screen Monitor

Coloured Wireless Mouse

Laptop Pillow( with fan)

Star Wars USB

Hard Drive to maintain all the latest TV presents

Subscription for Pay TV

New Mobile Phone

Gift Ideas for the Fit and Healthy Mum:

Personal educate conference

Treadmill

Exercise Bike

Book an overseas holiday of a lifetime( with 70% off )

Skipping Rope

Zumba Classes

Pilates DVD

New Yoga Mat

Beautiful fitness wear( I love Lululemon and Lorna Jane !)

Kayaking weekend

New Running Shoes

Weights or Kettle Bells

Heart Rate Monitor

Pedometer

Book or Subscription to the Michelle Bridges 12 WBT

Subscription to Weight Watchers( only if she REQUESTS that !!!)

The Home Body Mum:

Gift Voucher from Freedom Furniture

A DNA Test from Ancestry.com

Beauty and Pampering Ideas:

New make-up( We love Nude by Nature !)

A new hair straightener

A Hair Curler or Set of Hot Curlers

New Hair Dryer

Fancy new Hand Cream

Hair Extensions

Fancy shower cap

A new Mud Mask

Make-up Lessons

Home Spray Tanning Machine

Bottle of good Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to slather on body and hair

Gel Nail Kit with light

New Skin Care Kit

Gift Voucher for Microdermabrasion from your local beauty salon

Eyelash extensions

Perfume or Body Wash

Teeth whitening kit

An essential oil kit with oil burner

Gift Ideas for the Mum that is hard to buy for.

A new jumper or coat

A Magazine Subscription

A subscription to a Family Tree Website to find out about the family history.

An automatic card shuffler and a few packs of new cards

A fresh fruit or vegetable basket

New sheets for the bed( run the 1000 thread count !)

A new Doona cover and fancy pillows

A new pillow

Set of earrings

Shoe Cleaning Kit

A Milliners Course with High Tea

A Steam Press

Car Cleaning Kit

Set of pearls- all girls love pearl!

Photography Course

A wine fridge

New Car Seat Covers

These are 100 Gifts Ideas for Mum- do you have any to add ???

Read more: stayathomemum.com.au

#christmas #featured #frugal living #gifts #mothers day #occasions #xmas gifts

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photomaniacs · 7 years

Photo

How to Make Camera Case Dividers for Less Than $13 http://ift.tt/2vjKm7H

I’m as interested in an “easy life” as much as the next person, so if somebody else has already done the hard work of making a product for me, and I can purchase it for a reasonable price, I’m all over it. After all why make life hard for yourself if you don’t have too. Unfortunately there are times when you literally can’t purchase what you need and the only option is to get all arts-and-crafts on the problem!

I recently decided to upgrade my flash-head carrying bags from the old, long, soft and cumbersome kit bags to the sleek, compact and robust Peli cases. These new 1440 Peli cases hold three of my strobes upright, side-by-side. This upgrade not only offers me far more protection on the heads but it also makes it a lot easier to transport them with their wheels. But although they fit my three strobes perfectly, I needed some way of separating them inside to avoid them bashing against one another in transit.

Thankfully Peli does offer many varying solutions to this problem including foam and of course their own standard dividers but alas they did not have the correct inserts for what I needed for separating the lights and I would have had to remove too much foam for it to be effective.

There is one other option as well for all you Peli case fans and that’s the TrekPak dividers. I love the simplistic nature of these, but unfortunately TrekPak don’t make them for the size Peli case I have.

So when money can’t help you, the only option is to make your own dividers, and thankfully it’s actually pretty easy. This quick tutorial is for making dividers for my Peli case but exactly the same thing can be applied to smaller soft camera bags too.

What you will need

Fairly stiff Cardboard

High density foam (not as tricky to find as you might think)

Sharp craft knife

Metal ruler to cut straight lines

Tape measure to ……measure stuff

Your preferred fabric (I personally used Nylon and that’s what I would recommend)

Velcro-style strips (preferably with self adhesive sticky-backs)

Needle and thread (This is the worst part but bear with me)

Stapler (optional)

Cardboard

I shouldn’t need to explain this one I’m sure but if you’re stuck, just stack up two or three layers of cereal box cardboard to make one thicker piece. The cardboard is only there to offer additional support and is sandwiched between two pieces of foam. So don’t worry, it will be completely hidden and nobody will ever know that you still love Lucky Charms.

High Density Foam

Like I mentioned before, this is actually really easy to get a hold of via sites like eBay who will sell it to you in small quantities. Here’s a link to the one I used 60″x20″ High Density Foam. Mine cost around £4.85 (~$6.30) and it was the thinnest foam at a quarter of an inch thick.

Fabric

This is something that you’ll need to decide for yourself but my recommendation is the Nylon. This fabric is essentially made of lots of interlinked plastic threads that means its harder to tear or rip as soon as you cut into it like other fabrics. This is very useful for us as we’ll be making lots of thread holes close to its edges, so unless you’re a master seamstress it just makes our lives a lot easier. Here’s link to the sheet I got: 4oz Waterproof Black PU Coated Nylon Fabric. I bought a meter of this black fabric for around £3.75 (~$4.89) but you can obviously get whatever color you’d prefer to match you specific bag.

Velcro-style Strips

This is that ‘hook & loop’ stuff that makes all the noise. You’ll need enough of it for the size of the project you wish attempt but I got a meter of it for £1.19. You’re looking for the ‘hook’ part though as nearly all camera cases and bags have the ‘loop’ part as their lining, meaning that you can place your dividers anywhere inside. Here’s a link to the strip I bought: 1m 20mm Black Self Adhesive Hook & Loop Fastening. Whatever you decide to go for it would be my recommendation that you get the self adhesive ones as again this will make your life a lot easier. The sticky side is the one covered in the white strip on one side in the picture.

Needle and Thread

This is the worst bit but to really make your camera dividers stand the test of time you’ll need to do a little bit of sewing. WAIT! Before you close this window, you don’t need any prior knowledge and it really is pretty quick and easy so I promise its worth doing. I had four pretty large panel dividers to make for my two cases and it took me about an hour to do them by hand. If you have access to a sewing machine (and a fully trained operator) though this is literally 5 minutes work. Obviously, if you have smaller panels to make it’ll take no time at all. I’m sure you already have thread at home somewhere but if you don’t, here’s what I bought: Machine Thread 120s Spun Polyester 1000YD. And no I have no clue why on Earth I bought a THOUSAND YARDS of thread :O Pretty sure that’s me done for LIFE!

Making the Dividers

Step 1

First off you’ll need to measure the space for the dividers. Measure the inside of your case or bag so that you can cut out your cardboard. My Peli case has a slanted side on one side so I had to account for that too.

Step 2

Next up you’ll need to translate those measurements to your cardboard. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to take care cutting the dividers out.

Step 3

Now that you’ve got you cardboard cutout, place it on top of your foam and cut around it again. You’ll need two pieces of foam for each piece of cardboard as we’ll actually be sandwiching the cardboard between the two.

Step 4

Next up we need to cut our fabric. To do this I placed my stack of two bits of foam and sheet of cardboard and allowed the fabric to hang over by about 1-2 inches all the way around.

We need this extra width to allow for the Velcro-style flaps to extend beyond the width of the actual divider.

To reduce the amount of sewing I also just folded the fabric back on itself to sandwich the whole lot in the middle rather than cutting two pieces of fabric top and bottom.

Step 5

Once you have your fabric, remove the foam and cardboard and turn it inside-out and begin to sew around the outside of two sides. Once you’ve done that, turn the whole thing inside-out again to reveal the proper side which will in turn hide all of your horrendous sewing work….just speaking from experience

Start to sew up your divider pocket by sewing along two sides (middle pic) ensuring you have one open side. When you’re done simply turn the pocket inside out to hide the ‘handiwork’ (right hand image).

Step 6

Now place your sandwiched foam and cardboard inside the fabric pocket via the one open end. This next step is more personal preference than anything but apart from looking as ugly as all hell this is actually a great way to hold everything in place when you start to sew it up. With the foam and cardboard inside, I actually went around and stapled it all into place. Once you’ve finished sewing along the line of staples you simply remove the staples and you’re done. Of course there is no shame in just stapling the whole thing in this very manly way and leaving it. It serves its purpose and nobody will see it in you bag …… but I’ll know.

You can see in the right hand image that I’ve stapled all the way around where I need to sew. This makes life a LOT easier without the foam ad cardboard moving about inside when you’re sewing.

Step 7

Once you’ve stapled it, proceed to sew around the line of staples. This will ensure everything stays where it’s meant to and leaves you flaps on either side to attach the Velcro-style hook and loop fastener strips.

Once you’re done with the sewing you can remove the staples.

Above you can see this is the most time-consuming step. Firstly staple everything in place (left hand shot), next sew along the staple line (middle image) and then finally remove the staples (right hand shot).

Step 8

Now all that’s left to do is affix your Velcro-style strips down each of the sides and you’re done.

In my case the ‘loop’ section of Velcro-style strips only extends two-thirds of the way up the case so that’s why I only put the ‘hook’ part of the Velcro-style strip two-thirds of the way up the divider. I would recommend you put as much ‘hook’ as you have ‘loop’ in your case.

Congratulations!

You did it, you made a whole bunch of camera case dividers for just a handful of dollars! Plus I’m pretty sure you can now add seamstress to the C.V.

Remember: I know I’ve just shown you how to make these camera case dividers for my large case but all the same ideas and techniques are just as applicable for far smaller camera bags too.

The same principles learnt here can make dividers big or small to fit any bag

Now that you have your camera case dividers all finished its time to insert them into your case and never speak about how horrendous your sewing skills are ever again.

As always if you have any questions or queries feel free to fire away in the comments below. Also if you know of anywhere or anybody who actually makes bespoke dividers for all shapes and sizes then let me know too.

About the author: Jake Hicks is an editorial and fashion photographer based in Reading, UK. He specializes in keeping the skill in the camera and not just on the screen. You can find more of his work and writing on his website, Facebook, 500px, Instagram, Twitter, and Flickr. This article was also published here.

Go to Source Author: Jake Hicks If you’d like us to remove any content please send us a message here CHECK OUT THE TOP SELLING CAMERAS!

The post How to Make Camera Case Dividers for Less Than $13 appeared first on CameraFreaks.

July 19, 2017 at 09:05PM

#photo photography art camera cameras

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voxplusherizes · 7 years

Text

April Ramble: Eye Troubles, Hair Uncertainties, and Doll Instanity

I’m gonna try to do a monthly update about stuff from now on.

So, Lots of stuff has happened. and at the same time lots of stuff ...hasn’t...happened.

Eyes:

I’ve finished Erasii’s mouth and right eye. However, my confidence with dealing with resin came back to bite me in the ass. Severl years ago, i tried to start a project where i would make large plushes (like Erasii’s size with a wildly different pattern) or all the remnants and i started with Azur. I didn’t get past sewing the arms and legs, and thats because i started on the eyes right away. I used the exact same methode as this time: sculpt an eye from polymer clay, make a mold, cast the eye dome, attach a photo of the eye behind it. Simple. easy. Lmao. Nope. I recall casting three eyes and every one of the had bubbles. every one of them was cloudy. one was very sticky. I gave up back then, and the project was since abandoned.

Until two weeks ago, where I thought i’d done enough research to know how to do it right. Except i forgot that resin has a fuckin vendetta against me i swear to god.

The first eye attempt developed holes at the dome, aka: the front of the eye. This irritated me because when i poured the resin, it was super clear for two hours before i checked it and suddenly: a fuckton of bubbles. I havn’t no idea where they came from. So i tried again (also tried to cover the first attempt in more resin after pokeing holes to the bubbles, which.....ended poorly.) and poured another cast. i watched this version religiously, and it was amazeingly clear! I thought it went perfect.....until i went to check if i could remove it after four days of letting it cure and it was still completely liquid. two extra days did nothing. Evidently, I did not stir it properly enough (i call bullshit, i stirred for three minutes. i timed it.) and i had to scoop the resin into the trash and clean the mold. by far the most agaonizeing part of this one was that it was still completely bubbleless like w h y must u hurt me.

By this point, I’m incredibly irritated. Whenever I get the measureing and stirring correct, my cast developes bubbles for no damn reason. whenever my cast doesn’t develope bubbles, it doesn’t cure. I have browsed forum after forum, video after video, did every trick i could find, fallowed the instructions to the T. and still, my resin has failed to turn out.

I am torn, honestly. I am so pissed at my inability to cast resin properly that i’m determined to keep trying to get it right. but at the same time, i’m wasteing resin and not making any imporvments. on the other side, My mom has a coworker who owns a jewlery buiseness with her husband and most of their peices use a really nice clear casting material. I’m wondering if I could ask them if they’d be willing to make me a complete eye as a commission. I havn’t any idea how they make their casts, however (i assume molds, but not sure) so i’m not sure. i’m also unsure if their casting material is a type of glass. I’ll ask about the durability of the material, and keep it as an option if everything else fails.

I currently have a third eye in the mold. i havn’t checked it since i poured it. i’m scared to, thb. i don’t want to be dissapointed.

Dragon:

On a more lighthearted note, If yall rememeber my dragon pattern from a while ago, i started on that plush. Originally i was just going to work on it until i got the rest of the stuff to finish erasii, but since his eye is taking forever and i havn’t been able to get the yarn to the correct length for his hair, i’ve gotten a lot of it done. the wings and batting inside are completely done (witht he exception of turning and sewing the finger details+stuffing) which was the largest part of the project. I started working ont he gold tail decor but i need to pull out an entire side since the peice didn’t match up properly. i was going to leave it, but i dont want her to look ugly int he end so about two hours of sewing earlier are down the drain Lol.

Hair:

Returning to Erasii, for more bad news, I’ve decided I can’t use yarn for his hair. i can’t get it long enough. I also can’t make a wig for him like i wanted to try, because i forgot his horns existed. Instead, i’ve decided to order saran hair. This....doesn’t sit well with me. I was going to try wefts this time, but i dont feel comfortable attching them dirrectly to his head. but i havn’t any idea how else to attach them either. i was thinking maybe glueing? or somehow sewing the hair directly into the head? the bangs and sides are the main ones i want to look nice since the back of erasii’s head is litterally just A Mess of short hair. I dunno. i’m ordering a crapton of hair, so we’ll see what i can do when i have it in my hands.

Dolls:

I’ve made the mistake of watching doll customizations. and i wanted to do one. except i couldnt make up my mind, and now i have three planned whoOPS

The first one is Pumpkin Pie, a pumpkin themed girl I want to make arund halloween. I have an orange body thats faceless and lacking hair bc it was from a create your own monster kit. she’s the perfect starter.

The second one was the original one i wanted to make, Nyoul. My little girly boy with a taste for cupcakes and human flesh. He was the reason i first went through the way-too-big box of dolls my mom and i bought years ago (over 500 dollars worth like srsly.) to find a duplicate to tear apart. but surpriseingly, we didn’t have any duplicates. We have three frankies, yeah, but they were all different versions, so i didn’t feel comfortable tearing any of them apart. Most unfortunately, this conundrum gave me time to lament, during which time i keep peeking at my Gooliope. She’s 17 inchs high, and i loved that size. I didn’t dare ruin her (she’s by far my favorite) so i kept an eye out for other 17 inchers. And as luck would have it, while stopping by toys r’ us the other day, I noticed one in the clearence bin. orignally 30bucks, dropped down to 15. not bad. the reason for this was because the doll (a clawdeen) was a little bit damaged. both her ears have broken bits and theres a lots of weird plastic at the seems. not so good for a child, a miracle gift from the doll gods for me. i expected to feel a little guilty buying a doll away from a potential kid, but because this one is damaged, i don’t. parents would have told a little girl to put this one back and grab another one anyway, so no harm in giving this little misfit a home x3

There are some....drawbacks, however.

Nyoul already requided heavy modification (ie: tiddy-be-gone) and now he needs even more. I was originally aiming for a frankie, since she has a lighter skin tone and no ears, since my concept for Nyoul has him as very pale. this is because his outfit will have a lot of color and having his skin be near-white would allow them to pop like on a canvase. he’s also aupposed to look like a doll, but also sickly. Cute, but not quite right. I’m going to have to cut off the ears (and boobs), and then repaint the entire body. I do feel.....gross, about doing that. it feels insulting and wrong. But if i’m going to put all this effort into makeing him, why shouldn’t i make him completely what I want?

on the upside of workin on him, I get to make a prop eventually! I love doing that! he carries a big-ass axe and long scissors.

Nyoul’s going to be a very long project. This is why I want to finish both Erasii AND the dragon before i even start him. So Clawdeen’s just chilling with her deformities for a couple of weeks Lol.

And lastly.....my ball joint doll.

Years ago, i purched a ball joint doll from someone used. I’ve always loved ball joints, but they were all too expensive. I was so excited to have a BJD at last, i developed an entire design for her that sadly failed to come to be. I had a lot of trouble as a newbie seamstress back then that i eventually gave up, and tossed her into my closet for a few....years.

and then i took her out of the closet and put her in the attic for several more years. I rescued her afew days ago, and i feel super guilty. I never even put her pants or shirt back on!

I dislike the original design i had for her, so i’ve been trying to think of what to transform her into. I was thinking about a demon popstar, so i could make horns and wings and a tail, but....her face doesn’t fit. she has a very serene sad face, lidded eyes. I’m not sure if i could paint her face to make her look more evil or mischevious or a diva. I really want to try tho. I might have to save it for another 17 incher monster high tho. i keep seeing the popstar design with highheels and my BJD has flat feet. and I can’t order new ones because they’re expensive and also i have no idea what modle doll i even have so whoops.

if i do move ahead with that idea tho, i’ve taken inspiration from Sia and Lady Gaga (and Billy Joe Cobra if i’m being embarisingly honest) especially witht he hair idea. a boxy neck length thats pure white on top, but each later under is a different color of the rainbow with some rainbow bangs. She’d also have sunglasses, piercings, tattoos, long fake nails....just so much stuff.

But its a long way before i’m confident to even try to work on her. just holding her makes me scared i’m gonna break her. (even tho i kinda already did, accidentally had to restring her legs bc i dropped a string trying to take her head off.)

Her time in the closet and attic seem to have done something to her faceup. I’ve been struggleing for the past three days to remove it (bc i want to repaint her and also the colors were ugly and she has a stupid little tear on her cheek) useing everything i could. I tried acetone first (i did a test ont he inside of the headcap to see if it’d hurt the resin) and it did absolutely nothing. so then i tried rubbing alcohol, and again nothing. i tried a magic eeraser which finally worked, but not well. i don’t want to try to buy anything else, so i’ve been dealing witht he magic eraser. i’ve nearly removed everything besides the lips, and i honestly don’t think i’m gonna be getting that lip color out of there. I’ve tried to shove some eraser into there and scrub with a toothpick and it did not do anything. I was planning on coloring her lips a dark color anyway, so meh. bonus shadeing.

#VoxRambles #Text #not spellchecked #longpost

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