Happy Easter!

I wanted to wish everyone who's celebrating Easter a happy one, and a wonderful day none the less if you aren't ♥ Now it's candy time c: 

Christmas and New Years Update/Haul

Hi again everyone! hopefully you haven't forgotten about me u__u

My winter "break" has been so busy!

I'd like to start off by saying how thankful I am the holidays are over.

(I have more fun after the holidays during break than during them, too stressful and too many dishes)!

I'd like to show you some of my favorite things I got/bought/picked out for myself for Christmas ♪

Not exactly a Christmas gift, but something adorable I bought ♥ I put my keys in here so they're easy to find in my purse.

My new "everyday" bag ♫

Omnomnom

Candy Sugar ribbon + free candy c:

DSLR camera strap from Etsy

Strap for my Instax camera

Ta-da!

Photo albums for my Japan photos and Instax photos

Inside! (The left one is full now)

Small letter organizer and scrap book from Omoi Zakka

Cath Kidston mug and Calico Critter mouse family ♥

A crop shirt from Cotton On to go over my maxi dress c:

Bad photo of a very cute peter pan collar dress from Cotton On

Collar of a cute sailor sweatshirt from Forever 21

Lace headband and polka dot usakimi from Claire's

They had a buy 1 get one half off on hair accessories

Little did i know the brooch/pin/hair thing was actually on clearance for $2 from $12!

Wonderful fawn jacket from my boyfriend ♥♥♥ (From Forever 21)

In addition to Christmas activities, I also volunteered and participated in a Japanese street fashion show at my local Anime convention. 

Everything is vintage, off-brand and handmade

I made a Fur Fur inspired hair piece for my outfit

Photo by Keith Goode

I represented a (slightly couture) style of Mori girl during the fashion show and wore Lolita while I wasn't on Duty. Sadly I don't think I got any photos of those coords, but they aren't that different from anything I've worn before. I was surprised to see the amount of Lolitas there! Most of them ended up being in the fashion show too ^_^ I did spot a fair number of girls in Bodyline coords too. Speaking of that, the ATX Lolitas also hosted a Lolita 101 panel, which went spectacularly! The lovely Virginia (first row in the blue VM dress) provided wonderful handmade prizes for the audience ♫

More info, photos and possibly a video of the panel can be found here.

I saw some great cosplay too! I really loved this girl's original outfit based off of Sentimental Circus ♪

I also helped make an impressive Jenga tower at the Maid Cafe.

Of course, I got some swag too!

Ahhh arpakasso !!!

Chi's Sweet Home, Shaymin and Tofu-kun key chains c:

I make this face quite often

And this one after a large meal

Hi there!

Tofu-kun ♥

Happy Happy Clover shitajiki. Such a cute manga!

G&LB vol 40 ♥

I may or may not buy magazines for stickers...

BTSSB will be at Anime Matsuri!!! I want to go so bad D:

Wheh! Thank you if you stayed with my through all of that! It's been a hectic two weeks c:

Last Minute Gift Wrapping Ideas

I love gift wrapping and I wanted to share a few (last minute, I supposed) wrapping ideas and inspiration photos. Hopefully it'll make it look like you spend a lot of time on wrapping your gifts ^o^

Firstly, here are a few things I did this year. I always wrap my stuff in kraft paper (unless it's impossible to wrap, then that's what gift bags are for). A more muted paper base makes it easily for decorations like berry sprigs or rich satin bows to stand out. Plus it gives gifts that nostalgic "brown paper packages" feel. 

For name tags, I cut out rounded rectangles from paper shopping bags (so they wouldn't curl) and stamped a pine cone spring in white ink, then wrote names on top with a thin ink pen. The string was twisted red and white thread that I got this a box of vintage ribbon and lace. If you're lucky, you may be able to find Christmas themed doilies (the ones I used have poinsettias printed on them)

Decoration ideas:

• Satin ribbons
• Lace
• Ric-rac
• Velvet ribbon
• Yarn
• Stamps on kraft paper 
• Tiny bells
• Sheet music
• Red gingham paper or fabric
• Draw designs with paint pen or ink pen 
• Vintage photographs or illustrations
• Fake berry, pine cone or evergreen (or even real evergreen) sprigs
• Red & white "candy cane" twine
• Paper doilies
• Deco/washi tape 
• Tiny paper triangle garlands
• Small glittery ornaments
• Search online for free printable gift tags 
• Package tags

I'm sure this smells wonderful

The designs were made with sharpie and white-out

Drawn with pain pens

Fruit and veggie mesh!

 I hope this was helpful. Happy wrapping!