It's almost February and I haven't bought any mass-produced clothes, accessories or needless make-up. Woohoo, I made it trough the first month! And it wasn't that hard. Sure, I saw the "sale" banners on almost every store, and I felt a little cringe when the "5 items for 5 euro's" was displayed on the Claire's window. But these kind of things also make me aware of the cheep, environmental harmful and employee unfriendly ways they are produced. How else is it possible to sell a necklace for only one euro?
Of course, my challenge is not only about idealism. Besides the mending socks, letting high heels get fixed or swapping clothes that I really don't wear anymore, I also want to find a way to make my style even more "me" by making things myself. And when you start making things yourself, you become aware of the time it, f.e. making a necklace, really costs. More prove for me that a quality product doesn't come cheap.
Talking about swapping clothes, this year there will be several swap-parties in the Netherlands, and I will try to attend some to keep variety in my wardrobe. I mean, not buying made-in-China-stuff, doesn't mean I can't get the fresh-breath-of-air-feeling you get from an item that really complements your apparel. You just have got to be a little more creative! To inspire myself and others, I will write about my ideas concerning clothes and accessories every Wednesday, calling it; What to Wear Wednesday!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Derby, way to cool for me
Although I love rollerskating and I was part of a small group of girls that skated together now and then, there is a sport that involves skating that is way beyond my league. Our group just skated in circles and chatted about life. Nowadays we even don't skate anymore and only meet to chat, eat, drink and/or dance! But one of us stepped into the world of.... roller derby.
Last weekend I went to see my first roller derby game. For all of you that never heard of roller derby; it's a contact sport on skates with five girls competing against five other girls. Four of each team are blockers and they have to prevent the fifth of the other team, the jammer, from passing them on a circle track. If the jammer does pass twice, the team gets a point. The girls are dressed in fishnet tights, glitter-shirts and wear showy make-up. Oh yeah, and did I mention it's a contact sport?
The whole afternoon there were games between the teams from four different European countries. My skating friend plays in the local team and I went to watch and yell for her of course. The first game I saw, I watched together with her, because her team had just played. Although I watched Whip it when it came out, I didn't understand much of the game seeing it live for the first time. But my friend explained everything that was going on, so when she finally had to play, I knew when to yell and when to keep quiet.
The teams consist of much more girls then just the five playing and after every few minutes, the team changes and fresh ones hit the track. This sounds fair, because this way, everyone gets to play. But there are more reasons to swap! The blockers are literally using their whole bodies to prevent the jammers from passing them. It's very exhaustive so that makes the changes necessary. And the other cause is that occasionally, a girl hits the concrete and sprains an ankle or tears a knee ligament.
Of course I had to keep myself from groaning everytime somebody fell. I tend to be a little too compassionate sometimes and wave my arms as an expression of emotion. That isn't worthy of approval while sitting in the heart of a group of flesh tunneled ladies. But everybody was very nice and my friend even scored a few points for her team!
After her game I was frozen to the bone due to sitting outside for two and a half hours, so I went home. Despite the fact that I'm never going to play this game, it was really nice to be there and cheer for my local team. And I will watch more of their games to support them. But I won't get any cooler then that!
Last weekend I went to see my first roller derby game. For all of you that never heard of roller derby; it's a contact sport on skates with five girls competing against five other girls. Four of each team are blockers and they have to prevent the fifth of the other team, the jammer, from passing them on a circle track. If the jammer does pass twice, the team gets a point. The girls are dressed in fishnet tights, glitter-shirts and wear showy make-up. Oh yeah, and did I mention it's a contact sport?
The whole afternoon there were games between the teams from four different European countries. My skating friend plays in the local team and I went to watch and yell for her of course. The first game I saw, I watched together with her, because her team had just played. Although I watched Whip it when it came out, I didn't understand much of the game seeing it live for the first time. But my friend explained everything that was going on, so when she finally had to play, I knew when to yell and when to keep quiet.
The teams consist of much more girls then just the five playing and after every few minutes, the team changes and fresh ones hit the track. This sounds fair, because this way, everyone gets to play. But there are more reasons to swap! The blockers are literally using their whole bodies to prevent the jammers from passing them. It's very exhaustive so that makes the changes necessary. And the other cause is that occasionally, a girl hits the concrete and sprains an ankle or tears a knee ligament.
 |
| the jammer speeds in front of the rest! |
Of course I had to keep myself from groaning everytime somebody fell. I tend to be a little too compassionate sometimes and wave my arms as an expression of emotion. That isn't worthy of approval while sitting in the heart of a group of flesh tunneled ladies. But everybody was very nice and my friend even scored a few points for her team!
After her game I was frozen to the bone due to sitting outside for two and a half hours, so I went home. Despite the fact that I'm never going to play this game, it was really nice to be there and cheer for my local team. And I will watch more of their games to support them. But I won't get any cooler then that!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Making a gift
A friend of mine has her own business in organizing High Teas. People hire her on a certain location and she takes care of the whole thing. Her delicious food (f.e. courgette soup, homemade scones and rose cake pops) is a reason many people book her, but she also has a great taste for decorating the table, creating the feeling of being in your own pretty version of Alice in Wonderland.
This weekend it's her birthday and I wanted to give her something that fits her current life. So Wednesday I went to a few local thrift shops to find some old teacups, of course in the granny chic style that matches the rest of her crockery. Then I got some paraffin wax and wick from the art supply shop. They only had white wax, so at home I searched for red candle leftovers to mix with the wax.
At the art supply shop they advised me to use the "bain marie" technique to melt the wax. Lucky me, because I would have ruined our saucepan for sure! I prepared the wicks, hanging them on skewers that leaned on the cups. Then I started melting the wax. The old candles were liquid in a few minutes but the paraffin only got soft. After 20 minutes I was ready to go to the shop and tell them what lousy quality their wax was, but decided to turn the stove burner a little higher first. That saved me from an embarrassing trip because the wax melted like a bar of chocolate on a hot summer day.
I poured the liquid wax into the cups and got totally delighted at the sight of my first candles! I started taking pictures and decided to blog so everyone can see my utterly divine gifts. Then I left the candles to cure and after a few hours I took another look. Apparently the volume of paraffin gets smaller when its solid, making the dried candles remind me of a sunken cake disaster. No, I'm exaggerating, they're not perfect but still very suitable. Can't wait to give them to her!
This weekend it's her birthday and I wanted to give her something that fits her current life. So Wednesday I went to a few local thrift shops to find some old teacups, of course in the granny chic style that matches the rest of her crockery. Then I got some paraffin wax and wick from the art supply shop. They only had white wax, so at home I searched for red candle leftovers to mix with the wax.
 | ||
| preparation |
At the art supply shop they advised me to use the "bain marie" technique to melt the wax. Lucky me, because I would have ruined our saucepan for sure! I prepared the wicks, hanging them on skewers that leaned on the cups. Then I started melting the wax. The old candles were liquid in a few minutes but the paraffin only got soft. After 20 minutes I was ready to go to the shop and tell them what lousy quality their wax was, but decided to turn the stove burner a little higher first. That saved me from an embarrassing trip because the wax melted like a bar of chocolate on a hot summer day.
 |
| let the curing begin! |
I poured the liquid wax into the cups and got totally delighted at the sight of my first candles! I started taking pictures and decided to blog so everyone can see my utterly divine gifts. Then I left the candles to cure and after a few hours I took another look. Apparently the volume of paraffin gets smaller when its solid, making the dried candles remind me of a sunken cake disaster. No, I'm exaggerating, they're not perfect but still very suitable. Can't wait to give them to her!
 |
| most sublime candles ever :) |
Saturday, January 7, 2012
2012, a new beginning!
It's 2012 and I am beginning a new life, and a blog. This new life isn't about me divorcing from my lovely husband or moving to another country. It is about a change in consuming and for a part, in working.
Inspired by freefashionchallenge.com I decided 2012 would be my buying-as-little-as-possible-unnecessary-stuff year. This combined with the idea my husband and two of our neighbors/friends had, starting an allotment garden, roughly forms the content of my change in consuming.
The allotment idea came at the end of last year and we're waiting for the admittance. The buying-as-little-as-possible-unnecessary-stuff thing was slumbering over the past years. I admit, I too am weak when it comes to lovely dresses and shiny bracelets at H&M, Claire's and Zara. They are so easy for quick fixes on a moody Monday, a weary Wednesday and, well, you catch my drift.
So, my challenge for this year will be; try not to buy new clothing or accessories that were made through mass production for a whole year... Not totally like the assignment you get on the free fashion challenge, but with me starting my own little shop on etsy.com, it would be quite weird and perhaps hypocrite not to allow handmade or vintage novelties. As an extra I will only buy make-up when I have to replace an empty eyeliner or shadow with a new one, but I will leave the rest of the glittery and colorful products I love to experiment with, on the store shelves. This and the Claire's prohibition I think will be the hardest :)
I'll be writing about my challenge, our hopefully soon to be allotment garden, the things I'll be creating this year and experiences I think might be interesting to share. While English isn't my native language, I hope you'll forgive me my spelling and grammar mishaps!
Enjoy the year!
Inspired by freefashionchallenge.com I decided 2012 would be my buying-as-little-as-possible-unnecessary-stuff year. This combined with the idea my husband and two of our neighbors/friends had, starting an allotment garden, roughly forms the content of my change in consuming.
The allotment idea came at the end of last year and we're waiting for the admittance. The buying-as-little-as-possible-unnecessary-stuff thing was slumbering over the past years. I admit, I too am weak when it comes to lovely dresses and shiny bracelets at H&M, Claire's and Zara. They are so easy for quick fixes on a moody Monday, a weary Wednesday and, well, you catch my drift.
So, my challenge for this year will be; try not to buy new clothing or accessories that were made through mass production for a whole year... Not totally like the assignment you get on the free fashion challenge, but with me starting my own little shop on etsy.com, it would be quite weird and perhaps hypocrite not to allow handmade or vintage novelties. As an extra I will only buy make-up when I have to replace an empty eyeliner or shadow with a new one, but I will leave the rest of the glittery and colorful products I love to experiment with, on the store shelves. This and the Claire's prohibition I think will be the hardest :)
I'll be writing about my challenge, our hopefully soon to be allotment garden, the things I'll be creating this year and experiences I think might be interesting to share. While English isn't my native language, I hope you'll forgive me my spelling and grammar mishaps!
Enjoy the year!
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