Necklace of the Day -Express Choker Necklace - White Black Gold with Sparkle

Lately Express has been marking down their jewelry more frequently. This is incredibly good news since Express rarely marks down their (in my opinion) very expensive costume jewelry.

The choker in today's blog is a wonderful signature necklace that I will carry into the Fall season to brighten up the darker colors of the season. I am really not a fan of the cooler seasons of the year so little touches like this to my wardrobe to take my mind off this time of the year is greatly appreciated.

 

 

Mixed media best describes the style of this necklace: gold toned chain, black and white fabric thick threads (or cord?) clear rhinestones in gold settings, another row of goldtone chain, faux pearls and finally a row of faceted white plastic diamond shaped beads.

 

I have always loved the quality of Express jewelry. As you can see from the picture, there is a lot of attention to detail and the materials are really good quality. It is not heavy on the neck like some signature necklaces can be. Since it is a neutral toned piece, I will be able to wear this with most of my wardrobe.

 

I got such a GREAT deal when I bought this necklace. The regular price was $39.90. It was marked down to $9.99 and I got it for 30% off for $6.99 plus tax. Awesome!

Check out a Rue21 choker necklace with a row of cranberry colored beads along the bottom.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

Life is Mermazing!

I LOVE  this mermazing mermaid cosmetic or travel bag. I was walking around H&M and spotted this zippered pouch was just thrown across a rack.

The beautiful sparkly glitter turquoise color and fish scale pattern caught my eye and you know I LOVE that it has a mermaid themed design.

This is a picture of the back view of the pouch. It is tall about the length of my hand and could probably hold about four midsized product containers. The price was $4.99. It is made from vinyl. Not too thin material so it should hold up to a bit of wear and tear.

As I was standing in line at H&M, I saw a small black  purse sized umbrella for $7.99. The hunt for a new full sized umbrella was a lot more difficult than it should have been. I finally found one at Kmart. I will keep the bigger umbrella in my car and take the small black one in my purse or work tote bag ( I got from H&M a while back and it has been an amazing purchase for $10.00).

In October, a H&M will be opening in my local mall, I am so excited. One thing I love about H&M is I can find clothes I can wear to work not just trendy things for going out to a club. I cannot wait!

Here is a previous post about H&M.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina





 

Earrings Of The Day: Express Silver Chandelier

I was walking in the mall yesterday and saw a 20% off sign in front of the Express store. These earrings were regularly priced at $19.90 and I was lucky to get them for 20% off $7.99. Love Express' jewelry but it is sooooo over priced and is rarely marked down.

 

 

Here is a close up pic of the earrings. Beautiful cut out detail that reminds me of snowflakes. The earrings are a very shiny silvertone. Very light weight and comfortable to wear.

 

Here is a previous jewelry blog. 

 

More jewelry posts coming soon.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

Thankful Lessons And Hard Work

Hello Everyone!

I have missed you all so much! This blog is a little different than my usual blogs. I am updating you all on what has been going on. Life is amazing and very busy.

Computer problems. Car problems. Finding a full time job problems.  ALL of this things has been taken care of. I am truly blessed. God provided.

So much as happened to make my life a LOT better than it was a year ago and definitely better than it was two years ago. For a long time I was struggling with a long term job search, I finally got a full time job in an office.

It was a long difficult stressful process but I learned a lot about being persistent and believing in myself. In order to get back into an office environment, I had to work in retail for a while which was something I thought I would never have to do again after having so many years of office experience.

Today I am in a place in my life where I have never been so thankful and blessed. Never giving up and a lot of hard work was the key to bring me through the tough dark times. I was also forced to learn to be patient. You have to sometimes go through the process to discover new things about your life.

The best thing about my long  job search is that I started my blog Thomasina's Words. Lately my work schedule is really busy and long hours, I realized just how much I missed blogging regularly. Learning how to use my time wisely and being productive as possible was a huge lesson I learned when I was searching for employment. I am determined to fit in blogging more often into my schedule.

I will be doing another blog post on the hard learned lessons of being in a long term job search.

Being an artist and a writer helped me cope with the stress being out of work. I had an outlet to vent my feelings in my journal, write a blog post or create an art piece. I would not be the artist and writer I am today if I had not had the time during my unemployment to focus on this important part of my life.

More blogs to come :)

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

H &M Rhinestone Ring and Tips For Bargin Shopping

Rhinestone ring from H&M. A bargain for just $3.00! This picture does not do this ring justice - the rhinestones have a LOT of sparkle. The ring is actually well made too.

 

 

Hello! Long time no see. I have missed talking to everyone so much. A lot has happened in the last couple of months. New job (Praise God!) busy schedule, and computer problems. But I got through it all (wiser and stronger) and now I'm back on schedule.

 

 

 

Three dollars is so much better than the $7.95 regular price. LOL!

 

I ALWAYS go straight to the back of the store to the sales and clearance racks or shelves when I go into any store every time I go shopping. You never know what wonderful things you will find. Early in the day is best most of the time before things are picked over but I have found things late at night that were a new mark down or a return.

 

Take the time to go through everything on the display. Sometimes stuff is buried because the rack is messy or buried on purpose because someone is coming back for it later.

 

I don't like paying regular price for anything so I don't mind making the effort to watch something go down in price before I buy it. Especially since so much of the clothing and accessories are made of cheap materials anyway.

 

What are some of your bargain tips? Comment below.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

Mermaid Standing In The Bright Sunlight

 

These pictures are a much better view of the Mermaid statue I got a little while back from The Christmas Tree Shops in this post.

 

 

 

 

She is a beauty. I think she has a very serene peaceful smile.

 

 

 

Nice details with the shells entwined in her long hair.



 

This is a back view of the pieces. Honestly I am really not a fan of the "distressed" chipped away look. I wish it was a solid white finish.

 

 

 

 

Side view. She is about a bit over a foot tall.

 

 

 

Closeup of her tail scales. In my previous post, you can see the iridescent effect on the inside of the clam shell better in those pictures.

 

 

Back view of the clam shell on a coral reef. Tiny clam shells and even a pretty pearl in front of the base.

 

 

Close up of the base.

 

 

 

I got really lucky to walk into The Christmas Tree Shops store and find this gorgeous mermaid. None of the mermaid pieces they had displayed since have been remotely as nice as this one.

 

It was so exciting to add this to my tiny mermaid collection. Usually I never see mermaid things when I am shopping so this was a great find.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Thomasina

 

 

Sketchpad and Sketchbook for Only $1.99 Review

Every once in a while you are in the right place at the right time for an unbelievable

amazing deal at Michaels Arts and Crafts store.

This sketchpad and hard back bound sketchbook was only $1.99! Woo Hoo!

The regular price was $7.99 and even that is not bad for good quality paper art supples. Every artist knows how expensive good quality art supplies can be.

No joke this was a great value. LOL! I was browsing the clearance section (every store I visit, I always walk to the back to look at the markdowns first) and I saw stacks of these sketchpads on the shelf. They did not have a price tag. I walked over to the price scanner and the price on the screen said $1.99.

You know what happen next. I load up a hand basket and headed to the checkout  lane. 

I was content with being lucky enough to stock up on inexpensive art supplies but I was even more thrilled that the sketchpads are a good weight paper (65lb) and a very pale beige.

This is the embossed logo on the back of the sketch book. 

The front of the sketchpad. The paper is very smooth. I drew on it with pencil and was happy with the results.

Hopefully you will be able to find this item on clearance at your local store. I have walked around in Michaels several times many days and come up empty handed finding a good sale on something I needed.

Always look at the clearance shelf, you never know what you will find.

Tell me about a bargin you found at Michaels.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina

A Necklace Becomes A Bracelet - Quick DIY

A $2.00 Rue21 necklace becomes...

a brand new bracelet!

I redesigned this necklace into a bracelet by simply shortening the chains on both sides.  

Lay the necklace across your wrist and gauge how loose or tight you want the bracelet to be.

Using my jewelry pliers to open the links to remove the excess chain then reattach the lobster clasp and the jump ring to the chain ends.

You now have a new bracelet!

It only took about 5 minutes to complete this super quick DIY. 

The necklace was so inexpensive, I had to buy more than one (LOL!). Layering the two necklaces was an idea at first but I thought of the matching jewelry suites from the 1950s and 1960s and got inspired to make a bracelet.

Do you ever give your jewelry a makeover? Tell me all about it in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

Thomasina

Dollar Tree Beach Items From Myrtle Beach

The Dollar Tree Stores are awesome for finding all kinds of inexpensive items. From home decor to frozen food this store will help you survive on a very tight budget .

This past Saturday, I went down to Myrtle Beach for a fast fun day trip getaway.

I was so happy to see find more beachy items to decorate my home. A Surf's Up sign and a gorgeous hulu dancer.

The sign is lightweight material with glitter  letters but it is not flimsy. I love the graphic design. For only a dollar, this sign is a steal compared to the crazy high prices of beach items in the beach shops down at the beach.

The hulu dancer is a hanging party decoration. Her facial features are really well done. I can be very picky about faces in art I buy. 

As I am not a fan of the cold months, I decided to be proactive and make the inside of my house as much like a relaxing warm beach retreat as I can.

When I came home, I went to my local Dollar Tree store, only hulu girl plates were available and no beach signs.

Things do tend to sell out quickly. 

Of course always check the quality of the items - some things are so cheaply made they are not worth paying a dollar for. 

When I look at the two signs paired together on my door, they make me smile, relax and think of the beach.

What is your favorite thing to buy at the Dollar Tree?

Thanks for reading!

Thomasina

Tattoo necklace With A Heart - Rue 21

I love fashion and accessories from the 1990s so I got so excited that I was able to finally buy a tattoo necklace at Rue21. For some reason way back when, I never had a necklace like this.

If you have been reading my blog, you know I love a bargain when shopping for costume jewelry. This cute little necklace was on markdown for only $2.00.

At first when I saw it I was thinking I did not really like it but it really grew on me. The iridescent heart is a sweet accent to the stretchy black plastic woven cording.

This piece would look really cool with a T-shirt or a button down shirt. You just stretch it over your head to put it on since there is not a clasp closure.

The ceramic clam shell dish was on clearance at Target for about $2.00.

Thank you for reading!

Thomasina