OOTD: Open House

dress - ASOS curve / leggings - Torrid / shoes - unknown / necklace - Muggy Tuesday

Hey, I think I've seen this dress before!  Yes, you have.  My best-laid plans keep getting thwarted due to this really annoying hot and humid weather we are having in the Chicago suburbs.  I'm supposed to be enjoying fall fashion and shopping for boots.  Waaaaaaahhh.

Tonight, only one week and two days after school has started, we have Open House.  Maybe you call it curriculum night or something along those lines.  I introduce myself and say something awkward that I perseverate on for hours afterwards.  Put me in front of a room full of kids, and I have it under control.  Put me in front of parents, and I'm all "durrrrrrr."



One day soon I will get to show you some of my new work dresses and such.  But today you get this one again, only very very slightly accessorized differently.  Black leggings vs gray, a slight wedge heel vs flats, and a necklace!  I've had this one for a while, and I don't wear it as much as I should.  It looks good with this dress!  I was also told that it matched my hair.  Well what the heck then.

Here wanna see how cool my scar is?



It's like a gross pink worm on my arm.  My skin has a tendency to keloid, which is when your body has an overgrowth of scar tissue.  I'm an overachiever, what can I say?  Also, do not look up keloid online, the pictures are quite disturbing.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Also, if my talking about a scar is horribly confusing to you, the story behind it is here.



Here is me taking a picture in my studio mirror.  Then there's a close-up of my cool yarn ball necklace.  I actually bought it several years ago at the now-defunct Constructor Craft Fair.  That makes me sad.

Also see my rainbow band/rubber band bracelets.  The pink, black, and turquoise one was made for me by my nieces.  The purple & black one was made for & given to me by one of my seventh grade students.  Heck yeah!

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

p.s. don't forget to enter our giveaway (posted on Monday) for a free Diamond Candle!

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Diamond Candles Review + GIVEAWAY!

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by Diamond Candles about doing a review/giveaway for their product.  Hey, who doesn't like candles, right?  Especially free ones?

They're very active on Facebook and Pinterest (actually, they seem pretty up on their Twitter and Instagram, too - whoa social media mavens!), so I had seen this concept mentioned before.  The special "twist" to their product is that each candle they sell has a ring in it, and your ring will be valued at either $10, $100, $1000, or even $5000!



I'm not usually one to rush out to buy something on a gimmick, but I wanted to be fair and give this a shot.  I'm going to go ahead and assume that most of these candles contain the $10 range rings in them...

I selected a "Carnival Candy" scented candle to try out.  I was surprised how fast it arrived, within a week or so?  And when I opened it up, it smelled really good!  Kind of cotton candy-ish, kind of bubblegum-ish.  And I should probably mention that I'm a little picky when it comes to scents.  Also, Diamond Candles are made from soy.

I was a little worried that the scent would be too strong... but it was nice and mellow.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it!  (If you've read any of my previous reviews, you know I'm not afraid to tell you if I'm not impressed with something...)



You can see how as the candle burns down, the gold foil of the ring's "packet" begins to show.  The wax melts pretty nice and even.  I made sure to burn it for at least a couple of hours each time.

Once the wax melted down far enough, I carefully fished out the foil ring packet using a pair of tweezers.  Ooh the suspense.



Inside the foil is your ring, wrapped in a plastic bag.  Don't burn yourself on the wax, let it cool down first!

My ring was a simple silver band with an orangey-looking gem.  No markings.  This tells me that it's a $10(ish) ring.  It's simple and modern and pretty, but no "jackpot" for me in the ring value department. Eh, no biggie.



Diamond candles retail for $25 each - not bad at all when you consider that Yankee Candles cost about the same.  And honestly, I like the smell of this one WAY better than most Yankee Candles.

For me, the ring concept is just gravy.  I don't recommend buying it IF you think you're gonna score big with a fancy ring.  But I DO recommend buying it if you're looking for a good candle that smells nice and lasts a while at a reasonable price.

...Or, you could just WIN ONE from me right now!  Woo hoo! This contest will be open for the next 2 weeks-ish (official end time on the Rafflecopter widget below). I'll announce a winner here after that time.  (By the way, I should mention that this is our first official giveaway hosted here on the blog - ever!  How exciting!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

UPDATE (contest has ended): Congrats to Yolanda R!  You are the winner! Check your email for details!

Rock on (& Good Luck!),
Jen @ Hell Razor

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Spruce Up Your Concert Ts

Dave and I went to see Reverend Horton Heat  and Deke Dickerson at Reggie's Rock Club on Tuesday night and the music was phenomenal! I got 2 T-Shirts (and a Rev album I'd been looking for forEVER). Check out the way I spruced them up the shirts this week!

Plain and Simple Concert T's!


These shirts will always go great with some Converse and a pair of jeans, but I also like to spruce them up for a night out. You can even get away with wearing one to work if you play your cards right!



I like a flashier print with black and white, so I went with my leopard print capri pants. I paired them with some black pumps and a black and white Hell Razor flower pin. As for The Reverend Horton Heat shirt, I wanted to accent the red so I thought a red pencil skirt and some simple red sandal wedges would work perfectly! I also added a black and red Hell Razor flower for fun.



~Steph @ Calamity Layne

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DIY Duct Tape Craft Show Banner

Steph and I were vendors at our first outdoor event this past weekend (The Greatest Show Un-Earthed hearse show), and we were so excited to bust out with our new 10'x10' tent!  I'd done indoor vending events before, so my table set-up was pretty much the same, just under the cover of the tent...

But we needed a Betties N Brimstone banner to advertise our goods inside the tent! (When I'm vending solo, I usually just pin a Hell Razor bunting-style banner on the front of my table.)  We had a couple of weeks to get something together, and I knew I wanted a relatively inexpensive solution that was weatherproof, but also unique.

Enter: DUCT TAPE!

Here's the completed banner, hanging in our tent last Saturday.

I made a banner for us, almost completely out of duct tape!  It's a bit of a time-consuming job, but the results are pretty cool.  Wanna make your own?  Here's what I used:

• Old, unwanted flat bedsheet (you'll be cutting this to size) or other large piece of fabric.
• Background duct tape: For our banner, we used approximately 5 rolls of 15-yd hot pink duct tape for the front of the banner, and some less expensive gray tape for the back.
• Lettering duct tape: We used black duct tape, probably 15-yds or less... depends on your font size and weight...
• Border duct tape: one 10-yd roll of blue/purple leopard print tape.
• Grommets & grommet kit
• Computer/printer (to make the lettering
• X-acto knife
• X-acto cutting mat
• Masking or painter's tape, to lay out lettering design.
• Measuring tape
• Scissors

The first part of the banner-making process is not pictured here (I forgot.  Sorry.) - but it's fairly simple. Cut your fabric to the desired size of your banner.  We decided on a banner that is 8' long and 2 1/2' high.

Use your background duct tape to carefully cover the front of your fabric, strip by strip.  This is time-consuming, but worth it if you take your time to lay it down neatly.  I extended the tape strips beyond the edge of the fabric just a little bit and wrapped them around to the back side.  This gives the edges a nice finished look.  The back doesn't have to be perfect - it's the back - no one will see it.

The back side also gets covered in a layer of tape.  The fabric is completely covered and no one ever sees it - it's just an underlying structural piece...

Here I am laying out the lettering on my pink tape-covered background.  I printed out the letters on a computer, full-page size, and trimmed them closely in order to get an accurate idea of how they would fit on the final banner.



I used painter's tape to hold the printed out letters in place once I liked the spacing.  Each letter will now be hand-cut and taped down individually.  The simpler the font, the easier this step is to complete.  In my case, the "Bs" and the "O" were a freaking nightmare.  So many small cuts... sigh.



Each letter was cut out by taping down 2-3 strips (depending on letter width) onto an x-acto cutting mat.  I then taped the printout letter on top, and carefully traced the letter outline, cutting through both the paper and the tape with an x-acto knife.

The tricky part is to carefully peel the cut out letter from the x-acto mat without stretching/tearing the tape letter.  Sticking the letter down into place can be tricky, too, since you don't want the letter to flop around and stick to itself.  So again, take your time.  Having a helper is good, too.  In my case, Todd came to the rescue.  Thanks honey!



You may find that using tape to make a baseline for adhering the letters is helpful.  But maybe not.  Do whatever works for you.  Be patient.

I discovered that the lettering still seemed small compared to the overall banner, so I added a leopard-print frame using patterned tape.  This meant carefully measuring and marking with (painter's) tape all around to get the frame straight and evenly positioned from the edges all around.



Woo hoo!  A finished banner!  Then Todd helped me by adding the grommets using a grommet kit, which is pretty simple to do.  Generally, you punch a hole through your banner using a special die and hammer.  The grommet comes in two pieces: a front and a back, which are hammered together using another special die (that holds it in place and helps bend the metal together) and a hammer.



Here's a few detail shots of our finished banner.  If you look closely, you can see that the "B" and "O" did get a little stretched out while cutting/peeling from the x-acto mat, but duct tape is pretty forgiving and you can sometimes stretch it back into place and make it work.



Didn't it turn out cool?  I think so.  I'm also thinking I may add some smaller text below... something like "blog - handmade - vintage" so people know what we're all about!

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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Custom Photo Baby Board Book

I wanted to share a website I found that makes custom board-books with your photos.  I made one for Iggy recently, and I was really happy with the result!

For a while now, I had been thinking about making a book for Iggy.  Initially, I had considered making an "alphabet" book, using a service like Snapfish, which is where I usually order my digital prints. Plus, my mom and mother-in-law are already familiar with the site/service, so it makes it very convenient for them to order photos that I've taken and shared.

The only issue with Snapfish books (as far as I can tell, correct me if I'm wrong, but I did search around) is that they all have paper pages.  Iggy's at the stage of life where he loves to tear-out the flaps of anything that folds up in a book, so I was hesitant to buy a book where he might possibly rip the pages...

So, with that in mind, I was super excited to discover Pinhole Press' "Mini Book of Names and Faces!"  For $30, you can create a 25-page (13 photo) book with faces and names of family, friends, pets... anything, really...



The size (5.25"x5.25") is perfect for little hands, and the sturdy board-book pages are sure to last us for a long long time.  I took a while to decide on the order of the pages I was laying out, and I also had to combine a few pages (put grandmas and grandpas together on one page) in order to fit all of our family members in one book without leaving anyone out, but I am really happy with the final result.



Here are some close-up shots from our final book.  The web-based book design process will warn you if your photo quality is not up to snuff for the final printing, so you can choose different photos or find a higher resolution version if need be.



My only complaint would be that I'd like to get to pick the background color of the "names" pages.  Or maybe to have the option to change the fonts?  But I'd bet that having a pre-set layout is one of the reasons the price is so reasonable for this item.



As Iggy is becoming more and more of a talker, it's fun to use the book to practice names of his family members (and impress our friends!).

Also note: I did not receive any items for free, or promotional consideration, nor was I contacted by the company.  This is an item I personally purchased and was very pleased with, so I thought I would share!

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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Betties N Brimstone at The Greatest Show Un-Earthed!

Come out and visit Jen and Steph at The Greatest Show Un-Earthed!

That's right! Betties N Brimstone will be making our first debut this weekend at the LasRyds Hearse Club's The Greatest Show Un-Earthed. The show is one day only -- this Saturday, August 17th at Talcott Square Parking Lot, Stephen Street & Talcott Street in Lemont, IL.

Stop by and check out some spookily spectacular pieces from Calamity Layne and Hell Razor all under one roof! This is a family friendly event that features the display and education of Hearses of varying ages from 1930's to the present. There are show themed vendors selling their wares and carnival games, a costume contest, charity raffles and other entertainment.

So stop by to say hi and check out Betties N Brimstone this Saturday at The Greatest Show Un-Earthed!

See ya there!
~Steph @ Calamity Layne

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OOTD: Vera's Eye Candy

dress - Vera's Eye Candy, via Etsy / leggings - Torrid / shoes - Sketchers

I found Vera's Eye Candy through Instagram.  I don't really remember how, but probably someone I follow posted something that they had posted or something like that, and I clicked over to the profile and I was all "whoa." So I started following them and admiring the designs.

Then one day I left a comment on a post, something like "Hey do you ever make these dresses in PLUS size?  Because I'd love to buy one!"

And to my surprise, they (presumably "Vera" herself) commented back that they'll make ANY size, I just needed to send my measurements in when I placed my order.  Again, "whoa."



Her dresses run from $39 to $79, depending on the style, and all I had to do was click to purchase the dress that I wanted, and list my measurements (bust/waist/hips) in the comments section.  She does carry some standard sizes, like XS to XL, and the measurements of each are noted in the listing.

But I am not those sizes.  I'm more like a 16/18 size, which, depending on the store, is more like an XXL or larger.  I fully expected to incur an additional charge for this larger size, too, but I received a convo back letting me know that there wasn't!

I chose the Slayer dress for my first purchase, but I'm definitely eyeing an Iron Maiden dress for the future.  Her designs aren't all strictly heavy metal, either.  She also makes designs featuring Bob Marley, The Smiths, Hole, and even satanic pizza!



I don't know if Veronica realizes what a goldmine she has here, but by offering custom larger sizing, I want to order like a million more dresses from her and also to tell all of my friends to order from her, too.

The most important/awesome part of the entire transaction was that I wasn't meant to feel weird or "special" for needing a larger size - I was treated totally like a normal person, like it wasn't a big deal, and it's sad that this means so much to me, because hey, shouldn't this be ALL THE TIME, EVERYWHERE?

So, go ahead and admire Vera's Eye Candy, but don't be fooled by the slender models!  You too can have one of these amazing super fun dresses (and you will look just as cute)!

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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The Most Metal Children's Band

Ahhh, I find out about stuff sometimes and I'm like, "HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!"

Especially in light of the fact that I have a small child and my husband and I both love heavy metal.

I'm probably really tardy to the party here, but I have to tell you about Hevisaurus!  Hevisaurus is a children's heavy metal band from Finland.

THEY'RE DRESSED LIKE GIANT DINOSAURS I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE HOW AWESOME THIS IS!

So the story is that a drummer (Mirka Rantanen) from another popular metal band in Finland (Thunderstone) went to a children's concert with his kids and decided that there should be a metal band specifically for kids.  He took a bunch of his metal friends and they wrote all of these songs together, and they began performing in giant dinosaur suits.

They're pretty popular over in Finland, even though they don't appear to have ever made it over to the US.  There was some dispute with the record company in 2011 over the rights to the name, so a bunch of the original guys ended up leaving and forming their own other children's metal group, called SauruXet, but research tells me that this group split up in 2012.  It seems like the disbanding of SauruXet might have been part of the legal settlement with Sony over Hevisaurus rights.

Apparently Hevisaurus is still going strong (even with new/replacement members), as evidenced by their website (as far as I can tell when I translate it through Google).  Hey they even have a MySpace page (wait, what - that still exists?!!!).

Still no signs of coming to the US though.  Maybe I have to plan a trip to Finland for our family soon.

Have you heard of these guys?  Are you as amazed as I am?

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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Vintage Handmade Earrings from Calamity Layne

Hey guys!
On my adventures in seeking out vintage awesomeness, I do tend to come across some cool vintage jewelry that is in need of some TLC. In these instances, I will take them apart and make new pieces out of them! I also source some vintage stackable flower beads from Etsy (I love Etsy)!

I made these earrings out of vintage stackable flower beads (50s & 60s), vintage filigree, and vintage charms. Check these out!

War and Peace Earrings 

Yeah, I call them "War and Peace" earrings because one charm is a canon and the other is Buddha. ;) if you're interested, you can find more info here!

Down On the Farm Earrings

I thought these charms were great! The cow says "Elsie" underneath! Cute and summery!

Rockabilly Rebel Earrings

The red hoops are vintage (probably from the 60s or 70s) and they are a super fun addition to any outfit!

Pretty Purple and Black Goth Umbrella Earrings

Ok, so the umbrella charms are new on these, BUT the flower beads and backing bead are all vintage. I thought they were too awesome to pass up! If you want more info on these, click here!

Kitchy Retro Earrings 

These guys are one of my favorite pairs! They are a great statement piece and will jazz up a T-Shirt and jeans with ease!

Hot Dog Earrings

Oh yeah, I did it. Who DOESN'T need HOT DOG earrings!?! I mean, come ON! ;)

Stay tuned for more vintage finds at Calamity Layne!

~Steph @ Calamity Layne

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Tips for Vivid Hair Color

Do you like my snazzy use of Photoshop skillz?

It's been a bit since I've shown my face on the blog.  School's starting up soon, and I'm sure to bombard you with outfit posts then, since I have to "dress up" again on a regular basis. (my summer outfit posts would probably be all "hey here's the jeans and t-shirt I wore THIS day!")

So, here's a couple I took only a few minutes before sitting down to write this:

NO PURPLE!  Oh noes!  I've had purple pretty much for-ev-er, and I just felt like it was time for a change, so I had Megan make me teal instead, and just on one chunky side instead of my "headband" of purple. It looks pretty dark in this picture, but I just had it touched-up two days ago.  I find that as it lightens, it gets brighter.  I've also graduated from straight-out-of-the-tube violet to a custom mix of blue and green.  Snazzy.

I've had lots of different colors in my hair over the years, starting with high school, when I used to use those semi-permanent hair dyes to make my hair purplish-red.  (By the way, does anyone remember what those were called?  I'm talking 1995-7ish... Was it Herbal Essences?  It was touted as "washes out in 28 days"...)

Now, I've graduated to colors like teal, purple, pink, and blue (see below for examples!).

I know there's a large section of the blogging world that's quite familiar with "vivid" colors already, but I'm always surprised by the number of questions I get when I'm out and about IRL regarding my hair.  Usually it starts with "Is that your real hair?"  To which I reply, "Um, yes, it's my REAL hair, but the color isn't real..."

Another fun fact that most people are unaware of is the fact that most people will need to BLEACH their natural hair before they can dye it with a vivid color.  In fact, my former colored stripe was just bleach for a long time, including for my wedding (see photo in upper left corner above).

This leads me to some tips/things to know for having vivid hair color:

1. Unless you are very comfortable using bleach (I am NOT), go to a salon and have your bleach done by a professional.  As mentioned in other posts, I get mine done by Megan at Floyd's 99 in LaGrange.
2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERMANENT VIVID COLOR.  We can do all other sorts of amazing things with our scientific knowledge, but apparently this eludes us.  The "most" permanent one I've ever found is Pravana Vivids.  But it's still only about 2-3 weeks at most until I feel the need to touch up.
3. You can touch-up your vivid color at home in-between having your roots bleached (which is what I do).  But I find that the brands of vivid color you'll find at Sally or Hot Topic is no good (just my opinion, some people swear by them!).  Supposedly Pravana is only available to professionals, but if you do a little internet searching, you can find someplace to snag some.
4. On days that you dye your hair with the vivid color, wear a dark t-shirt.  Use a dark pillowcase, or put a towel on your pillow.  Some of it does have a tendency to rub off.
5. If you touch-up at home, wear rubber gloves when applying.  Cover your area with an old towel. Wear crappy clothes.
6. Bleach/comet cleanser will clean your sink and/or tub after you rinse out your hair and freak out because you think you've ruined your bathroom forever.
7. The first time you wash your hair with shampoo, it'll bleed all over your hands. This will ruin your manicure if you paint your nails a light/pastel color, so you might want to wait to get your nails done until after this.
8. Buy dark bathroom towels, or designate one towel your "hair towel" for drying your hair, because (again) it'll probably rub off and get all over stuff.

Now, if you're still excited about vivid hair color, here's how to keep it looking good for as long as possible between touch-ups:

1. Keep the dye on for an hour or so, if possible.  When I'm at the salon, we go 30 minutes, but when I touch up at home, I pile it all up on my head and continue about my business so it sits for an hour or more before I rinse it out. 
2. Use cold water, or as cold as you can stand, when rinsing or washing your hair.  I'm actually kind of bad at this one...
3. Wash your hair as little as possible. I can now go about 3 days between washings, thanks to the miracle of dry shampoos and a well-placed top knot on day 3.  And I have oily hair, so maybe if you're not in my condition, you can go longer.  Good for you!
4. Do NOT go swimming in a chlorine pool!  Or, if you do, don't get your hair wet!  This will suck the color right out.
5. Use a gentle shampoo, or shampoo specifically for color-treated hair.  I've shared my fave below.

Here are some of my personal favorite hair products - some specific to having vivid hair color, some not:

1 - Aveeno Pure Renewal Shampoo(sulfate-free, good for colored hair)

2 - Aveeno Pure Renewal Conditioner

3 - Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo

4 - Got2b Powder'ful Volumizing Styling Powder

5 - Osis Gelastic Ultra Strong Flex Gel 

P.S. If you're interested, you can find a more detailed review of my hair product/styling routine here.

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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Home Tour: Dining Room Update

tray, IKEA - glasses and kitchen towel, Target - pitcher, Crate and Barrel - purple sugar bowl, vintage

Just over a year ago, I gave you a little tour of my dining room.  We've done a lot of work this summer to update our home spaces and make them feel more finished, so I'd like to share an update with you and show you some of our new changes!

Our paint color (and stripes!), general layout, and tall corner cabinet have remained basically unchanged.  I love having a dining room with purple walls!  But we have new furniture, curtains, and artwork to share!

Our dining room is at one end of the kitchen, which creates a large open area, great for hosting parties and having friends over.

I'm going to start by talking about the biggest new change in the room: our dining table!

Our dining room table was a little bit of a splurge, since we've never had any "real" grown-up dining room furniture.  I wanted to make sure that I got just the right thing.  I briefly considered trying to persuade Todd into helping me make a dining room table using old wood for a tabletop, but then we'd have to source it all out, secure power tools, actually do all the work, etc etc etc... OR, I could just buy this beautiful piece that had awesome metal legs that looked very industrial, with a reclaimed wood top all ready to go.  This is the "Flatiron Table" from Restoration Hardware.  And (compared to their other pieces) it's not as expensive as you may have thought.

Our old table was a laminate top fake wood monstrosity - I kept it covered with a tablecloth at all times to hide the ugly.  This new table is something I want to show off all the time!

I'd been window shopping for chairs for the last several years, trying to find just the right ones.  Our old IKEA chairs had served us well for many years, but it was time to upgrade.  The first thing I discovered was - holy crap are chairs expensive!

I knew I really wanted upholstered chairs that were easy to clean (with Iggy and all).  I also needed chairs that would look good with our new table, but also fit into my style - slightly retro, non-traditional, fun, and comfortable to sit on!

I decided on these green upholstered chairs from World Market.  They were within the "reasonable" range of my budget, although I was really sad that they no longer make them in blue or purple.  So I settled for green.  I think that the green still looks really great in the space.

We can easily fit four chairs around the table in the dining room, but any time we had visitors over, we'd end up dragging some folding chairs up from the basement.  I thought that it would be nice to add a couple of small stools to the ends of the table to accommodate a couple of extra diners when the need arose.  When we went to pick up our green chairs at World Market, we stumbled across these short black metal stools - and they were 50% off!  Woo hoo!  So, two stools (for the price of one), and we were all set!

I fell in love with the pattern of these curtains when I saw them in my friend Beth's nursery.  They're from IKEA (you have to hem them yourself!), and the amount of light it lets into the room is amazing.  At night, we still have our privacy.  Oh yeah, and they're $14.99 a pair!  Bonus!

I bought this Betty Turbo x Bake and Destroy print via Etsy and it looks really cool in the dining room.

My Josh Howard tattoo print was hanging in the dining room already, but I added this "Strange and Unusual" Beetlejuice print (via Etsy) in a matching frame, and I think it fills the wall space perfectly.

My original dining room post talks more about my corner barware cabinet, if you're interested.  You can also read about my mix-and-match dishes here.

Rock on,
Jen @ Hell Razor

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