6 Hairstyles To Wear With Hats – Hair Inspiration

by VioletLeBeaux | May 14, 2014 | Hair, Hair-Tutorials, Inspiration, Tutorial

Today’s hair tutorial is less of a tutorial and more of a list of ideas. Really, most of you guys have all of the basic hairstyle skills down but it helps to have some nice ideas for inspiration to change up and make your own.

So here are my favourite hairstyles to wear with hats!

1. Plain old down.

Obviously down and out is the easiest one. When I’m wearing a hat I like to keep my fringe side swept even if it’s at the length where I usually wear it straight across. This is because my fringe is usually curled under so with a hat the curl makes it look awkward or get stuck in my eyes. So side swept for the win!

2. Fishtail braid on one side.

This is one of the styles I wear the most often. It’s quick to do, looks complicated and really pretty. You can dress it up with accessories to match your outfit and most importantly, you don’t have hair on the back of your neck so it’s good for hotter weather.

3. Rolled

This is an awesome style for when your hair is dirty or just being annoying and unruly. All you need to do is put your hat on and then roll the hair up so it’s just under the hat. You can leave it thinner or use a hair sausage insert for a more impressive look.

This look works best with hats which have a retro style like cloche hats.

4. Loops

One of the problems I have with styling hair for hats is that it needs to look balanced especially if your hat is a bit elaborate or has a lot going on up top. Doing loops like this gives the bottom a sense of volume and balances out the top.

5. Large low bun.

You can double up with one of each side but I like to just put them on one side and then balance them with large hair accessories. Keeping it lower than ear level means you can easily perch a beret or soft hat on top. For large buns I like to use a donut insert so they are prefect.

6. Mini buns

Twisted mini buns are really cute low down as well and you can vary the shape to sausages or round buns depending on the hat you’re wearing.

So there you go, hopefully next time you’re wearing a hat this will give you some more ideas!

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Sir Reginald Bunnikins Finds Bergamot Bunny

by VioletLeBeaux | Mar 5, 2014 | Craft, Inspiration

Once upon a time, Sir Reginald Bunnikins was a very lonely bunny. Sir Reginald, or Turnip as he was known to his very close friends, had a very good job as the owner of the world’s largest tea factory. He had a sprawling manor house in the country side to spend his weekends at and a delightful city flat just near his club to enjoy during the week. Sir Reginald had all the tea he could possibly drink and some very lovely bunny friends but something always seemed to be missing.

You see, Sir Reginald had been blessed with a very good name and character but as his nickname suggested, he wasn’t so full in the brains department. In fact he had received his nickname as an homage to his best friend Violet’s most treasured romantic hero: Turnip Fitzhugh. Also his head kind of looked like a turnip.

But that was just the problem wasn’t it? Sir Reginald wasn’t much in the way of a romantic hero, he had no Arabella to rescue or eat pudding with! As a proper Victorian gentleman with no formal introductions it was rather hard for him to meet an appropriately chaperoned young bunny lady in this day and age.

The whole issue made Sir Reginald’s brain box hurt.

And so it was one day after discussing the problem with Violet, that Sir Reginald set out to find a solution to his rather larger problem. Rather!

He climbed the highest shelf he could find and grabbed some supplies.

Surely if he couldn’t be introduced to a young bunny lady, perhaps he could make one?

Sir Reginald worked tirelessly all night, only stopping for 6 tea and pudding breaks. He made a rather comely bunny body…

And a delightful bunny head…

The ears of course were the most important part, how otherwise would one be able to have a delightful chat over tea and sandwiches. And Sir Reginald really did like sandwiches.

Sir Reginald worked continuously adding all of the appropriate elements…

Hands, feet, a fluffy tail, a really big brain (because one of them ought to have one don’t you know!).

He sourced a bow from the finest couturier and added the finishing touches to his new best friend.

But what could he name her? A beautiful bunny like this without a name just appeared a bit unseemly, how would the staff be able to announce them at balls if she had no name?

After a long think, Bergamot came to mind… It was of course the key ingredient in Sir Reginald’s favourite kind of tea.

Bergamot Bunny awoke with a start and looked into the eyes of her one true love!

“Oh! Er… Hello there Miss Bunny!” Sir Reginald stuttered awkwardly.

Luckily somehow Bergamot Bunny, who had managed to acquire both a brain and a decent idea of true love, saw her opportunity and went for it!

*kissing*

How very improper! Without a chaperone and everything!

Sir Reginald was highly shocked and had to hide around the corner for a bit. Bergamot was left to roll her eyes. That was kind of a feature of their relationship from that point on.

And they lived happily ever after or some such nonsense!

Lazy Inspiration

by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 22, 2014 | About Me, Inspiration

You know what the problem with writing a post about Lazy Inspiration? You get too busy and lazy to actually write it… >_>

Lately I’ve been talking about Lazy Inspiration a lot. I mentioned it as the theme for The VLB and it’s been something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

I can be very unmotivated sometimes and once you’re in an unmotivated frame of mind it’s hard to climb out of it because everything seems to hard. You have a couple of set backs which are outside of your control and it completely ruins your momentum. You’re too busy to do anything but even though you’re so busy… nothing really gets done. It’s a bad habit! All of your goals seem so far away from actually being completed.

So I feel like this…

And then this happens instead of me actually completing the original goals…

And that’s exactly the problem. Big things are hard! Small changes are easy. And if you can make enough small changes the results in your life suddenly become nice and big without you even noticing.

I want to be one of those people who do things and go places and are productive all the time… but I’m already in my pajamas… >_>

So rather than completely fight against my nature I’ve decided to embrace it! Rather than forcing myself to get out of my pyjamas… I’m just going to make prettier pyjamas! Or wear heels at home or bright lipstick or anything else which is a small change but gives me a boost of confidence.

The challenge I’ve set myself is to do one small thing every day which will boost my mood and inspire me. Small changes which will lead to bigger changes. Inspiration for the lazy.

What kinds of things though? They need to be quick, easy, inexpensive and make me feel good when I can cross them off.

This is the list I’ve come up with so far:

Paint your nails
Make a healthier meal than usual
Wear your cutest outfit
Think of one thing you like about your life
Consciously try to smile more
Try out a new make up look
Try out a new hair style
Make a night time wind down routine eg. read for 15min, listen to one song while you apply your face creams so you are relaxed for bed
Try exercising for 5 minutes a day (and build up to more when you’re ready)
Wear a face mask
Make your next meal as pretty as possible
Give a stranger a compliment
Wear something completely different than you’re used to
Start reading a new book in a different genre than you usually read
Throw out something you’ve been meaning to for ages
Try out a new craft
Paint your toe nails and add some bling
Decorate/organise the area you spend the most time in (my desk!)
Clean that one area of the house that you never get around to (the laundry…)
Listen (and possibly dance) to a really happy uplifting song (I’m going to do it to some bubble gum kpop!)
Take a photo of a really pretty view
Find and study a really pretty flower
Try something creative like drawing, painting or sculpting, it doesn’t matter if you suck it at as long as you try something new!

That’s what I’m going to start with, I think I’ll update this often with new ideas that I’m trying out.

If any of you guys want to be lazily inspired you can take this list or leave me your list in the comments! Let me know if you write a post about your progress, results, pledge, whatever! If you post on social media use the hashtag #lazyinspiration and I’ll keep track of everything. Likewise, you will be able to see me cross these things off on Instagram and Facebook.

The best thing about using #lazyinspiration is that as soon as you tell someone you’re going to do something, you become accountable! It’s easy to tell yourself you’re going to do something and never do it (*cough* I do it all the time!) but as soon as I tell Celina or James, they start asking me how it’s going and then I feel like I HAVE to do it, so let’s be each others ~~guilt~~ support network!

Maybe we’ll make this a monthly or weekly thing with challenges, rewards, prizes, that kind of thing if you guys are interested. Motivation and inspiration is possible and we can inspire each other to keep going even when we aren’t feeling at our best!

What do you guys think? Are you ready to be inspired in the laziest way possible?

Let’s get motivated together!

How To Find Cute Things In Dollar Stores

by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 17, 2011 | Inspiration, Life

I love junk stores. I do some of my best shopping in junk stores but a lot of people ask about how I manage to find nice things amongst all of the… well junk XD I personally find that it’s all about digging, you have to sort through about 100 crap things before you find 1 good one. So with thinking about that I went to the junk shop at Harbour Town (which is currently my favorite) the other day to see what I could spot.

There were less nice things than I usually find but I still managed to hunt out a decent amount of things that I would have bought if I’d had the money.

Frist find of the day, I spotted these cute rose towels with lace edging on the way over.

A lot of the things I found this day were homewares and cute storage. These boxes would be perfect for keeping winter clothes in or accessories. The biggest was $5.50

Junk Store Shopping

This pretty serving tray is perfect for tea parties and only $2.

Junk Store Shopping

Of course you could get the whole tea set for $25 XD Much too pricy for a kids set but totally cute anyway!

Junk Store Shopping/></p> <p><img src=

Keeping with the tea party theme these plates are only $2. I actually prefer plates like this to display things like hair accessories in the bathroom or make up I use the most often etc.

Junk Store Shopping

This was around $7 if I remember correctly, yes it’s a fairly standard cupboard organiser thingy *but* it’s damask print! Super cute 😀

Junk Store Shopping

$2.50 for a cherry purse that comes with it’s own lipgloss? Yes please!

Junk Store Shopping

Of course it would be terrible not to go to a junk store and try on a bunch of ridiculous sunglasses. This is the part in the movie where there is also a montage of trying on hats 😉

Junk Store Shopping

Again in the realms of cute storage we have these lacy baskets. Pricy at $16.95 but they would make adorable laundry baskets!

Junk Store Shopping

There were also these big boxes with cute prints, can’t remember the price but under $10.

Junk Store Shopping

Pretty floral vases, probably not the one with the bird but I really like the others.

Junk Store Shopping

Or for the garden there were always these ones:

Junk Store Shopping

Again more flowery boxes. There was a serious over abundance of flowery boxes this time around but junk store shopping is like that, there is always too many of some things and not enough of others. The key is to buy what you like when you see it because next time it probably won’t be there.

Junk Store Shopping

There are always fun items like this too, it’s a Mario style mushroom piggy bank! I so wanted to take this home!

Junk Store Shopping

This brand is stocked in a lot of newsagents and junk stores and while they are aimed little girls there are a whole lot of cute things like these rose printed sunglasses…

Junk Store Shopping

And these little purses…

Junk Store Shopping

And a lot of these accessories and hair clips…

Junk Store Shopping

Of course when you go shopping with a boy and spend so long taking photos of random things he tends to get bored and be a little bit juvenile -_-‘

Junk Store Shopping

This next photo is a prime example of how sometimes you find the most random things at the airport! When we went to Singapore last year I spent *ages* scouring for a cute hard cover wheelie suitcase. I couldn’t even find anything pink so I took my crappy busted old one which I had to sew back together! Now I manage to find pink adorable ones in a junk store for $45 *_*

Junk Store Shopping

And of course if none of that is what you’re looking for there is always the wall of BYS make up that these places always seem to have. Including but not limited to the old BYS shimmer pots! I bought a couple of these when I was 14 and then they were discontinued. It was a sad sad day but they brought them back! and in lots of new colours too 😀

Junk Store Shopping

So there you go! Not my best trip but hopefully the general message got across that if you dig, you can find really cute things in the places you’d least expect especially when you’re on a budget 😀

Sneaker Sunday- Week 2

by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 25, 2010 | Inspiration, Outfit Of The Day

So you might have read all about Sneaker Sunday last week, if not go and have a look here to see what all the fuss is about!!

A lot of you wanted some tips and ideas for what to wear sneakers with… so for week two we wanted to give you some co-ordination ideas 😀

*edit* Disclaimer- Just wanted to point out that a lot of these shoes are from YesStyle who currently have an advertisement on the sidebar of my blog via Nuffnang, I wrote this post long before I knew I was getting ads from YesStyle so please don’t think this is a sponsored post because it’s not! I just happen to love a whole lot of stuff from there because it’s cute!*/edit*

Sneaker Sunday Co-ordination ideas!

Today I want to focus on wearing cute, comfortable shoes to more dressy events or just dressed up enough for a day out on the town! Sneakers are great but they aren’t appropriate for some events.

Photos used are credited below and are not mine. I will be happy to remove if asked by the owner.

Shoe 1: Lady Bug Flats

These are completely adorable. Because they are shiny they can either be a nice statement piece or as part of a bright outfit like the one I put together below. I would wear this to a nice night out.

http://www.costumeexpress.com/Ladybug-Flat-Shoes-Adult/61698/ProductDetail.aspx

Outfit details:
Dress- 50’s style flared dress
Cardi- Polka dot with peter pan colour
Headdress- From Equip, pill box hat with feathers

Shoe 2: Ballet Dancing Shoes

Pretty much any of the shoes that I’m posting can be dressed up or down. These cuties would be fantastic for a long walking shopping trip and with a few good accessories could be dressed up for an evening dinner. The big ribbon bow keeps everything really feminine so keep the co-ordinate light and girly. You could even replace the ribbon depending on the colour you’re wearing.

http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Shoes/Ballet+School+Flats

Outfit details:
Dress- Target
Cardigan- Myer
Headband- Diva
Stockings- Myer (but they don’t sell them anymore)

Shoe 3: Diamante bow shoes

The first thing that I thought when I saw these shoes was of my good friend Trashtastika’s tutorial on how to make a crown headband. You can see the tutorial here, and it would be the perfect co-ordinate for these shoes!

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/zahir-bejeweled-bow-accent-flats/info.html/pid.1022476810

Outfit details:
Dress- patterned grey dress from Myer
Cardigan- Ballet style from a thrift store
If it’s a bit cooler, pair it with some opaque black or grey stockings.

Shoe 4: Black and White Alternative Shoes

These shoes have a distinctly punkish feel to them, you could wear them with a Kodona or other boy-style outfit. For a more rockabilly inspired look, pair them with the cutest floofy dress you own. I chose the girly path (surprise) and chose a mostly black and white outfit with just a splash of bright colour to make it a little more interesting! It reminds me a bit of a bowling outfit!

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/woorisin-patent-loafers-white-250/info.html/pid.1022072233

Outfit Details:
Dress- Target
Cardigan- White lace from a thrift store
Bow- Made by my friend Susie
Stockings- Black opaque from Myer

Shoe 5 and 6: Pink Lacy Ballet Flats and Pink Quilted Flats

This next outfit is to show you how different flats can give a completely different fee to an outfit.

Outfit details:
Dress- Handmade floral and lace design
Headband- Gift from a friend

Now if you were wearing that dress for a nice warm summer day out, you could easily wear it with the lace pink flats below. They are very delicate and are a lovely summery. They don’t over power the outfit but they would be a nice point of interest.

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/hobak-girls-beribboned-lace-flats/info.html/pid.1022487306

These pink quilted shoes are my favorites overall! While they do have a tiny heel for the most part they are flat enough that I don’t think they would cause any discomfort at all even if you wore them all day. They really remind me of the kind of shoes I thought princesses wore when I was a little girl ^_^ I would wear white stockings with the above outfit and use these as a statement piece to draw attention.

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/cookie-7-beribboned-quilted-pumps/info.html/pid.1022322364

Shoe 7: Pink Suede Walking Shoes

These shoes I fell in love with at first sight. The little ties at the front give them an interesting shape which is a nice change from the thousands of ballet flats out there! They are ideal for times you know you’re going to be doing a lot of standing and could look cute worn with out without stockings. I think these would look very cute worked in with a Mori Girl co-ordinate. My co-ordinate is more along the lines of how I would wear them though.

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/cookie-7-lace-up-loafers/info.html/pid.1022348596

Outfit details:
Jacket- Angelic Pretty
Skirt- Vintage gift from a friend

Shoe 8 and 9: Red Sneakers and Blue Bow Sneakers

This is another double co-ordinate to show that even the humble old sneaker can be dressed up enough to be good for a more formal event. The outfit I’ve picked for these two is a nautical/sailor inspired.

Outfit details:
Dress- Yacht dress thrifted
Nautical scarf- also thrifted

These bright red sneakers are a great addition to this dress as they follow the traditional red/white/blue nautical colours and they are a more feminine shape than traditional sneakers. The bow on the top is a nice touch and as long as they were clean and presentable they would be perfectly appropriate for a day time event.

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/holly-shoes-bow-front-sneakers/info.html/pid.1022434640

Now if you wanted to wear the same outfit to a night event these next shoes would do the trick. The blue stripes continue the theme of the scarf and the dark plain fabric draws attention away from the lighter dress. The bow keeps it fun but they are still dressy enough for an evening event!

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/cookie-7-stripe-bow-wedge-flats/info.html/pid.1022405407

Shoe 10: Leopard Print Sneakers

Lastly we have some awesome leopard print sneakers! I’ve paired these ones with a bit of a fancy out on a town outfit! Leopard print is funny and a little bit really does go a long way! This one is definitely the kind of co-ordinate that is all in or nothing XD

http://www.yesstyle.com.au/en/kvoll-rhinestone-leopard-print-slip-on-sneakers-blue-europe-39/info.html/pid.1022503176

Outfit details:
Dress- Valley Girl
Jacket- can’t remember, added the leopard print myself
Stockings- Myers

So there you have it! 10 ways of co-ordinating cute flats with cute outfits for all occasions! I hope you enjoyed the second installation of Sneaker Sunday, make sure you go check out Valerie’s awesome post as well!

Keep sending in your photos and feel free to browse the Sneaker Sunday gallery for more inspiration, also if you’ve made a Sneaker Sunday post that I missed please let me know so we can add you to the galleries! 😀

Part 3 of Setting Up Your Blogging Space- Putting it all together…

by VioletLeBeaux | Dec 30, 2009 | Inspiration, Storage/Utility-Tutorials, Tutorial

I have a couple of little announcements before the main post on setting up your blogging space!

Firstly I’ve done an interview with the lovely Hollie from Mermaid’s Closet click here if you’d like to have a look 🙂

Secondly, I’ve been planning on doing an FAQ about Hime Gyaru styles for a while now and I’ve actually gotten around to starting to write it ^_^ So if there are any questions you have about my style or Hime Gyaru in general I’d love to hear them. You can put them in the comments or go to my contact page if you’d like to do it more privately 🙂

Lastly I’m going away for a few days to the beach for New Years (I hope my new swim suit arrives today or else that’s going to suck!)… anyway that means I’ll probably be missing Art Friday this week but I’m taking a sketch book so I might post something on Sat. I’ve just gotten WordPress on my phone so I might test it out and try to post some snap shots 😀

But back to the important bits…

I’ve had a lot of questions about the mechanics of blogging lately so I’ve decided to make a series of posts with tips on setting up a productive blogging space ^_^

Part 1- Tutorial on making an inspiration board Part 2- Tutorial on decorating a mirror and lamp Part 3- Putting it all together and what else do you need?So today is

Part 3- Putting it all together and what else do you need?

Well isn’t that the just longest title in the universe? Very important though. One quick disclaimer, this isn’t actually my blogging space at the moment. Because we’re living in a room at James’ parent’s place for a few months to save for our mortgage deposit, my current blogging place is in bed with a tray table holding my lap top… and it sucks. James has a big computer so he gets the desk in our room, nuts to him I want the desk! In our new house when I’ve stolen my desk back this is how I’ll be setting it up 😀 Oooow it’s like you’re seeing into the future! *cool sci fi music*

So this is *my* blogging space:

I’ll go through it bit by bit but the most important part of the whole thing is the laptop! You can’t blog without a computer ^_^ My laptop of choice is a big Mac Book Pro with lots of useful programs. You can see my pink twitter page on the screen heehee! If at all possible you should have a desk and a really comfy chair with lots of back and neck support. When you spend a large amount of time in front of a computer screen you really need to have a supportive chair which doesn’t hurt your back! Trust me, blogging in bed is not as comfy as it sounds.

From the picture below you can see that I’ve set up my inspiration board up right in front of the window. This way I can see outside (natural light is really important fr your eyes too) but I have lots of things to inspire me.

Here is a close up of the right side of my desk. Here is a list of what’s there:

-Decorated mirror (to check I look cute before photos)
-Wacom graphics tablet (for work and to draw all the cute graphics for my blog)
-Nail up magazine (INSPIRATION! God I love this mag so much but on any given day it could be replaced with some other book or mag. Inspiration is so important!)
-Cake eyelash holder, ok see the little thing that looks like a cake on my graphics tablet? It’s actually a false eyelash holder I made. I’m going to do a tutorial soon, but the point it that I keep recent or current projects close by so I can remember what I’m talking about when I write up the tutorials. That an false eyelashes are awesome 😀
-Water bottle/soft drink (Always keep yourself well hydrated, when you’re using a computer time can run away from you and all of a sudden you haven’t had a drink in 7 hours >_< Very important!)

And for the right side:
-My lamp (For when it’s night time or I’m decorating something small and need extra light)
-Cute headphones (For when you want to watch videos and it’s like 2am and you don’t want to wake up your boyfriend who is asleep right next to you.)
-Video Camera, case and mini tripod (Very important for video blogging obviously…)
-Phone (Important for taking calls from clients and also for quick photos etc)
-Kinder Chocolate or Bueno (Snacks! Chocolaty delicious snacks! Very, very important to remember to eat. Snacks are fantastic, especially Bueno shaped snacks. Damn would Bueno hurry up and sponsor me? I give them enough advertising!)

Not pictured here but also important:
-Reliable camera. I use my phone and my video camera when James doesn’t have his awesome DSLR handy.
-Boyfriend who’s good with his fancy DSLR camera to take photos for you

Having lots of power points around your area is handy too so you can plug everything in.

I think colour and decoration are very important to putting me in a good mood for blogging. I find pink and other pastel colours make me happy so I’ve decorated accordingly. You really don’t need to spend much money on decorating, the table cloth is just a scrap of fabric ^_^

So there you go! That’s the series, I hope you guys found that a bit helpful. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them, if there are lots I might even do a reader Q&A post on setting up your blogging space in general. 🙂

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So you might have read all about Sneaker Sunday last week, if not go and have a look here to see what all the fuss is about!!

Sneaker Sunday Co-ordination ideas!

Shoe 1: Lady Bug Flats

Shoe 2: Ballet Dancing Shoes

Shoe 3: Diamante bow shoes

Shoe 4: Black and White Alternative Shoes

Shoe 5 and 6: Pink Lacy Ballet Flats and Pink Quilted Flats

Shoe 7: Pink Suede Walking Shoes

Shoe 8 and 9: Red Sneakers and Blue Bow Sneakers

Shoe 10: Leopard Print Sneakers

I have a couple of little announcements before the main post on setting up your blogging space!

Part 3- Putting it all together and what else do you need?

Explore…