Halloween... Excellent!

It's finally here! Halloween!

I don't know about you Minis, but I adore this holiday. Sure, candy is nice and I love pumpkins, but there is just something so awesome about making costumes and admiring others' creations, don't you think?

Okay, so I'm now in Chicago. I made it here safe Saturday and have been spending the past couple of days getting my place in order. It's really quite adorable. Before I left Columbus, though, Geoff and I got our costumes all schwing-ified and hit the town. It was.... excellent. And the best part? They were only around $15 each. Here's how.


The first things we made a point to find were pants. We knew this would be tricky because we were looking for a certain wash — not to mention that I'm rather small and Geoff is a 28" waist. We wanted to thrift them, and were lucky enough to find each pair for around $3-$4. Geoff ended up with some women's pants, but it worked out just the same. For this costume, the trick is getting a relaxed fit — not bootcut or flare. The wash should be light-medium.

I took my dressmaking sheers (Geoff used a razor) and started working at the knees. I distressed them until I had two large holes in each knee. The torn denim look is a key factor in the Wayne's World costumes. Trust me!

For my shirt, I picked up a basic black crew neck from H&M for $5. For Geoff, we picked up a basic white crew neck at Jo-Ann Fabrics for $2 and made an iron on transfer of a vintage Aerosmith logo. Appropriate, no? Garth, of course, normally has a blue flannel, and we found one at the thrift store for only a couple of bucks.


Our wigs, on the other hand, were a little trickier. We looked at a Halloween store but didn't find anything that looked correct. But to our surprise, we found some wigs at Jo Ann Fabrics that were the correct colors for $4. We took them home and cut/teased them until they looked legit. We both sported some plain sneakers (Wayne and Garth usually wear chucks, but we went with Vans Lo-Pros since we already had them in our closets).


The last part was the most difficult: the Wayne's World hat. I had seen many online for around $16. I was both unwilling to pay that much and unsatisfied with how the logos didn't match the movie version. Geoff found this plain black cap at the thrift store for $2, so I use Dark T-Shirt Transfers to cut out the letters. Remember, it has to be the dark transfers to work on black because they have a white base!


I printed out the correct logo and used a lightbox to cut out the letters and globe accordingly. Using an iron, I carefully had to apply them and peel the backing paper off. It was tedious but turned out well!


The finished product!


In the end, I think our costumes turned out really well! The whole night I couldn't help but giggle when I looked at Geoff in his Garth get-up, and every time I caught myself in the mirror I thought I was a guy. Creepy!

Hope your Halloween is full of treats (and maybe a few harmless tricks)! I'm still trying to get my new apartment all set up to share with you. It's super cute and I'm excited to finally be here. More info later... Be safe, everyone!

Two Days Left!

Image by YONIL.com

It's quickly getting closer! Only two days left until the moving, which means only two days left of the sale! You can still get 35% off everything in the store when you use the code MOVINGSALE35 at checkout. There are some really great items and new markdowns, so go check it out!

Don't forget about the items I've listed on the blog as part of the moving sale. It's all up to date, so if you see something you'd like, send me an email and we can do the transaction through PayPal.

Only a few more boxes to pack and I'm all set...

Five Days Until the Move: 35% off Mini Penny Shop

That's right! I have less than a week before my big Chicago move (eep!) and I still have lots of beautiful items in my inventory. The best part is that you benefit from my move, too, cause everything in my shop is currently 35% off when you use the code MOVINGSALE35 at checkout.

I finally started packing this morning, so I'm knee-deep in cardboard and packing tape with The Wonder Years blasting from Netflix in the background. It's rainy outside and I'm about to go sell my car later this afternoon (goal accomplished!!!). It's all starting to feel real now. Once I get to Chicago, the sale will be over, so don't miss out!

Beloved Weekly: Halloween Edition

So today's edition of Beloved Weekly is a little different — Spooky Halloween Theme! Okay, maybe not everything is spooky, but I do love this time of year and all of the pumpkins, costumes, and goodies that go with it...


This Brains in a Jar cupcake recipe.


Okay, normally I don't post baby stuff, but this Sushi Costume has to be one of the easiest and cutest (and tastiest?) child costumes I've seen in a long time!


I loved this article in the NYTimes about The Walking Dead. This show makes Sunday evenings so exciting again!


Maybe it's just wax and sugar, but I do love candy corn! And even more, I love those little pumpkins! Photo by photopunx2.


Pumpkin tendrils! Photo by kirby3131.


Doggies in costume ALWAYS make me giggle. Photo by Chris Pirillo.


Looking through old photos is always fun! In 2008 Bob and I went to a work party as Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty. It was tons of fun. These are the sort of things I'm going to miss when I move!


And how could you not love carving pumpkins? This is me and my brother back in the early 90s with our little creations. Note my brother's awesome Dick Travey jammies and my sad-face pumpkin. What's the deal with that?


And lastly, even thought his isn't Halloween-related, I wanted to give a big thanks to Melanie over at Columbus Underground! A couple days ago she interviewed me for the local column called Style File about Mini Penny blog. You can read the article here. It's really great!

So we have just a few days to finish up our Halloween costumes. Are you prepared? Who/what are you going to be?

Round Town

Click to View on LookBook

I can go on and on about how I love autumn — but it's never officially fall-time until I visit my hometown of Circleville, Ohio, for the Circleville Pumpkin Show.

There's a bit of kitsch that goes into this thing. I can recall going to the festival every year for as far back as I can remember. Some years it's warm enough for shorts and other times you would think it was about to snow. Well, this year the weather was perfect. We made it there early on a Saturday morning to beat the traffic and crowds.

What makes this event so special? Well, my school (which wasn't even in the downtown area) would close for three days, while the town itself would essentially close the streets for a week. Almost every vendor boats some pumpkin-flavored concoction (my favorite!) and there are gourds piled as high as the sky! Wanna see more?



First things first — Lindsey's Bakery. This is where I worked when I was in high school. Prior to my job here, I didn't like donuts. I know, right? Terrible! But Lindsey's makes their donuts fresh every evening, along with pies, breads, cakes, and cookies. They pretty much changed my view on fried yumminess. Also, see that pie up top? For the longest time, it was promoted as the world's largest pumpkin pie! I think it was 2004 or 2005 when another town in Ohio beat this monster (which I think is 7 feet in diameter). Everyone always asks, too, what happens to the pie after it's been sitting in the bakery window for a week? Well, the first farmer who calls dibs gets it to feed to their piggies! You can even see a framed photo in the top right of a few swines enjoying their pumpkin-y feast. Cute!



My second favorite part is the art show! I have a huge pile of Pumpkin Show ribbons around here somewhere from elementary through high school. While their photography section judging leaves a bit to be desired (no offense — but color selection photography is not the best thing ever discovered), there was one really amazing photograph of an abandoned building that I wish I could have viewed the artists' name. They had it hanging all the way at the top (unreadable!) and ribbon-less (inexcusable!).

But, the children's artwork is always awesome. The series of scribbly reasons why kids love fall was great, and I couldn't agree with this kid more: "I like fall because I just do!" And amount the rows of decorated pumpkins, I spotted an awesome Mike Wazowski, a couple of Angry Birds, adorable kitty pumpkins, and this funny little robot! So creative, these kids!


Of course, the apple doesn't fall too far away from the tree. I assume my ribbon-winning creative skills might stem from my mom's artistic eye. I don't think I've ever mentioned it before, but my momma is a quilter. I was able to snap a little detail shot of this quilt that scored her a first place ribbon (there was a second quilt, too, but my iPhone photo didn't do it justice). Congrats, Mom!


This was another first-place-ribbon quilt in the show done by my mom's friend Ann Sloneker. It was really awesome because it was all white with a tiny bit of maroon and a few these fantastic embroidered lady busts. Love it!


There was a craft show in the same building as the quilts — everything from Harry Potter crafted out of pumpkins to this really amazing Ohio made from welded tools and chain. And rightfully so, it won a best of show ribbon!


I really have a soft spot for little pop-up food carts and their silly names and typography. Not to mention that I love the side of the building in the background.


I brought one of my Polaroid cameras out from hiding today. I have about two and a half packs of film left, and I'm seriously hoarding them. I know that I can buy Impossible Project now, but I'm putting it off as long as possible.... (anyone wanna gift me an Instax in piano black? haha)



And of course, Pumpkin Show wouldn't be Pumpkin Show with pumpkins! Up top is a pumpkin weighing nearly 1200 pounds — and it wasn't even the winner (which I think was around 1500?)! Every year there's a great pumpkin tower full of shiny pretties. It feels like autumn in my book!


So I'm officially one week away from the move out and I've got so much on my plate. I'm trying to sell my car (fingers crossed) — that's my biggest project right now. Oh, and packing. I haven't started packing yet. I've decided that I will start Monday on my day off! Until then, my list of random little things I have to buy is slowly growing... towels, shower curtain, a sofa, dishes... everything that Geoff and I have been sharing for the past year or so that I need to have for my little Chicago apartment! I feel a Target run in my near feature, sheesh!

But, at least it finally stopped raining! ;)

Denim vest, thrifted
Graphic tank, Forever 21
Silence+Noise Jeggings, UO
Kimchi Blue Mary Jane Platforms, UO
Banjo necklace, thrifted
Hazy Days sunnies, UO

Review // October Birchbox

Image via Birchbox.com

After three months of Birchboxing, I'm content with my decision to cancel today. Although I did find Befine facial scrub through this program, I think that overall my boxes have been pretty unexciting and filled with items that I would never buy. I'll start with what came in this month's box.

▲ Wool and Cashmere Shampoo — I have zero interest in this. I really don't know what else to say. I can see how it would benefit someone who owns cashmere and wool, but I don't. I'll probably shove this in the back of a drawer and forget about it until I thrift some crazy wool item.

▲ Clark's Botanicals Intense Radiance Mask — Initially I was excited about this, but after using it realized that it had very little effect on my skin. I love the packaging of it and it has a nice, clean smell, but the results just don't come close to justifying the $72 (what?!?) price tag. I still love the Rainbow Research green clay mask I got in my GoGoGirlfriend box a few months ago.

▲ Amika Obliphica Hair Treatment — Firstly, this was already open (as in, the seal was broken) and half-leaked out all over my box when I received it. I was pretty disappointed. The product itself made my hair a strange texture. I'm not sure if it is because of the bleaching or if it's the oil itself. Definitely not something I would every buy. As far as hair treatments go, I recently tried the Macadamia Hair Mask and it made my locks silky and smooth!

▲ Anastasia Beverly Hills HydraFull Gloss — This sticky concoction did nothing for my pout. If it was a different shade, I could have at least looked past the texture, but I have enough coral and peach tones to hold me over for a while.

▲ Laura Geller Spackle Tinted Primer im Bronze — I'm not really sure who thought it was a good idea to send a woman as pale as I am this bronzing primer with winter approaching. I rarely ever use bronzer to begin with. I tried it, though, and didn't really see any reason to switch from my $6 ELF Primer. I ended up trading this with Tish for the Blinc Mascara that came in her box.

Okay, so I'm pretty disappointed with the products, but the service is a whole other story. Initially I tweeted @birchbox that one of my products was open and had leaked. They instructed me to email info@birchbox.com to resolve the issue. I did. And I waited.

A few days later (this morning), I hadn't heard a thing, so I tweeted again. Then they gave me a separate email address and told me to forward my previous email to this second place. Talk about a run-around. Eventually the second email address responded to my concerns (very long-winded-like), which spanned not only from leaking samples but to the glaring comparison to what other bloggers and YouTubers seem to be getting in their boxes. She insisted that there is no "preferred" program where they send better boxes to certain folks, so maybe it's all coincidence. Either way, I'm dissatisfied with how downhill Birchbox has gone since Tish first introduced me to them earlier this year and I cancelled my subscription today.

I will keep watching the YouTubers, and if they improve then I may pick it up later on down the road. Until then, I'll save my $10/month and just go to Ulta and try samples of things that I'm actually interested in buying.

Last Chance for Free Shipping!

There are only a few hours left to get free WORLDWIDE shipping over at the Mini Penny Shop! All you have to do is pick out a lovely item (or more), and enter the code FREESHIP10 at checkout. What are you waiting for?

Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

80s Metallic Black Blazer $24


90s TNT Black Daisy Halter Dress $22


Vintage Designer Amalfi Heels $48


80s/90s Rampage Polka Dotted Skirt $21


Red Gingham Dress $28

It's still rainy and awful here in Ohio, so I've been unable to take any outfit shots! Hopefully it clears up this weekend. Today I signed my lease on my new Chicago apartment and I couldn't be more excited! Cheers!

Silver Screen

Click to View on LookBook

Oh shucks! I forgot to post my outfit from yesterday!

Well, it has been cold and rainy here — yesterday it was thundering for literally hours. Do you know what that means? I took a nap. I have a love-hate relationship with naps, you know what I mean? Sleeping is great and all, but I just have so much more to do. Yak!

So my exciting news is that I got my lease for my new apartment yesterday. It's all signed and ready to send back. I'm so stoked about the new place and am excited to share it with you all! It's cute, I promise!

Given today's weather, I'm going to try and get some things done for the shop. Speaking of which, they free shipping sale is still going on! Tomorrow is the last day — enter FREESHIP10 at checkout for free shipping worldwide. Hop over and check out the goodies.

Bowler hat, Aldo
Vintage sweater, Chicago Vintage Bazaar
H&M Leopard button-up, Consignment shop
Vintage Guess denim, thrifted + altered
Sheer black socks, UO
Silver oxfords, Forever 21

Three Days Only: Free Shipping on all Orders!

For the next three days, you can get free shipping on all orders when you use the code FREESHIP10 at checkout. Head over to the Mini Penny Etsy shop and check it out!

Cream of the Crop + Pinhole Book Winner

Click to buy this dress

Recently on Instagram, I've been having lots of beautiful ladies requesting larger sizes in my shop. Well, I've been on the lookout for some vintage clothing with larger measurements and have picked up a an item or two so far. This dress is the first I have to offer — a beautiful 1960s cream and red dress in perfect condition.


Now, I know that by the photo it looks like a size small. In reality, I have it pinned in the back simply for modeling purposes. It runs about a large or extra large — and you can check the exact measurements on Etsy.

And of course, I forgot to announce the winner of the Pinhole Camera book from last week!


Say hello to Stephanie from GrowlingSteph!



It looks like she received the book today and I hope she enjoys it! Check out her lovely little blog — she has a really cool ongoing series about lists that I've been thinking about picking up!


So that will be my last give away (I'm pretty sure, anyway) until after I get to Chicago. It's less than two weeks now! I'm ecstatic and nervous. Have you ever had to make a big move?

Keep in mind that I'm still running the 25% sale! Just enter the code MOVINGSALE25 at checkout for the discount.

Vintage dress, Mini Penny (buy it here)
Stretch belt, thrifted
Denim jacket, thrifted
Organic cotton socks, H&M
Leopard Print peep toe heels, Target
Gold leaf headwrap, DIY

Two Weeks

Click to buy this duster

Today was a real nice wrap up to the weekend — the weather was nice, although windy, so we went to Easton Mall to window shop. The mall ended up being very crowded. Either way, we picked up one more piece for my Halloween costume from H&M and are only one step away from completion! I'm excited!


Geoff and I stopped by Godiva where I bought us a couple of pumpkin spice chocolates. I was just telling him about these the other day and he mentioned he had never tried them. Wha-la! They're so delicious!


I got the basic tee from H&M, but first we stopped at Forever 21 to try and find a black crew neck for me (since they're usually $5 or so). They ended up not having any basics (what?!) but were running a buy-one-get-one-free sale on their clearance items. I shuffled through their stuff — most of which wasn't my style — and ended up with a tank and these silver oxfords. The cashier rang me up incorrectly and charged me less than he was supposed to. I don't think eight dollars is too bad for a shirt and a pair of shoes, even if the shoes won't last a super long time.

We also went into Aldo, where I continued to drool over beautiful shoes. I'm coming to the conclusion that it's one of my favorite retail shoe stores. They has some über Cruella Deville-esque platform wedges that I would kill fore. I'll cross my fingers!

The only other thing I noticed at the mall was the small amount of Post-Its, small notes, and apples lined up in front of The Apple Store where I used to work. It was certainly sad to see that some of the Steve Jobs memories were still up.


This awesome fish tail duster is a new item in my Etsy shop as of today! It can be either buttoned up and worn with skinny jeans or leggings as a tunic or worn upon with shorts and tank as a duster. Cute, right?


I have the day off tomorrow and have a long To Do list of small tasks. My goal is to see how far I can get through it!

Fish tail Floral Duster, Mini Penny (buy it here)
Pocket tank, thrifted + altered
Vintage Guess denim, thrifted + altered
Vertical Striped Tights, Romwe
Mary Jane Suede Platforms, UO
Studded bracelet, XXI
Crystal amethyst necklace, DIY