It's fun to DIY!

If you know me personally, you know that I like to make things.  Whether it's videos, photos, characters, accessories, you name it - I LOVE making things.  Lately I've been on a DIY kick and I'm really happy with what I've been turning out.
It all started with my Killjoy outfit. I also got inspiration from other places/people like Doe Deere Blogazine/Lime Crime, Kelly Eden and Raquel Reed. They are super fearless with their fashion choices and I have decided that I, too, would be a little more fearless. Well, I kinda let that happen when I dyed my hair pink.  But sadly, it's not pink anymore and I am deeply hurt by this every single time I look into the damn mirror.

My hair is back to black. It's a long, sad story but I'll spare you the details...

Long story short: my friend (who I used to trust with my hair) basically fucked it up. We spent ALL day bleaching and dyeing. Mind you, I'm not an expert in that field so I let him totally take over since he's the professional. 6 hours later, my hair was pinkish purpley black. The way he styled it was fine but there was a little too much black for my taste - especially since I had been rinsing the colour out for 2 weeks prior to more vibrant colour. ANYWAYS - the way he styled it involved LOTS of hairspray so when I washed the hairspray out the next morning, MOST of the colour went with it (except the black). I was devastated! I had a mini breakdown in the bathroom, sobbing and clutching some black hair dye I had bought a few months back.  I didn't want to go back to black but I had no choice.  I haven't told my friend that I went back to black because I'm afraid I will get angry at him for fucking my hair up to that point.  I'll let it go.

Whew.  Now that that is off my chest, I can come back down to the original topic: DIY.  I've been in love with the idea of tiny top hats and I finally purchased a black one at Wet Seal (of all places!).  After that, I was hooked on making them out of tube boxes.  I made a blue one for my oldest niece and a red one for my step-sister - both made out of cardboard cylinder boxes.  The one I made for my youngest niece, I made from scratch with purple glitter foam.  It kind of looked like a pilgrim hat but I put some pyramid studs on it and it was fine.  The tutorial that started that making frenzy was this one. I forget how I stumbled on to this blog because I'm not that big of an Audrey fan-but after seeing this tutorial, I was a big time Audrey DIY fan. She has some pretty clever ideas for sprucing stuff up. This project called for a heart box lid. I had the lid painted and finished but what about the rest of the box?  Sure, it was a little tall but what did that matter? I made another heart piece with the bottom part of the container but I used more colours and added some lace.
Then I went totally crazy! I bought wooden stars and hearts, more boxes, different shapes, an insane amount of rhinestones and even a tea set. Why a tea set? So I could recreate this!!! How cute!!
I was also insanely inspired by the piece Kelly Eden is wearing here. I LOVE IT!!! Of course, I have to do my own version of it because what good is a direct copy? And there's always a sense of accomplishment when you do things for yourself.
I hear some girls say things like, "Oh, I need a man to (blank)" and that really hurts my heart. Sure, I've been guilty of that many times but growing up with two Moms has taught me a lot of things - including: it's better when you do it yourself! There's no shame in making something if you know the cost of materials will be cheaper than actually buying the thing.
Example: the tea party headband.

The tea set is a set of 4 plus a tea pot and other containers and the rhinestones come in large groups, so I divided the $15 for the tea set by 4 and I only used a fraction of these particular rhinestones. That's how the $4.50 came about.  I know it's not exactly the same but that's the point.  I saw the tea cup headband, wanted it and now, I have it.  Done and done.  And I can make 3 more!  It's so much better when you DIY!

Do you have any special or favorite DIY projects you've been working on?  I'd love to see them!

Love and kisses,
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

What am I supposed to do during the summer now that Glee is over???

Glee's season finale was a great unicorn chaser after last week's Funeral episode - which had me crying as hard as Kurt's I Wanna Hold Your Hand performance. Let's talk about the good and the bad.

First off: The Good (and ridiculously adorable).
- Rachel's That Girl moment. Ah-dorable. I was trying to figure out why it looked so familiar to me and my fellow Gleek at work just reminded me about it this morning. He also said that the finale might've been the gayest episode of Glee so far - and that's saying something because he's the resident gay.
- Kurt and Rachel's Breakfast at Tiffany's. OMG. How precious!! They were perfectly put together and endlessly adorable! It was almost too much cute! But there's no such thing as that in Glee Land.
- Kurt and Rachel's trip to the Wicked set. Freaking adorable!
- Sam and Mercedes! Finally! How cute! I remember hearing that rumor going around when Chord Overstreet was added to the cast but it sort of fizzled out. I'm so happy Mercedes is finally getting the love she totally deserves but it kind of came out of nowhere. Yes, it was set up during the prom episode and tiny little hint was shown in the episode where we find out about Sam's financial situation but it still seemed to come from nowhere. Either way, I love it. They're super cute together.
- Blaine and Kurt exchanged "I love you"s. *GASP* I let out a loud "Awwwwwwww!" and squealed as though Blaine had just told me that he loved me. It's no surprise that Kurt and Blaine are my most favorite couple of all time and this just sealed the deal for their relationship status: In love. Awwww. I told my fellow Gleek that maybe at the end of season 3 Kurt and Blaine run away to NYC (with Rachel) and have a Civil Union. We both agree that that would be magnificent!
- Mercedes might have given away a key plot point for season 3 when she said, "See you guys in class" to Kurt and Blaine at the coffee shop. Yes, there is a possibility she was talking to Sam and Kurt, not Kurt and Blaine but the rumor mill is buzzing with Blaine possibly auditioning for New Directions (which would mean he would have to transfer to McKinley High)...We'll see...

Now the bad.
- Mr. Schue, don't kill your broadway dreams! You can still coach the kids through Nationals and the rest of the school year but what will you do during the summer? What???!!!
- What the fuck was up with Quinn's "I want someone to love me" freak out in the hotel room? I did not understand that at all. It felt like it was hastily put together to show how Quinn's haircut really came about but other than that, what the fuck was it? Quinn knew that as soon as she picked Glee Club over the Cheerios that she would be an outcast. The fact that no one thought to vote for her for Prom Queen only exaggerated the fact that she's not Queen Bee anymore. And Santana and Brittany know this. I know they do. But my fellow Gleek brought up a good point. He said that with Quinn being a mixed up 17/18 year old, still in high school, she would still want to hang on to some part of her still being the popular one - especially after she got over the whole Lucy Caboosey thing. She's still trying to hang on to the whole "Head cheerleader always gets the guy" thing. I get it. But still - it was cray cray.
- Rachel and Finn. Yes, it's bad. I love Rachel and Finn separately but I wasn't crazy about Finn chasing after her. I did enjoy their little date out on the town and their on-stage kiss at Nationals was cute (and a great dig at Jesse) but I'm kind of over them. I agree that Rachel is too big for Lima. She belongs in NYC while Finn kinda feels like he should be in Quinn's idea of their life together where Finn would take over Kurt's Dad's shop. I guess we'll have to see where season 3 takes us as far as those 2 are concerned. For now, I could do with a little less Finchel and A LOT more Klaine!!

I can't wait to see what kind of adventures Ryan Murphy and the gang take us on for season 3. All I know is that it will feel like an eternity until Glee comes back...until then, all I can do is daydream about Klaine and Samcedes (not too crazy about that one) and possibly Brittana (who I adore almost as much as Klaine). It's gonna be a long summer. Oh well. At least I have Darren Criss' GQ photos to ogle!

Love and kisses to my fellow Gleeks,
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.

Danger Days: The True Life of an Atlanta Killjoy

I'd like to take this time now and admit something I'm not usually too open to admit to: I am a My Chemical Romance fan. Like, not just any fan - I'm a huge fan of the band and I have been for quite some time now. The reason I don't readily admit to it is because of the fans. That's right - the fans. Why? The same reason people won't admit they like Justin Beiber - his fans are crazy too. MCR fans are a special kind of crazy, though. We're loving and kind. We're thoughtful and we genuinely care about the music. And for most of us (including me), the band has saved our lives and for that, we are grateful for them. But, on Wednesday night at the MCR show at the Tabernacle, I saw the darker (and more immature) side of the fans.
Let me start by taking this all the way back to my first time seeing MCR. It was on their Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge tour. The show was happening at the Gwinnett Arena a few days after my birthday and I was stoked! I had found out about it last minute and I was still able to acquire 4 tickets to the show. My sister, brother and brother's then girlfriend joined me for my impromptu birthday celebration and we sang our hearts out at the very back of the arena. We took turns waving the shirt I had bought around our heads as we flailed, jumped, screamed and laughed throughout the entire show. I didn't think it would get any better! It was exhilarating. And even though I had only known the band for barely a year at that point, I knew they were amazing to behold.
Then The Black Parade came out. A theatrical and angsty record with a very beautiful message to everyone. This record really spoke to me. And one day a few years ago, it spoke to me louder than anyone or anything had ever done. I was conflicted with my job and the path my life was taking. It was becoming too much to bear. I won't go into too much detail but my iPod shuffled right on over to the opening track of The Black Parade: The End. Towards the end of the song, there's a sort of chant of "Save me". I came to and it was all clear. There was no need to take it all away. Then "Famous Last Words" shuffled on through and after that, "Welcome to the Black Parade" thundered in my car. I was a sobbing mess. What did this mean? Was I getting a new outlook on life? Yes, yes I was. I felt like my whole world was made right again and I was on the fast track to recovery. No more CoDA meetings, no more self-harm, no more bullshit - just life. It was a whole new world. And in that new world, came my new appreciation for MCR - the band who unknowingly had saved my life. Up until that moment, I had heard various fans say that MCR had saved their lives and it all sounded so silly to me. Almost comical. Until it happened to me. I know this sounds terribly cliche but it's true - My Chemical Romance had truly saved my life.
I went to see them on their Black Parade tour with this newfound clarity and the show was like a religious experience. They had graced the Gwinnett Arena with their presence once again and instead of being in the back, I was front row, on the barricade with bruised ribs and on the verge of fainting from the heat from the flames shooting out of their flame throwers combined with the body heat of thousands of fans all around me. I was almost close enough to touch the band. It was a spiritual high. And I wanted it again. Little did I know, MCR wouldn't come back to Atlanta for another few years. And when the World Contamination Tour tickets were announced, I was logged in and ordering the minute they went on sale. I wanted the high again. I wanted to be in the positive energy I had felt years before...
The night finally came. I was decked out in my Killjoy gear (as seen on my not-so-secret-anymore Killjoy tumblr), waiting in line. I should've known then that it was going to be a strange show. I was surrounded by kids and their parents. Not a big deal. But it became a very big deal once we got inside.
I ran up to the front of the stage as close as I could get - hoping for a taste of the high I had felt before but instead, I was surrounded by kids and their parents. There were two girls behind me screaming for no reason and they made fun of me for putting my ear plugs in. I let that go. There was a mother next to me who had come with her sons (I'm guessing). One of her sons was a few people in front of us, the other was getting groped by his girlfriend directly in front of us (um...whatever happened to respect???) and the other was awkwardly talking to the screaming girls behind me. Things started to get really weird when these 3 taller guys happened to squeeze their way slightly in front of us. I didn't really care but the girls behind me and the awkward kid next to me were really pissed off. And so was everyone behind us, apparently. But I tried to ignore it and enjoy myself.
The Architects played a wonderful set and I was really blown away at their performance. Not many people were, though, which is unfortunate. I understand that a majority of the people there that night were there for MCR and MCR only but I didn't get how the people behind me were totally trashing The Architects and even Thursday - who I will say was pretty good since the last time I saw them a million years ago. But I couldn't really enjoy Thursday like I wanted to because I was too preoccupied with the thought of staying on the floor and getting totally crushed by an enraged crowd or moving to the back to actually enjoy myself.
I debated it for the whole of Thursday's set. I had made it that far, could I possibly make my way to the front without incident? No way. The girls behind me and the awkward kid were unbearable at this point. The poor girl I kept getting pushed into was getting mad at me for pushing her when it was totally out of my control. I couldn't take it. I made the split decision to leave. It wasn't worth the pushing and shoving. Mind you, I am very aware of the rules of a show and I understand the whole general admission thing - trust me, I do - but this was embarrassing. I pushed and shoved my way out and with every person I cleared, a wave of people rushed to get my spot. It was a wreck. A total and complete wreck. People were purposefully stepping on my feet and using me to push others out of the way. I have NEVER EVER felt that kind of aggression before and ANY show - and I've been to quite a few crazy shows in my day - but I will say that this crowd was fucking insane. Not only did the crowd not have any kind of respect for The Architects or Thursday, but they didn't have any respect for each other which is one thing Gerard makes a point to mention at every show I've seen MCR play. He always says, "No matter what's going on, you stop and help your fellow fans (in this case, Killjoys")". I made it up to the third balcony of the Tabernacle and I didn't really see what was going on but I heard that people were being trampled and pulled out left and right non-stop. Craziness.
From my vantage point, I felt alive. Although I wasn't front and center like I had been earlier in the night, I was free. Free to sing my heart out, free to flail and dance about without the fear of hurting someone, free to fucking enjoy myself. Not to mention free to take videos for my brother who couldn't join me that night.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one with a problem that night and I feel very comforted knowing that.
Hopefully MCR will return to Atlanta soon (like they did after the Black Parade tour with something like Project Revolution) and maybe this time, the fans will be more grateful. I hate to sound like a crotchety old person but really, MCR fans, some of you just don't get it.
Until next time...
Killjoys make some noise
Katzi
S.L.Y.A.S.D.I.