The Zizzler

Living THE life on a shoestring budget. Traveling, DIY projects, general fabulousness.......

Friday, March 24, 2006


Spray Paint

When I was in 9th grade I spray painted a pair of low Doc Martins silver. They were often worn with black tights, cut off jean SHORTS or a mini-kilt, a concert tee and plastic baby barrette. (this was my grunge-ISH phase, not to be confused with my housedress/knee socks phase, my polyester phase, my club kid/platform sneaker/rainbow brite skirt phase (which gave way to a brief but stunning vintage Adidas track suit phase)- or that summer I wore two-tones from Payless.) Anyway, everyone called me The Tin Man. I didn't think it was a very creative zinger. I feel like calling me "Seattle" or "Kurt Cobain" would've been slightly more funny.
But I digress. If you can't figure out how I made this, then I can't tell you. The necklace was $7.50 at Claire's boutique- since when does Claire's sell things for over $5? The spray paint was $5, and required I.D. You must be 25 and older to buy spray paint in Philadelphia, because graffitti artists are only ages 1-24.
And for the record, I'm now in a Pre-Post Hipster phase.

Thursday, March 23, 2006




I wanted to wear the toile

So I made a toile lobster. First, since the toile was very cheap/thin, I ironed a small piece to some plastic silk backing to thicken the fabric. Then I traced traced my lobster onto the fabric, meticulously sewed the edges onto an H&M tank top ($5.50). I've washed it a few times to see if its durable, and only a little leg came undone. Don't ask me why I like lobsters. I just do (not for eating!) When I was 15 I bought a lobster pin at Don Apparel in Buffalo, and since I've enjoyed crustaceans in the design respect. This project took about an hour from start to finish.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006


The Sexy Scottish Highlands

A few years ago I spent a semester in London. I was like the only poor kid in the program ("poor" meaning Mommy and Daddy didn't pay for everything), so I didn't get to galavant around Europe on the weekends with Daddy's credit card. I did, however, spend some time traveling around the UK and took an amazing tour in Scotland.
I've always thought tours were for nerds. Being in a group with other blatant tourists always seemed tacky to me, but my friends talked me into this tour as a way to see the Scottish Highlands, which are otherwise hard to get around without a car. This tour was like no other.
http://www.haggisadventures.com
For about $100, I traveled all around Scotland on a mini bus, in a group of about 20 people. We'd drive for an hour or so, then stop and see some amazing 15th century castle, or highland cows, or stand atop a mountain. The guides are young, knowledgeable, and sarcastic- just like the Zizzler! The tour began in amazing Edinburgh. I took a red eye bus from London for about $30. NEVER WOULD I SUGGEST DOING THIS UNLESS YOU HATE LIFE! 9 hours on a freezing bus with no leg room. People, I am all for being thrifty, but I should've spent the extra money for a train or plane. We arrived in Edinburgh around 6 am- the tour departs at 8:15 am, so no joke I had to wash in a MCDONALD'S. But that was the last of the bad parts of the trip.
We spent the first night in a little town on Loch Ness. There are no trespassing laws in Scotland, so when I asked a policeman what sites to see that evening, he told us to "buy a bottle of wine, hike down that road in the dark for 3 miles, then hop the fence to Castle Urquhart and look for Nessie." And that we did. Highland cows and sheep roam free in Scotland, so when we walked the 2 miles in the dark, all we could hear were constant bleating and lowing from various elevations all around us. We spent the night sitting in the 13th Century castle, drinking the worst beer ever, Fraoch, which is an ancient Druid recipe brewed from heather, and boy you can tell. A truly amazing night. The tour doesn't include food or lodging, so you are free to spend as little or as much as you want. They book spaces at nicer hostels, for about $15 a night, which includes breakfast. You have the option of booking b&b's if you want, but the hostels were great. The object of the tour is to see as much as possible, and they really try to get you off the bus and exploring every hour or so. We hiked into the mountains and drank from a natural spring, saw the William Wallace Memorial (with a newer statue that looks exactly like Mel Gibson) and shopped in the cutest Loch Ness monster gift shops. Scotland is dotted with countless abandoned castles, and our tourguide made sure to stop at each one.
The second night we stayed in the Isle of Skye, in a remote little town consisting of 2 hostels, one store, a handful of houses, 15th century Castle Moil, and 3 pubs. Yes, a handful of houses and THREE pubs. I love Scotland. We met about 1000 Canadians that night. The hostel was above a pub called Saucy Mary's, named after a queen who charged a toll to all ships that passed the area, and would in turn flash them after paying the toll. VERY saucy. The hostel itself was only about $15 and included the best home made biscuits and clotted cream and jam ever. You could hike to the castle, but it took a few hours and is only ruins...and we really wanted to hit the THREE pubs instead. Scottish people are so welcoming and friendly, and have such a strong sense of national pride. Every place we visited, we were greeted and told local stories by the locals. The tourguide shared stories of Scottish Folklore...of which there are many...and she made us listen to The Proclaimers about 100 times. The tour ends in Edinburgh, which is an amazing city that I need to re-visit. It is nicknamed the Prague of the west, as it has a ton of Victorian architecture constructed as an homage to Queen Victoria's love for the city. This blog entry spurred me to read the Haggis tour's website again, and I found a section to enter photographs for a chance to win a tour! I entered the one of Castle Moil above, and the one of the bridge to Isle of Skye. I rarely want to go back to the same place twice, but I am seriously considering making a trip to mainly Scotland this summer....any takers?

Monday, March 20, 2006


Ribbon scraps and pin backs

I love glue guns. And ribbons. This project is easy and quick, just need about a foot of leftover ribbon, metal pin backs, and some novelty buttons. Its a bit first prize at the science fair, but sometimes I need some reassurance that I truly am #1. All it takes is some folding, gluing, folding, gluing, then glue on a novelty button (I try to cut off the plastic loop off the back to make it as flat as possible). Then either glue or sew the whole thing to a pin back from a craft store. Each finished pin costs less than 50 cents. I put them on purses, or wear them as brooches, and obsessively give them away. I love to meet someone then make them their "perfect" pin. Now, go make yourself a winner.





Sunday, March 19, 2006

Almost as ghetto as having lawn chairs in your living room
But not as tacky as that inflatable furniture from Spencer's Gifts...

I don't have any real furniture. My room is tiny. I'm always on the brink of moving. So instead of a dresser, I have those tacky plastic storage drawers. I know. I'm 26, what am I thinking? Anyway, I finally decided to make them look less ghetto, got some bright red toile fabric, and decided to cover them. This project took 10 minutes and is so easy. All you need are fabric remnants and packing tape. The finished product looks clean, and because you are using tape, you can change the fabric whenever. Just pull the fabric taut and tape the perimeter, like you are wrapping a present. Its simple, but I really like the results.