10 Favorite Etsy Shops Part One!!

The holidays are near and it’s time to stock up on gifts and stocking stuffers for your family, friends, or yourself! What better then to give to two people at once - the gift recipient and the gift maker? This is why I love Etsy.

Etsy is like an Amazon or Taobao for homemade and vintage goods as well as crafting materials. It’s most known for having lots and lots of stores by artists on it. You can find anything there, from zines, to wedding rings, to artwork, to clothing…pretty much anything you could think of. 

I am probably going to buy most if not all of my friends’ gifts on Etsy this year. As an artist, I want to do everything I can to support other artists. So I’m going to recommend my favorite Etsy shops, ten at a time. Note that I may or may not have ordered from each of these shops so I cannot always speak for quality and timeliness and such. Also, I’m going to provide a link HERE to my general Etsy favorites list, which is very diverse, and not everything in that list is from a shop I’ll be mentioning.

Kawaii Power Up

Kawaii Power Up is actually the first Etsy store I ever made a purchase from, and a favorite with me and my friend. My review can be found HERE. This shop specialized in cute and nerdy accessories. My favorite items from this shop are the dust plugs! I feel like they are the most reasonably priced - although her shop is very well priced for what you get - and the most unique. The shop includes free goodies with every purchase as well! 

Nerdy Little Secrets

Much like the previous store, Nerdy Little Secrets specializes in kawaii and sometimes nerdy accessories perfect for all cute fashions. However, this store’s accessories are much more softer in appearance. I feel like this shop is a little more diverse then Kawaii Power Up, and has also been open for longer. Their prices are very fair, although wait time for certain items is a little bit long. 

Starlight Deco Dream

Starlight Deco Dream is a wonderful shop. It’s main draw is jewelry and accessories based on anime series, such as Madoka and Sailor Moon. Again, the prices are very fair. My favorite item from the shop right now is the giant “mahou shoujo” necklaces! This shop is a must for fans of magical girl anime!

Miss Alphabet

“Your one-stop shop for all things Barbie, Fairy Kei, and pastel goth!” Miss Alphabet is mostly a clothing store that caters all shapes and sizes. With sparkling fabrics and bows and lace everywhere, this store is great if you want clothing to catch the eyes of others. The prices are a bit high, but everything is custom made and very high quality. 

Bity Kity

Bity Kity is another accessory store, and everything is very pastel pink and purple! I don’t have much to say about this shop that hasn’t been said about the others, but this shop also offers very fair prices. They also have custom and pre made decoden phone cases!

Beagle Cakes Art & Illustration

This shop focuses on very cute and stylized stickers, prints, and cards. Most of the art is original, but there are also sets of Sailor Moon stickers. The shop also offers custom chibi prints! For what you get, the prices are extremely reasonable.

Mayshallwin

Mayshallwin is another store that offers cute stickers, though this one focuses on characters from anime and the like, especially Pokemon. The art is very cute and stylized. The only qualm I have is that the prices are a bit high. For example, for one dollar, you can get…one sticker. However, the owners seem to be students, so it’s a bit understandable.

AW Recycled Journals

I’m a little hesitant to list this shop, because there are so many one-of-a-kind journals in this shop that I don’t want bought up, hahaha! This store features recycled journals, as in, journals that are made from VHS covers, record sleeves, and there are even a few made from board game boxes and cereal boxes! For something this cool, the prices are great. As a journal/sketchbookphile, this store is heaven. 

Ready to Stare

This shop features plus size clothing and statement jewelry, and wants for others to rock the way they look, no matter how that may be. My favorite item of theirs are earrings made from giant dinosaur toys. The prices are great and their models and stock photos are beautiful. This store has a very street fashion/soft ghetto feel.

Thanks for reading!! See you later!!

Pre-Birthday Fun! Forever 21/Forever 21 + Haul!!

I had such a very fun day today~! It's officially one week until my 24th birthday! I'm not shy about reminding people, haha. I don't care about if I receive gifts (but I appreciate them, of course) but I like to celebrate. I already know what I'm doing on the actual day of my birthday - going out to dinner with my parents and the fiance and then going to Dave & Busters with my two longest friends! But for the past few years, it's been tradition that one of my best friends, Erik, gets a cake for me and has people over at his place and we just generally watch stuff and catch up. That's going to happen next weekend!

I got to hang out with Erik today, as well as his super awesome girlfriend Ashley, and the fiance! We first went out to Dairy Queen and had some food. I've lost about seven or eight pounds since I started my job, so I figured a little treat was okay. Then we got coffee! My weakness! And then we were a little stuck for what to do, but didn't want to part ways yet, so Erik suggested we go to Opry Mills, which is the big mall in Nashville. So we made a trip of it!

Since the flood of 2010 and the re-opening of Opry Mills, there have been less "interesting" stores like a bookstore, a boba tea shop, a media store, etc, and more high-end clothing stores. Of course this gave the boys a lot to complain about, but me and Ashley loved it! It was so good to have someone to fawn over clothing with! I really only have one other friend I can do that with.

So we went many places, but in the end, we spent about an hour in the giant Forever 21. Forever 21 is one of my favorite stores, even if most of their clothes doesn't fit my body type. This one, however, also had a plus size section! I also have to say that my experience this time was very nice. Usually, especially at the one at the mall in my city, the shop people can be a little rude. But this time, people asked how we were doing, and the cashier was very nice.

Erik bought me three pieces of clothing and one jewelry item as my birthday present! So I figured a haul and review was in order!! I got from both the plus size section and their regular clothing selection. I'm going to be listing the size I have it in as well as the price of these items in case you would like to check them out as well. I'm so thankful to have such kind friends!! Also...I took these pictures on my phone, so they are kind of poor quality, especially the first one! I'm sorry! But, onto the haul~

Aaaah, blurry picture! There's a worn picture below, however. Anyways, I've never had a romper before, but I think they're so darling. This romper has a mesh top (covered up by the text ^^;) and two straps on either side holding it up. The back has a little tie area that holds together the top and opens up so you can put it on with ease. The waistband is super stretchy and comfortable! Great for just relaxing around the house. My one issue with it is that it's just a bit short when you sit down but...that's the style, so, what can you do? It's not that big of an issue.

Here's a picture of it worn! Trying to be okay showing my body! >_< And yes, the bedroom is a little messy, what are you going to do about it. As you can see, a 1X is not super form-fitting, but still not super baggy. Perfect! Actually, Ashley got the exact same one so we can twin!! I love this thing! The only thing that could make it better - pockets!

Next is another item from the plus size section. This picture does not do it justice at all, it's such a wonderfully light peach color with gorgeous lace detailing. As you can see, the back is a little open with the knot at the neck. The thing I love about shirts like these are that they're so versatile. You can dress them up or just wear them with some jeans and sandals! I can't wait to see what sort of coordinates I put together with this shirt! And look at that price!

This is the last clothing item I got, and not from the plus size section. It was also on sale!! It's no secret that I fell hard for the whole spikes and studs trend. And sheer? And high-low? Perfect. And the back is even open a little. Another small detail I like is that the buttons are covered by a flap of fabric so they aren't seen. Included with this was a little bag of spikes to replace any that fall off. I'm probably going to wear this mostly open as I don't think it can close over my bust, haha.

The final item I received was jewelry. I love F21's jewelry with a burning passion. Mostly because it's all at such a wonderful price. But I fell in love with this because it's clear (a huge trend right now) and iridescent (I just realized I spelled it wrong on the picture...)! It's a little clunky and gaudy and I think that's another reason why I snatched it up. This was the last of its kind there, but I also saw similar bracelets in an oil slick-type color, yellow, and black and gold.

As usual, I'm very satisfied with my purchases at Forever 21/Forever 21 +. Their clothes are affordable, comfortable, and on point with current trends. I saw a few other things there I might pick up when I go shopping at my local one next (like a floppy hat? can I pull off a hat?) I also want to thank F21 for even having a plus size section at some of their stores. I hope that they can integrate F21+ into all of their stores in the future, so girls and guys of every size and shape can wear cute clothing~!

Until tomorrow, please be happy and love your body!

Kawaii Power Up Review!!

This shop can be found HERE!

(Apologies for not posting in a few days again...work just wears me out so much that I pretty much fall asleep right after I get home and completely neglect everything else...)

So! This is my first review on this blog, and unfortunately it's a short one because I only ordered one item! But, I know I'll definitely be ordering from this store again, so perhaps I'll post another review once I do. 

This is a review of the shop Kawaii Power Up, which can be found on Etsy. It can also be found on FaceBook, Twitter, and on Instagram, @kawaiipowerup. This shop specializes in kawaii and nerdy accessories! I found Kawaii Power Up when I was looking for cute dust plugs, and that is what I ordered, which I will get to in a moment. The first thing I noticed was the adorable and unique banner with the sweet mascot! This shop has very varied items, not just the usual things that your typical kawaii accessories shop seems to have. Also, while the quality is very high, the highest price I saw on any of the items was only $18! Here is an example of some of the products I really like:

Buy HERE

Buy HERE

Buy HERE

There are a lot of things at Kawaii Power Up I really like and I'll definitely be ordering myself a few things from them as an early birthday present!

Onto what I ordered. I ordered "Fairy Kei Moon and Star dust plug" in the shimmery lavender colorway (center). I needed something dangly for my new phone.

Buy HERE

It's listed as seven dollars, and I believe only went a little over eight with shipping. As with most Etsy stores, buying was easy enough, I didn't have any additional instructions to add, I just clicked how many and which color and that was that. I ordered it...I believe on Saturday night (because Friday night wen I got my money I was fast asleep...) and I received it today, on Wednesday. Wow! That's super fast. It came in a standard, small bubble wrap packaging, and was small enough to be left in my mailbox. 

The first thing I pulled out was the well-designed business card (again, cute!) which is made out of a nice material...and there was a gift attached! A cute, sweet cupcake hairpin!

I find that when shops like this give little gifts, it really gives me more incentive to buy from them and recommend them. Also I like to keep the business cards, not only as a reminder of where I got something from, but as decoration!

The owner also included a little thank you note on cute paper, another sign that this shop really cares about your business (excuse my short, unpainted nails...work...).

But what really made me squeal was that under the green bubble wrapped mass that was my order, there was...

A BUNNY BAG!!! I will definitely be keeping it, and if not using it for myself, using it for sending something to someone else!! It's the little details that count. Now, onto the actual order...

It looks exactly like it did in the picture, which is good. The actual plug, as you can tell, is tinted slightly purple, which I didn't realize when I bought it, but I really like. Details! There is a clear, blue star hanging close to the moon and three smaller stars making their way up to the plug. And how does it look dangling from my phone?

Very cute, of course! It fits in very snugly. I would say almost a bit too snugly, because I was afraid that if I tried too hard to pull it out again it might snap the ring attached to it. But I know that it will stay in, at least, until I get more to change it out every now and then. Past dust plugs I've had would occasionally get pulled out in my purse. 

So, overall, Kawaii Power Up get's all tens in my book! The only recommendation I would have for the shop is to offer various sizes of lucky packs (but I'm a sucker for lucky packs, so...)! The packaging was fantastic and kept the product safe, it was shipped quickly to me, and the dust plug is super cute! I highly recommend checking them out!!