Author Archives: themetaphorgirl

Products I’ve Used Up: Part I

Posted in beauty, Birchbox and Ipsy, haircare, product reviews, skincare by

(Disclaimer: none of these products were given to me and I was not sponsored! Everything was purchased with my own money or came as a sample from a subscription service.)

I didn’t really get into the beauty product scene until I was out of college. My beauty routine in high school didn’t really go beyond showering every morning and occasionally dabbling in some (terrible) makeup choices; in college I occasionally used a hair or face mask and stuck to minimal makeup (usually concealer, mascara, and cherry chapstick). When I was out of college, I started teaching at a K-12 school, and because I was super young and looked even younger, I decided it was time to really start wearing makeup. That led me into YouTube beauty vloggers, and not only did I start trying out real makeup looks, I also started taking much better care of my skin and hair. I’m still not perfect at it (hello, forgetting to take my makeup off at night) but it’s made a huge difference.

At this point, I never purchase new beauty products without looking up their reviews on the internet. I’m not going to invest my money in something just to find out it was a waste, right? So I thought I would review some of the products I’ve used up (or gave up on) recently!

-Garnier Micellar Wipes: I rely on cleansing face wipes for a lot of reasons. I use them before bed to take my makeup off, I use them in the morning to clean my face if I showered the night before, and I use them before and after performances. I really liked the Garnier micellar wipes. The wipe itself has a very soft texture but a strong weave, so it didn’t tear up my skin or dissolve in my hands. My skin felt very clean afterwards, with no sticky reside. I’ll buy again!

-Pantene Detangler: Full disclosure: my hair is the worst. I have baby-thin hair but it’s very coarse and dry (also, I desperately need a new hairstyle and a great haircut, so any recommendations would be welcomed) and because my hair has that weak, stretchy feeling, I use detangler to minimize pulling or breaking more hair than normal. The Pantene detangler is okay. It did its job preventing breakage, but I felt like my hair was kind of coated afterwards. I also didn’t really like using it on dry hair. I need a detangler, but I’m not sure I’d buy this one if more options are available. I’m on the fence!

 

-Dermalogica Age Smart Daily Super Exfoliant: This was a sample from a Birchbox. It’s a very unique product- it’s actually a mildly abrasive powder that you mix with water to create a paste. It’s a little messy, but as an exfoliant it worked great. It wasn’t so abrasive that you can’t use it every day, but not so gentle that it doesn’t make a difference. As a higher-end brand, it’s not currently on my radar as a product that worked so well that I could justify the price, but it is a very good product. I’d buy again if the price is right!

-St. Ives Apricot Oil Scrub. Here’s what happens when you don’t check your reviews ahead of time. I only used this scrub two, maybe three times before I tossed it. It was awful. The oil base is thick and syrupy, and the apricot flecks were far too hard on my skin. Luckily I used it in the shower, because using it at a sink would have caused an oil-based catastrophe. The residue never completely washed off either; I had a little bit of stickiness for the rest of the day. I didn’t end up wasting too much money. I had a coupon on the Target Cartwheel app and it was an item on Ibotta as well…plus the scrub was already on clearance and I haven’t seen it since. (That should have been a sign.) I’m not going to buy this again!

-Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara.I got this as a sample. I had gotten recommendations for this mascara all over the place, especially from my friend Bri, but I didn’t get around to trying it for ages. I absolutely loved it. It made my lashes look very thick and very long, and it lasted for a decently long amount of time. This is why I always prefer sample size mascaras. I can pay ten dollars for a full size drugstore mascara or ten dollars for a sample high end mascara, and in either case I’ll end up tossing them in 3-6 months (I know, I know, I hold onto my mascaras a little longer. But I know I’m not the only one.) I’ll buy again!

I hope these were helpful! But I’m always on the lookout for new things to try. What are your all time favorite and all time worst beauty products? I want to know!

OOTD: The Last Jedi

Posted in cast member life, Disney, fashion, literally me, outfit of the day, theme park life, work by

Shane and I finally went to Disney Springs to see The Last Jedi. Finally. I don’t know how I managed to avoid spoilers for nearly a month, but I did it and boy howdy, was that a great movie. It’s not my favorite Star Wars film, and it made a lot of risky choices, but overall it was a really strong movie and I had a great time.

It has been absolutely freezing in Florida. Freezing as in I was standing at the merge point at work and watched flurries falling. It’s a terrible time to work a completely outdoor attraction. They had to pull most of the animals off the reserve, but on the upside the park was super empty. I layered the crap out of my costume- leggings, thick fuzzy socks, and a sweatshirt under my work shirt and pants, and then my work coat and a white knit hat. But I can’t find my gloves, so my hands were so cold. I couldn’t even signal my row numbers with my hands while I was loading!

It was still cold for the movie, so I got to dig my rarely-worn but much-loved winter coat out of the back of the closet. And my favorite boots! These Blowfish boots literally feel like slippers. I need to see if I can find more pairs in different colors. I’ll only be able to wear them a couple of times a year, but it’s worth it, right?

But now I need to see The Last Jedi again.

Top: Forever 21

Jeggings: Target

Boots: Blowfish

Coat: Forever 21

Glasses: Eye Buy Direct (Sophie frames)

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Posted in books by

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book read very much like a novelization of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, and the further you get into it the more Village-like it got.

Honestly that’s the best summary for the book- The Village, but with zombies. Lots of zombies. There’s a heavy religious aspect to the story that works really well; it’s just Protestant enough to seem realistic but unique enough to not be overly unsettling (a la The Handmaid’s Tale). The protagonist, Mary, is also much more likable than most first-person female protagonists I’ve come across in young adult novels as of late. I genuinely wanted to see where she was going to end up in this saga.

That being said, once I reached the end of the book, I knew it was the set up for sequels…but I’m not really that interested in reading them. I liked where Mary’s story was, and I didn’t really want to jump into the new characters and new environment in the next books. The new setting for the follow up books is very different, and I wanted to see more from where Mary came from. But I still very much enjoyed the book itself, and I’ll read it again.

View all my reviews

upcoming shows for 2018: Legally Blonde, Little Shop of Horrors, and more!

Posted in sewing, theatre by

It’s only January 2nd, and oh boy, is my schedule already filling up with theatre! That’s not a bad problem to have though, right?

If you follow me on Instagram, then you already know about what’s happening this weekend. If you don’t- well, I’m making my debut in the Orlando Fringe Festival! Usually Fringe happens in the spring, but they’re doing a winter mini festival of the top twenty-five shows from the previous spring. I was not part of the original cast, but I also I kind of was? Okay, it’s weird, here’s the explanation.

Last winter I did my third show with Playwrights Round Table, which is a really great local group that produces new (usually short) plays by local playwrights. I played the role of Peggy in Welcome to Intercourse, a sweet and sassy ten minute play about two girls stranded on the side of the road who get rescued by a pair of Amish boys. It was a lot of fun, and when the full version of the show was accepted into the 2016 Orlando Fringe, I was offered the role, as well as two other roles since the show is made up of four short plays. But I had to turn it down- I was going to be a bridesmaid in my friend Song’s wedding, and her wedding weekend overlapped with the Fringe schedule. Womp womp. So I wasn’t part of the show in the original Fringe run, but when the show was accepted to the mini festival, the actress who originally performed in the full show couldn’t come back, so I was asked and I accepted!

I’m playing three roles in three of the four short plays- Peggy in Welcome to Intercourse, Alex in Meet the Pets, and Grace in Buried. It’s been kind of a whirlwind getting everything together, but the show opens this Friday and I’m really excited! I’ll do a full recap post when the show is over, and you can always keep up with my adventures on Instagram and Snapchat too.

After that, I’m working on the costumes for three shows…all in the month of May. Yikes! But at least none of them overlap, and I’ve already gotten a head start.

First coming up is a production of Legally Blonde with Brightstage. I’m super excited about this one; my friend Taylor (the Horton to my Gertrude in Seussical and my director for Heathers) is the executive artistic director for the company and is directing the show, and he brought me on board as the costume designer. I’m even going to have my own team! It’s the inaugural production for the company, but the production team is fabulous and I’m really thrilled to be working on the show. We’ve had our first production meeting already and auditions will be coming up in late January, so I’m ready to get started.

Then I’ll be working on a production of The Wedding Singer with Melon Patch Players in Leesburg. It’s a little far, but I’m looking forward to it for a couple of reasons.

#1: I’ve costumed the show before, on a significantly smaller budget (that blog post is coming soon!)

#2: the director, Tad, was my director in Evil Dead so I think the production team aspect is going to go just fine

#3: the Melon Patch theater has a full costume shop I can pull from

The Wedding Singer is a complicated show to costume- not only do you have four wedding dresses, plus their wedding guests, but also every ensemble member has multiple characters to play, not to mention the celebrity impersonators- but it’s a truly delightful show. It’s still one of my bucket list shows to perform too!

The other show I’ll be working on in the spring is Little Shop of Horrors with Celebration Theatre Company. Not only did I perform with them twice last season (in the summer cabaret and Heathers) but this is my second year as their costumer in residence. So basically, I’m not fully costuming the show, but I’m there to assist with the production. I’m also most likely going to audition for the show. Audrey has been one of my dream roles since high school, and it’s one of the roles that people kind of assume I’ve played before because of my voice (along with Adelaide from Guys and Dolls). It’s going to be pretty competitive, but I want to audition for the show- I’ve got my song picked out and everything.

 

There’s a couple of projects that might potentially come down the pipeline later in the year (several auditions, more costuming….maybe even directing??) but I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, you know? In any case, the productions I’m already committed to doing are going to be great, and I can’t wait to get started!

so what are your goals for 2018?

Posted in health and fitness, home sweet home, literally me, writing by

Every year I read a million articles about how New Year’s resolutions don’t matter, they never work, a certain day to start doesn’t matter…all that stuff. But I like it. I like that January 1st feels like a reset button, a “new [year] with no mistakes in it,” to paraphrase Anne Shirley. And I’ve got a lot to look forward to this year! I have four confirmed shows so far, a new role in my career at Disney, and maybe even an engagement ring coming my way (Shane says that’s his goal for the year and he asked to see my Pinterest boards, so you know it’s real.) So here are my goals this year!

Make changes for my health. “Lose weight” is always the most ubiquitous New Year’s resolution, but I don’t want to just lose weight. I mean, yeah, obviously I want to lose weight. But I’m terrible at food. I make tremendously poor choices, and I need to change that. And I’m so out of shape. Working at Great Movie Ride kept me active, but I was still not doing anything to benefit my body, and at Safaris I’m practically sedentary. I’m nowhere near as flexible as I used to be, and I need to be in better shape to dance in shows. And if I lose 60 pounds? That would be awesome. I know 60 isn’t necessarily realistic for one year’s time, but I’m aiming for at least 30 pounds down, as well as bringing down my measurements.

Blog and vlog regularly. I have a tendency to post a lot of posts at once, and then disappear. Oops. I’d like to make daily posting a thing, and I really want to post more videos. I am trying to save up money for a real camera (I’m currently using my old iPhone 5 with the shattered screen for all my filming) but I also want to develop my filming and editing skills. Daily posting is a lot, yes, but I think the consistency is good.

Write! I used to write all the time. I wrote copious amounts of fan fiction in high school and college, and at one point I even wrote a novel (that I promptly stuck in a drawer). I miss writing, and I have some ideas that I’d really like to work on. Even one sentence a day is still progress!

Improve my living space. My current apartment no longer suits my needs. I do enough alterations and sewing jobs that I need more space to work and meet with clients, so I want to transfer to a new apartment in the same complex that has a little more space. I also want my place to feel more homey and more like me, rather than a hodgepodge of mismatched furniture and random plastic bins for temporary storage that somehow became permanent. It’s a lot of hoops to jump through but I really want to move!

So those are my big goals for 2018! Comment below with your goals; let’s keep each other motivated!

Backstage at Evil Dead the Musical

Posted in theatre, YouTube by

Yep, more Evil Dead. This time I did a tour of the theater! Our set was super simple but really well-designed, especially my little cellar where I spent about 80% of the show. I also filmed our greenroom area, where we kept all of our props and costumes. And of course, our blood props. Lots of blood for this show!

Let me know what you think! And ask any questions that you have about the show or the production, I’d be happy to answer them!

Get Ready With Me! Evil Dead: The Musical

Posted in beauty, makeup, theatre, tutorials, YouTube by

Y’all, I LOVED being part of this show. I have at least two more Evil Dead videos coming too! But first, here’s a Get Ready With Me video. I filmed this backstage before our last performance and I had a blast. Leave a comment if you have any questions! (Please, y’all…ask some questions. I want to make some new friends!!)

(also you can read some more about my experience in the show here)

Makeup Products Used:

Benefit the Porefessional Primer

Maybelline Fit Me! Matte and Poreless Foundation

Maybelline Fit Me! Concealer

Benefit Benetint

Maybelline Fit Me! Powder

TheBalm blush in Palm Springs

Benefit High Beam

TheBalm Mary Lou-manizer highlighter

Elf Matte setting spray

Nyx Tres Jolie Gel Pencil eyeliner in black

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded

Urban Decay Naked Palette (Sidecar on the lid, Naked and Buck in the crease, Darkhorse in the outer corner)

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette (Naked 2 in the crease, Foxy on the browbone)

L’oreal Infallible shadow in Iced Latte (inner corner)

Ciate London Fierce Flicks black liquid liner

Benefit Bad Gal mascara

Rimmel Scandaleyes Retroglam mascara

Tarte Light Camera Splashes! mascara

Colourpop liquid lipstick in Bumble

Dapper Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland

Posted in beauty, Disneybounding, fashion, hairstyles, theme park life by

Usually I go all out for Dapper Day, but the fall of 2014 was…well, I just wasn’t feeling it. A lot of stuff was going on around this point in my life. Long story. But I still wanted to participate, just without a lot of sewing.

I ended up putting together a really simple outfit out of items in my closet. I had a black strapless Forever 21 dress with big fabric flowers on the skirt that had just been sitting around for ages, and I decided it would be perfect. I based my outfit off of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, so I added a thin black cardigan and a red belt with a silver heart shaped clasp. The red tights were from Target and the black flats with the red hearts were from Modcloth too (but via eBay). And of course there was a petticoat stuffed up there too; it’s not Dapper Day if I’m not swathed in chiffon ruffles.

My hair was surprisingly successful. I used my little mesh donut from Target to shape my bun (since I have the WORST BABY FINE HAIR EVER) and I curled my bangs back from my forehead and pinned the ringlet in place. I sprayed the whole thing to death with hairspray and surprisingly it all stayed! What a miracle for Florida.

Dapper Day was held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a bunch of us Icon cast members (current and former) went together. It was also the final day of operation for the Backlot Tour, so we rode it together. Honestly, while it’s sad that the attraction closed, it took up a lot of space without offering a lot to do. I’m looking forward to Toy Story and Star Wars opening up in the now-vacant space!

(Still bitter about Movie Ride, though. Always bitter about Movie Ride.)

Also I bought a Sven plush. That happened.

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Posted in sewing, teaching, theatre, work by

Charlie Brown had always been one of my top choices to direct when I started teaching- it’s a really accessible show, fairly simple to sing and simple to stage. So when I was working for a school that wanted to invest as little as possible in its arts program, it was a solid choice, especially when I found out they had done it about five years earlier and we had some key costume pieces in storage! Life was a lot easier when I realized that Schroeder, Charlie Brown, and Linus already had their shirts.

While the show only has a few cast members originally (Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Schroeder, and Snoopy) I decided to expand the cast to include more kids. Because that’s what needs to happen for a middle/high school production, especially when there’s only two shows a year and you want to give as many kids as possible a chance to be part of a performance. Woodstock was added (a nonspeaking role for literally the most precious second grader you’ve ever seen) along with several other birds from the elementary school, and then an ensemble of older kids that, while they didn’t have lines, were all chosen from Peanuts characters- Peppermint Patty, Frieda, Patty, Marcy, Violet, the Little Redheaded Girl, and Pigpen. Most of my kids had minimal to no stage experience, but they were absolutely fantastic. All of them hard workers, all of them super eager to learn, and it turned out to be a great production. If it hadn’t been for the garrulous music teacher (which is a whole ‘nother story, but for reference please picture the Queen of Hearts from the animated Alice in Wonderland and you’re just about there) it would have been perfect.

The boys were very easy to costume. Since, for the most part, their shirts were pulled from storage, it was a matter of them bringing in the right shorts and sneakers from home. Pigpen had a brown shirt that he brought from home as well, but again, super easy to get. My philosophy (pun accidental) when costuming is to either make everything my cast needs, or have them bring in items they already own; I don’t like sending my actors to buy costume pieces. Which is what made it even more miraculous when my Charlie Brown found a pair of yellow and black striped pajamas that worked perfectly for the opening number.

Snoopy’s costume was also fairly simple. I didn’t want to do a full body dog costume, so Snoopy wore white pants and a white shirt with a black and white baseball cap. With some slight makeup (mostly the black nose) he was perfectly believable as Snoopy. For the Red Baron sequence at the top of act two, he added goggles, a flight cap, and a white scarf pulled from my sister’s costume collection.

The birds were also very simply costumed- yellow shirts, black shorts, and sneakers. Woodstock also wore a yellow tutu and we tied yellow ribbons in her pigtails. She was literally the cutest.

Sally and Lucy were slightly more tricky. A lot of productions try to copy the comics exactly and put their actresses in drop waisted dresses with short skirts that stick out like hula hoops. I ended up putting them in more 50s style fit and flare dresses, mostly because I had Sally’s dress already! I played Janice Vickery in The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds in college and made my own costume, a pink and white polka dot dress with a half circle skirt and a peter pan collar (I used Simplicity 4116, which has been out of print for quite a while, but it’s pretty easy to find comparable patterns). To make it work for my Sally, I took the dress in and made a sash and a hairbow; with frilly ankle socks, pink low top converses, and a small petticoat, it was perfect. I wanted Lucy in something similar, so I used McCall’s 4948 (their Alice in Wonderland pattern) to make a plain blue dress with puffed sleeves and a circle skirt, but I eliminated the peter pan collar to keep it looking more like Lucy and less like Alice in Wonderland. The school’s powers-that-be thought the skirt was too short (despite all my actors in skirts wearing shorts under their costumes) so I added a ruffle to the hem. I made two bows to match, and then added a petticoat, frilly ankle socks, and saddle shoes.

The other girls in the ensemble wore outfits reminiscent of their characters in the comics, mostly by colors. Peppermint Patty wore sandals, a sports jersey, a backwards baseball cap, and drawn-on freckles, and Marcy wore a sailor dress and Harry Potter glasses. Violet wore purple, Frieda wore red (and had naturally curly hair!) and Patty wore an orange and gold plaid dress that I had previously used when I directed David Ives’ Words Words Words.

The most unique part of my production, in my personal opinion, was adding the Little Redheaded Girl, the object of Charlie Brown’s affections. I had a redheaded student that I costumed in a white dress and a pink floral print cardigan, and incorporated her into the group scenes. She was there when Charlie Brown did his lunchtime monologue, and she skipped past him during the baseball song. My favorite part was the very end, when he’s holding her pencil at the end of “Happiness.” All the other actors had already left in twos and threes, and he was alone onstage with the pencil. It’s scripted that Lucy gives the final line, but instead I had the Little Redheaded Girl tap him on the shoulder and hold out her hand. He gave her the pencil back, she said “you’re a good man, Charlie Brown,” and then took his hand to walk him offstage. It was such a sweet moment and a great ending to the show!

Disneybounding 101

Posted in Disneybounding, fashion, theme park life by

Ah, Disneybounding. One of the best and most controversial trends to pop up in recent years. Personally, I love it, but some people are divided on the topic, since there’s such a wide spectrum of possibilities.

 

For those who don’t spend all their time in Disney parks and feel a little out of the loop, Disneybounding was created by a blogger named Leslie Kay. Its a specific style of dressing in a manner influenced by a Disney character, film, or attraction. For instance, if I wear a yellow skirt, a navy top, and a red bow in my hair, I can be fairly identifiable as Snow White. It’s a great way to compromise when you can’t fully dress up to go to the parks.

 

Why can’t you dress up for the parks? That’s a great question! There’s a rule in place that no one over the age of fourteen can dress up for the parks. A lot of people think that’s unfair, but it’s really a great rule. Let’s say that five-year-old Jenny goes to Magic Kingdom for the first time, and she’s so excited to meet Cinderella. So they get to Fairytale Hall, and it’s a forty-five minute wait, and Dad isn’t too excited about that. But wait! A teenage girl in a Cinderella dress is standing outside Fairytale Hall. Close enough! Dad sends little Jenny up there, and Cinderella puts her phone away long enough to take a picture and scribble an autograph. But that’s not the same. It’s not the same at all. And imagine this- if Jenny goes up to “Cinderella” and the princess swears at her and says she’s just trying to have fun and leave her alone. Jenny would be heartbroken, right? Disney magic ruined. So yeah. Save your costumes for Not So Scary, when the party wristband can set you apart from the real characters. Maintain character integrity!

 

So that’s where Disneybounding comes in. It’s a great way to “dress up” as those beloved characters (or even attractions!) without being in full costume. The best way to do that is to pull from the color schemes of the characters- yellow, navy, and red for Snow; aqua, purple, and red for Ariel; red and white polka dots for Minnie Mouse. You get the idea. A lot can be done with makeup and hairstyles as well, although wigs should be avoided. Not only does that send you into costuming territory, but really, y’all. It’s Florida. It’s swampland. Y’all are gonna sweat to death.

 

Another way to pull inspiration is through accessories. I’ve used a necklace with a gold comb on it for Rapunzel, and a necklace with a thimble on it for Wendy. A lot of Etsy sellers create beautiful bows, custom ears, and themed flower crowns as well that can make you intsagram ready in no time. Some of my favorite shops are Ever After Bowtique, Soundsation Ears, and Magic by Courtney; all three of those shops are run by fabulous ladies who do good work.

 

But Caitlin, you say, have you ever Disneybounded? Have I ever! Here’s some examples.

 

I put together a Disneybound pajama outfit for the 24 hour day at Magic Kingdom the one year I went (RIP, but mostly RIP to the cast members who worked all night). I wore a white tunic from Target, lavender leggings from Walmart, and cream lace shoes from Payless. I made the flower crown myself, and the satchel was a gift from my friend Carrie (Pascal was hers but she lent him to me for the night). Her pajamas bound was even cuter- green plaid pajamas and bear slippers, because she was Merida!

My hipster Kylo Ren disneybound is probably my all time favorite. The dress is one of my faavorite Modcloth purchases, the Bells of London, Ohio dress made by Dear Creatures. I wore it with black low top converse style shoes and made myself a flower crown- the best part is the hidden Darth Vader.

I had a blast running around Studios and taking pictures, especially when I went to Starbucks. I had a conversation that went like this:

 

Barista: What’s your name?

 

Me: Can you please…can you please write Kyle Lauren on it?

 

Barista: …

 

Me: …

 

Barista: Okay.

 

So then flash forward to when they’re calling my name.

 

Barista: I have a venti peach green tea lemonade for…Kyle Lauren?

 

There was a dad wearing a Star Wars shirt leaning against the bar. He looked at the cup, then me, then back at the cup, and he started laughing hysterically. “Come on!” he chortled. “Kyle Lauren! Kylo Ren! It’s so funny!” Thank you, random dad. The barista might have looked at me like I had twelve heads, but I appreciate your laughter.

On St. Patrick’s Day a while back a bunch of us met up in our best green disneybounds. I chose to go as Pascal, so I wore a green dress from Pink Rose, a brown Faded Glory belt, a pair of Nicole sandals from Ross, and a Forever 21 flower crown that had been admittedly rather sparse, but I spruced it up with some extra blooms left over from another project.

Elsa is always one of my favorite cosplay choices, especially when my sister and I are disneybounding together. For Frozen Fever Elsa, I wore an aqua tank and white shorts and a flower crown made by my sister. As an extra surprise, she ordered the Frozen Fever bows from our favorite Etsy shop, Ever After Bowtique, and added them to the backs of our crowns. You can also see that Lindsay went a little more intense with her disneybound- she cosplays as Anna and has made three of her outfits so far, so she wore the vest from her Frozen Fever cosplay, but styled it with street clothes.

Our first Anna and Elsa Disneybound was a lot more intense. This was when the movie had only been out for a few months and the princesses were at their first meet and greet location in Epcot. Lindsay usually likes to wear wigs, so she wore her Anna wig, but the rest of her outfit was clearly street clothes in Anna-inspired colors, which balances out. I wore a dress from Ross and sparkly shoes, and we both wore the park tiaras. I also styled my hair and makeup to be Elsa-inspired.

For another example, I custom ordered a beautiful set of holiday Anna and Elsa bows (also from Ever After) for me and my sister. To be super honest, I don’t have any full photos of our outfits and I don’t remember what we wearing, but aren’t these bows cute? Amber custom made them after I had a terrible experience ordering from Caleigh’s Crowns (which has now closed), and not only was she brilliant to work with, she delivered them to us personally in cute holiday gift bags with candy canes!

I don’t always disneybound as just Elsa- this was my adorable Kristoff inspired outfit! I wore an embroidered peasant top and a gray skirt, both from Forever 21, navy leggings, my black Hamish boots from Blowfish, and my Kristoff bow from Ever After Bowtique. And of course I posed with a troll. I think that’s like a rule or something.

This is a sweet and simple Alice in Wonderland disneybound- a blue dress from Target, a white lace top from Forever 21, a blue bow from Ever After Bowtique, and my trusty iCarly sandals. It was cute, comfortable, and just identifiable enough.

Dapper Day is another great opportunity for subtle disneybounds! I’ve documented my Queen of Hearts, Queen Elinor, Rapunzel, and Wendy themed outfits before, but my very first one was a simple disneybound of the house from Up. I wore the Air of Adorable dress from Modcloth with the same Modcloth oxfords I wore for Rapunzel, plus a small petticoat, the Grape Soda pin, and a borrowed vintage hat. It was subtle, but effective.

You don’t even have to be at Disney for a disneybound! I went to Unviersal in a Hogwarts student disneybound (who else is a Hufflepuff?) I wore my Record Time dress in black from Modcloth, a yellow coat from Forever 21, black tights, black combat boots from Charlotte Russe, and a black hair bow from Forever 21. It was a great time (and my wand fit in my coat pocket!)

Here’s another example of a more subtle disneybound. I bought my sister these matching shirts from Tee Public for Christmas, and we styled them to be the stepsisters from Cinderella. She wore a lime green tank, aqua shorts, and an aqua bow to be Drizella, and I wore purple shorts and a pink bow to be Anastasia. (Even better, our mother disneybounded as the stepmother! We don’t have any pictures, unfortunately.)

And just for fun, here’s one of my favorite meet and greets in a Disney inspired outfit. I wore my Arendelle crest shirt from Tee Public and my Kristoff bow from Ever After for a VIP meet and greet at the Frozen singalong for my birthday. Clearly I had a little bit of fun (and was super embarrassingly excited to meet Kristoff!)

What are some of your favorite Disneybounds? Do you have any tips, tricks, or rules for disneybounding? Comment below if you want to see a follow up blog or video about disneynounds, and maybe you’ll be featured!