Christmas Giveaway: 2 Retro Handmade Garlands

Posted on November 2, 2015November 3, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

$Christmas Giveaway! 2 Retro Handmade Garlands \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$

Time for a Christmas giveaway! This time I’m giving away two of my handmade tinsel chain garlands from the Sophster-Toaster shop. That’s enough to trim the tree nicely, but they can also be used to decorate the mantle, the bar cart or overhead the dining table for added party sparkle.

$Christmas Garland Giveaway \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$ $Christmas Garland Giveaway \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$ $Christmas Garland Giveaway \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$

They come in eight colour options. You can have your choice of pink, blue, white, green, red, gold, silver or multicoloured (learn more about the colour options here). You could get two of the same colour or mix it up with two different strands!

Enter the Christmas giveaway now

Please follow the Rafflecopter instructions below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is open to everyone and ends at midnight on Sunday, November 8th. One winner will be chosen at random and announced here, on Twitter and on the Sophster-Toaster Facebook page on Monday, November 9th. They will also be contacted by the email address provided in the entry form.

Good Luck!

Month of the Lepus

Posted on November 1, 2015November 1, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

If you’re still wondering why my blog, Etsy shop and clothing brand are called Sophster-Toaster, wonder no more! They are named after a spunky little bunny I used to keep and love called Sophie (or Bun-bun, Sophster-toaster and sometimes Soph-a-loaf). Sadly, she passed away a few year ago.

A painting my brother made for me from a picture I took.

Every year since we lost her, I’ve donated 10% of all my Black Friday through Cyber Monday sales to Rabbit Rescue Inc., a local no-kill shelter that takes in abandoned, neglected or injured rabbits and rehabilitates them for adoption. But I feel like that’s not enough so, this year, I’m donating 10% of all sales from the entire month of November!

The year I found a little Christmas tree for her.

Dressing up for Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2015October 31, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

I like dressing up on Halloween but I don’t like wearing a costume. I think it’s so much more fun to go as your real self. It’s the one day when you can experiment with all the weird things you like but aren’t brave enough to wear on a normal day. Things like bright red tights, matching lipstick, cut crease eye shadow even though you have hooded eyelids so it always looks weird, white nail polish and a party dress.

I own these things because I like them. I don’t hide them in the back of the closet all year just counting down the days, but today is the only day I can wear them all together and not worry about the stares and smiles I’ll get.

And you know what, every year, after every experiment, I get braver. I prove to myself that I can wear something bold, something I was unsure about, and not be bothered by the girl in sweatpants and moccasins, with the birds tattooed behind her ear, looking me up and down while I wait in line at the grocery store. Every year, I find the point where the real me stands and I get to see how much farther I need to push the boundary line before I can reach her.

Dress ModCloth (old)
Tights Target
Shoes ModCloth
Earrings Claire’s (old)
– – – – –
Lipstick Rimmel Moisture Renew in Red Alert
Nail Polish Revlon Top Speed in Spirit

$Dressing up for Halloween \\$

Maybe I’m not overdressed, maybe the world is simply underdressed. What’s wrong with looking like you are always on your way to a party?

All Pictures by me and Matt Harrison.

Bloglovin’

Posted on October 30, 2015October 30, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

I’ve been trying to set aside time to get back into blogging these past weeks. I love photography, fashion, food and writing but it’s been hard to find time to get it all down on the blog when I spend most of my time sewing, designing new dresses and trying to keep a small business together. I’ve been pulling a lot of inspiration from the bloggers that I admire lately while trying to make a real effort to create authentic, honest content. I’m starting to find a good rhythm, so now it’s time to work on prettying up the blog and connecting with the people that excite, inspire and motivate me.

Over the weekend, I’ll be gussying up the look and functionality of the blog and figuring out this whole Bloglovin’ thing as I switch over to them for all my RSS needs. So… if you would like to see all the new stuff in store for Sophster-Toaster, you can Follow my blog with Bloglovin!