Formal Photos Are In!

I'm in the midst of finals, 2 papers due tomorrow, along with a presentation, then final on Tuesday and 15 page paper and final on Friday.  Follow that up with a 15 page group paper on Monday and a final on Friday, oh and clinicals and a meeting about my clinical experience this semester.  So, when no one hears from me for a week or two- you know what happened. 

I'm running on an IV drip of coffee, tea and living off of granola bars and take out.  I'm just so ready for the semester to be over. 

BUT, the formal photos are in from the ball and I thought I'd share.  I think they look ok, the pose they had us do was a bit strange and I appear to be missing an arm.  Other than that I'm pretty happy with them.  Its nice to finally have a full shot of my dress and to see boyfriend wearing his spurs :)

I think I'm also not a super huge fan of the all white background, it washes me and boyfriend out a bit.  Next time I'll just ask to take photos without the chair.  Any maybe ask boyfriend to relax his hands a bit :)

I got crafty!

Occasionally I'll try and save a little money and try making things that would normally cost $60 or more.  It all started when I picked up my milball dress from the tailor.  It looks amazing and I can't wait to show you all!  You have to wait until after the ball to see it though, I'm being sneaky.

I had the dress made into a sweetheart neckline, and was considering adding a brooch or something to the top, but decided against it because I love the simplicity of the gown.  So, I wanted to find some sort of hair accessory.  I looked at some bridal shops, and most of the hair pieces I loved were about $60.... ouch.  That was more than the alterations to my dress! I did manage to find a brooch for $15 at David's Bridal and thought I could convert it into a hair comb.  So, here is how it turned out.

At the start.  The brooch before.

My wire and hair combs I bought for $2 each at Hobby Lobby.

Once the wire was wrapped around I kept going.

Finished product from the back.

Finished front view.

How it looks in my hair.  I'm pretty satisfied for $20!

Ball Season!

I'm so excited, I just found out I have about a month until I get to go to my first non-ROTC military ball with boyfriend :)  You may remember the dress I bought this summer (photos can be found here), for a steal of $25!  Well, now that I have a place to wear it, I'm finally getting it altered. 

I'm having the neck line changed to a sweetheart, adding a brooch I have from an old dress, taking in the top a bit, and having the drop waist taken up to look more proportionate with my torso.  All in all, I think my $25 dress is going to change to a $80 dress... still not too shabby.

Now I just need some input on hair.  This is what I did on a Saturday night instead of studying or doing something productive, haha.  So, I came up with two possible styles, I'm unsure which one I'll end up doing, but I'm leaning toward style one.  I recent cut my hair much shorter than it's been for awhile so I didn't think I'd be able to do much of anything at all.  In a few weeks when it's actually ball time it'll be longer too so the curls might be more defined.

Style 1, curled and pinned back.

Back view. I need to find darker bobby pins.

Side view, again need different pins.

Style 2, very poofy. 

I call this, the "my hair is so big all I'm missing is the Ms. Something sash".

Very poofy.

I don't think I'm going to use the headband, but I'll be picking up a hair accessory of some sort.  I have a few things to get taken care of, but it'll still be cheaper than paying someone to do my hair :) Let me know your thoughts, and I'll be sure to add photos once we go to the ball!  Here is to hoping for the best!