November 2025:
Pentel Fude Pigment Ink Brush Pen
(Black)
This is another stationary item bought from Yoseka. I had been eyeing this one for a while now and I finally made the purchase. It is a refillable brush-tip pen with synthetic bristles and waterproof ink. I got it for $7.00 and I'm already thinking about grabbing some more. I think you're suppose to use it for caligraphy but I find sketching to be a better use. I believe I picked the extra fine pen, but I might be interested in picking up the other options.
Update on the Twisbi Eco Pen, I am absolutely loving it and it is now my favorite pen to use. Would recommend the Twisbi Eco as a beginner friendly fountain pen.
Link to Item: Pentel Fude Pigment Ink Brush Pen (Black)
October 2025:
Pirate Costume
Arrrgh, a pirate here! This is the item of the month for October! This was conceived sometime back in early September, through a facetime call with friends while they were at Chili's. Thus began the months-long project to create a fire costume.
First order of business: I needed inspo. Luckily, Pinterest had a plethora of pirate photos to choose from. At first I was interested in doing the bar wench girl pirate look, but then I was too lazy to make a corset. This made me pivot to a grungy man pirate captain, but in the end I lowkey looked like a Hamilton backup dancer. I knew I was going to have to buy the pirate hat and pirate boots if I actually wanted this costume to look semi good, so I went on pirate and ren faire subreddits to see what websites people ordered from. The big ones I saw were French Meadows, Pirate Fashion, and Medieval Collectibles.
I ended up buying both my hat and boots from Medieval Collectibles. I decided on the "Captain Jack Tricorn" hat as it wasn't too cheap looking, but also not the most expensive option (it was $70, so still quite pricey). It also wasn't made of felt, which I really liked. For the boots, I got the "Noble Lady Boots" for $58 dollars. This one was a regret, because while I wanted to have boots that made me taller, I think the stereotypical men's pirate boots would have fit the overall outfit better. Didn't hate them entirely though, and will probably use them for other costumes in the future.
Once those items were sorted, my next task was the shirt. Now this one was a challenge. For the rest of the outfit, I was determined to thrift as much as I could. I found it really hard to find the type of pirate shirt I wanted, and all the options I saw online were not what I wanted or were too expensive, so I decided I was going to sew my own shirt. The last time I had sewn a complete garment from what I remember was back in middle school, so this was quite the challenge I was taking on. I would rank my sewing skills as beginner/novice, because I am not patient enough to truly level up my skills. The shirt I was most inspired to make was from French Meadows, specifically their Darcy Shirt. I liked the billowiness of it and the size of the sleeves.
So I went searching online for sewing patterns and tutorials on how to make that kind of blouse, but then I found a pirate shirt costume pattern from McCalls for $0.99 which came with the physical pattern and instructions, same as what I used in middle school. The actual shirt pattern from the McCalls (M8131) wasn't what I actually wanted, but I figured with a little alteration, I could make it work.
I bought some fabric from Hobby Lobby (which I know, yikes, not a great company) called Poly Chiffon - Ivory, which is a slightly sheer fabric by itself. The draping was really nice though, so I compromised and got it. I also grabbed some muslin fabric to pattern-draft, because I figured I should do things the right way and make sure I had the pattern down first before cutting into my final fabric. Side note: I did not do that and instead jumped right into using the poly chiffon fabric, because I am impatient and have too much confidence in my novice skills)
I traced the patterns, cut out guides, and used those to cut my fabric pieces out. Sewing lowkey sucks when you realize 90% of the time during a project you're actually measuring, ironing, and pinning rather than actually sewing.
I didn't really take as many progress photos as I thought, because this is basically all I have lol. The only part I really struggled with was maybe the gathering in the sleeves and shoulders. Those are such a bitch to sew. I added grommets to the shirt, because that felt like a nice pirate feature, and I added ruffles to the v-neck part(?). My shirt ended up a little more cropped than I was hoping for, but in the end it wasn't too bad of a garment.
[Also, another side note, I had been watching Critical Role's D&D Campaign 4 while making this costume, and like each episode that comes out is 4-5 hours long, but it's been pretty entertaining if not a little embarrassing to watch at times.]
Here is a crappy photo of the shirt; don't know why I didn't get a better one. I also end up dyeing the shirt with tea bags to make it less bright white. The blue vest was also another piece I decided to sew in order to help with the sheerness of the poly chiffon. I used this pattern to make the vest.
I thrifted some gold buttons that looked great on the blue vest, and finally learned how to use the button hole setting on my machine. At this stage, it was looking a lot like I was present when the Declaration of Independence was written. I initially wanted to do a skirt, but I figured pants would be more fun to dance in on Halloween, so I thrifted some brown pants. I attempted to hem the bottoms and add some ties to cinch it, but after hemming it, I realized I was too lazy to do anything else.
For accessories, I found this cool belt that matched the gold/brassy buttons on my blue vest and this small treasure chest, which was perfect to put candy and other trinkets in. It originally didn't come with side handles, so I screwed some into the side to make it easier to hold.
I thrifted the majority of the jewelry. I think I bought the keys for like $5 dollars.
I also thrifted a really cool belt (which I later gave to a friend to wear, because it matched her outfit more), and used air dry clay to sculpt the fake teeth attached to it. The extra air dry clay bone pieces were used to make necklaces, which were given to the other members of the pirate crew. I also made barnacles out of the air dry clay, and put those on my pirate hat. I liked this idea in theory, but the execution could have been a little better. I think I just need to add more items to it to make it feel more complete. Also ignore the neck ruffle, that is not included in the costume.
I made an eyepatch as well, but I ended up not wearing it. It was just a little much on my face with the hat, bandana, and makeup.
At this point I was mostly finished, but there was something missing. In order to pull the whole costume together, I needed a baldric. If you don’t know, a baldric is basically a belt worn across the body that carries a weapon. I attempted to thrift something I could use as a baldric, but I was unsuccessful. I ended up buying a baldric on Etsy from BlackbeardsLanding (it was pretty expensive..), but it turned out really nice and the quality was very good.
Last minute, I bought a cheap kids toy sword to put in the baldric and added a foam handle to give a more pirate-y look. The sword on the right is actually from another project I was working on. My brother was going as Finn from Adventure Time, and he needed a sword. So while I was working on my pirate costume, I also made his sword. I used an x-shot kids sword, paper, acrylic paint, and mod podge to make his sword.
And that's basically it. There are some things I would change for the future, but overall had a great time making it.
September 2025:
Lego Passport
If you didn't know, Lego has these free passports they give out at retail locations. Each location has their own specifc stamp that you can collect and its pretty cool. I think they come out with new stamps every month. My own Lego passport has like 20 stamps in it already (all from one location lol, and that's because I have someone on the inside ifykyk).
So, if you ever find yourself in a Lego store, it's a pretty fun item to get for free.
Side note: Thank you to a concerned citizen, they reminded me to do this months item which thank god, cause I lowkey forgot about it.
August 2025:
Twsbi Eco Fountain Pen
(Glow Green)
I recently bought a Twsbi Eco Pen and it has been pretty awesome. This is my first venture into the fountain pen world after I got into journaling/junk journaling and while I was hesitant at first, I now see why people are so obsessed. This fountian pen is considered one of the best 'beginner friendly' pens for its affordibility ($36.99 at the time of writing this) and easy to use design.
It has a piston mechanism, clear barrel/cap, and piston nib. I chose the EF (extra fine) nib, which is somewhat equivalent to a 0.3 size pen, but I may go for a bigger nib in the future. It also glows in the dark!
I filled my pen with Sailor Shikiori Ink in the color Rikyucha, which gives a muddy green brown. I don't know how well it will hold up in the long-term since I just got it, but from all the reviews I have read, it seems promising.
Link to Item: TWSBI ECO FOUNTAIN PEN (GLOW GREEN)
