Arriving soon - false eyelashes for fabulous stage presence for your special, major events!  We will feature selected styles by Ardell, Red Cherry, and Elise (made by the same maker of M.A.C. and Shu Uemura false eyelashes). 

Bella Bun Wig In Stock

Bella Bun Wig, color 24/14

The new Bella Soft Curl Bun Wig is on our site, available in 16 colors.  This is a large, soft curl bun wig with an elastic pull cord and two small mini clips inside to prevent the wig from rotating.  Sizing is generous with lots of stretch, and it can hold quite a bit of hair.  With the wig base made of mesh, it is simple to secure with hairpins or bobby pins as they insert easily around the edge.

Final Clearance Page Added

For those looking for a bargain, there is a newly added "final clearance sale" page on the website.  Low prices, low postage, no returns.  Items are new unless stated otherwise.  More items will be added soon!

New Products Just Added

Two more headband bases are now available - a 1" (2.5cm) unpadded and a 7/16" (1.2cm) unpadded.  The thin one is ideal for adding a silk flower or rhinestoned bow.

Another new item is the barrette cover which is a base form that can be covered in fabric to match your dress and decorated with rhinestones or a bow.  Two styles are available - oval and rectangle.  Both sides are smooth and using any good glue (E6000 works well), attach your barrette or hair clip to the back.  If you have a bow that is a bit heavy due to rhinestones that were added for bling, attaching it to one of these will help support the weight and keep it in good shape.

All Irelands

Good luck and safe traveling to all who will be in Killarney soon.  My website will be operational during that time but emails and orders will be processed the following week.  I'm sure the message boards, live streaming, facebook, and texting will keep us all connected! 

New acrylic & crystal headbands

Just arrived - acrylic headbands in black with crystal rhinestones.  These are very lightweight and may be worn alone or mounted on a wider, solid headband of any color if desired.  Three styles are available:  round, oval, and twist (shown below).

New wig styles for 2011

Soft curl bun wig, color 14/24 shown

Available soon will be our first loose curl bun wig (shown at right).  Like our traditional ringlet bun wig, this new style has an elastic drawstring which can be cinched or left loose to make a larger presence.  Inside the cap are two mini clips for easy attachment.  The hairpiece is extremely light weight, natural looking, and generously sized - very pretty with a tiara, headband, or fabric bow.

Fa La La La La...

 
La La La La  
Seasons Greetings to everyone and all the best to you in the upcoming year.  As one year comes to a close and another is getting ready for take-off, I'd like to thank all my customers, friends, teachers and schools for their support.  It was a good year and I hope to see you all dancing in the future.

New wig styles will be arriving next year, and Santa already sent me a new digital camera ahead of time so that the new items can be added to the website!  Today I restocked all colors of the Emory hairpiece, including new 1B (off black), which is a color we've been waiting for.  More new items will be arriving soon.  In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday season.

Number clips...new colors!

Soon there will be new number clips on the website in colors we've had lots of requests for.  A touch of color is sometimes just what a dress (or vest for the guys) may need.
This clip will be a generous 1 inch (2.5cm) diameter size, round , with hand-set Swarovski rhinestones.  Pictured at right is fabulous bright orange.

More wigs on sale

Now on sale are our two sizes of classic ringlet wigs, Max and Jamie.  These are dense, traditional tight ringlet 3/4 cap style wigs and are available in many colors, although some colors are sold out.  No more of this style will be arriving until next year so now is a good time to save with the new low price of $25.  

Sold Out

Thank you to everyone who helped clear out the stock of Sophia wigs.  They are now sold out and new styles are being designed for the Spring of 2011.  Just a reminder, if you purchase any wig that is a bit darker or lighter than your own hair color, a highlighter spray can help.  Jerome Russell makes an entire line of temporary spray hair coloring that can be applied before putting on your headband or tiara.  Color is easily washed out later! 

In the meantime, new wig care products will be arriving soon on the website to keep all your wigs and hairpieces looking like new.

Number Clips - Now in White

Just Arrived!
Number clips in white enamel.  These are great on white dresses and cupcake skirts.  Two styles, round or rectangular, and pretty enough to be worn plain (or may be decorated if desired).  Both round and rectangular clips have silvertone wire loop for attaching.

Sophia Wigs, New Lower Price

Only a few left and now reduced even further to $20 each!  Mostly blonde shades remain and all are new and never worn or tried on - a great way to stay within a budget.  This longer, loose-curl wig may also be trimmed if a shorter length is desired and cap also adjusts for a more customized fit.  Remaining colors include 613, 24B613, 16/22, and 27C.

New look for a familiar product

Nearly every dance bag contains a bottle of body adhesive, referred to as "sock glue", but the old, familiar opaque bottle has undergone a few changes.

The container has been updated to be more airline friendly for US travel with carry-on luggage.  Bottles are now a slightly chunkier shape and made of clear plastic so the contents are easy to view. 

 

More new items on the way...

We will be adding several styles of crystal number clips - great for all of those new dresses arriving for the North American Irish Dance Championships in July.  If you are selling an older dress that you used to wear yarn or string to hold the competitor number, why not add a sparkling number clip to dress it up?

And just in time for warm weather, we've added new, disposable costume shields.  Usually called "dress shields", these are perfect for dresses as well as boys' shirts.  After all, a long sleeve shirt combined with an embroidered or rhinestone vest and tie can be just as hot as a solo dress.  All costumes are an investment and these pads are large, soft, and hypo-allergenic with a touch of aloe.  They are easy to apply with peel-and-stick backing - simply discard after use.

How to Make a Perfect Bun

Here is a video showing how to use a bun donut to make a perfect bun.  Although the girl has very long hair which she braids and wraps around the base, shorter hair may skip this step.  Ends of hair can be simply wrapped and pinned into place.

Product Updates

New items that will be on the website soon include two new sizes of wig raisers, also called "donuts".  These are designed to give your wig some added height at the crown area, and the smaller size is great for filling out a bun wig.  Often these donuts are made of foam, but our new ones will be made of nylon mesh.  The mesh material is flexible and stretchy, and can also allow hairpins to be inserted easily.  Both sizes will be available in blonde, brown, or black.

Going...Going...Gone

The $30 Sophia wigs are getting close to sold out in several colors - one or two are remaining and then there will be no more of that color.  So if you are thinking of picking one up, please check for availability.

Forecast: 6 More Weeks of Winter

Great Craft or Gift Idea

I'd like to share a great idea for making a photo calendar FREE!!  The best part is that you don't need to "register" or anything and you can make a really cute yearly calendar and add a dance photo (or any photo), decide on a choice of layout designs and print it yourself.  The website is:
http://www.yearlycalendarmaker.net/welcome.do

Number Clips Added Soon

Several new styles of number clips will be listed shortly.  I've had requests for more variety so I'll be adding both round and square and a few colors, but mostly crystal because they are popular and go with any color.  Here are a few of the designs shown below:

Saint Nickeless

Now that the busy holiday shopping season is over, we're starting out the new year by further reducing our final quantity of previous style Tierna bun wigs. 

Reduced to $10.00, with colors being limited.  They have a slightly smaller diameter curl but are very full and a great way to "try out" a bun wig if you have a dancer that has never worn one before.

Back in stock

All colors of the Emory hairpiece are back in stock and are available on the website.  A new color, light golden brown (color 14), has been added as well.  Tierna bun wigs have also been restocked with only a few colors still remaining on order.

Welcome 2010

Seasons Greetings

It's Christmas Eve and the shopping is done, gifts wrapped and placed beneath the tree, cookies baked.  To all my customers and visitors to my website - Merry Christmas!  One of my favorite holiday traditions is a day in New York seeing the famous Radio City Rockettes perform their Christmas Spectacular.  Click on their photo below to watch these fabulous dancers:

New Headbands In Stock

In time for Oireachtas season!  New crystal headband in silver setting.  Dense rhinestones, squared off at the ends - looks beautiful on its own, or may be worn along with your existing headband or fabric crown for that "dual headband" look.

More Number Clips

Another style number clip will be arriving next week - this one will be round (with a plastic gripper center) and approx. 1 inch (2.5cm) wide.  While jeweled clips are available, the plain clips are great for the do-it-yourself-er who likes to be creative.

Arriving Soon: Number Clips in Black

We currently sell number clips in silver and gold colors, but black clips will be arriving shortly.  This is a color especially good for dark color velvets as well as boys' vests and pants.  Photos will be posted as soon as the clips are ready to go!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

and leave it to luxury retailer NEIMAN MARCUS to have one of the cutest set of wheels around.  Ever since I worked for Neiman Marcus while attending college, I looked forward to their annual Christmas catalog - filled with unusual, trendy, and sometimes outrageous gifts.  This year's catalog is out and the "Cupcake Car" is made from fabric, wood, and sheet metal and operates on battery power.

How many "calories to the gallon" in this model? 

Need a Fundraiser?

Many dance schools use fundraisers as a major source of income for their operating expenses.  Typical fundraisers in the US include selling candy, gift wrap, candles, magazine subscriptions, and raffles.  Here are a few more ideas for how to keep that money coming in!

BUTTER BRAID  tasty frozen pastry you bake at home

JAVA JOES   this company has great coffee that can be customized with your group's own logo

FUN PASTA  hundreds of specialty pastas in fun colors and shapes

Sophia Wig "Photo Update"

It was a beautiful day today so "the girls" went outdoors for a photo session.  The point here is to show the difference a taller mannequin head makes when displaying these longer wig styles.  The smaller display head does not show the length properly, and for many, length of curls is important when choosing a wig.  Curls will also relax or "drop" after being removed from packaging.

Wig raisers/donuts were not used in these photos, though one may worn if you desire added height behind the tiara or headband.

How long is the wig?  Sophia measures 23.5 inches (59.5cm).  The measurement was taken as shown below - from the front edge of the cap, up and over the head and down to the bottom edge of curls at center back.

Sale Wig Photos

Here are a few photos of the sale wigs that will be available on our website soon. Please note that these wigs are not perfect - there are a few areas where the curls are not very tight, but overall the look is very pretty. With budgets being strained this year, the savings may be worth the few imperfections.

color shown is 18T24B

Sale Wigs

Available soon will be a special purchase of soft curl wigs that will be sold at great savings. These wigs are very long and lightweight, and may be trimmed in length as desired. Please note that only 10 colors will be offered as this was a manufacturer's closeout and we have the remaining stock. Photos will be up soon!

MONKEY MUNCH

After overhearing the words "monkey munch" on TV's "Jon & Kate Plus 8", I had to find the recipe for this snack that Kate said her kids just loved. We always enjoy a snack from home as we travel to a feis, so this sounded like something that can be made up in advance and eaten on-the-go. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

9 cup Chex cereal

1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Put cereal in large bowl. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour over Chex cereal, put into a large plastic bag with powdered sugar and shake well to coat.
Spread mixture evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.

New Look for Website

The website just got a new "look" - a makeover of sorts. It's a nice change and almost makes you feel like you're shopping in a new store. More updates are on the way so if a link or two doesn't work, check back as the changes get underway.

Feis Checklist

Advance preparation makes a feis go more smoothly. This checklist will help you get organized and ready to travel with everything you need.

Before the feis: polish both soft and hard shoes
check costume for spots or loose stitching, missing rhinestones, etc.


Feis checklist:

school dress/cape
solo dress/cape for boys: pants, shirt, cummerbund/vest, tie
tiara/headband
bloomers
undershirt/leotard
dress shields, deodorant
dress bag
wig or hairpiece
socks (2 pair), tights
ghillies
hard shoes
elastic straps & buckles for hard shoes
extra laces
number holder/string
feis jewelry: earrings, brooch, tie clip
smock/cover up
hair accessories (ponytail holders, bobby pins, brush & comb, hairspray, hair clips, small unbreakable mirror, wig donut, hairnet)
safety pins
makeup
bandaids/bandages/moleskin
sports tape
first aid kit
shoe first aid kit (black permanent marker, shoe polish, crazy glue for quick repairs)
sock glue
duct or gaffers tape
Tylenol/Ibuprofen
water
healthy snacks
change of clothes/shoes
Ipod or CD player/dance CDs
camera & film, spare batteries **please be aware of rules regarding photography/recording at a feis
money (single dollar bills for marks)
registration information, competitor number, if mailed
hole punch
pen/highlighter
extra rhinestones, glue
map/directions to feis
GPS for car
wet wipes/antibacterial gel
folding chairs
small sewing kit with scissors


If you have younger children with you, bring along books, paper, crayons, videos, etc. to keep them busy.
**For an outdoor feis in very hot weather, there is a possibility of dancing without costumes. Take an appropriate top and shorts/skirt to be prepared.

Update on new "BELLA" wig

BELLA is our newest soft curl wig, arriving in the next 2 weeks. This wig had it's name before the design was even complete! I would describe this as a "crossover" Irish dance wig - a combination of loose ringlet curls & split curls. It is a 3/4 cap wig with top and bottom flexible combs as well as elastic loops to adjust the cap size. At this time, there is no junior (youth) version of this wig, just the one size. Length, however, is easily trimmed for those wanting it a bit shorter in the back.

Bella is designed with a larger diameter curl and a more vertical look (does not "bush out" at the sides). So it gives a pretty, elegant look to the dancer while being very lightweight. For those who already have my color ring, please note that this wig will only be available in 15 colors. I am consolidating the number of colors available in my wigs to those that are most popular and consistently matched. I think most dancers will have no problem finding a color or blended shade that will look lovely.

As soon as the first shipment of Bella wigs arrives, they will be posted on the website. I'll update here as well - but please email any questions, thank you!

New number clips

Just added...new jeweled number clips in several new colors. These are nice, weighty rhinestone clips which will keep your competitor number hanging straight and secure while adding sparkle to your dress. Clips replace string, ribbon, or pins. If you have a two-piece dress, clip may be attached to the jacket as well. More styles and colors are coming and directions for attaching are on the website.

Looking Ahead to 2009

We're starting the new year with some new sale items - a welcome sight in these challenging financial times. Some items are discontinued, some are clearance but all are new and ready for dancing.

I used to list many sale items on Ebay and let the auction process take over. But, with Ebay's numerous policy changes in the past few months, I find myself using them much less and posting my sales directly on the website.

Another change is that I will be stocking fewer wig colors than in the past. Many of the 32 colors I've had available are very similar - and keeping that number of wigs available is just too difficult. There will still be a good selection of shades to choose from, including tipped colors. In the meantime, stock up on any clearance wigs that may be left in your favorite color!

Gift Idea for the Holidays

Once we turn the corner to November, the days until Christmas fly by. Here is a fun idea for a homemade gift made with simple, easy-to-find materials. Perfect for your friends at dance class!

These are great for slipping into your dance shoes after class. The entire dance bag will smell nice!! You can use any inexpensive holiday socks, or poodle socks (these can be dyed for an added touch of color).

Materials:
printed decorative socks or poodle socks
matching ribbon
potpourri or lavender

Directions:
Take one printed sock and using a spoon, fill sock with the potpourri. Work it down into the toe of the sock. Keep spooning in the potpourri until the sock is almost filled. Leave a small amount of sock to gather at the top. Using a rubber band, secure the top and tie some ribbon around it. Do this for both socks so you have a matching pair of smelly socks.

Headbands, etc.

Even if you are not a "crafty" person, you can

make a headband yourself. One of the most popular items on my website is the headband base. This is a plain, undecorated headband which can be covered with fabric and trimmed to match your dress. Recently I've added some new sizes, with and without padding, so you have many choices when it comes to creating your own customized headpiece.

The headband pictured is a 1 3/8 inch size covered in fabric and decorated with 34ss AB rhinestones. Czech rhinestones were used because they have less facets than Swarovski, but the facets are larger, so they flash a bit more from a longer distance.

A low cost way to update a dress for any age dancer!

Green is Good

Green is everywhere these days - it's the topic of conversation in news, politics, nutrition, and education. It is a color near and dear to Irish dancers. While being eco-friendly can be overwhelming, it doesn't take much to begin making even a small, positive impact. All our invoices are printed on recycled paper using ink in recycled cartridges. As much as possible, orders will be shipped in recyclable packaging, and if your town participates in a recycling program, please dispose of the packaging there (or reuse it for a shipment of your own). Even the smallest effort benefits us all.

Newly designed blog

Anyone who regularly visits my website has noticed several changes. You may now use a credit card as well as Paypal to complete your order payment, and you can check the status of your order online. Along with the new and improved website, I've added a matching blog to include information and updates that may not have a proper place on the site. Thank you for visiting this first post and I hope you come back soon!!