There are, as I have discovered, many types of shoppers. First, there’s the young and trendy bunch of clothes shoppers who are young, have a little bit of money and no responsibility and willing to spend their money on big brand names. Secondly, we have the ones who prefer to spend as little money as possible on the unique clothes that they buy and their focus is in having a bigger collection as opposed to having recognized brand names. Then thirdly, we have those are not very particular about either price or design, these people can swing both ways any time they want. What they look for is uniqueness of the clothes. They would rather have someone shave their eyebrows off rather than be spotted wearing the same clothing as someone else in a party!

Now, the funny thing is that many people flock to shopping malls to find their clothes but don’t you know that it’s impossible to find unique clothes in shopping malls because of one very simple reason? That everyone else on the planet find their clothes off of shopping malls. If this is the regular marketplace for everyone else, how is it possible for you to find unique designs for clothes there?

As you will soon see, the only solution is to either get the really expensive stuff (i.e. branded clothing that others cannot afford), personalize your clothing (i.e. make your own) or get it off the Internet. The Internet is like a very huge shopping mall with an endless number of shops and designs from all over the world. Chances of you getting a piece of clothing that looks EXACTLY the same as your neighbor is extremely low, therefore, I think it’s the safest choice there is for unique clothes. The only thing is that you need to be a little more vigilant about buying things from the Internet; and also don’t forget to check their return policy, measure yourself against the measurements given by the merchant.

Finding unique clothes from the Internet is not only useful but it’s also extremely fun because even though you can’t test the clothing out yourself, you can mix and match the clothes to your own unique taste and make the design completely your own.

Go ahead and try it for yourself. For ideas on personalized and customized clothes, decor, gifts, and anything else that you consider fun, visit www.cuztomchix.com. If it’s not ready yet, please bookmark the site and come back for more later on! See you there!

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Credit: Photo image found here.

Now, the problem and disadvantage of doing your own heat transfer thing on your t-shirt is this….to get it to stick long enough past your next birthday! Most of them don’t last past the week, let me tell you that, and it’s a sorely disappointing experience! You could be all excited about something you created and ironed on to your t-shirt and quite suddenly, after the third wash, it’s a plain white t-shirt all over again. ‘Whatever happened to the heat transfer job?”, you ask and you look at the almost-brand-new t-shirt. The problem with normal heat transfer sheets that you can get off your computer or clothing store is that they are not MADE to last! It doesn’t seal in the creative design onto the t-shirt properly. Commercial industrial heat transfers lasts longer because of the quality. The problem is that unless you get in bulk, it is difficult trying to get your hands on commercial heat transfers.

But you know what? To counter this problem, I heard that some really smart people have created various models of inkjet printers or laser printers made specifically for this purpose. They’re not cheap…that’s the catch. But if you think you have something worth exploring, I say why not?

Using heat transfer for your t-shirts for fun is great for the kids because it gets them doing something creative and they get to showcase it to the rest of the world when they wear it. However, if you’re trying to personalize t-shirts for your own use and in small number, you could be better off getting someone to do it for you.

Go to www.cuztomchix.com for some personalized and customized t-shirts. I promise you that the quality is really good! Well, if the website’s not up yet, please bookmark it and come back later, ok?

Are you planning to hold an elaborate party in your home soon and can’t think of anything fun, exciting, unique and yet memorable to use as a party gift? Be it a party for kids or adults, having a party gift for the party is just as important as sending out the invitations. It gives the attendants something to remember your party by and since you would be spending a considerable amount of time and energy into putting the party together to make sure that it’s a good one, I think you’d want people to remember your party some time later….like, perhaps ten years down the road!

For the kids, it’s easy to settle since kids generally love party packs! You can pack all types of goodies into the party pack that will send them to the dentist but don’t forget to put something memorable into the pack too! A good way to do that is to take a picture of the host or birthday girl (or generally, the star of the party) with everyone who attended when they arrive. Then while the party is going on downstairs, print out each of those pictures and slot them into the party pack! There….settled. If you’re holding a party, generally, for everyone, then take a group photo and give them away at the end of the party.

Although it’s easier and sometimes cheaper to get party favors and gifts off the shelves of the shops in malls, they don’t make very memorable gifts, let me tell you that. If you give them a pen that isn’t any different from promotional items, then you’ve just wasted your money on it because the whole point of giving party favors and gifts away to is have people remember you and your party. So, if you’re going to give party gifts away, remember to customize it a little. A little goes a long way, remember that. Printing of name, putting on the date or simply hand-writing a message to the guests makes all the difference in the world.

Motherhood is an all-encompassing responsibility….a vocation, in fact that zaps your energy, time and resources. Being a mother often means that she has less time for herself and is constantly in a ‘caring’ mode – not for herself but for others around her. This, over a period of time, can erode her self confidence and ability to feel good about herself. How many of us wish that we can be what Angelina Jolie is? A mother and yet a very fashionable, well-respected and hip mom?

While we may not have the beauty, caliber and financial resources to be the kind of hip mom that Jolie is, there are lots of other things we can do to become as hip a mom as we can be. Paying attention to our own personal needs is the first step we need to take. A good example would be to have between 15 to 30 minutes every day to focus on ourselves. Hip moms are not born overnight so you need to do this over a long period of time before you can be considered hip.

Put a little thought into your own clothing, your personal care, your beauty regime and also your physical well-being. The secret to becoming a hip mom is to make yourself feel good and restore your self-confidence level. A large percentage of mothers feel that after becoming a mom, they are no longer confident about themselves. Never neglect yourself because in order to care for others around you, you need to be in tip-top condition! There’s a co-relation between confidence level, being a hip mom and one’s mental health too.

Sounds serious? It is! If you take a good look around you, you will see that most mothers who are considered hip moms ooze self-confidence. They know who they are, what they’re capable of, what they want and don’t want. Hip moms spend considerable time taking care of herself so that she feels good about herself when she’s out.

So, if you want to be a hip mom, the first step you need to take is to take good care of yourself. Pamper yourself, spend money on nice clothing that makes you feel good. Give yourself down time free from your spouse/partner and kids. Once you’ve ironed these things out, you would be, I promise you, well on your way to being a hip mom.

It takes very little to personalize a room. And indeed, a room is a very personal space unless you’re sharing it with someone else, of course. But even if you’re sharing a room with someone else, you can always claim a corner or a particular space in the room as your own. It’s proven that having one’s own personal space all to himself or herself, be it a room or a corner of a room, is an important part of living. Some people think that personalizing a room is a big problem and it involves big budgets and major renovations. Nah, that’s not true at all!

Here are some ways that you can personalize your room without busting a budget.

 Putting it on a rug

When you enter a room or a home, do you look at the floor first or the ceiling first? Take a pick between the two…..yes, you see the floor first. Therefore, decorating the floor should not be neglected. This makes personalizing your own room easier because all you have to do is to personalize the room with a rug that has your name in it and in your favorite color too! Well, if you don’t fancy having your name on the rug (some people don’t like stepping on their own names, you see ), you can choose a rug with your favorite design on it.

 Go cheap with little decorative accessories

If you’ve got space on table tops and shelves, start shopping around for cheap decorative items that catch your fancy! They cost so little but if you have a lot of these personalized accessories in your own private little space, the moment you enter the room, you’ll feel like you’re stepping into a world that is completely your own! You won’t believe the feeling that is capable of overcoming you.

 Lighting can change the whole ambience

If you want to give your room or home a facelift without making too big a change to your place, try changing the lighting instead! Add a few personalized or unique framed pictures, throw in a new table or shelf and you will get a brand new look for your home.

Note: Photo found here.

Buying a gift for someone special can be a vexing experience because of the close relationship. Even if you’re not close to that person in particular but instead, you’re close to his/her parent, I know you’d want to make sure you get something that will put a smile on the face of the recipient. And it’s not all that easy. For instance, a couple of months back, I spend weeks and days scouring through the shelves of the shopping malls near by home looking for a present for a neighbor’s daughter. I could have stuck to something really conventional, like Barbie Dolls or some cooking set but I know she’s got tons of those and my neighbor would probably toss it aside or pile it together with the rest of her existing toys, never to be played with again until years later….when she’s already too old to appreciate the present. And besides, kids are pretty fickled creatures because they change their minds ever so often, so it’s really tough trying to find something really special. Sadly, the only person who knows what the kid really likes, other than the kid her/himself, are the parents.  Now, I want to share a secret with you. The secret is one that will help make gift giving an extremely easy and hassle-free affair from now onwards. Give them something personal! Instead grabbing a piece of clothing off the rack hoping that it fits and that the kid will like the gift, buy personalized or customized clothing or gifts instead! I promise you, it works every single time! It’s like comparing receiving a branded sweater you can find in every mall in the country to a really nice sweater grandma knitted out for you. I love giving customized stuff and although it takes a lot of time to personalize all those gifts that I constantly give to my family and friends, I am passionate about it. and that is also why I am a big fan of hand-crafting stuff that I give to the people around me, as long as it is possible.  

Giving something personalized is a fabulous idea because it’s not expensive at all to customize the gift and does not take as long when you hire a professional to do it. all it takes is a little bit of planning and time for you to collaborate with the parents and waiting for the personalized gift item to arrive at your doorstep. Because of this very reason, I suggest ordering the personalized item ahead of time….WAY ahead of time.  

Hey, I’ll be coming up and showcasing a lot of personalized and customized gifts for kids and adults of all ages (and sizes) in my website www.cuztomchix.com very soon. Please do me a favor. Log onto my website and bookmark it and come back later as I update the website! 

Note: Photo above can be found here from istockphoto

Whether you’re 1-month old, 4, 25 or 52 years old, a birthday is always a special celebration. Unbeknownst to you, as your birthday roll around, your friends and family are probably pestering you to throw a birthday party! The surprising thing is that surprise parties are almost a thing of the past simply because they’re so easy to predict these days. Whenever it’s near your birthday and you can’t get any of your friends on the phone, suddenly your brother’s got an important meeting in some far off unheard-of country and your mother can’t cancel her bridge game, you know something’s up, don’t you? The really good type of birthday parties is the ones that everyone sits down and plans together. Or a birthday party with a theme, I guess.  

Sticking To What Works
The pajama party always works with girls. And not surprisingly, the pajama birthday party concept or theme works regardless of how old you are. Well, maybe if you’re fifty-nine and above, you might change it from pajama birthday party to bridge birthday party. Tubs and tubs of ice-cream and stacks upon stacks of DVD work too. The only thing is the cleaning up tomorrow morning….which I usually call the cleaning lady up tomorrow for a good clean-up.

For the guys, simple is the key. Round the guys up at your place, order lots of alcoholic drinks, if there’s no game playing on television, grab lots of DVDs on your way back from work and there you have it….a birthday party! 

A themed birthday party
Kids are not the only ones who likes to have themed birthday parties and the only difference between an adult one and a kids birthday party is the….well, theme. For kids, they might like to have Princess Birthday Party or Dinosaur Land Birthday Party; but for us grownups, the Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, American Idol birthday party would be more like it.  

I guess you can still go for the Hawaiian theme or Star Wars but it is kind of predictable by now. I suggest you use a theme that is generally well received and then use it as your birthday party theme.  This reminds me of the time I had a ‘Friends (the series) Birthday Party’ for one of my friends. I can’t even begin to tell you how many Rachels we had at the party and only one Phoebe. Nevertheless, it was incredibly fun! 

I plan to put a lot of birthday party ideas and stuff and ideas that you can use for your birthday party in my website www.cuztomchix.com. Be sure to head on over and bookmark the page! I promise you that it will be more than just eye-candy!

Note: Photo can be found at istockphoto.com

The huge leather couch. The deep brown mahogany dining table. The expensive china vase and exquisite painting on the wall. They all help define and decorate the home in a big way. But did you know that even the small stuff counts? The stuff you collect over the years, like the small teddy bear porcelain figurine someone gave you for your anniversary you have placed on the coffee table or the flower arrangement you got from your husband as a gift counts for something too. Whenever you’re out shopping for home décor ideas, don’t forget the small stuff.  

Change the furniture around
If there isn’t a budget for a big change in the house, this is something you can do without busting your budget. In fact, there isn’t a budget for it. All you have to do is to change the position of the furniture in your house or maybe shift things around a little bit, in a practical sort of way, of course, to give your house a new look. This way, you get the new feel that you want and the bank account remains untouched.  

Major overhaul – renovate the house
In order to have a major overhaul done to your home, you’d have to have a budget for it. I reckon the best way to do this is to save up for it instead of putting on a second mortgage on the home just to renovate the home. Or if you don’t mind the inconvenience, you can always do up the house in stages starting with the place that needs the renovating the most. The advantage of doing the house up in stages is that you can budget for it and you get to see the effect before deciding what to do with the rest of the house. The disadvantage of it is that every time a renovation goes on, there’s disruption to your everyday life.  

Adding on the small stuff
A lot of people do this on a consistent basis. What you can do is to go shopping for new plants, carpet, pillows to put on the sofa, a new recliner, a new coffee table….things that don’t cost an awful lot and yet can give your home a new look. Over time with due diligence, your house will represent your personality and what you feel your personal sanctuary should be like.

For home personalized decor stuff, cuztomised ideas and gifts, please visit http://www.cuztomchix.com

Note: Photo above was taken from www.sxc.hu

The queen of tacky and outrageous outfits, the one that I can think of right now, is probably Cher. Despite her vocal prowess and incredible stage presence, Cher never ceases to amaze me with her ‘costumes’. Take, for example, this outfit on Cher. Tattered clothing does not a fashion make! She looks like she walked into a shredder and sprinkled gold dust onto it as a last minute ‘glamorizing’ effort.  

In contrast, for American Idol reject, Kelly Pickler is picture perfect. Showing off her well endowed figure in a low-cut neckline and in a color that makes her slight tan shine, this outfit on her is simply perfectly chosen.  

Even Ashlee Simpson paints a better picture than Cher! Being young (but too stick thin), Ashlee decided to wear mix and match her outfit in a simple t-shirt with bold prints and skin-tight pants. The boots on her feet makes her legs look longer (and thinner – as if it needs help). Although it makes Ashlee look like an anorexic teenager, it complements her hair color and style – it’s no wonder why Ashlee seems to be making waves in the trendsetting department with the teens today.  However, Pickler could have made her look a little bit more complete with a nice necklace and Simpson can honestly do away with the hat.

As for Cher, she should do away with the whole thing, as far as I am concerned.

My personalized clothing store is well on its way! Be sure to check out www.cuztomchix.com and bookmark it. If you wish to contact me, please feel free to send me a note at mystyleinfo@cuztomchix.com or fill in the feedback form here.

 When I heard that one of the Fall Out Boy’s, namely Pete Wentz, have started his own fashion line, I couldn’t help but burst out into loud laughter…in complete disbelief. What’s next, detergent?? But as it turns out, the clothing line from Pete Wentz isn’t half bad at all, granted, he probably invested a lot of money behind ghost designers! Hey, if the world can have ghost writers and ghost singers, why not ghost designers? Well, even if Pete Wentz was not the one who sat there drawing out figures and clothes from scratch, I don’t think it matters. As long as the end-product (albeit with his name on it) is comfortable and a viable casual clothing for the young today, I’d say ‘Why Not?’ 

Being a big fan of t-shirts and anything comfortable that I can wear without having to tug and pull at all day, I think the print and design ON the t-shirt has a lot to do with how popular it’s going to be. Comfort is one thing but today’s consumers prefer to wear something they can connect with. I saw this guy wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a football on the front with the words ‘Kick Me’ under it. Yeah, stuff like that – I don’t doubt the owner of that t-shirt is a football buff, do you?

Photo from: Nordstorm

The image above is of Clandestine Industries Pop Art Tee