Shopping My Stash, Pretty Boxes and a Tea Party

I cannot believe it; the sun actually came out today for an hour or two and I had the unique opportunity to take some blog photos without digging out my light box! So now for something completely different... I just wanted to quickly show you how I've been trying to shop my make-up stash recently, maybe that'll be somewhat inspiring? If not, there are pretty boxes to look at further down and also some Valentine's Day info for local readers :)

After coming back home from our Christmas trip, I decided my vanity table needed a little reorganizing; yes, that's also when I realized just how much unused make-up I have. So in an attempt to rotate my stuff regularly, I purchased this little basket ($.3.99 from Cost Plus World Market) and have been putting my everyday products in it ever since. I don't really change my face products out a whole lot (because I'm desparate to use them up!), but I try to pick out a different eyeshadow palette and blush every week, and I also rotate my lip products even more often. Here's what's in this week's basket:

This way I not only feel that I get much more use out of my products, but it also pushes me to try some new looks once in a while. The result can be seen below - I did a one-eyeshadow smokey eye using a beautiful blue/grey from Sleek's Oh So Special palette. To be honest, I still can't quite decide whether it brings out my eye color more or I just look like someone punched me in the face, but it is fun to shake things up a bit sometimes.

I also purchased two more pretty boxes at Marshall's. I use the black wooden box with an 'M' initial (yep, my real name is not actually Rocaille... sorry to disappoint) at my bed-side table for all my medicines, because I don't really like looking at them. I still haven't found a purpose for the Paris photo/shoe box, but having spare boxes never hurt anyone, right?

Lastly, for all my local readers looking for fun girly things to do over the Valentine's Day weekend, there's an awesome trunk show coming up on February 11 (Sat) at Sweet Anthem Handmade Perfumes atelier in West Seattle. From 12-4pm, you'll find flowers, perfumes and candles by Meredith Smith of Sweet Anthem and Nikki Sherritt of Gabriel's Aunt/Rebel & Mercury, as well as chocolates and truffles by Anne Dowell of Garden Bon Bons and Lydia Love of Chakralat. There'll be tea, gifts with purchase and an opportunity to chat with local artisans. Perfume and sweets? Sign me up, please! Learn more and RSVP at the event's FB page here.

Have you found any new storage solutions for your make-up area? What are your plans for Valentine's Day? Please let me know in the comments!