Cheap Finds + DIY Freestyle Palette

So, while my fiance was at Best Buy, getting the last PS3 (which by the way, made him so giddy and happy that he tried to drive home with in his lap) I went to Marshalls, the Dollar Tree and Kmart, getting absolute beauty steals. 
First stop, Marshalls. Here's the thing about stores like Marshalls and TJMaxx, in my area (Cherry Hill/Moorestown/Haddonfield, suburbs immediately outside of Philadelphia) these stores are disaster zones. Seriously. It looks like Fallujah after an offensive. I treat it as such too, I go in on a recon mission- look around, scope it out and get out as quickly as I can. I actually have no idea why I keep going back. Mostly, it's because I keep hearing things about NARS palettes and lipgloss sets that some luckly individuals stumbled upon (what incredible finds- that's like seeing treasure washed up on the beach!). Anyways, I wanted to try my luck again. After much digging around (and I mean DIG) this is what I did spot:
-Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily Shimmer Oil (Reg $35, spotted it for $19.99)
-Korres Hand Cream (discontinued, I believe- $6)
-Tons of CHI, Biosilk, bigsexyhair products (heavily discounted, seriously don't even go anywhere else to buy it)
I walked out empty handed, because I'm trying to stick to a habit of not buying what I wasn't looking for, but thought I'd give you a good idea at what's in store at the moment. On to the next store! Kmart it is!
Kmart is the only store I know of that actually sells e.l.f. cosmetics. Dollar General does carry e.l.f., but only the tools and brushes. I went in hoping to get a few empty compacts (no such luck) and some single eyeshadows and maybe a few other things. I grabbed the last two eyeshadow singles- Custome Eyes in Pink Ice and Dusk and All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade. I have a slight problem with that product being called Pink Lemonade- it's a bright, strawberry pink and I had expected it to be much more mild. I think it stems from the days when I wore Caboodles Lip Jelly Lemonade (do you remember that? It was so wonderful- smelled so good and tasted just like the real thing) and that was a semi transparent baby pink. 
Anyways back to the story, disappointed with the lack of e.l.f. Elements compacts, I went to the Dollar Tree with the idea that I could probably make my own in mind. I spotted metal gift card holders. Perfect! I also grabbed a few stackable black mini crates and hauled four Sally Hansen lipglosses. Rumors of these glosses had been the reason why I had initially came to the dollar store and I was happy with the array of colors. I got two Smile Brightening Lip Treatments in Twinkling (dark lavender) and Luminous (dark spicy nude). Also, a Natural Butter Lip Shine Gloss in Bloom (berry) and a Moist & Matte Liquid Color in Charmeuse. This post is getting absurdly long, so I'll talk about those another time.

Here's the good DIY tutorial part:


DIY Freestyle Palettes
Materials: 
-Magnets, preferably business card magnets (see pic). These were $7 for a pack of 25. 
-Pen or Marker
-Scissors 
-Metal gift card holders (Found at craft stores, dollars stores, etc)


1. Flip the metal holder over, and mark out on the business card magnet where you plan to cut it and it it to fit the holder. Round the corners and peal & stick the first magnet. 
2. Trim the second one in a similar manner. Use the remnants of the first and second magnet to fill in the remaining gap. 
It's a pretty self explanatory process, I have no idea why I decided to write out instructions. 
Each one of the metal holders (3" by 5") holds 12 26mm round pans. That's right, 12! Or 4 36mm round pans and 5 26mms. Anyways, you get the idea- it's compact but holds a lot! And pretty too. 
The best part? Each metal holder was $1 and two sheets of business card magnets was about $.50. Less than $2? Awesome. 

That's all for the night, thanks for bearing with me! <3

All items featured in this post were purchased by me for my own use.