A Photoshoot and Celebrating 500 Plays: Having Fun on a Budget

Ahhh! My podcast, Moments with Maddie, reached 500 plays! That means my episodes have been listened to 500 times. That's crazy.

To celebrate, I decided to do a little photoshoot! So, when the rest of my family was out of the house on Saturday, I got to work. Fun fact: I actually work better alone! After I spent the day cleaning, making brownies, and recording a podcast episode, I got ready to take pictures.

Makeup Look:

I did my normal makeup routine that gives a natural look that is also full coverage. Since I only wear bronzer and highlighter instead of eyeshadow on the daily, I added some pink eyeshadow to this look in order to match the theme of the shoot. Another fun fact: I used to wear pink eyeshadow all the time sophomore year.

The Fit:

A pink dress from Bealls - under $20!

Props:

I got a cookie, or pizookie, if you will, from the store (it may or may not have been the same size as my head). It came with a pink and blue icing borer and edible yellow confetti pieces, but I really wanted it to have a "500" on it, so I used white premade cookie icing to pipe it in the middle. Seriously so cute ( and yummy! ). I also used pink sunglasses my sister gave me the other day in some pictures too. Honestly I always have a hard time with posing for pictures so having a prop makes it feel so much more natural and fun!

Behind-the-Scenes:

Since I took these pictures on my own, I had to be very creative and channel my inner DIY YouTuber. For the background of the pictures, I used gray curtains, some plain and some with stripes to add variety. I had also just learned how to connect the music from my phone to my tv so I used that to play music while taking pictures. And much to my sisters disapproval, I borrowed her ring light. Lighting is literally everything- it can really make or break a picture. It lowkey felt like a real photoshoot, and the pictures turned out great!

Having a photoshoot is just one of the many activities that can be done on a budget-the cookie was under $10! I hope you can take some inspiration from this to have fun without breaking the bank too!

And, as always, thank you so much for reading and I'll write to you later. Bye!

HUGS!

Maddie