What I Wore Sunday: Week 17

…52 weeks of shaking up the wardrobe…

The Rules:

1. Wear a different outfit every Sunday.

2. Incorporate at least one article of clothing or accessory that was either refashioned, sewn myself, or handmade.

3. Outfits can be worn more than once; just not the same way.

4. Think outside the box and be creative

I finally made it back to Church!  Hooray!  This recovery biz-ness is slow going, and I am not a patient person.  I’m not a fan of patience (when it comes to recovery) or physical therapy.  Meh.

Anyway, here’s what I wore (with wrist braces):

This outfit was 100% made by me…before surgery.  The skirt is made from a sheet set I got for $5.00, and I still have tons of fabric left.  The lace shirt was made from a fabric remnant from the clearance bin, and the light blue shirt underneath was The Hubster’s.  I refashioned it a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…

…actually, I sewed that cute blue shirt in my basement, so it wasn’t “…far, far, away…”

So, last week’s party was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?  I thought so, too.  You guys are all so super clever!  It was so hard to pick favorites.

But we did.

My favorite was this little number from Doranda at Watch Out For The Woestmans:

She added a few layers to add length to the back of her skirt.  Brilliant!  Doranda thinks that fashion can be modest, too, and every week, she hosts a link party called Watch What I’m Wearing.  It’s a lot of fun.  She’s my new best friend.  :)

Ash’s favorite entry from the party was this sweet dress made by Liz from Howling At The Moon:

Ashlee loves how vintage and “Audrey Hepburn-like” this dress is.  I agree.  So, so, cute.  She did an awesome job sewing it.  I also love the name of her blog.  I’ve got that old country song in my head.  I don’t even know what it is called.  “…howl at the moon, shoot out the light, it’s a small town, Saturday, night--it’s a small town, Saturday night!”  Oh.  Sorry.  Cute dress, Liz!

The most viewed link (by a long shot) was Prom Dress: Vintage Upcycle from Annanimmity.

Holy gorgeous, Batman!  Betsy’s daughter, Madeline, took a thrifted, vintage dress from the 1970’s and refashioned it into her prom dress.  AH-mazing!!  I love how this dress turned out!  I love the colors, and I think the way Madeline refashioned it is perfect.  So fun!  You should definitely go check it out. 

So fun.  Thanks, everyone, for linking up!  Don’t forget to grab a button if you were featured, and be sure to enter Ash’s link party! 

Have a great weekend!  :)

Fab 5 Friday! And you!

Okay, so last Friday, my hubby, parents, and I went and saw the Avengers. Oh man. LOVED IT! It was awesome! I felt like watching it again as soon as it ended! Afterwards, we went to Café Zupas for my first time. SO GOOD! What did I have, you ask? Well, if you recognize this….
“We went out to dinner, I had the lobster bisque, we went back to my place, and yada yada yada, I never heard from him again.” “You yada yada yada’d over the best part!” “I mentioned the bisque.”
Now, The Avengers was amazing. But that lobster bisque? Oh man. It was incredible. I could wax poetic. I need to find a recipe for it. Now. But, while there, I sampled another soup, the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup. Delicious. And while hunting for the lobster recipe, I came across this. I will be making it soon!

From Crowley Party. She experimented with a soup and it tasted very similar to Zupas. I’m there!

My friend pinned this and I repinned it from her. Looks soooo good! From Picky Palate. Hey, if she claims her kids eat it, maybe mine will too!
Apologies in advance. The rest are very girly. I’m surrounded by them, you know?

Look how cute this cascading ruffle skirt is! From Lil Blue Boo. Her daughter modeling it is absolutely adorable. I love the boots she’s wearing with it!

Again with little girl skirts! So my daughter refuses to wear anything but….So what’s a mom to do? Here’s another great skirt (read super easy) from Sewing in No Man’s Land.

Do any of you read Tatertots and Jello? She started a new blog with someone else totally dedicated to upcycling and refashions. Refashion Files here. On there this past week, was this cute dress from a men’s work shirt, Girl, Inspired. I love the gray! So, what have you been up to lately? Show us here!
Please link up or have a button so others can join the fun!

Dollar Store Nursery Decor

I love decorating.

I love decorating for cheap even better.

When I was putting Monkey’s nursery together, I had an idea.

And it worked.

The best part?  It was cheap and easy. 

Okay.  Monkey and Firecracker share(d) a room.  I actually put their names into the frames, but changed their names up to get the “DREAM” on the wall for this post.  ‘Cuz, you know…their names aren’t really Monkey and Firecracker.

So, start off with some dollar store frames.  These are 5x7.

Cut some 5x7 pieces of cardstock, and print your desired letters off of the computer.  Be sure to use cardstock for that, too.  Make the letters huge,  make them so they’re just an outline, then make it so it’s a mirror image.  It will print off backwards.  This is a good thing.  That way, when you’re cutting them out, if you accidentally leave any of the outline, it’s on the back; not the front.

Glue the letters to the cardstock.  I used spray adhesive.  I {heart} spray adhesive.

Use a staple gun and staple ribbon to the back of the frame.

Put your cardstock and letters into the frame.

Mount them onto the wall, and you’re finished. 

See how cute?

Knowing how cheap it was makes it even cuter, if you ask me!  :)

P.S.  The vinyl lettering says, “Twinkle, twinkle little star.  Do you know how loved you are?”

Awwww…

…but it’s true.  My kids are very loved!  :)

USPS Envelope Reimagined

Okay, on this post, I gave the basic how-to for this method, but here’s another look at it.
You know those envelopes you get that feel almost like plastic-y fabric? Well, they are. It’s called Tyvek.

(source)
Tyvek melts cool. My sis-in-law was showing me this stuff too. Basically we cut it apart like the picture up there, and painted it.

With a sponge just for funzies.

I cut apart the colors, and layered them on top of each other. I put some sheers and organzas between the layers too. I was keeping it all with pinks, blacks, silvers, and whites. Then, I sewed all the layers together with a crazy stitch.

That’s the under side. I labeled this as no-sew because you don’t have to sew it. I just wanted to try it for the looks.

See the layers? Then, she showed me how she irons it with parchment paper so the stuff doesn’t get on her iron, and melts pieces here and there. I also tried with the heat gun just for fun. Here’s what it looked like when it was finished.

And the back…The black fabric didn’t like melting as much as the other fabrics. It was a thicker satin-y fabric, and had a very high melting point, unlike the rest of the stuff.

Then, I decided I wanted to turn it into usable art for my sewing room.

So, I  grabbed a frame from my thrifting stash (what, don’t you have one too?!)

Used the backing to trace some cardboard…

Double layers of cardboard and hot glued them together

Then took them outside on the weeds to spray paint. Nice foot!

Hot glue the cardboard to the back of the frame….(doesn’t the frame look so cool now? I almost went a different color and glaze the details…maybe later!)

And then hot glue the crazy art on top of that

Hammer some nails in where you want. Can you see them?

How about now?

There. That angle worked. I have places for 15 bobbins…with potential for more if I really need them.

Here’s where I’ve been keeping them up til now:

Notice the broken one, and the ones that hang down farther than they should? Only 3 worked….Not helpful…

Nestled in by some empty wooden spools I couldn’t throw away (from my grandma), with my view looking outside! (though it does give off an awkward glare)

By the way, just so I don’t get in trouble….Should probably use the mail you get, and not go steal a bunch of Tyvek envelopes from the USPS. Then they’ll have to raise prices on stamps again, and I don’t want that on my head!

And voila!
Linking up to Tatertots & Jello
I Heart Naptime
Skip to My Lou
House of Hepworths 
Brassy Apple