Glitz and Glam

This is another post I have been excited to create for a long time.  I found an amazing 80's sequin-covered top (complete with shoulder pads) :)  while on a Goodwill trip with my friend Jamie Foxx.  We were on the hunt for Ugly Christmas Sweaters for our office Ugly Christmas Sweater party, but surprisingly, even though it was December 4th, all of the Christmas sweaters were picked over, and we didn't really find anything we wanted for that.  However, I did happen to find this sparkly top buried among the racks of leftover Holiday attire. :)  I was so excited to take it home and see what I could create from it.  I can never pass up something sparkly, and this one especially caught my eye because of the color combination.  Classic black with pops of glittery gold.

  

I knew for a long time that I wanted to use parts of the top to make an accessory, I just struggled for awhile with which type of accessory I would create.  I felt that a headband was something I needed to add to my wardrobe, since I don't have really very many, and I felt I would be able to show more of the sequin floral designs from the top that way.  I have plenty of the original shirt left, I am sure you will end up seeing more from that in the near future. ;)  As for this headband, I am pretty sure I am wearing it to school tomorrow :)

The Thanksgiving Dinner Party Dress

Here is one of my favorite back posts!  I have been so excited to do this one for so long, but because of all the stuff I was going through, I could never find the motivation to actually update!!!  I hosted a dinner party at my (tiny) house right before Thanksgiving for myself and 11 other people.  The party took weeks of planning, and an unlimited amount of DIY power, since I pretty much hand made all the decor, from the centerpieces right down to some of the napkin rings and the place cards (I will admit, I bought some napkin rings at Pier 1).  I got some great dishes at the Salvation Army, and a beautiful array of napkins from Goodwill.  Combining those with my amazingly cheap Better Homes and Gardens charger plates and all of the delicious food made for an amazing night!  My friends had a great time, as did I, and the turkey that Drew and I made, which was my first attempt at a turkey ever in my life, turned out rediculously delicious!  It was great. 

But I think the part that made my night the most fun was the dress that I created specifically for that party, from a Goodwill find.  I loved the way it ended up, and the bows that I made for the shoulders added just the right amount of festiveness!

Here is the original, a print that is to die for, but a neckline that was kind of blah:  (I had terrrrrrible hair at the time of photo-shooting, so I cropped off my head).....lets just say it was late night.

 

 Here is the Dinner Party, and the result of the Dress Transformation:

 Making luminaries for the driveway

 Apple pie I baked for the occasion!

 The beginnings of the table

 The dress! Hanging over a wreath on my pantry door so hard to see

The finished table! :)

 Dessert buffet, minus Kristin's amazing pumpkin Cheesecake!

 Friends :)

 The boys

 Little Zoey :)

 The girls, and me in my lovely Dress!  (Well, minus Farah, she had already gone upstairs and passed out in a food coma....lol)

New Year's Resolutions

Well, it's 2011.  I didn't want this year to be here yet, because I feel like I barely got to live out 2010, but the reality is that it is here. The holiday season is over, and during that time I got a little case of depression.  Pressures from my job and social life, and the reality that I was not in a place in my life that I wanted to be by this point started causing me to cave in on myself.  

I gave up on my blog, and let's be honest I pretty much gave up on everything that  I usually loved and took the time to do because I was constantly wondering what the point of my life was.  Having no real career future at a cubicle farm company where  I toiled away each day barely making ends meet was getting to me.  I knew that job had nothing to do with my degree or my future as a person.  However, the current state of the economy in this country prevented me from getting a job in the field I studied for and really want to be working in, Interior Design.  

Having bills to pay, like any normal person, I needed an income, so I stooped below my level and took whatever I could get, which only proved to screw me over in the end.  I decided sometime in November to work toward going back to school, which is what  I am currently doing, trying to augment my current degree with another degree in Urban Planning, and possibly Real Estate and Marketing.  So I finally a couple of weeks ago was able to quit the place I hated most and thankfully, I never have to go back there again.  

I am finally at a place where I am trying to be optimistic about the future.  I am in school full time, though not working yet, but I am happy and excited to see what the future brings.  Now I am able to get back to what really matters to me, including this blog and all the other things in my life that I let fall by the wayside.  I have made a New Year's Resolution to myself  (and to you) to revamp and recreate my blog to better suit my current needs and give you as my readers something more fun to read, and hopefully more frequently updated!  Sorry about the long sidebar into my personal life, but I wanted to give you more of an idea of what I have been going through, and why it has been so long since  I last updated.  That being said, I have lots of back-posts to update! :)

A Northeast Ohio Visit

A little over a week ago, I visited NE OH with the intention of visiting my alma mater, Kent State, and attending one of my friend's birthday parties.  Long story short, the girl who I went there to visit ended up sick with the flu for the weekend, so I never made it to the party.  But I did get to visit my friend Stacey from Goodwill Huntingg!  We had a lot of fun reminiscing and sipping drinks  at a cute local bar.

When I visited her, I brought her a necklace I made for her, which is today's post.  I didn't want to post it before I gave it to her, because I wanted it to be a surprise!  I used as inspiration all the tassel and equestrian jewelry that is so hot right now, along with gold toned metal, which is also a big trend.  The necklace was actually created from vintage necklaces my aunt recently gave me (I can't wait to use more of them in my jewelry!)  I added beads to the tassel to give it a more unique feel, rather than just make another plain tassel.  I love the way it turned out!  So simple, yet detailed at the same time, easy to throw on with a tee and jeans, as well as with something dressier!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! :)

Lovin' the Leopard

I created this top from a dress that was thrifted, just like one of my favorite bloggers, Marisa  The original dress was a sleeveless leopard print sheath dress from Goodwill.  I kind of liked the original dress, but it was too big on me, and the front neckline had this wierd keyhole closure with a button....

 

So I made the neckline into a V-neck by tucking in the 'keyhole' pieces, and i shortened the dress into a top.  I also took it in a few inches on the sides to make it fit more snugly.  With the scraps from the shortened dress I created a double layer ruffle!  I am very proud of the ruffle because it definitely was a challenge to make!  After making the ruffle I struggled with where to put it on the top, I changed my mind a hundred times.  I had it diagonally across the top, straight up and down, around the bottom, and around the neckline.  I finally ended up placing it on the top....I cut my head out of the pics b/c my hair was atrocious! lol I did not want anyone seeing what it looked like.  but the top is cute!

This top was inspired by all these pretty leopard looks from Spring 2011


Francesco Scognamiglio      Givenchy            Bluemarine


Leopard and other animal prints are going to continue as a major trend into spring 2011, so this look could carry on through fall and winter and into next spring.

The wait is over!

For my newest post that is!  Lol.  I have been very bad about updating my blog lately, and I appologize!  I made a new necklace to post a week ago, but my life has been consumed with planning the menu and decor for my dinner party that will take place in a week!  Especially since I will be in NE Ohio this weekend, I spent a lot of time last weekend and this past week getting things made & ready.  I had a hard time with it, as most people who know me realize I am the "more the merrier" type....If I could invite 50 people to this party I would.  But the reality is I live in a tiny house, with a tiny table, and a relatively moderate sized kitchen.  So I had to do some chopping on the guest list, and I still feel bad about it.  I am inviting 12 people, but if I had my way my guest list would be at least double that!  There were so many people that we just could not invite, for lack of space.  :( It has been eating me up ever since.  We still need to procure more chairs....I have been stressed and anxious about mentioning the party on any social network, afraid people who were not invited would see it and become offended, but the fact is I can't please everyone, and sooner or later the news would surface anyway, so I am over it.  I am excited for the party and to see people!  And definitely excited for the food that I am going to both prepare, and eat!  And I will for sure be blogging my table, because I have the centerpieces and everything planned and it is going to be amazing!

Any way, enough about that.  Here is the necklace!  I was asked to create a very sparkly/shiny necklace, so here is what I came up with.  I was inspired by the colldddd temperatures we were having last Friday, and icy images they invoke, I even saw snow!  And of course, this week has been unbelieveably warm, near mid 70s, so it is completely opposite of the weather right now, but I know the cold weather will return.  Enjoy! :)

Think Pink

This necklace is one of my all time favorites, it is just simple pink glass beads spaced on a simple silver metal chain.  It pretty much goes with anything, from jeans and a T-shirt all the way up to a suit!  I have gotten a lot of wear out of this necklace, and I even wore it to the interview for the job I have now!  Is it safe to say I got the job because my necklace was well 'suited' to my attire? We will never know, but I would like to think so!  Haha.  The necklace was initially inspired by the Talbots Spring Catalog this year, and I got asked many times while wearing it at work if it in fact was the necklace out of the catalog!!  Hope you are having a good week!