december crafting - holiday skirts and little pet presents

Today was a craft day!

This is a skirt I've had on my mind lately. I found a black velvet skirt at the thrift store, hemmed it shorter, and then used the extra fabric to create a ruffle effect. Then, I sewed the baby blue lace to the ruffles. Ridiculously easy and ridiculously time consuming. I'm not quite done - I have to sew the ruffles completely on and pleat them in an orderly fashion. But after seeing the nearly finished product, I really love the look of a pastel blue with black - velvet especially.. it feels like a good wintery combination. I have a Victorian-looking lace blouse that I'm about to dye black. When I do, I'm definitely wearing it with this skirt.

Hey velvet and lace trend, I love you.

This plaid petticoat skirt was reconstructed from a little girl's dress. To be honest, I'm not sure how much I like it - I just don't know what to pair it with. I'm considering taking off the plaid, adding extra lace, and creating a white crinoline with elastic at the top.

Bloom got some craft attention as well! I completed this plaid bow tie within an hour. I'm going to sneak it on her when she's docile and take picture after picture.. before she realizes what she's wearing and tears it to shreds.

Meet Bacon, Bloom's stuffed friend. I made this guy right before Thanksgiving. He looks somewhat prematurely aged now - he's missing a nose and he's accumulated a few open wounds. Needless to say, she loves him.

I've got a million Christmas projects ahead of me. Neil and I have decided to make several gifts this year.. it'll be a bit of a handmade holiday, which is the best kind. Shopping for supplies tomorrow!

she wore black flowers in her hair

Some crafting I finished tonight - black floral hair combs, headed to the shop on Monday!

I recently made one for my sister Rhi for her upcoming birthday (it falls on Thanksgiving this year!), and she liked it and told me that I should make more for my shop.. so, I decided to go for it! I used two different flowers for two different tortoise shell hair combs, just to see which turned out the best. Which flower is your favorite?

I also bought additional black flowers, red berries for holiday hair accessories, and a set of bright, glittery gold birds with the greatest feathers.. what do you think I should make with them? I am open to suggestions!

Still working on my block printing project.. printing is harder than I thought! Cutting the linoleum block is taking me hours, which means I've been watching a lot of movies.. I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. 

And let's face it, there are worse ways to pass the time than watching Joseph Campbell documentaries and cheesy Harrison Ford thrillers.

putting together some pretty things in the name of lula

My latest crafting project! I, like most bloggers lately, have really fallen in love with the new Lula issue. I wanted to interpret the styles through some form of creation, so I decided to do my favorite thing - make hair pieces.

I made three hair pieces that were inspired by beautiful Lula photos (I'm actually working on another, but it's not so ready yet. Darth Vader is modeling it for now). Here is what I ended up with, from some of my favorite articles and shoots of Lula's latest issue..

Red feathers and vintage velvet bow. I sewed it onto a metallic hair clip in the back.

Soft pink bow headband with vintage lace.

Gold headband with royal blue rosettes. I made the little blue flowers by cutting thin scraps of fabric (from a nightgown I hemmed), rolling them into roses, and gluing them.

What do you guys think?

decide what to be, and go be it.

Velvet Bodice Gunne Sax Dress - Thrifted in St Louis

White Bow Headband, Black Fringe Boots - Forever21

Last weekend was a fantastic time, the highlight being a wedding we attended on Saturday.. and this is what I wore! It's a bit Minnie Mouse-ish, and I'm really alright with that. 

The dress is actually a Gunne Sax dress I found in St Louis (Julie, it came from Ruth's Vintage on Cherokee St.. you should go there, that woman is the sweetest!).. this is what it looked like when I bought it.

I shortened and layered the tulle underneath as well as the skirt, and I attempted to dye it black.. the dye didn't take. It made it a tiny bit darker, but not completely black, which is what I was going for. I'm buying some dye for synthetic fabrics this time and trying it again. Do you guys have any other ideas on what to do with the dress? I'd like to combine feathers somehow, probably in the skirt, but I'm wondering how to sew them on.

My look is partly inspired by Betsey Johnson's Spring 2010 line, found here.. I usually don't like bright colors (and I still loathe animal print), but there are parts to this collection (like the last outfit!) that are ridiculously girlish and adorable.

Isn't he beautiful? Neil is wearing a cotton suit and black button up from Express, white v neck from UO. Do you like his smug face in the first photo?

It was great to be with our school friends again. We're all headed our separate ways, nearly all of us settling in different states, so this time was really important to Neil and I.

Besides having an awesome time dancing to disco and horrible late 90's pop hits (Neil and I danced together the entire night, and he even did the splits! I didn't know it was possible!!), what the visit did, most of all, was push my pursuit of intentional living. I talk a lot about that on this blog, but I keep receiving affirmation that money and fame mean very little in lieu of living with purpose and passion. And living AUTHENTICALLY. Be yourself. No walls, no acting a certain way to please others and forgetting about yourself in the process.

Right now, it's a transitory time for Neil, for me, and for all of our friends. It isn't easy being a college graduate, especially in today's economy.. and we are all feeling it. But what we can't lose sight of - despite bills and failures and discouragement - is living with that idealistic, impenetrable hope that we all had at our first year of school.. I might not be a hard nosed pragmatist or even very realistic about this, but I still believe we can do anything we set our minds to. We've got to be fighters, that's all.

Some lines from a song on the new Avett Brothers CD (free listen on NPR - here! check it out if you haven't already) really hit home for me today.

When nothing is owed, or deserved, or expected. 

And your life doesn't change by the man that's elected. 

If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected. 

Decide what to be, AND GO BE IT.

Blogger meet up TOMORROW!

my atlanta trip and adventures with ayn the owl - a crafting love story

Welcome September, my second favorite month of the year! Two weeks until my birthday!

I wanted to show you a few Atlanta moments! We had such a great time. The weekend consisted mostly of eating and talking, and you can't go wrong with that combination. Rhi and Drew are so fun and so generous and thoughtful. How did I end up with such a good family?

And I really have never seen a cooler house than Drew's. There is no contest. No woman decorates like Drew decorates. Or man. Gay or straight.

My friend Rachel is having a baby! She found out it's a little girl.. I wanted to make something for her baby shower coming up in a couple of weeks, so I went straight to Etsy for some inspiration.

While I found a plethora of cutesy cupcake felt hair clips and bear ear crochet baby hats, my favorite finds were, by far, the stuffed owls. One of my favorites was a cute little owl done by Plants and Animals (their shop rocks for many other reasons besides stuffed owls, so check it out!). While I knew I couldn't make a perfect little owl like they did, I thought I would use their pictures to make my own version.

So, here is the process..

And here are the results! Ayn the Owl. Made with felt and vintage fabric and coffee (not really the coffee part).

After Ayn was born, she kind of took over the place while Neil was away. Here are the exploits I caught her in.

Here is Ayn surfing the web, looking up pictures of other owls.

Here is Ayn listening to some music.

Here is Ayn having a snack. She loves her bananas and lemons.

Here is Ayn on the toilet.

Here is Ayn reading. I can't pull her away from those Hitler biographies!

What do you think? I'd like to give Rachel something else besides Ayn, maybe a little something for her and the owl can go to the baby. Do you guys have any ideas?