Friday, November 26, 2010

end of autumn

end of autumn
end of autumn

Photos by Neil!

Vintage Flocked Velvet Mini Dress - Thrifted
1980s Zodiac Ankle Boots - Tennessee Antique Mall
Autumn Floral Hair Wreath - Handmade

The end of Thanksgiving, which always marks the end of autumn for me. Most of the leaves are finally off the trees in Nashville and we've got a cold front coming through tomorrow, so it really feels true.. sad day. Fall is my favorite season.

But the lovely side of the coin is it's time to prepare for Christmas! After eating an extravagant meal (turkey and mashed potatoes and homemade stuffing and chocolate bourbon pecan pie), my family and I settled down to watch old holiday movies. I can't wait to get home and break out our Bing Crosby Christmas record.

end of autumn
end of autumn
end of autumn
end of autumn
end of autumn
end of autumn

This black flocked velvet dress is a recent thrifted find, a cute 1990s girl's dress that ties in the back. I think it'll be perfect for holiday parties when layered with a plaid scarf and that camel colored wool cape I need to finish.. and maybe some suede platform heels and sheer tights.

It's my sister's birthday in one hour and we're going to celebrate in the morning with pumpkin pancakes! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.. what are you thankful for this year?

Monday, November 22, 2010

hemingway house

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Photos by Neil and I!

Floral Maxi Dress, Straw Hat, Leather Belt, Two Tone Navy Satchel - Thrifted
White Floral Hair Wreath - Handmade
Wood Sunset Sandals - Madewell

By far my favorite stop on our cruise was Key West, in the Florida Keys. There, Neil and I toured Hemingway's house then met up with the rest of my family to eat seafood and key lime pie outside. And Hemingway's home was lovely.. filled with different shades of green, wrought iron rails, and six-toed cats. Photos and trophies from his travels to Cuba and Spain and everywhere in between lined the walls, and his stories were everywhere. What a full life he led.

On our way back to the ship, Neil and I found a beautiful old home with white porches and mint green walls. We walked in to find a little bar that served microbrews, so we drank barley wine on the front porch.

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You'll have to forgive my lack of words.. I'm not feeling the best tonight - this sickness has gotten the best of me. So now, I'm going to lay down on the couch and fall asleep watching cheesy Jane Austen movies. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

cable knit sweaters and ankle boots

fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater

Fisherman's Sweater - Thrifted
Cut Off Shorts - Cut from denim jeans (from high school)
Zodiac Ankle Boots - Tennessee Antique Mall
Floral Hair Wreath - Handmade

I've been wanting to show you guys this sweater since I thrifted it a few weeks ago.

fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater
fisherman's sweater

I'll be honest.. today was the absolute worst day to wear a cable knit turtleneck sweater. I think our truck said it was about 94 degrees outside around the time that Neil and I pulled over in East Nashville to take some quick photos.. oh well. This sweater will be a staple of my wardrobe in another month or so.

We're headed to Atlanta in the early, early morning (in about four hours)! Birthday celebration!!

Friday, August 20, 2010

powder blue.. a victorian dress.

powder blue
powder blue
powder blue
powder blue

Victorian Powder Blue Dress - Courtesy of Closet Case Vintage
Ivory Rose Hair Wreath - Handmade
Vintage Zodiac Ankle Boots - Tennessee Antique Mall
Sheer Black Tights - American Apparel

I was extremely excited when Carmen of Closet Case told me I could take some photos in this beautiful powder blue dress.. and of course, I jumped on the chance.

powder blue
powder blue
powder blue
powder blue

Wearing the dress almost made me feel like a tragic figure from some century-old play, but it could just be the cheesy E.M. Forster movies I've been watching.

The past couple of days, though, I haven't had much free time for movie watching.. Neil and I made a harmless trip to East Nashville the other day that resulted in a decision to move over there. We found a beautiful little Craftsman home that had just opened up to renters and it fit us perfectly, so we jumped on the opportunity. We filled out an application Tuesday, we're dropping off our deposit today, and we're moving in in September!

Which of course means the next few weeks are going to be nice and crazy. Oh man, but I can't wait to share pictures with you guys. Glass doorknobs and crown molding and a creepy basement!

powder bluepowder blue
powder blue
powder blue

And now for the winner of last week's Katie Daisy giveaway.. first of all, thanks to all who participated. Reading your personal inspirations was a huge joy for us!

The winner is.. Rachel! Congrats! We've got your email and Katie will be contacting you shortly.

Happy weekend, all!

powder blue
powder blue

Sunday, August 15, 2010

sewing saturday! making a floral hair wreath

handmade floral hair wreath

Well, I have to be honest. I've been in a stubborn sewing rut lately. I don't have a very good excuse for it, I just got a little tired of sewing a week or two back. Next week I'll definitely finish up the striped overalls and my sewing rut will pass.. but for now, I want to work on a project that I feel inspired to do.

So, this week involves no sewing.. I'm making floral hair wreaths out of wire, floral tape, and silk flowers!

I've seen my beautiful sister, Laƫtitia of Mademoiselle Robot, and Louise (and friends Alix and Lila) of Pandora all wear their hair wreaths so effortlessly that I've been tempted to make my own ever since catching them on their blogs. And I happen to have a dress that really calls for something like this, so it was about time that I made one of my own.

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What you'll need for the project? Silk flowers, floral wire, floral tape, scissors for cutting the flowers, and wire cutters. The floral wire I found has a built-in wire cutter, which is super convenient.

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To begin, I cut three pieces of wire the same length, then wound them together to form a circle. Try on your wire wreath as you're making it - you want a loose fit, because the flowers and tape will take up some room.

Then, I wrapped one layer of floral tape tightly around the wire.

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Now for the fun part! I cut out the flower and leaf bits that I wanted to add to the wreath. Then, I used the floral tape to secure the flowers onto the wreath!

I found my favorite way to attach the flowers and leaves was to add the leaves to the entire crown, then add the flowers. Also, mix up the way you attach the flowers - have some blooms sticking out, other blooms wrapped tightly to the wreath. But always make sure the tape is tight, you don't want flowers falling out.

handmade floral hair wreath
handmade floral hair wreath
handmade floral hair wreath

That's all there is to it! It's a fun, inexpensive, and pretty quick project to do. I'm already in the middle of two other wreaths.. I guess I got carried away. I've been dreaming up ways to wear them in the fall.

Well, I think sharing my thrifted finds has become one of my favorite things about blogging. This week, I found some incredible shoes with wooden heels.. including my first pair of thrifted clogs! Since they were all around the same size, I think they had belonged to the same fashionable lady that had worn them (or had not worn them.. they're in awesome condition) in the 70's.

vintage clogs
vintage clogs

Strangely enough, I found another pair of clogs in my closet when Neil and I went to visit my parents this weekend - an old pair with a wooden wedge, reddish brown leather, and studs on the sides. They had originally belonged to my sister Ashley before she forgot about them and I stole them, probably to dress up Camelot style in this red and gold peasant dress I used to have. I had a big obsession with the Medieval times when I was about 11. Well, thankfully my feet haven't grown any, because now I want to wear the clogs again.

Hope you all are having a good weekend! Any fun projects you've completed lately?