Frumpy to fab!

A quick trip through Goodwill last Saturday yielded this frumpy frock. I can just hear in my head the woman's rationalization when she originally bought this "It's a little baggy, but it's SOOO comfortable!" Hey...we've all been there, right?

My scissors {I L-O-V-E them, btw}, sewing machine and an hour of free time helped create this:

I just did some reshaping, taking in the sides, brought up the hem then hand sewed the little rosettes on.

It's really comfortable {still}, but MUCH cuter! Working with jersey knit like this is so easy! What I love most is that you don't have to hem the edges if you don't want to b/c it won't fray.

I love it! Boy are these projects contagious! Cheap, easy and fast!

Fun flower statement necklace

I'm in love with the necklace I made for last week's formal event {see previous post}. Here's the breakdown:

Supplies needed:

Floral pin/broach

Red fabric (1/4 yard is plenty)

Leopard fabric (1 sheet of leopard felt is what I used)

Chain necklace - preferably with larger links

Felt backing

Hot glue gun

Pliers

Scissors

I should have taken step-by-step pics, but I didn't -- so here's a short narrative of the process:

For the red flowers - use the old 'twist and turn' method. Cut a strip of fabric approx 1.5in x 24 in. {the longer the strip, the larger the fabric} I tie a knot at the end, then start to fold the fabric under approx 90 degrees, wrap it around about a 1/4 or 1/8 of the knot then glue in place. Repeat the folding, twisting, wrapping, gluing steps until flower is to desired length.

For leopard fabric flower - Cut one scalloped circle to the desired size of flower, then 4 slightly smaller scalloped circles. Fold the smaller flowers in half, then lay them the way you would fold a box w/o packing tape. Here's an example if this doesn't make sense.

I sewed some beads to the center of my flowers, but you could use buttons or anything else your craft mind can come up with.

Lay the flowers on top of the felt backing the way you want them to be positioned on the necklace, trace around them, then cut that shape out slightly smaller. Hot glue/pin/sew your flowers to the felt backing.

Using pliers, I separated the chain into two equal pieces. After a couple of attempts to open the links and poke them through the felt backing, I decided to just hot glue the chains in place. I cut little circles of the felt to put on top of the hot glue and chain to make it look better.

VOILA -- you get a super fun statement necklace! My supplies cost me $8.00 from Hobby Lobby. Some of you probably have most of these items on hand!

For the record, I'm wearing a strapless dress in the above picture.

Weekend in review

This weekend was so fun! Sean and I know we have limited weekends left here in Columbia and are really trying to make the most of them. Saturday was the MU black and gold scrimmage -- Sean let me come on the sideline with him. From this picture it looks like no one was there, but the stands in front of us were pretty full. :)

Saturday night was the MU Cheerleading formal -- there was some great people watching, let me tell you! I actually had a lot of fun getting dressed up {it's not something I get to do much anymore after finishing both high school and sorority life}.
I scored this dress for $19.99 at TJMaxx -- love that place! PLUS -- I learned halfway through the night that it has pockets!

Like my necklace?? I made it and will post more about that next time! It's my current craft project crush.

I hit up Goodwill today looking for my next project to work on, but came up empty handed. I just wasn't feeling it today. We did, however, get some really good Spring cleaning done around our apartment and will head to JoAnns later in hopes of getting some sewing inspiration. My dad is coming to visit this week, which is exciting! Also, I think Sean and I will have an upcoming interview for a magazine -- I'll share more on that later this week when I know more about it.

More onesies!

A girlfriend of mine asked me to make some onesies for her to give as a gift -- I think they are some of my favorite ones! Here are pictures:

For this one, I just sewed a quick tube, ruffled it slightly then sewed it on in the cascading pattern. For the flower, just cut out various sizes of circles, put a couple of stitches in the back to make the petals curve a bit, then sew on the button.

I've tried a couple of different ways to make ruffle bum onesies -- remember these? However, I think this way is the cutest {the ruffles are bigger and, thus, cuter.} I the tutorial found here, option 2.

For this, just cut a thin strip of fabric with pinking shears, ruffle it, pin it in a heart shape then sew in place.

Hopefully whoever uses this burp cloth feels a little more glamorous when dealing with spit up. :) I just cut out a damask print fabric and used double-sided fusible interfacing to attach it.

We don't have kids yet, but I hope when we do my kiddos get to wear cute things like these!

Goodwill dress refashion #4

I've had this one done for a few weeks and have been eager to share it with others. Here's the frumpy before picture {I can't help but giggle when I see these before pics}...it for sure smelled like it had been drenched with perfume then left in a closet for 15 years.

A little TLC and help from my sewing machine yielded this fun summer frock.

It would be perfect for the beach {hint, hint - Dad} or for any summer soiree.

I just moved the elastic waist up, sewed it in a bit, and added the ruffle to the neckline.

Recent Reads

While traveling over the past couple of weeks, I've finished two books worthy of mentioning on this blog. The first is Running on Empty by Fil Anderson. The tag line of the book is "contemplative spirituality for overachievers." In this book, Fil Anderson reviews his lifelong struggle with staying incredibly busy in an attempt to hide the flawed relationship he had with God -- a story I can identify with. The first half of the book is recounting his life story and highlighting the struggle we have in this world that applauds productivity and efficiency -- so much so that we miss out on the experiences of now and are unable give God what he seeks most {a relationship} because we are so exhausted from our busy lives. Here are some excerpts from the book:

On prayer: "...but sometimes the simple act of being there in the moment is the greatest challenge. So much of my life is focused either on the past or the future. We must be present in the moment, because that's where God is."

On scripture: "Bottom line, I had read the Scriptures looking for anything that might support my own interests and desires and would allow me to live in the illusion that I was in control."

"To my dismay, I find that my interests in God often has more to do with the disappointing condition of my circumstances than my longing for intimacy with God. I'd rather have his healing and restoration than his friendship...there is one gift that God promises, and that gift is God. This gift is the only reality in the universe that completes us."

The other book I read was Long Lost by Harlan Coben -- it's far from a Christian novel, but was able to keep my attention and was intriguing. If you're not familiar with Harlan Coben, he writes suspense novels, all of which are very easy reads. This particular book involves one of his most common characters, Myron, who is on the search to help a long lost friend/lover find answers to some tricky questions. The end of this book was a little far-fetched for me, so I would rate this book 3/5 stars.

Up in the Air

I feel like I have been gone for three weeks, but it's only been 6 days. In the past two weeks I have flown on continental, airtran, southwest and American! I'm currently in the DC airport and am eager to get home...I miss my husband! I have another Goodwill refashion to share...check back for that tomorrow. Also, I'll share on my recent readings (not just the Food Network magazine).

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Coach bag for free!

I bought a coach bag on e-bay a couple of years ago and the handles were starting to fray. {not surprisingly, as I've used it nearly every day since I bought it} What was suprising, however, was that when I dropped in a Coach store to see about getting it repaired, they offered to just provide me a credit for the original value of the bag! SCORE! I got this new, and much cuter, tote for $0.00. Doesn't get better than that, my friends.

Apparently, if they don't think that the problem will be easily fixed, they can just offer store credit. If it can be easily fixed, you pay $20 to ship it off to coach and get your original bag back after 6-8 weeks.

My Grandpa is with Jesus!

I have been so blessed to grow up with eight grandparents! Each of them are unique and so special to me. This week, my grandpa (Glen Barnard) passed away. How joyful that he is now in heaven! God's timing is spectacular - I happen to already be in San Antonio and with my grandma on his last day on this earth. I'm very thankful I was there to say goodbye and to spend time with family just before and after his passing.

My grandpa (also a Mizzou graduate, by the way!) was such a special man. He was a very loving husband to my grandma and set an excellent example of servanthood in marriage. I think I gained my appreciation for education from him, as he was always encouraging me to be a good student and often shared the math problems in the morning papers with me growing up. He was active in his church, kind to everyone he met and had a great sense of humor. Although he will be greatly missed by many, we are so thankful we can rest in the knowledge of his presence in heaven!

I have more pictures and stories to share from my trip to San Antonio, which I'll post soon.