Easy goodwill refashion

My sewing machine and I have missed eachother recently! Lack of time and inspiration are to blame. I needed some quick projects to help get me back in the game. I found this dress at the thrift store the other day for $4. Pardon the terrible before picture -- the camera battery died after this shot and I was too impatient to wait for the recharged batter before sewing. You get the idea, though -- frumpy dress that hit mid-calf {not flattering on me!}

I just cut off some length, sewed a ruffle around the neckline, hemmed the bottom and added a waist tie. I can wear it w/o a jacket when it warms up {warm weather can't come soon enough!}

The back...

Close up of the neckline. Clearly wasn't wearing the right bra. Sorry about that.

Super fast and easy -- just what I needed!

Pins you can see

When I'm sewing, I always manage to lose one or two pins. They are really hard to find in our carpet! Since I have a puppy at my feet at almost all times, the dropping of pins issue has escalated. Enter Sculpey - clay you bake in the oven. {I got these on sale at JoAnn for .97 each) I just formed it into little shapes, formed it around the end of a straight pin, then baked them at 275 for 20 minutes.

These shouldn't be hard to find in the carpet...or my dogs mouth. win/win.

Weekly meal plan

I haven't posted my meal plan for a couple weeks because...well...I haven't had a meal plan. We were out of town for a bit and spent the last week eating down our stock of food. re: lots of random meals

Monday: Rotisserie chicken, baked potatoes, peas

Tuesday: Dinner at church
Wednesday: Pulled pork sandwiches (I'll share this recipe later this week, so easy)

Thursday: Taco pie (new recipe, I'll let you know how it goes)
Friday: Chicken a la king
Saturday: Pork loin, mashed potatoes, veggie
Sunday: Leftovers (Sean has to work)

Hope you have a great week! I made a trip to the thrift store yesterday and picked up a good dress to refashion -- can't wait to share it with you!

-Nicole

The Possessionista

This blog, the possessionista, finds takes fashion trends from TV shows and finds them in stores. Brilliant! A couple of items I'm coveting today:

This dress that Quinn wore on last week's episode of Glee.

These black cuff boots similar to what Ashley wore on her hometown date with the Bachelor this week.

I plan on visiting this site frequently! Off to search for Michelle from the Bachelor's monogram necklace now!

So cute!

How cute is this play kitchen!? A super talented lady over at Dwellings by Devore makes some of the most wonderful things! This table is so awesome! It started as just a regular wood table that she painted, added the glass sections to, and accented with nailhead trim.

So inspired by all of her work!

Couch to 5k

Confession: I'm just not good at running. I want to be...really bad, but I need structure. I found this running program for beginners called Couch to 5k and I love it. I'm in the middle of week 4 and feel it's challenging, but manageable.

I'm totally ok with being a slow runner -- I'm not trying to win any races, just take better care of my body. My hope is that by slowly introducing running into my workouts I will feel more confident in my running abilities and, thus, more excited about it in general. Not sure I'll ever be a 'hey...I feel like running 10 miles' kind of girl, but I can certainly put a better {running} foot forward. I'll let you know how it goes as the program progresses!

Pottery Barn necklace

You're probably thinking -- 'I didn't know Pottery Barn made jewelry!'

Well...they don't. But they do have great adornments on their gift wrapped boxes! This adorable key was on a gift at a bridal shower I recently attended. I made her rehearsal bouquet and this little lovely made it into my box of bows and ribbons. I found a perfectly matching chain on clearance for 0.97 at JoAnns and now have a cute, new necklace!

My mom is going to have a hay day with this one! She is always amazed/proud/embarrassed about how cheap I am. It's not too difficult to go from the proud to the embarrassed category.