I'm Walkin' on Sunshine

 This outfit is a very good example of what I want to do with this blog.  I want to give you ideas on how to reuse and rewear clothes you might already have.  That's what I did today.  I almost forgot about this skirt, until I saw it in my closet the other day.  I remembered how much I loved it and decided to wear it to work some day.  I've always had a hard time figuring out what shirt to wear this skirt with because of its many colors.  I got this yellow shirt at a thrift store a little while ago, and was having a hard time figuring out how to style it as well.  Inspiration struck, and I wore them both together!  I really liked the result.  It was super comfortable and cool for a hot day.  I did shorten the straps on the shirt this morning.  I didn't even use the right color thread, but you can't see it, so it doesn't matter.  ;) 

What pieces do you have a hard time styling?

Niki

Shirt: Thrifted.  Skirt: Fred Meyer

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Hey!  Just a quick post to show you guys what I found at Goodwill today!  I went with my mom and littlest siblings.  We were on the hunt for a wide belt to wear with some dresses I just made, and we walked out with way more than we came for. 

I found a sweet loose-knit type sweater thing in a pretty light peach color.  I have been looking for something like this, so I was pretty happy.  I also found two belts, one skinny, one wide.  Both of which I needed.  Before today, I only had 3 belts to my name.  ;)  My mom found 3 more belts for her.  There will be some sharing going on.

I also found an Ikea mug for a dollar that I grabbed.  I've been wanting to try this idea I've seen floating around on Pinterest.  Hopefully it'll work.  If not, nothing lost, really.  :)  Well, most go change for work.  Bye for now!

Niki

What I Wore: Monday, Monday...

 Hi! How was your Monday? Mine was fine for the most part. I was a little mopey this afternoon for whatever reason. Actually, to be completely honest, it was probably mainly because I realized I wasn't going to be able to go to the county fair this year. I go every year, so it made me a little sad. I love the fair and it feels like work is eating up my social life. But, in this economy, I am very thankful to have a job, even if it only pays minimum wage. ;)

So now, onto what I wore today.  It was nice and warm here in Oregon today, so for most of the day, I just wore a skort and tank top.  I added the button up to make myself presentable for work.  Let me tell you the story of this shirt.  Today is actually the first time I've worn it.  I had been wanting a denim or chambray shirt for a while, so when I saw this men's shirt at Salvation Army, I snatched it up.  However, I didn't exactly know what to do with it.  Two days ago I decided just to take in the sleeves a little, since the shirt mostly fit anyway.  After altering it,  I still didn't know exactly how to style it.  I'm still playing around with it, but today I decided to knot it at the bottom and I really liked the result. 

 (Do you like my "Wow, there's something really entertaining on the ceiling" picture?  ;D  )

 Don't be fooled.  That hairclip is not for decoration only.  It's keeping my hair from slipping out of the braid.  :) 

Well, that's all for now.  Hope you had a lovely Monday.  I will see you soon. 

Niki

Skort: Kohl's.  Striped tank: an H&M in Austria!  For reals.  Chambray shirt: thrifted.  Flats: thrifted.  Hair clip: Claire's.

What I Wore: The Working Class

Button-up:  Old Navy.  Skirt:  Old Navy (clearance!)  Belt: a gift.  Shoes: thrifted. 

Some days, I have a hard time finding something to wear to work.  I can't wear jeans, shorts, tank tops or sandals, so it's difficult to find outfits that work for summer.  The building is air conditioned, but I still feel weird wearing a cardigan over a sleeveless shirt.  Cardigans in the summer just feel wrong.  I also have to be careful about skirt length, since bending over is a regular part of my job.  But enough complaining.  I was pretty happy about the outfit I put together today.  It was comfortable and cute.  I always forget how much I like this pink button up shirt.  It has a sweet but subtle floral print.  And this skirt is one of my favorite go-to clothing items.  I've had it for a few years now and I still love it.  My hair was a mess today though.  I really need a haircut.  :)  What do you think?  Do you have any dress code restrictions where you work? 

Niki

What I Wore and New Shoes!

Hey!  It's been a few days, so I have a few things to talk about today.  First of all, I wanted to show you how I've been styling that shirt I refashioned in the last post.  The first time I wore it, I paired it with my coral shorts for a casual summer look.  I apologize for the picture quality.  I just couldn't seem to fix the colors just right.  :/

 Shirt: refashion.  Shorts: Kohl's.  Necklace: my sister's ;)

Look #2.  The weather was cooler that day, so I wore the tank top with jeans and a cardigan. 

 Jeans: Levi's.  Cardigan: Old Navy.  Headband: my own creation.

What do you think?  How would you style a tanktop like that? 

So this afternoon, I got to go thrifting with my mom and younger siblings.  It was half off day at Salvation Army, so we all found some pretty good deals.  I'm super happy with what I found.  3 pairs of cute flats!  This never happens!  I'm a size 10, so I have a hard time finding shoes that fit at regular shoe stores.  So to find 3 pairs of shoes at Salvation Army for $3 each?  It doesn't get much better than that!  Small pleasures, people, small pleasures.  :D

Aren't they cute?  I'm absolutely in love with the red ones!  Like, in love.  You will definitely be seeing these shoes in upcoming outfit posts.  You'll also be seeing some new maxi dresses I whipped out today from Simple Simon and Co's tutorial.  I'm pretty excited.  :) 

Niki

Tie-front Tank Top Tutorial

Did you notice the alliteration in my post title?  Yeah.  I didn't plan that.  Really. 

Well, now that I'm done being distracted by my own cleverness, I have a quick tutorial for you. 

I found this awesome blue men's shirt at a local thrift store. I was going to buy it anyway, but it ended up being half off. It was a total score at $1.50! It has a super subtle pattern and I love the color of it.

It's not the best picture. Sorry.

Confession.  This is only going to be half a tutorial, because I actually followed Cotton and Curl's tutorial for the first half of my refashion. 

So step 1 is to go to her awesome blog and follow her instructions for this tank top.  ;) 

Step 2 is to create the tie front.  I did this by folding my shirt in half so that the sleeves and side seams were in the center.  Make sense?  Then I cut a straight line from the back of the shirt to the side seams.  Make sure you know how long you want the shirt before you cut it.  Once I got to the side seams, I started tapering my cut down to the end of the shirt.  This makes the shirt longer in front than in the back.  The picture should help explain what I mean.

When you're finished cutting, hem the bottom.  That's it!  Put in on and tie the two long ends together in the front. 

 Voila!  I didn't love the way the tank top turned out until I had the idea to make it into a tie front.  Now I think it's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.  It's super comfortable and cool for summer.  I wore it today with some shorts and am going to try to figure out a way to transition it into an outfit for work tonight.  Thanks for reading!

Niki

Olympic Roundup

The Olympics.  A mini world war and two weeks of world peace at the same time.  Super cool.  I love watching the atheletes make super hard stuff look super easy.  I wish my body moved like that.  Gosh.  Anyway, I've rounded up a couple of ideas for showing off your Olympic pride.  The obvious choice is a t-shirt like this.

Super easy tutorial perfect for kids or if you're not feeling too ambitious.  I don't think you can go wrong with this one.  Find the tutorial here.

Or maybe you're in the mood for something edible?  These cupcakes look fantastic!

Personally, I would skip the candy clay and just color my frosting orange.  I'm lazy like that.

Or check out this collection of Olympic-inspired manicures!

And finally, show off your Olympic style with a super-cute necklace with the classic five rings.

Well, there's just a few ideas to I found to help celebrate the Olympics.  Let me know what you've done or created in honor of this once-every-four-years sporting occasion.  Bye for now!

Niki

Boy's Dress Shirt to Cute Summer Top

 This is the story of a sad, lonely, unloved boy's dress shirt.  It was sitting on a rack in the local Salvation Army until my sister and I rescued it on 1/2 off day.  (I didn't know it was 1/2 off day, I just got lucky.)  Anyway, we turned this boring old shirt into a super cute new one!  Ta-dah!

Sadly, I neglected to take pictures of the process, so hopefully I can describe it in a way that makes sense.  This is how I made it.

1.  Cut off the sleeves.  Save them.  You will need the fabric later.
2. Cut the top of the shirt off just under the collar. 
3.  Hem around what is left of the arm holes.  It should be kinda U shaped. 
4.  Fold over a 1/4 inch or so of the fabric along the top, back and front, and sew it.
5.  Then turn this over about a inch and a half or so and sew again.  Basically, you're creating a tube along the top to put the drawstrings through.  Look this up online if you don't understand.  It's just like creating a casing for elastic.
6.  Cut strips from the sleeves and with right sides together, sew them into tubes.  I can't make this part super clear, because it was kind of hit and miss for me.  You may have to sew multiple strips together to get it long enough.
7.  Turn the drawstrings right-side-out and thread them through the casing in the shirt.  A safety pin makes this easier. 
8.  You're done!  Tie the strings together in knots or bows at the shoulders and wear proudly!

You could make a woman's tank top the same way.  Just start with a men's shirt that fits you a little loosely.  Another idea is to make the shoulder straps out of a contrasting fabric.  I think this would look super cute if you also sewed on some pockets in the same contrasting fabric.  Be creative.

Doesn't she look cute?  I love how she rolled up her skinny black pants at the bottom.  A little bit Audrey Hepburn-esque.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this refashion.  Maybe you feel a little inspired to go find some men's shirts to cut up?   I have a few more men's shirts that I want to do something with, so you may be seeing some more refashions around here soon.  Thanks for reading!

Niki



What I Wore: Picnic on a Sunday Afternoon

 Hello all.   This is my first ever "What I Wore" post.  In fact, I don't think I've ever posted pictures of myself on a blog.  For a while, I have put off starting a "fashion" blog because I'm not the thinnest gal on the block.  However, I have been trying to lose some extra pounds lately, and realized that posting outfit posts would be good motivation.  I've lost almost 10 pounds already (woot woot!).  But enough about me.  Let's talk about what I wore today.  Okay, so that is about me too, but whatevs.

 I slept with my hair in a french braid last night, and this is what happened.  I didn't realize it was quite so curly in the back until I took this picture.

Do you ever have trouble figuring out how to wear a button up shirt?  I do.  I think that sometimes they tend to look to formal for a casual outfit.  Solution?  Leave the shirt unbuttoned and tie the ends.  It also prevented me from having to wear a belt today. 

 Recently rediscovered these shoes in my closet.

 Confession:  This dress is actually a skirt.  I've had it for forever, but didn't wear it much.  Wearing it this way was like having a whole new piece of clothing!  And I got a few compliments on my "dress" at church.  That's always fun.  :D 

So, what do you think of this outfit?  Let me know.  I'd love to hear your opinions! - Niki

Dress/skirt: I have no idea. Thrifted?  Shirt: thrifted.  Shoes: Payless Shoe Source (classy, I know.)  Necklace: gift

Sidewalk chalk for big kids

A clean chalkboard is so tempting. It invites you to let loose your creativity upon it. Sitting in class today, I noticed that all of the chalkboards were super clean. They didn't even have eraser marks. It was weird. But I felt like a small child, sitting in my little desk and staring at the chalkboard erasers, wanting to bang them together to create a small dust cloud. Or at least write my name on the little corner by my head. I managed to refrain from doing either of these things.

I've had an obsession with chalkboard paint for a little while now. Well, maybe not an obsession, but I do keep seeing ideas and really wanting to have them in my house someday. Here are a couple that I love. Gorgeous, right? And fun. I wouldn't mind doing this to any wall, but it's more unexpected in the bathroom. I would prefer to have a real mirror though.

Oh. My. Word. If I could draw like that, I would paint my whole room in chalk. Or maybe just fill up lots of sketchbooks.

A more practical application. A wall calender. Except I hate schedules...But they're a necessary part of life, and chalk would make it more fun.

Jar labels. Genius!

So cool, right? Who wouldn't want to draw on their refrigerator? Or, for the more practical minded, write grocery lists. This is a fun little idea that could be used for so much more than herb pots. It'd be a great way to mark cups for parties!

The possibilites for chalkboard paint are endless. It would have been super cool to paint my alarm clock (see previous post) with chalkboard paint...Someday, I will get myself some of this paint and paint something. I just have to decide what. My dresser? Desk? Door? Lamp? We shall see...

Love,

Niki

Picture credits: http://inspirationforhome.blogspot.com/2011/10/chalkboard-paint-ideas-for-craft-and.html, http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20409258,00.html, and I can't find the rest! Oops...So I apologize. If anyone knows the sources of the rest of these photos, please let me know so I can put them in here!