GIVEAWAY!

That's right, a giveaway for all my awesome readers! I've been wanting to do this for a while but didn't know exactly what I wanted to give away. I've been working on a necklace line and just learned how to make this awesome Tree Necklace but it's too time consuming to sell. So, I'm going to give one away! Don't like the color? That's ok, the winner will get to a custom necklace! You can choose the color of the wire, chain, and beads, along with the size of the chain and the actual necklace.

I will randomly pick a winner on September 23rd. You can enter more than once by commenting on this post but the first is mandatory, here's how:

1) Follow my blog (links on the sidebar)! Introduce yourself, any random fact you'd like me to know?

2) Recommend my blog to a friend (and convince them to follow!).

3) What's your favorite hobby? What do you do with your spare time?

4) What is your favorite part about my blog? DIY's, Daily Outfit Posts, etc.

5) Do you have a blog? Share!

6) Follow other blogs? What's your favorite- besides mine of course (:

7) Any constructive criticism for my blog? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

In case you didn't notice, I'm taking this opportunity as a chance to get to know my readers! I'm really excited to hear all your answers! Good luck!

Studio Tour/Makeover

I thought I'd share with you guys a tour of my studio (a room out of my dad's house that he lets me work out of). I took these "before" pictures about 3 months ago and have been redecorating/organizing ever since. I wanted a space I was comfortable with showing to people (aka not a complete wreck, pardon the "before" mess), reflected my style/store, and that I was motivated to work in. I thought it was finally worthy of showing to people so here it is!

Before:

 after..

Before: 

after... 

^^ This has to be one of my favorite walls!

Before:

after...

my work desk at the moment (i've been working on a jewelry line!)

Before:

after... 

I freakin' love this pegboard, look how organized it looks! And I added this bench which was actually a coffee table that I spray painted white and made a cushion for!

This is my DIY dry-erase calendar. I had this dry erase board but wasn't using it so I grabbed some black electrical tape and made a calendar! It hasn't been updated... woops. But I'm going to, I swear!

When Eliza was born, we lived with my dad and knocked down a wall to make this little room for her (see first before picture). Then we moved out and it became my little photoshoot room (hence all the lighting equipment)! This wall is used mainly for storage, not so pretty.

And here's the after...

See a little peek at my jewelry! So there you have it, this is where the magic happens. Not too exciting but it works! I appologize that you can't see the WHOLE thing. Just some little snippets. But ya, so how was everyone's weekend?! I'm contimplating a Pinterest Monday post... ya, remember those? Maybe I'll get to it... I have a lot of work to do today so don't hold your breath! Hmmm....

Outfit Post/Studio Peek

Here's what I wore yesterday on our fun-filled adventure of a day!

 I got some work done yesterday, played tennis with Brandon (I'm terrible but we have fun) and ate Korean! We decided to go out to eat somewhere we had never been before and chose this place called Korean BBQ... it was interesting. I've never had Korean before and didn't know what to expect! But let me tell you, their dumplings were delicious! The rest of the food was... spicy and unusual. There were a lot of vegetables involved and I like the way they were flavored but still simple. After, we went for fro-yo which is guaranteed to be good! Then came home for an episode of Mad Men and some much needed sleep!

Aren't these shoes AMAZING? I happened upon them the other day at a thrift store and grabbed them up before I had a chance to think about it! I love, love, love them!

Outfit Details:

Vest- Thrifted

Pink Lace Skirt- Thrifted

Lighthouse Necklace- DIY

Oxfords- Thrifted

Tomorrow, I'm going to share with you a tour of my studio (aka my old room at my dad's that he so kindly let's me work out of)! I redecorate the other day in an attempt to get motivated about working and decided it was blog-worthy! So here's a little sneak peek:

Hope everyone is having a fantabulous weekend! Any exciting plans or events?! I would love to hear all about them!

Infinity Dress From Vintage Sheet

TGIF!! I'm so ready for the weekend! I've got some serious stuff to catch up on including homework, laundry, work, and sleep! Anyways, on with the tutorial!

 
This has to be one of my favorite projects I have ever done. I am just giddy with excitement on how this turned out! Look how pretty! I got the idea from here: Infinity Dress. And I've had this pretty, queen-size, vintage sheet laying around waiting for something special to use it for!

So I worked up the guts and finally took a whack at this! I did it a little differently than the link above since I used non-stretchy material. Here's what I did:

First, folded the 90" side in half and layed it out flat (ok, a little flatter than this)

If you have a fitted sheet like mine, it's easiest to cut off the elastic on the edges and snip the little corner seams so it lays flatter.

Then, I used this circle skirt tutorial to figure out how to cut/construct the skirt portion of it.

 I cut it according to the directions and my dimensions. Then I sewed the pieces together to form my skirt.

I serged the inside seams and the bottom hem but if you don't have a serger, you can just fold up the bottom hem and sew it.

 Next, I cut my straps. According to the infinity dress instructions, I measured from the middle of my bust to the inside of my armpit. The width I used was about 9" (the measurement plus extra for seam allowance). And then for the length, I just cut them 90" long.

Next, you'll need to finish the edges. You can either fold the edges in and sew them or serge them like I did. I also tapered one side of each of them.


Next, turn your skirt right side out. Find the front and lay it flat with the front facing up. Lay your straps down (face down), lining up the edges with the top of the skirt. You can overlap them an inch or two(like I did) or just lay them side by side. I overlapped mine but ended up wishing I hadn't. So it's up to you.


Sew them on, making sure to reinforce with backstitching where the two meet and the outside edges.

Then finish the edges of the top of the skirt. You can fold it in and sew or serge it like mine. (pardon my dirty floor!)

Then I added elastic to the back to keep it all up! And you're done!

I had a lot of fun experimenting with the different ways to do it! I can't wait to wear this little baby out!

Do you own an infinity dress? What do you think?

Will You Be My Joy Buddy?

I got this idea from my mother and I think it's a really great way to boost your self esteem and keep you motivated! Atleast for me that is...

You see, I like to make lists... for everything, especially to-do lists . They help me remember what I have to do by righting them down and keep my thoughts on the straight and narrow! But as much of a blessing it is, it's also a curse. I have so many lists and no matter how much I do, there's always more! Too little time and too much to do! Sometimes I just want to plop down on my couch and do nothing at all! Very discouraging. But this is where a "joy buddy" comes in! Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be a buddy, the point is to take some time and think about all the things you did do instead of dwelling on of all the things you haven't done. I hate getting stuck in ruts and I think this is a good habit to start to keep me movitvated and focused! So, when I'm feeling discouraged or stressed out or just in the mood to feel good about myself, I'm going to do a Joy Post and share with you all, the good things in my day/life. I would love to hear what your "joy" of the day is! Feel free to comment!

Here's my joy of the day:

• I woke up early and got work done before Eliza woke up (usually she's the one waking me up and it's not pretty!)
• I braved the 20 minute wait at the post office with Eliza (kicking and screaming) to ship out some orders, yay me!
• Did some much needed thrifting to cheer me up!
• Got some serious work done (thanks to some starbucks and good music)
• Took some pictures of a tutorial that I'm very excited to share!!!!
• Took some outfit/lookbook pictures (haven't done that in a while) Speaking of which...

lookbook

• Did A LOT of catching up on the housework- dishes, laundry, organizing. Again, yay me!
• Skyped with my sister for like an hour. Oh, and Eliza was actually communicating this time instead of just staring!
• Tried another attempt at potty training Eliza today, she peed in her panties twice but hey, it's a start!
• And my last joy of the day was Brandon auditioning for a play at our school! We were in theatre in high school so that was exciting. I'm just glad he's found an extra curricular activity!

The beginning part of my day was stressful but got better as the day went on. All I needed was a pick me up (the starbucks) and some positive thinkin' to get me rolling! So enough about me, what was your JOY of the day?!