19 Days to Go: Halloween Prepping!

Hi Hi Hi!! Today was a little work-in-progress day that was completely Halloween themed!  I was working on a few costumes for a segment with the local LA CBS affiliate, including the below piece using a fab, black lace appliqué...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Applique Time!

...along with an orange straw hat that I spray painted black...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Spray Painting!

...and some flowers I tried to dye darker.  Unfortunately they were a bit too polyester infused, so they only turned a dim grey.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Dip Dye!

I couldn't just stick to the dark color palette, so I decided that some yellow patent stilettos needed a covering of Krylon's Glitter Blast.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Glitterati!

The shoes were totally glitzing in the sun!!  Not to be confused with Glitzy the Pig from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which I just can't stop watching!

I was a stichin' fiend all day and will have a new ensemble ready to wear tomorrow!  I must say that I'm super jazzed about all the H'ween costumes I've been working on.  I think that you'll enjoy a little chunk of October devoted to dress up!!

In the interim, I'm doing another mid-week giveaway of a fab Smashbox eye/cheek palette as well as a lip gloss duo, which the lighter of the two is a staple in my makeup kit!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Giveaway

To enter, leave a comment below of what you're thinking about dressing up as (or dressing your kids/spouse/sibling/friend/etc up as) this year for Halloween!  A winner will randomly get picked next week.  I cannot divulge my costumes yet, however there may be something else drastic going on which may or may not assist in my costuming!!  OK, enough teasing :)

20 Days to Go: Swap Party Madness!

This weekend was spent swapping.  Swap partying, that is!! My gal Sonya Nimri threw a fun little gathering where there were piles...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Piles and Piles and Piles

...and racks...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Garment Racks O'Fun

...and clotheslines full of goodies that other people brought to get rid of.  It's like shopping in the closets of our friends, all in one place.  It's funny because a ton of the things I brought looked way better on the people who ended up taking them home than on me!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Clothesline!

On top of the clothes, there were sunglasses, necklaces, and earrings...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Chair as Display

...and a whole lotta shoes!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Shoe Party

I found a fabulous stash of goodies - a Stella McCartney sweater was a favorite find on top of some things that I'll be posting on the blog - and was really jazzed about this below piece!  I think it was at first a mix of shock and awe, and then I gave myself a pep talk and said, "Marisa, you can make this work!!"  So I took it home with me.  It'll have a moment...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - In Living Color Top

Now, I did go home with a few more things on top of that shirt, and I'm giving away two of them!  A fun, vintage floral scarf and an adjustable costume ring (it's right in the center of the pic!)

New Dress A Day - DIY - Swap Party - Win Me!

To enter, leave a comment below listing one of the craziest things you've scored at a swap party/garage sale/flea market that other people might say, "wha?!" about.  That piece above is one of those winners!!  And speaking of winners, a winner will randomly get picked next week (10/2)!

21 Days to Go: Kerry Washington's 2012 Emmy Look - Kotur Copycat

Who else was watching the Emmys last night?  Total tradish to get together with friends, cook up an Italian feast, and talk during most of the ceremony describing which shows rule (my faves Homeland & Breaking Bad!), which shows don't rule (I'm taking the 5th on that one!), and who was wearing it totally right! I thought Zooey Deschanel looked stunning in Reem Acra...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Emmy Dress Favorites - Zooey Deschanel

...and Kat Dennings crimson J Mendel was insane.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Emmy Dress Favorites - Kat Dennings

I totally loved Kerry Washington's Vivienne Westwood dress too...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Emmy Dress Favorites - Kerry Washington

...and was even more obsessed with her lizard Kotur clutch!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Kerry Washington's 2012 Emmy Look - Copycat

(Thanks to my gal AK who pointed it out on the carpet and knew I'd love!)  I just couldn't have been more into that perfectly paired accessory, so I decided I'd get on the DIY train for this piece immediately!

I began with my Judith Lieber clutch, already in my collection.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Kerry Washington Emmy 2012 - Kotur - Judith Lieber purse

It had a similar pinkish/gold hue and would be just the base for this clutch remake!

I scored a little quartet of plastic lizards in the toy section of the drug store...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - Lizards - 22

...and used the orange one as my little "Liz Khalifa" - what Kerry actually called her lizard after a shout-out asking what to name it on Twitter!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Emmy Dress Favorites - Kerry Twitter

I grabbed my Krylon metallic paint pals, still in reach from my Mercura NYC sunglasses copycat last week (Refresher Here!), and got to spraying!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - Krylon - 22

I did a quick spray with Caramel Latte and then followed with Copper Metallic...

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - Spray Tan - 22

...before letting my little guy dry!  He's so cute!!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - Drying in the Sun- 22

I don't want to permanently affix Liz to my clutch, so I'm going the Velcro route!  However, use E6000, Gorilla Glue, or Aleene's Turbo Tacky Glue which will help anything stick longer than a day!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - Velcro Times - 22

I snipped little pieces and attached to the bottom of the lizard and directly onto the outside of the clutch.  Finished product???  BAM!!

 New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage - Kerry Washington Emmy Clutch - After Clutch - 22

I love my clutch!  It's totally channeling Kerry's Kotur version!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Kotur - Kerry Washington Emmy Look 2012

She had the perfect hand accessory...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Kerry Washington Emmy 2012 - Kotur - Hand Candy

...and now, so do I!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Kotur - Kerry Washington Emmy Look 2012 - After