10 Days to Go: Leanne's NDAD Creation

Leanne got her hands on a muumuu!!!  I had to share this one with everybody stat.

I've been following your blog for a while, and have been super inspired by all the recreations!  Since things have been winding down at the end of grad school, I've found a little more free time to try out some of my own recreations.  I've also found that my creative juices, which were piled under homework, are now starting to resurface!  So, I went shopping at a local thrift store and found this beauty for less than $4.

I loved the print, and it reminded me of the many hideous nightgowns/robes you have fabulously remade, so I decided to give it a go.

I love the print too, Leanne!!  I would have for sure snagged this piece as well.  Let's see how she transformed it!

I loved that it had a pocket (yes, only one), so I shortened it, took off the sleeves, and made it a fun, fresh dress just in time for this RIDICULOUS Southern California heat (yuck!).

I also made a belt/sash and a wrist band/bracelet with the remaining material.

Thank you Marisa for your continued inspiration!!! I look forward to more great recreations."

Girl, you are rocking this piece!!  I love, love, love this and I love that you repurposed the leftover material right away by making a bracelet and using the extra as your belt!  Woo!!  I think you'll be able to wear this for a while still because the lovely Southern California weather is still pretending that it's July.  We'll wear our muumuu remakes together!

11 Days to Go: Cork Coasters

It's a break from clothes today, yay!! I've got a little project that I'm working on and needed a bunch of goodies like these for it, so today we're doing coasters!!  Hello cork that isn't coming out of a wine bottle I'm opening!!

The last apartment I lived in had cork flooring in the kitchen that I was just obsessed with, and these coasters reminded me of it because of the thin, tile-y feel!  I'm not re-laying my floor if you're wondering....still keeping them as coasters!

I love the cork look, so I'm just going to embellish what we're starting with.  I took some Scotch Blue Painter's Tape...

...and began to tape stripes and lines all over them!  They had a retro feel to them and I kept thinking...what would Don Draper use for his cocktails??

With my lines drawn, I took some Martha Stewart Crafts paint in a beautiful rose gold shade...

...and began to paint in most of the open, cork-exposed areas.

I finished my coasters, all with different patterns, and let them dry for a few hours.

I began to unpeel the tape when they were dry...

...and ended up with six AWESOME, new coasters!!

I love the subtleness of them, while still being sleek and modern.  Giving some basic coasters a little zhuzhing!!

Now my champagne glasses have something totally appropriate to sit on!!

More pictures with my new table accessories to come...

12 Days to Go: $1 Remake

OK, this sweater was a no brainer when I snagged it at a garage sale.  It's H&M, a thicker black knit, and was virtually brand new because the tag was still hanging from it.  The only issue...

...a BIG snag leaving half the sleeve open!!

I'm a novice knitter, but the beauty of this piece was that the unraveling happened right on the seam!  It just looked way worse than it was, and I knew that an easy hand stitch would make this look brand new.

I started by turning the piece inside out...

...threaded a needle and started to hand stitch both edges together.  I sat on the couch, caught up on The Mindy Project, and sewed my piece back together!!

Literally within fifteen minutes, my sweater was looking like I just grabbed it off of the rack!

It was too hot to actually wear this piece out and about today, however I've been seeing so many amazing fall/Halloween/rustic themed magazine issues/blog posts/store displays that I wanted to get just a little taste.

I was contemplating heading over to Starbucks for my first seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte, however the 89 degree weather stopped me from thinking about any beverage without ice.

I waited until the evening to try on my piece and for just a moment it felt like fall with a slight breeze coming through my windows!!  I'm looking forward to some ankle boots, a little dress, and this topper in about a month when LA finally cools down!