Wednesday Giveaway

April is Earth Month, so I figured that it would be awesome to kick it off with a little green giveaway! I keep reuseable bags in my car to have on hand for all the trips to Trader Joe's and the farmers market I make - my trunk has a stash!  I love carrying my loot home in them instead of using the paper and plastic options at the checkout, so up for grabs today is a fab eco-friendly bag by WeBe made from recycled agriculture sacks!

This size is perfect for quick trips to the store and is super durable, lined with fabric, inside pockets and a zipper closure.  This bag used burlap coffee sacks and the cotton palm tree/hammock fabric up top feels like vacation!

To enter, leave a comment below of one of your favorite things that you grab at the market and a winner will randomly get picked next week!  Aside from the basics, I always feel like I'm at Trader Joe's snagging their chile covered dried mango.  I've become obsessed with it and it's the perfect snack for me when I can't decide whether I want a sweet or savory treat.  (PS, I love hearing what other people's favorite TJ items are because they're usually different from mine and it's always so hard to branch out!)

Update on past winners...congrats to JennyRose (Paris clutch), Kit (sparkle nail polish/Tarte mascara), Ginia Magers (shamrock bracelet), Annie (LoopNYC wristlet), and Emily Bobo (rose goodies)!!

Tuesday Remake

It's time to reveal the Easter ensemble! Here were the picks again!

Number 1:

Or...number 2??

And the winner is...

 

The majority of you guys went with the first pick, however there were so many little rust markings that the whole dress was going to have to be dyed a darker color, totally taking away from the Easter-y shade of the lavender. In order not to disappoint, I went with the backup piece that was going to be pastel=coral perfection! That lavender dress will be coming back soon, just probably a bit darker than what it looks like now!

I started by cutting out that inner, attached layer that was connected on one side of the muumuu only!! I loved that there was literally one arm hole on the right side of the piece while the other side was fully connected to the muumuu on the left.

I was left with what looked like a robe.

Now, I loved that many of you mentioned doing a cover-up, however I ended up going the dress route.  I ironed the piece and pressed the front of each edge of the robe down, following the purple and white lines near the center.

After pressing the front sides down, I pinned each edge together from the bottom of the piece up to around the bust area.

From where I removed the center panel, I re-pinned the seam that I opened to remove it...

...and then sewed the front of the piece and the side seam down.

After everything was stitched together, I turned the dress inside out, shortened it, hemmed the new bottom, and then took it in to give it a bit more shape.

Finally, I cinched the area right above my belly button with a vintage brooch to give a little bit of texture and to create a pleat that worked really nicely with the white floral stripe down the center.

I paired it with some vintage Candie's by day, and then changed into a pair of boots with a cardigan as it got later...

It feels super spring-y and was just the perfect thing to wear while celebrating Easter this year!

I began by watching the NCAA tourney with girlfriends...

...then headed to another Easter get together with some themed cupcakes that I baked.  See, I'm not a fan of Peeps (just don't love the marshmallow) however they make for eggs-cellent decorations!

There were these cupcake options as well...

...which I called my Easter egg or Khaleesi's dragon egg topped treats, depending on how you look at it.  (Game of Thrones premiered Easter night, so I had to show some love.  I'm obsessed with GOT so you might be seeing more fun themed outfits/snacks over the next few months while it's on.)

The day was spent with all the people whom I love and adore, so it couldn't have been a better holiday.  Good friends, good grub, (good TV!), good times.

The other dress will make its way here soon!!  Stay tuned :)

Monday Remake

My Easter outfit was the bees knees, but you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what I ended up wearing!  Today's piece was another ensemble I wore this weekend and I used a dress that I scored (and shot pre-red hair) in the fall.

I mean, check out the layered bib effect.

I did love the white/grey/navy palette, however the whole thing was just too billowy for me.

Time to work this dress out!

I took a look at the sleeves...

...and then took my seam rippers and started to remove them from the dress.

My sleeves came off and I was left with two of these guys...crescent moon shoulder pads!  I love the petite pads that are used in dresses just to give the sleeves a bit of pouf!  Unfortunately these were not staying.

I pinned the edges of the sleeves...

...and then got busy on the skirt.  Ultimately there was no shape to this dress, so more tweaking ensued.  I opted to cut the length shorter...

...and change the high neckline of the piece...

...to turn it into a scoop neck.  Since there were two layers, I had to do this step twice fixing the top layer first and then following up with the under-layer.

I pinned my neckline and then took my dress to the sewing machine.  My arms and neck were stitched...

...and then I moved onto my skirt!

I had a few different ideas when I began this piece (add elastic to the bib portion at the waist to cinch it, add spaghetti straps to make it super summery) but didn't end up going either of those ways.  I think when you try the piece on and really see how it sits, the wheels continue to turn and crank out something brand new sometimes.  In this case, I really like the outcome!

I paired my dress with a vintage white necklace, my eBay-ed boots, a pair of DKNY tights, and a grey cardigan.

The perfect ensemble to go from the warm and sunny daytime to the much chillier, and slightly windy evening.

I swear, my car is like a traveling closet with the amount of cardigans I have in my trunk for these chilly moments.

I won't even begin to discuss the shoe options.

I totally need a closet installed in the trunk of my car like they did years back on MTV's Pimp My Ride, or just get something like Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris' character) in How I Met Your Mother.

I mean, this would be beyond amazing, right?  Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and holiday!