Thursday Giveaway: Leah Duncan Sketchbook

It's Thursday!!  Can you smell the weekend yet?? I've been furiously preparing for my NY trip and I'll be leaving in about 24 hours.  Aaaahhhh, where did this week go??  There's been lots of gathering pieces/tweaking pieces/sewing pieces at Casa Marisa, but I have a stash of back-up vintage "no sewing necessary" goodies to bring with me if I don't get everything completed in time.  I'll be documenting everything (my Instagram feed is going to be blowing up like never before) because this trip is heavily Broadway themed with a little bit of work sprinkled in.  I have tickets for a few shows with friends in them and then, ahem, I'm hitting up the Tony Awards Sunday night to cheer on my fab, nominated pal, Charl Brown!!  (This "what to wear" moment is giving me anxiety... I'll be coming to you for help right before!!)

So while my home has garments strewn all about, I'm keeping it tidy on NDAD, offering a giveaway of two of my favorite things.  A Leah Duncan sketchbook and a golden-y shimmer Max Factor lip gloss.

New Dress A Day - Giveaway - Leah Duncan notebook - Conteat

To win, leave a comment below with some sort of travel tip - maybe it's a pre-trip ritual?  Do you pack way in advance?  Do you take a packing break to get a mani/pedi?  Do you just take a nap and then give yourself 30 minutes to make it work?  Do you get an awesome friend to give you back rubs while you pick out what shoes to bring?  I can use all the defrazzle-ing help I can get!  I'm such a last minute gal that I'm usually up all night packing, however that turns me into a total crankster. Nobody likes a crankster :)

White Pants Revamp with Crystal Light Liquid (...& a Visa Gift Card Giveaway!)

Today's remake is a fun one: I partnered up with Crystal Light Liquid to use their new flavors to inspire a brand new outfit!  Before we get into the nitty gritty, let's take a look at the before shot. New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid

I started off with a pair of white trousers that had been gathering dust at the bottom of my pants stack for years.  They had a few little spots on the front...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid

...and somehow maintained a life, albeit a less than thrilling one, in my wardrobe.  Today, these pants are getting a face, er, pants-lift inspired by three of my favorite Crystal Light Liquid flavors--Strawberry Lemonade, Peach Bellini, and Blueberry Raspberry.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid

After seeing how gorgeous these drinks looked after combining the liquid drops to my glasses of water...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid

...I just had to drink wear them! These pants needed a vibrancy overhaul, so I found the appropriate matching shades of RIT dye in Petal Pink, Scarlet, and Purple to begin the transformation.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

Nothing like adding a little bit of color to a slightly flavor-deficient garment to really make it fun and exciting.  I was now ready to begin on the craft-cation from Spot City to Color Capitol!

I filled three spritz bottles with a few teaspoons of dye and warm water, and began to spray my pants all over.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

I started with the lightest shade first (pink) before moving onto to the darker shades (scarlet and purple) after.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

After all the dye was sprayed, I ran the pants under warm water to blend the colors and create more of a watercolor-y vibe.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

I've seen tons of leggings and skinny jeans with a similar bold pop of color pattern, so I wanted to take these one step further and create something similar, turning them into tapered pants.  I pinned them where I wanted to take them in and then stitched them in place.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

From spotted trousers to fun, summery, 90s throwback jeans that I will be rocking all summer!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

Taking a bit of inspiration from Crystal Light Liquid...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

...I turned my lackluster trousers into something vibrant and full of life!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid - RIT Dye

I heart my new pants!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Refashioned White Pants- Photo - Crystal Light Liquid

J'aime mon pantalon!

What's something you take inspiration from when you're prepping for summer OR zhuzhing up outfits OR switching out the boxes of sweaters for the tank tops under your bed?  Tell me in the comment section below, and you'll be entered for the chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!  A lucky NDAD reader will be winning some summer bucks!

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Crystal Light Liquid via BlogHer. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Crystal Light Liquid.

Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post. b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: ""#SweepstakesEntry""; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post". c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post. d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.  Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.  You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.  This sweepstakes runs from 6/5 - 6/30.  Be sure to visit the Crystal Light page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

Muumuu Monday!

It was finally time to attack that muumuu you guys saw a few months ago... New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Thrift Store Shopping

I wonder who's wardrobe this came from??

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Thrift Store Shopping

Rosie on Facebook called it my "bonsai tree number" which I was absolutely obsessed with, so that became my new name for it.  (Thank you Rosie!!)  It was finally time to make it work.

I knew exactly what I was going to do once I turned it around...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Thrift Store Shopping

The light bulb went off and I was ready to start pruning my bonsai tree!

I began with my seam ripper and started to cut the threads holding my sleeves in place!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Seam Ripper

Using the band at the neck as my guide, I got one sleeve off...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Sleeveless

...and then the other!  I loved the round shape that the top panel made and wanted that to be my new collar/cap-sleeve, duo of excellence!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Dress Neckline

(I also ended up using my seam ripper to take off about a 1/4" worth of stitches from each side of the front material attached to the panel.  I did this to make the neck panel more pronounced against my skin once it gets put on.)

I pinned the raw edges under at the armholes to prep for sewing and then got to my length next.  I cut off about a foot of the length and then cut thinner strips of fabric from my remnants.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Dress Length

I pulled the polyester fabric strips to form these string-like pieces...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Fabric remnants

...and then braided them together to make a belt for my new dress.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Fabric remnants

I stitched up my edges...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Fabric remnants

...and added my braided belt and some heels, creating a dress totally suitable for an afternoon shindig!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Fabric remnants

I just love how the neck turned out!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Upcycled Muumuu - Dress

So I actually didn't end up wearing this to an afternoon shindig (however if I had one to attend this weekend, I most definitely would have) but did wear it to a birthday gathering for one of my favorite (and funniest) pals.

I took the daytime "heels and below the knee" look and switched it up a bit to make it work for evening.  I added ankle boots, a denim jacket, and untucked some extra material from the belted waist to shorten the dress naturally.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Upcycled Muumuu - Dress

It was a karaoke/dance party and I totally felt a little country-ish in my ensemble.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Vintage Muumuu - Upcycled Muumuu - Dress

If only I brought a hat and could belt out some Shania, then I'd totally channel my inner cowgirl in this bonsai dress!!

Hope everyone had a most lovely weekend!  Happy Monday, friends!

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