Outfit Rewind: Etsy Craft Party

The rewind piece for today… Original post date: 4/8/10 (Click here for full project steps and original post!)

The Before Look:

The After Look:

This is what I wore to celebrate LG's engagement to MRC over three years ago!  They got married since then and this shirt will always remind me of that fun night when I saw her ring for the first time!

Check out how I reworked this to be the perfect outfit for last week's Etsy Craft Night!

For the second time around, I took a light denim wrap skirt (another $1 find that didn't need any work) and tied a bow above my waist, tucking the shirt in.

I layered with some vintage beads, my vintage Dooney & Bourke purse, aviators, and...

..my monogrammed "M" wooden necklace I made HERE.

I love these two totally different looks!!

With my new outfit on, it was time to head to the Etsy Craft Party that was being held at the Creative Outlet Studios in Costa Mesa, CA with the Academy of Handmade Artists & Supporters.  Couldn't have been a more perfect location - high ceilings, amazing light, tons of crafting space...I can't wait to come back to play with all the sewing machines and screen printers more!

I had a booth making pins with leather scraps and felt...

...and was prepping every little detail including these Mod Podged egg carton tops with Thomas Guides (RIP my Thomas Guide circa 1999.  It was real.) holding the pin backs as well as Knot & Bow glitter twine which I can't get enough of.

I tried to get a few samples made before everyone arrived - this one came home with me because I wanted to add a hair clip to the back of it.  It turned out super cute!!  (I'll get the finished product up soon!)

It was such fun seeing everyone line up at the entrance in anticipation of an epic craft night!!

I was so happy I got a shot of my first crafter!!  We cut out a leather heart to put at the end of a bobby pin for her.

As the night went on, I saw some amazing craftiness at my table...

The best part was observing the different shades of felt and leather guests took and then seeing the finished product just minutes later.

I was completely blown away by everyone's creativity!

Everyone glued...

...and left their pieces on the table to dry...

...so they could go take part in other fun crafty stations.  Right by me was an amazing ribbon making booth with Epson label makers.  (Yep, you heard me...RIBBON! You can personalize it, yo!!)

There was also some screen printing (as you can see from the sheet above with the red horse) as well as a letterpress that I even got a chance to try out.  We made the cutest gift tags with "for you" pressed in.

Another favorite booth was the natural dye table that was run by the fabulous KC.

Look at the gorgeous shade of yellow that the tumeric turns silk!

I was also in a yellow mood along with attendee Dani...we totally matched!

There were crock pots set up with a variety of natural dyes like coffee and onion peels to soak fabric in.

We made cards using one of my favorite tools, the Cricut...

We had Cake Bar LA cupcakes...

...and bid on amazing raffles including this fab pack from Fiskars...

...and seriously cool Etsy artists!  (Check out the list of Etsy-ers from our event HERE!)

It was such an incredible night of getting creative, getting our hands a little dirty, and having fun while doing all of it!

I mean what's a little glue to be peeled off your fingers, right?  I mean I'm not gonna lie...I loved putting Elmers Glue on my hands, waiting for it to dry, and then peeling it off when I was 7.  I know, I was that girl :)

Recycled top for a fun crafty night!

Tuesday Giveaway: pürminerals & Revolution Organics

Happy Tuesday! I was trying to finish a post late night with my outfit from last week's Etsy party, but my internet has been a whole lotta dodgy!  I kept getting uploading errors because of the sporadic connection outages, so I took tomorrow's giveaway post and made it work for today!  Time Warner is getting a call to figure out the issue if it continues, however plan on seeing my Etsy party post asap :)

Today's goodies are some of my faves.  I love pürminerals and this 4-in-1 pressed compact is my favorite for dabbing the shiny spots when I'm out in the sun just because it has SPF 15 in it, the Max Factor compact is full of fun summery shades, and the Revolution Organics gloss in Vibe has a shimmery coral hue.  Say hello to a fab little summer beauty cocktail!

To enter, leave a comment below with some sort of annoyance that really is NBD (no big deal, just in case...) in the whole grand scheme of things - like my troubles with the interweb - that you've been dealing with.  Perhaps there has been a cricket in your house that you can't nab (check!) or your hairstylist who has been giving you a crazy good deal for the past few years has taken a job in Seattle (check!).  I try not to get caught up with these things but sometimes it's just difficult to avoid for the moment.  Here's a safe place to share those thoughts...and you just might win some goodies in the interim!

A winner will be announced on 6/30 with the rest of the current giveaways including these two awesome ones (HERE & HERE) with $100 Visa gift cards as the prize!!  (PS, the rest of the outstanding prizes are getting sent out this week!)

Monday Remake: Bright Florals

I snagged this at the Goodwill in Charlotte when I was visiting my parents because I was OBSESSED with the fabric colors.  I mean, this is like a box of Crayola crayons!!  A big floral box of crayons!

Color aside, the rest of the piece was just not going to cut it on me in its current state.  I liked the buttons, but they came up high on my neck, so I needed to make a few adjustments to make this summer wardrobe-worthy!

Time to get out my seam ripper!!

I played around with the top of the piece for a bit before I decided to turn it around!  There were three awesome seams on the back - one down the center and the other two making about a 15 degree angle on each side - and that's where my inspiration came from.

I wanted to open this area up a bit so I used the seams as my guide...  I put down three pins marking the area that I wanted to remove fabric from.

I took my seam ripper and began removing seams until I hit the pin marks, folding the material on each side of the center seam under.

I loaded up my sewing machine with some thread and restitched seams on the front of the piece!!

A few easy adjustments and using the matching rope belt that came with the dress, I was ready to go public!!

I love the way the new neck looks!!  It's super feminine and totally works with my stark white skin and the pretty melony/reddish/pink/yellow/green florals.

I tied the belt and did a little untucking to give a little shape at the waist.

The buttons down the back are awesome too now!  I like them WAY better on this side of the piece!

I got excited to spend the day in the sun and took my dancy feet...

...to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).  I finally got to see the Stanley Kubrick exhibit...

...before it closes next week (could I get any more last minute???).

I had to document the costumes...

I'm going to have nightmares about these guys tomorrow...

It's really amazing to get so close and personal with things that you've seen over and over in film. Being there in person was incredible!

After Kubrick, there was time spent enjoying the spaghetti strings, aka "Penetrable” by Jesus Rafael Soto.

It was just me and the kids hanging in the yellow strings...you know, like you do when you're in your 30s :)

Time to kick off the new week!  Happy Monday, friends!