Shelly's NDAD Creation: Halloween Edition

I've been getting so many fantastic Halloween costume submissions from readers, that I'm starting the weekend a little early featuring them!  I want to make sure I get as many as possible posted before the holiday in a few weeks.  This costume is adorable, because whenever kids and costumes are in the same sentence or photo, I just cannot resist!!

Right now all of the "extra money" in our household is tied up with back to school and home improvement projects, so when I planned our annual trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, I still wanted my son to dress up (this is a tradition in our house -  last year he wore a homemade kilt and shirt). I dug around the house to see if I had something I could make-over and reuse and sure enough, I found a ninja Halloween costume that my older son wore 10 years ago.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Halloween Costumes

I tend not to toss anything that I can reuse later, so that saved me in this case!

From ninja to...???

I took 4 inches off the bottom of the pants, hand stitched a new seam, inserted elastic in each new seam and took in the waist just a little.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Halloween Costumes

They became instant pirate pants!!  I paired the new pants along with the shirt from a kilt outfit he wore last year...

New Dress A Day - DIY - Halloween Costumes

...and a red scarf that I already had. Putting everything together, he was a very well dressed pirate. He had a blast and can even wear it for Halloween this year!

I think I just love anything pirate - your kiddo is adorable!  Is it weird that I secretly want that kilt? The plaid fabric is amazing! It's so fantastic all the reusing you're doing with your kids, just because they're probably constantly growing out of things all the time. Saving and finding new ways to make them work is just so wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing all the other cool things that you come up with, Shelly!

Remake: Emerald Paisley 80s Dress

So, I picked this fabulous dress to wear on my birthday. New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The sleeves were en fuego...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and well nothing is cuter than a missing button at the waist, right?  Time to make this celebration-ready!!

Can we first start off with the amazingness of the tag??  Hello, Full House!  I can guarantee that Aunt Becky wore a dress by this brand at some point on the series...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I began by cutting open the top area, sleeve to sleeve.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The fabulous gold button at the top of the dress got removed next - guess where it's going to go??

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The neckline got pinned and stitched in place... (I'm keeping this a bit of a secret so you can see it in full wonderment in the after shots!)

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I took in the body of the piece next...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and grabbed some elastic to use for straps!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I measured my pieces of elastic, pinned them in place, and then stitched them down to the top of the dress.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

My new button got stitched at the waist to close up the gaping hole that was there...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and then my dress was complete!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Hey new straps!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Birthday dress was accompanied by birthday hair!!  I got a fab cut by my girl Dora at Refuge in Echo Park.  Nothing like fresh hair to ring in the new year!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

 

From long sleeves, to no sleeves!  I'm so much happier now!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Plus the best part!  My waist is closed!  No stomach exposing anymore!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I paired this outfit with some black Michael Kors heels and one of my recent (and favorite) Goodwill purchases, a vintage clutch with small handles.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

This was an easy day-to-night transition...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Oh, and we didn't even talk about the best part of the dress...the POCKETS!!  Oh how I love these pockets!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

This blue paisley number hit the town for a birthday feast at Connie and Ted's.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Connie & Ted's

Oysters were had...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Connie & Ted's

Lobster rolls were had...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Connie & Ted's

Decor obsession fest was had...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Connie & Ted's

And, some serious cake was had.

Birthday cake of my dreams.

Such a lovely day to ring in my Charles Barkley year!!

Thank you all for the most amazing birthday wishes as well - from the emails, to the comments on yesterday's post, to all the love on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter...I am  really so lucky to have you all in my world. xo