Amy's NDAD Creation: Halloween Edition

Amy chose to dress up as a character from one of my FAVORITE movies, The Breakfast Club.  This is a genius group costume too, by the way.  I'd totally rock a wig and go as Judd Nelson :)  See how she put it together with thrifted goodies from Goodwill!

I wanted a Halloween costume I could wear to work, a "subversive" costume, so I went with the classic Claire (Molly Ringwald) from The Breakfast Club.  I had everything but the skirt, but then found something that would work perfectly at Goodwill!

Can't wait to see what she put together for Saturday detention!

I found the perfect dark paisley wraparound skirt at GW and paired it with a pink T-shirt, just like Claire's costume!  The thrifted skirt was perfect as it was, and as a lifelong thrifter I had to put together a Halloween costume made up of these pieces!

I love your blog.  It gives me such great ideas for when I find things that are amazing fabrics but insane styles!

You look so great, Amy!  What a perfect costume to wear, especially when you work at a school!  I want to borrow/steal this costume idea at some point.  I would have loved seeing my teachers in something like this.  Because it's stuck in my head, I can't resist sharing the theme song, "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds.  Best. Ever.

My Mother's Attic: October

Ashley's post this month is one that I'm totally coveting. I think it's time to add a pair of these guys to the NDAD closet!! Check out her fun new look as well as the cutie-patootie, new furry friend that has joined her lovely family!

Happy October, everyone! It's getting quite brisk around these parts, and I'm hoping that the snow flurries hold out until after Halloween so that my kids don't have to go dressed as The Abominable Snowkids. Today's post is not particularly Halloween-y, save for the black color of the ensemble, however you can see the skeleton costume I made for my 2-year old here and the handmade fairy costume that my four-year old is wearing here! Yay for sewing skills and handmade wares - I have Marisa and the New Dress a Day community to thank for this huge parenting accomplishment!

I may very well rock this remake while trick-or-treating with my girls, complete with matching black puppy (the latest addition to Cartwheel Farm and my new sidekick) who actually inspired me to finally tackle this remake.

I have a number of palazzo pant jumpsuits that seemed to have been all the rage in the late 80s/early 90s when my mother was in the heart of her parenting years. I must admit, they are comfortable indeed.

Though the heavily pleated crotch area of this number wasn't terribly flattering.

I've been very intrigued by the harem-pant style I've seen on a number of the students at the college I work for, and figured that this was a chance to give it a try.

I started by removing the sleeves of the one-piece and sewing a fresh hem for the arm holes. 

I then strung elastic through the hem of both pant legs to create the harem-pant effect.

I removed the buttons along the chest...

...and suddenly I had my very own jumpsuit that was more hip to the times.

I paired the outfit with my favorite zebra belt...

...and due to the cool temps, I threw on tights, my favorite leather boots, jacket, and a scarf and went strolling around with Gladdy as my matching black sidekick.

And admittedly, one-piece jumpsuits are indeed an extremely easy, comfortable choice.

Good thinking, Mom!

To keep up with Ash online, find her over at Blog a la Cart and here onTwitter, Instagram, & FB!

Halloween Decor & Costumes Rundown!

We're back with more Halloween tricks and treats!!  I even picked a pumpkin for you!

I'm still working on my actual costume for this year's festivities, but you'll get a little teaser at the bottom of the post to tide you over until Monday when it runs!

In the interim, I have a few fun Halloween posts that I created for eHow and Goodwill!

First are the stenciled, fabric painted pillows that are currently adorning my vintage green velvet chair in my living room.  This is such an easy project that involved some tracing, cutting, ironing, and painting.  The slideshow and all the steps are located HERE, over on eHow's site!

Next comes a little Halloween breakdown on Goodwill's blog.  I'm obsessed with their racks and racks of costumes that you don't need to do a lick of work for, however the costume that I recreated included a little DIY.  I just couldn't resist...

Finally, here's a small taste of my costume...

This bodysuit will worn as part of my costume. It's definitely going to get dyed - along with another piece - to help craft the entire ensemble.  No, I'm not dressing up like Miley Cyrus in her mouse bodysuit from the VMA's even though I think I'm going to be running into people dressed like her all night.  Who's gonna be the one going as a wrecking ball, though?  That's my question!!

Let's just say my costume is based on someone from TV.  Perhaps they have red hair as well...

Who's still figuring out costumes and who has decided what they're going as already?  Fill a sista in!  I need to know!