Casual Friday Christmas Party

 On Friday, we had our first Christmas party of the year.  This one was pretty casual, so I kept it simple with jeans and a sweater.  I kind of thought this outfit wasn't blog-worthy, but if I'm being honest, this is basically my winter uniform.

It has been snowing ALL day today, so I stayed inside wrapped up in a blanket most of the day, reading, watching movies.  I finished up a little project this afternoon. 

Hopefully, we will get our Christmas decorations put up tomorrow! 

Sweater:  Old Navy
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Gap

Throwback Thursday - Seatbelts and Cows

Does anyone remember when Kansas City did the Cow Parade?  I think some of the sculptures are still around in various malls and museums.  My dad and I had been in Chicago for the weekend to see the Cardinals play the Cubs, and flew back through Kansas City.  We went to the Plaza to check out the cows, and buy some new school shoes for me.  It was a great day!

This is not an impressive outfit.  I think my jeans and t-shirt were both Express, and I'm rocking Skechers tennis shoes.  No, not that exciting, but what is exciting is my purse.  Seatbelt purses hadn't really caught on in 2001, but I had seen one in a little boutique and I loved it.  It was about $75, safely out of the high school girl price range.  I decided I was going to make one.  Can't be that hard, right??

• Step 1 was the hardest:  Find seatbelt material.  Now in 2011, that's pretty easy.  Just google "seatbelt material" and you get a bunch of websites with various colors.  10 years ago, that wasn't happening.  I finally convinced my dad to go on an adventure to the junkyard.  The guys there thought I was crazy.  I found a little Geo Metro, and had to pry the doors apart to get to the wound up seat-belts.  Blue wouldn't have been my first choice for color, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

• Step 2 involved a lot of Dawn soap and a toothbrush to get the dirt and grease out. 

• Steps 3-6 was the sewing process, which was mostly done by hand, as I broke a few sewing needles on the thick material: 

•  First, I cut strips and sewed loops together
• Then I cut strips and wove up between the strips, and sewed around the top.
• The strap was a long piece, and I wove down both sides, and through the bottom, so it would be really strong. 
• Then I made some lining with lime green satin, and sewed that in, using another strip of seatbelt for the binding around the top.  

I was pretty proud of myself for this project.  After this, a friend told me about an airplane supply store  downtown that had a whole aisle of different colors of seat-belts.  I got red and black and made myself and my sister each a purse, in a different style.  I'd like to make some more someday.  Maybe I will check out those websites that Google found for me to buy the supplies...

Wedding Wednesday - Guarding the gifts

August 2010 - Two of my good friends got married on the same day at the exact same time.  One of them asked me and 2 of our other friends to be the guest book and gift attendants.  The wedding coordinator assigned me to the gift table, probably because I look so trustworthy (or because the other girls looked so shady).

The bride had asked us to wear black/white dresses, and I didn't have anything that I was very excited about.  After trying on almost every dress at the mall, I found this Kenneth Cole dress at Marshall's and totally fell in love with the plaid!  The bride also made us super cute pearl bracelet/corsages to wear.  Acting like it was a spy microphone was the logical next step.

After the wedding and reception, we ran over to the other reception for a little bit.  It was a busy day of weddings!

Dress:  Kenneth Cole
Shoes:  Unlisted

Pleather Jacket

I've been on the lookout for a black moto jacket for awhile, and somehow ended up choosing this white one instead.  Oops!  Guess I'll just have to keep looking for a black one, preferable in real leather.



Jacket: Relativity
Skirt:  Kenneth Cole Sweater
Tights:  Steve Madden from DSW
Boots:  Bare Traps from DSW
Scarf:  Gift from my sister, about 7 years ago!

Bits and Pieces

After making my new top yesterday, I remembered Kendi's outfit that I had pinned recently.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?  So I thought I'd pretty much copy her idea with leopard and blue.



I thought I was being so clever using the timer on my camera this morning.  First mistake:  I set it on our patio table, which made an awkward angle.  Second mistake:  I can't run and pose in a normal way with just 10 seconds. So, we are going with some cropped photos today. 

Tank:  made by me
Cardigan:  Gap
Jeans:  Gap
Shoes:  BCBGeneration
Necklace: anniversary present from Mr. Smith.
And you can't see, but I'm wearing these earrings from InPink.  They came as a set with my necklace from yesterday.

I'm really going to have to step up my game with outfit photos.

Book Review - Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

I recently finished Out of Oz, the fourth and final book in Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years series.  When I first heard about Wicked, I was excited to read it.  I tend to enjoy well known stories told from the "other" point of view.  (see True-Story-Three-Little-Pigs).  Plus, after growing up in Kansas, I get enough "not in Kansas anymore" jokes, so I figure I should soak up as much Oz-lore as possible.  I really liked Wicked, until the very end, when I just thought "that's all?"  There was so much MORE that could have been included.  So, when the next 2 books came out, I read them, thinking/hoping that more things would be resolved.  Each book made me more annoyed.  You are probably wondering why I even bothered to read Out of Oz.  I probably shouldn't have read it, but there was just so much potential for these books to be really great! 

Long story short:  skip the books, go see the Broadway version of Wicked.  It's really, really great. 

Adventures in Sewing

A few years ago, my husband got me a sewing machine for my birthday.  I was super excited and signed up for a beginner's sewing class.  I made a purse in the class, and really regret the fabric I used.  I will likely never use the purse.  I've done a few little projects over the past couple of years, including a t-shirt quilt that is taking forever!  I should be done with it soon.  When I was at Joann's Fabric getting supplies for the quilt, I noticed patterns were on sale 5 for $5, so I picked up 5 that seemed pretty easy.  Until yesterday, I hadn't even started any of them. 

I decided I would make a skirt first.   I had some coupons for Hancock Fabrics, so I went searching for the skirt fabric.  I didn't find anything I completely loved for the skirt, but ended up with this houndstooth twill.  Got home and was anxious to get started.  This is when I realized I don't want to follow directions.  Of course, it said I should wash the fabric first, to pre-shrink.  That seemed like it would take way too long.  After considering the potential for making a skirt, only to wash it and be unable to wear it, I decided to follow the instructions.  So, the skirt fabric won't be ready for about an hour.

Instead of waiting patiently, I was anxious to sew something!  At the store, I noticed this leopard print flowy polyester fabric.  I obviously have no idea what it actually should be called.  I would fail design school.  It was too light for the skirt, but I wanted it, so I bought 2 yards, for some future project  When my skirt plan was foiled, I went to my patterns and found a simple tank top.  Should be easy, right??   I tried to follow the instructions, but I honestly had no idea what they were describing.  I had to get online and search for terms, and even watched a video on youtube about how to gather.  Eventually, I gave up on the pattern instructions and just did what made sense to me.  I think it turned out pretty cute:  

I learned a few things in the process:  

1. I really don't like following instructions.  I would much rather wing it. 
2. Making clothes is probably more expensive than buying.  I saw a very similar top the other day for about $14.   Once you add up the fabric/thread/pattern, and my hours, I think $14 would have been a wiser choice. 
3. I should probably start looking at Goodwill for items I can refashion, rather than starting from scratch.  

I think I might ditch the other pattern and just make a skirt however I want.  It can't be that complicated, right??