Weekend Wardrobe: Sunny Day Dress

Dress: Vintage/Similar; Belt: Anthropologie/Similar; Shoes: J Crew

As I mentioned in my wishlist post last week, I'm kind of in love with the sunny combination of yellow and white right now. I found this dress on the sale rack at a vintage store about a year ago for a measly $7. I obviously brought it home. For the longest time, though, there's been something about it that, well, needs something.

This weekend I decided to try my hand at fixing it up. First I thought I would shorten it and make it a v-neck, but after pinning that out, I decided against it. I was enjoying the longer length, and felt like it just needed something at the neckline, so I added a knit pointelle peter pan collar.

You can see the before and after above! What do you guys think, collar or no collar? I kind of love it both ways.

Regardless, check back later in the week because I'll be showing you how to pattern out a peter pan collar for any plain neckline you want to add one to!

Til next time!

-Becca

Weekday Wardrobe

Cardigan: ModCloth; Dress: Vintage/Similar; Belt: Anthropologie/Similar; Tights: Nordstrom; Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens

Tonight my friend Katie, of the blog Katie Marie V, and I went and checked out a party at Hilliard's in Ballard that was thrown as part of the Warby Parker Class Trip (more on that later!). First, we obviously had to have an outfit photo shoot! It was a bit of a chilly day, but I still wanted to wear something cute, so I wore lots of blues and tried to keep things springy.

I'm obsessed with this dress, with its gingham print, cute collar, and adorable bow tie. I love the way it looks with this navy blue cardigan from ModCloth, but it also looks adorable with no sweater at all, especially since I fixed up the ripped sleeves earlier in the week (and the belt. see how on this post!). I'm so glad I picked it up on a thrifting trip a couple of weeks ago.

I've also been living in these Swedish Hasbeens recently and love that they look just as cute with tights as they do without. With the exception of rainy days, I think I'll be wearing them all year round.

Katie and I had a lovely time at the party. Check back Thursday for some peeks at the evening!

Til next time!

-Becca

P.S: Thanks to Katie for always taking the best pictures of me!

Weekday Wardrobe

Shirt: Anthropologie/Similar; Skirt: Thrifted, Vintage/Similar; Shoes: J Crew

I woke up to a sleepy grey morning, but knew that the day was going to warm up, so I opted for an easy look that would keep me comfortable and cool. I'm also on a big vintage kick after a successful thrifting trip over the weekend, so I wanted to keep the theme of the week going and wear a vintage piece today.

This shirt has been one of my go-to shirts since I got it as a gift during the holidays. I also am in love with this quirky printed skirt that I found for $2 at a garage sale a few weeks ago. It's got kings, birds, and music boxes as the print, with polka dots and triangles for good measure!

The shoes are from J Crew and are my favorite flats. I love the look of flats, but when they are completely flat it makes me feel like I'm tilting backwards a bit. These ones have a hidden 1/2" wedge that makes them super comfy, and just a touch of elastic around the toe to help them stay on your feet. When I worked in retail I could stand in these all day without my feet getting tired. They're on the pricey side, but J Crew runs some fantastic sales, so keep your eye out!

I also love an opportunity to mix prints, so I loved putting these two pieces together!

I'm looking forward to the rest of the warm days ahead and am amazed that Seattle is giving us some summer weather in June for once!

Til next time!

-Becca

DIY Wall Hanging

Hi guys! Today I'm going to show you how to make this super cute wall hanging!

I've been looking for something to hang over my bed for a while now, but am always wary of hanging anything heavy or glass over the bed since I can be a bit of a worry-wart (What if there's an earthquake? What if the cats knock something off the wall while I'm asleep? Oy vey.), so I was pretty excited to put this project together.

It's a pretty quick project and relatively inexpensive to make. You can make it any colors you like, but I chose some bright ones to go with my very bright bedding.

Supplies:

• 1-2 sock organizers, depending on the size you want. I found mine at a garage sale, but you can find them on amazon (this honeycomb one is pretty!), or on ebay (this is the kind I used), or any number of other places!
• Acrylic paint. I used two small bottles
• Sponge brush
• Picture hooks
• Fake flowers (I used about 5 bunches)

To get started, apply a single coat of paint to your sock organizer(s) using the foam brush.

After applying the first coat, let dry, then apply a second coat of paint and let that dry too! Be sure to go through and touch up any spots you missed when you do the second coat.

Next, choose where you want to put your wall hanging, mark, and nail in 1-2 picture hooks. I decided to off-set mine, so one hook was higher than the other, but you could do them straight across if you prefer and hang them level with each other.

Now we're on to flower time! You will want to cut your flowers to a length that's just slightly longer than the depth of the sock organizer. I started by cutting mine, and then realized that when I pulled the flower sections off of the stems they were already the perfect length, so I did it that way.

Once you have the flowers ready, make fist sized bunches and place into the holes of the organizer. I placed them at random until I got a nice pattern going. Place as many or as few as you like. You could fill up the whole thing if you wanted to, but I like the sort of rounded honeycomb shape of the organizers, so I left quite a few spaces empty. Once you've got it to your liking, you're done!

So there you have it! A cute and easy wall hanging that you can make in just a couple of hours!

If fake flowers aren't your jam, you could also fill it with dried flowers, air plants, trinkets, fabrics, etc. The possibilities are endless. I think I might try air plants sometime in the future to change things up a bit.

Til next time!

-Becca

Sunday Breakfast and Thrifting with Elle

Well, golly! What a lovely Sunday it's been!

The day started with a thorough, early morning cleaning of the ol' apartment, and then my fellow breakfast lover, Elle, came over for breakfast.

We whipped up some Soyrizo and potatoes with fried eggs, avocado, and some Tofutti sour cream. Yum!

After we ate, we went for a short walk to the bus stop and were pretty thrilled with how lovely the weather was.

T-shirt: Urban Outfitters (circa 2003); Belt: Anthropologie; Skirt: ModCloth; Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens.

The neighborhood I live in is full of beautiful flowers and greenery, so we made little stops here and there to take it all in.

Then we hopped bus to the U-District (with the grumpiest bus driver ever) to do some thrifting. The first stop was at Buffalo Exchange. I had a few things to sell and was happy that they decided to buy most of the items I brought. I ended up picking up a super sweet gingham skirt with my store credit and cashed out the rest.

The next stop was my favorite vintage store in Seattle, Lucky Vintage. I've had a lot of really great finds there. Also? They are one of the few vintage stores I've come across that sorts their pieces by style AND size. That saves me from having too many moments like this:

"Look how cute! The cutest double collar! Super cute red plaid! Ah!!!!"

"Oh. It's an extra small."

We had a lot of fun sorting through all the racks and trying on some awesome and ridiculous vintage clothing. Elle found a couple of really cute shirts, and I brought home another skirt (seen above) and an ADORABLE gingham dress that fits like a glove. I think I'm officially seriously obsessed with gingham.

Here are my finds! I think I'll wear the gingham pieces all the time this summer, but I'm also really excited about the navy skirt. Guys, it's got ric rac, loop-de-loops, ribbon, and wool fringe on it. Overkill? Well obviously, but that's why I love it! 

Hope you had a lovely Sunday!

Til next time!

-Becca

Weekday Wardrobe

Shirt: Nordstrom (years ago); Belt: Anthropologie; Skirt: vintage; Tights: Nordstrom; Shoes: J Crew.

After a few weeks of some GORGEOUS weather, things in the Northwest are back to being, well, like things in the Northwest. Since it's pretty chilly right now, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get in one last wear of the season for one of my favorite skirts. The skirt was hand knitted in the 1950s, and is too dreamy for words! Cozy, intricate, quirky, and quite the statement piece! While I can't wait for summer to arrive, I was definitely thrilled to have another opportunity to wear this piece again!

Til next time!

-Becca

Phinney/Greenwood Garage Sale Day!

Who doesn't love a good garage sale? And hey, who doesn't love a whole neighborhood full of garage sales?

Saturday was the annual Phinney Ridge/Greenwood Garage Sale day, so my friends Nicole, Elle, Ira the dog, and I got an early start to check it out and see if we could make some good finds. Here's a little of what we saw on our garage-sale-ing adventure:

Spring-time ice skates.

Zoo bricks? 200 bricks? Either way, bricks. 

I loved this pink flower broach.

Pretty pretty packaging.

My first find of the day. 

I loved this green shelf, but left it behind since I had no idea where I would put it.

1920s lace collar.

Tiny things!!!! 

Beautiful hardware. 

My partners in crime.

We all ended up with a lot of great finds! Elle managed to find some Hunter rain boots for a measly $8, Nicole found some great stuff for the kids she works with and some good stuff for around the house, Ira found ALL of the other dogs that were out and about, and I came home with all of this:

Sock organizers for a future DIY project, copper bundt pan, vintage bird and birdcage print skirt, buttons, tiny things.

My haul cost me a whopping $9.50. I'm the most excited about the vintage skirt because of its adorable print (and $2 price tag).

Buddy and Hank are clearly the most excited about the tiny things, which are little ceramic statuettes. I got a bird, an owl, and a kangaroo to add to my collection!

It's just like they say: one person's trash is another person's treasure!

Til next time!

-Becca