Vintage Style | DIY...kinda

If you know me well then you know how much I love vintage style. Seriously. If I had the money to completely redo my wardrobe, or the sewing proficiency (someday) I would do it in a heartbeat. Of course my era of choice would be a hodgepodge of the 1940s and 1950s decades..

Well, I have neither the money, nor the current sewing ability to completely re-start my clothing life as a 1950's housewife so until then I will have to settle for a slow but steady changeover with with outfits I created from finds at my local thrift store. Let's have a look at some shall we? First, let's look at some style inspiration. Ready for an onslaught of photographs? Ok, let's go...

Ok, let me just say...I love EVERYTHING about this outfit!

Oh Grace Kelly, anytime you want simple elegance, she's your girl..

I love these pants on Marilyn Monroe! Although I think she may have still been Norma Jeane here...

More Grace Kelly if you didn't get enough...

I love this shot of these 3 ladies on bikes but peep their shoes...you still have to be fashionable even on casual bike rides!

The late, great Ms. Lena Horne...gorgeous woman; elegant, sultry, and I love her hair in all of these photos!

And one more time for Ms. Marilyn Monroe...

Ok, now let me show you some of the outfits I put together that was inspired by these lovely ladies...

Outfit 1

This one is probably my favorite out of all of the outfits I put together. I was trying to channel Grace Kelly elegance. All I needed was a sleek bun...

Outfit 2

Here I was going for a Lucille Ball type casual outfit. I could wear this everyday...

 Outfit 3

With this outfit I wanted to channel what I thought a professional woman would look like in the 40's or 50's. For some reason I had a school director in my mind...

Quick makeup shot. Red lipstick is a must...

Outfit 4

Ahh the finale, I was going for casual, fun and flirty..

Don't mind my Rosie the Riviter-esque posing here, I'm a nerd 

And of course here I had to play into a re-enactment of the above photo of the women on bicycles. Except I opted for no shoes instead of the fancy ones they had on. I'm still in search of satisfactory shoes...

Anywho, here is my first attempt on vintage style, I am sure I will post another once I have acquired a few more pieces. If all else fails there is always the default to the poodle skirts and sweetheart necklines... I just wanted to put together a few outfits that did not include skirts or dresses, although that is my favorite style choice when it comes to 1940's and 50's fashion. We all need to get out of our comfort zones sometimes though right? 

I have a Pinterest board with all of my vintage inspirations, granted they are mostly pins of women from Old Hollywood, but I believe there are some links that could steer anyone looking for vintage style inspiration for children or men in the right direction...

And if you want to see a bit more of the outfits I put together, check out this video!

Until next time peeps!

xoxo,

Cass

Random Fact for the Day: To Have and Have Not (1945) is the only instance when a Nobel prize-winning author (Ernest Hemingway) was adapted for the screen by another Nobel-winning author (William Faulkner)

Natural Looking Makeup

Hi there! Want to see how I do my summer makeup for a more natural look, like this?

Check out this video!

Happy Friday-eve! 

xoxo,

Cass

Random Fact of the Day:

Every year there are close to 900 million lipsticks sold worldwide. That means almost every single person in the United States could own three tubes of lipstick!

Last Minute Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas

With Thanksgiving days away, and given the fact that I, for some reason, volunteered to host the dinner for my family as well as my husband's family that we have in town, I was stricken with the craft bug this weekend. I just wanted a few things to spruce up the house and make it feel a bit more festive. Now for me this means a few simple and subtle decorations around the house, I am not one for clutter and gaudiness in decoration. Keeping this in mind, I came up with four simple decorations that were quick and easy to do that could help our house to look a bit more eventful. 3 of the 4 I either saw on Pinterest or YouTube one is pretty much a variance of one of the other decorations. So let's talk DIY:

1. Monogram Burlap Wreath

I have been seeing these all over Pinterest lately and got the bug to make one when a friend of mine from high school posted a pic of one that she had made the day before. After talking with her and getting advice on how she made hers and watching numerous YouTube videos on how to make burlap wreaths, I pretty much just made up a way that I felt was right on how to make it look good. I actually have no idea how exactly I made the wreath but I do know it took less than an hour. I would suggest looking at a few Pinterest pictures and just playing with it until it looks the way you want.

2. Glam Glitter Candles

For these, I took candles that I already had and taped halfway through the candle with scotch tape. Next, I used a paintbrush sponge to coat the bottom half with mod podge. While it's still wet I poured glitter all over the bottom  of the candle. I would suggest using an adhesive spray after this step just so that the glitter doesn't end up all over everything you place it on. (A lesson I learned the hard way..)

3. Gussied up Glitter Candle Holders

For these, I used some candle holders I got at the dollar store and using a paintbrush, I painted a pattern in mod podge and poured glitter over the outside of the candle holder. This literally took less than 5 minutes and it looks like something you bought!

4. Burlap Lace Table Runner

I saw a pin for a burlap and lace table runner and thought "How gorgeous!" However after seeing the price tag, I though, "hmmm, I wonder if I could make that myself?" And thus the journey began. For the record this is the pin is is based on:

Pretty right? And if I might add, looks awfully close to my diy creation :). So, a quick pictorial on how I made the table runner:

Materials: one 15' roll of 12" burlap, two 9' rolls 2.5" lace ribbon (even though I am only showing one...), fray check (optional), hot glue gun (or fabric glue if you're fancy..) I started out using fabric glue but switched to hot glue because of the mess and trouble the sewing glue gave me...

 Roll out your burlap..

 Measure the length you want the table runner to be (in my case 8')

And cut!

I added some fray check to the cut end of the burlap to ward off any unraveling or loosening of the burlap weaving.

I glued the lace down one side at a time. I wanted the lace to lay flat and pretty much stick to the burlap on all sides. If you want you can just run the glue down the middle of the lace and let the edges hang free.  The rest is pretty much just gluing down the edges of ribbon to the burlap. If you use hot glue, be careful not to burn yourself because the holes in the lace and burlap will try to make it really easy for you. In the end you'll have a quick and pretty creation that will look like you either spent a lot of money on it or spent a lot of time working on it..

And if you're a more visual learner, check out this video...

I actually love planning and hosting events so I'm pretty excited for Turkey Day, not just for the break from work..I'm in it for the food...

Happy crafting,

xoxo,
Cass


Random Fact for the Day:
Four is the only number that has the same amount of letters as its actual value..