Sleeveless Blazer DIY

Yesterday, I took an an InStyle DIY project on: create a sleeveless blazer with an over sized men's suit jacket. The project was supposed to be simple: just cut the sleeves off! No...that wasn't happening. I griped about it on my Facebook page. I actually ruined the first hounds tooth men's blazer and that was simply because I followed the advice in the DIY, lol. (No offense to InStyle). Good thing it was only $1.59! I would not recommend that project unless you sew and are comfortable with at least a basic hemming stitch. Also, my advice would be to choose a lighter jacket, as a more bulky men's jacket (as advised) will be harder to hem and also (in my opinon) does not fit as well, even when belted. The other problem is bigger and more deeply sewn shoulder pads. As far as the "jacket down", I will be using the fabric from that for other things...so look for up-cycled hounds tooth in the future! :)

IF you wanted to do a men's jacket WITHOUT sewing, in my opinion, a better option might be to buy a small one, remove just the shoulder pads, and then try a 3/4 length sleeve, and maybe even "cinch" it. Then adding a feminine brooch or a belt might create an overall edgy, yet feminine, look.

So...back to jacket story. I bought a second thrift jacket, a women's jacket, that was closer to my size. Cut the sleeves off, double and top-hemmed hemmed them, added a cinch in the back, embellishments on the shoulder, and vintage abalone buttons all around!

This was the result! I think I will wear this belted with maybe black leggings/pants. I have a super cute mustard yellow beret that would look great with it. More on that later! Overall, this project took about an hour and was at a beginner sewing level.

Home is where the "H" is...

Outfit is: Dress (Merona/Target: on clearance for $7.00), Vest (GAP--it was a gift, freebie!), necklace: strange quilted "H" brooch attached to another thrift chain, 99 cents from Goodwill, bag: "Sixteen", thrift for $2. I posted these shoes I wore on another thread but they were also a thrift find. I paired this with navy tights and decided to dress down the necklace for work (I am a music teacher and webmaster for a school in West Michigan and sometimes I tone outfits down a bit for the office). For hair, I did this fun messy updo by pulling my hair back into a loose pony, and then regular (not French) braiding in an upward direction. I then twisted and tucked the ends and secured the vintage butterfly clip, which was another little thrift treasure for 99 cents!

How I wore the rag necklace

Just a few quick photos!

There were so many options for this. I have a grey sweater dress that is going to look so cute with it! And I could see pairing it with white, purple or any woolen combo.

Today I just did simple black with a dark skinny jean, hair down with plums and greys for shadow, plus a fun leopard print ballet. I also threw on some Buddy Holly glasses and this outfit looks so cute with a knit cap and jacket (like the thrifted brown corduroy LL Bean jacket here) as well. :)

Just a quick reminder that you can also check all of these photos and entries out on my Facebook page, at ThriftTrick on Facebook!

DIY Cotton rag scarf/necklace

Check out what I made today in 15 minutes!

Where did I get this idea? Well, it wasn't my own--though I've seen many things similiar to this and just needed to be reminded. Fast forward to last night when, in my adventures on Etsy, I stumbled upon these gorgeous upcycled tshirt scarves! This is her version below:

"EcoShag" is the vendor and all of the scarves are totally adorable. I especially love the large peices! Also, if you buy from them I believe that portions of proceeds go to charity. They even have some scarves made of recycled pressed cotton shirts. There is one in red gingham. Oh my. LOVE! I will be making more of these for sure!

So, if you're not a person who likes to craft but you like the style...check them out and get one for yourself! But, if you have some old tshirts laying around (as I suspect you do) and you have time for a 15 minute project that actually doesn't even require sewing...read on!

All I did was select three old tshirts I didn't want anymore in grey, dark brown and light purple. They were different sizes. I didn't worry about the strips I was cutting even being exactly the same because of the nature of this project, but I'd say they were roughly three inches wide. Most of them ended up being about 1.5-2 feet long, as I cut them horizontally from the tshirt.

I pulled on them and ran them through my fingers so that they would "curl up" a bit on the edges.

Next I sewed ends together so that I'd have larger loops (around 3 feet once they were secured) that I then doubled those loops. Then I arranged the loops together as I liked! You don't have to sew them; you could tie them together for a rag effect or even use fabric glue (though I'm not sure about the permanency when washing).

Once I had the arrangement I wanted, I secured them with tiny strips of the lighter purple fabric, because I wanted a more pulled together look. (Also, I knew I would wear the piece arranged just as you see it above, and not differently every time).

Of course, YOU don't have to do it that way. You could leave the ties off altogether so that the pieces were just free to arrange however you like. In this case, I think I would at least bind the larger loops together once in the back where the back of your neck will be, so that they have some security.

I plan on making more of these. I suspect at EcoShag they razor the cotton to get a nicer curl on the edge. Live and learn.

How awesome, right? Upcycle chic! I will post an outfit with this scarf later! :)

Chunky Bead DIY

Remember this cute little bead I found on my Thrifty Thanksgiving trip? I ended up doing something very simple and easy with it.

On the same trip, I bought a scrap of red leather. I think it was from some old upholstery squares. It was dark brown with red suede on the flip side.

Here's what I did: I took the leather and cut it into a thin string for the string of the necklace. I then laced the ends through the bead and then secured them by using a little red button as an anchor! I could have used any color, really, or something else--but I thought the red was cute.

The result was a chunky, romantic looking necklace that I thought would look cute with this white sweater! (The sweater is "Ana" by the way, and was a $2 thrift find).

See what is lying around your house that you can make pretty jewelry with...don't be shy....

Thrift Review: Salvation Army on Alpine in Grand Rapids, MI

On Black Friday, I normally run from civilization and crouch in a well stocked, airtight bunker and "wait things out". This year, I thought thrifting couldn't possibly be as bad as a department store...and it wasn't...BUT...it was still a little nuts.

I present to you my first thrift store review...with many more to come!

Thrift Trick Score: 3 out of 5

Today's location:

Salvation Army Family Store

3900 Alpine NW

Grand Rapids, MI

Map it/Location Info

First impressions of the store were that it was quite large and quite well organized. It also seemed fairly clean.

As you can see, the clothes are color organized.

NOW...I like the way this looks, but I don't particularly love the way it affects my shopping. Yes, I suppose if I were looking for a color item, it would be very helpful! And sometimes that is the case.

However, things AREN'T organized by size here. Therefore, it's a crapshoot as you start looking through the racks. Sometimes this doesn't bug me but for some reason, on this particular occasion, it annoyed me. Am I weird? I don't know. You tell me.

The other problem I had was that, right out of the gates, the clothes prices were a little high. The few pairs of shoes I looked at were priced at seven dollars (nothing fancy about them) and a somewhat long vintage blazer (I'd say late 70's) was priced at 19.99. That took my interest down about three notches. All the clothes I looked at were priced higher than what I would have liked to see (and were a hodge podge of sizes) so I started to tune clothes out and I moved on to jewelry.

There was a huge collection of items. I can't say that anything impressed me on a "I have to have that" level, but it did seem more reasonable than clothes. Again, the bottom line for earrings and such were $2. Not terrible but for a tarnished pair of old hoops...it's a little much. (FYI, Goodwill in Norton Shores prices much of their jewelry at $1, but that's for another entry.) I will say that there was quite a variety. If you were looking for a specific KIND of piece, I would recommend this store's jewelry case.

Housewares started to get more reasonable. This precious little Saki teapot with a cute folding case was $2.99. Darling with the exception of one problem--it was missing a cup. I'm not a Saki drinker but if I were one, I would have snatched this right up anyhow. Too cute!

The catch of the day for me was the Marushka print. I know--you might be looking at this seagull and lighthouse concoction thinking, what??? I can't help but be attracted to these vintage screenprints. They were quite popular in the 70's and beyond and now are very collectible (check out this cool Marushka blog) and I can't stay away from them. I have a small collection that I hope to grow. There are many different Marushka's--some are just downright wacky (like unicorns and penguins) and then others are quite tasteful, like some of the tree and foilage prints you might see on the blog above.

Either way, I've taken to collecting these for the last ten years and there is now a Marushka wall in my home--an idea that I stole from a friend of mine who has a giant and impressive collection in his Grand Rapids bar, "The Meanwhile". I'm so jealous of some of his prints.

The best part about finding this rather large print was that it was quite UNDER priced, at $3.99! Scoreboard! I snatched it up in a second and for me, it made the whole trip worthwhile. I went home and promptly hung it on my livingroom wall (pictured below)! Yes, it is totally hodgepodge and I love it. It makes me look like a crazy eclectic hipster and...I guess if the shoe fits, I'll buy it.

In conclusion, overall impressions of Salvation Army on Alpine in GR are as follows:

--Well organized/clean/lots of parking

--Organized by color, not size (downfall for me)

--Overpriced clothing/shoes

--Reasonable or even reduced houseware prices

--Decently priced and large variety of jewelry

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In the name of duck...

Say hello to my vintage dress form "Kay" again! Why is her name Kay? Well, this beautiful gem was a gift from my Uncle Bill and Aunt Gail. Uncle Bill's mother was a seamstress. Her name was Kay, and she had her name on a tag near the neck. It seemed fitting! She took wonderful care of this awesome JC Penney's piece and I just love her. She actually lives in my bedroom! So...on to the outfit of the day....

Last Wednesday I bought THE sweetest duck bag ever...for a buck. Gotta love thrift! It inspired me to put together this little outfit which collectively cost less than twenty dollars (though most of it has been in my closet for a while).

The yellow vintage dress is 1960's "City Scene" which I was lucky enough to score at an estate sale for an elderly woman while on vacation in Davis, West Virginia! It was only $3. Scoreboard. I bought an entire slew of mod and handmade dresses that day in my size. I was high for a week!

The little blue cardigan is a little vintage Gap find, it was $2.99 at Goodwill. NORMALLY I would be a little unimpressed with that price but it was just what I was looking for. See how cheap I am? I deliberate over three dollars!

The heels shown here are Jacqueline Ferrar vintage. They are actually very nice Italian leather. $1 at the most darling little vintage shop in Mackinaw city. I hope to go back and blog about that place this summer. Even though it is unseasonably warm today in west Michigan, I will likely wear brown riding boots and tights with this outfit to keep a little chill out. The heels probably go better!

Accessory is that strange (and somewhat dismantled) chain necklace I bought while thrifting on Wednesday for $1. It is missing what used to be glued inside the ornament, but I actually really like it empty. I feel like it is a frame for the fabric underneath. It works perfectly with this outfit! The belt was something I bought new at Meijer last year for around $6, I think. I love this belt. It is getting worn. I will be sad when it breaks. It pulls together so many great outfits....

Classic Holiday

This was my classic holiday outfit for Thanksgiving! You know, I had alot of fun modeling this today. This blog has been an awesome journey already because I am learning to accept my large frame even though I'm constantly trying to change it. My whole life I have been "transitional"...always struggling with my weight, and hiding my body. Even though I'm always hoping to be "one size smaller", I still love fashion. It's been a blast letting go of the fear and stepping in front of the camera to share some of my outfits. If there is anyone out there reading, thanks for sharing the journey with me. And don't be shy! Let me know your story. Happy Thanksgiving to all--I'm thankful for so much this year.

Hey! Recognize this yellow clutch from last week's thrift? It was only a couple of dollars.

I felt very classic in this outfit.

The yellow clutch went nicely with the brand new Vera Wang dress I found for $7, new with tags, at Goodwill.

There's that little necklace from yesterday's thrift. Cute piece. Worked perfectly for this outfit! Remember, that was 99 cents?

I did a nude/irridescent nail with this and I thought it looked very nice!

Vintage abalone and shell ear rings from Salvation Army, 99 cents. They are the old fashioned "screw on" kind. My ears are slowly getting used to these. They can really sting at first. However, I find alot of great vintage earrings that are "screw on".

The heels I wore were a thrift find. They were in great shape. They are actually a dark eggplant, peep toe. Sarah Jessica Parker's line, "Bitten" for Steve and Barry's. I actually really like that line!

Did you dress up for Thanksgiving?

Thrifty Thanksgiving

Today I went thrifting in my usual places. WHAT an awesome day to be out. I scored so hard! All of the pictures you see below are treasures from my day. Not pictured are a black pleated nylon skirt, a professional curling iron (been hunting for one of those forever!), and a few other items, which added up to the total below.

TOTAL SPENT: $26.00

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This necklace was interesting. I really like the white chain. Clearly a stone fell out of the middle but I think I like it this way better! I have quite a few little trinkets that could fit inside....hmmm.....It was 99 cents.

This butterfly piece is actually a scarf clip! I actually think I may wear it in my hair. The gold bracelets were kind of tarnished and neat looking. Total cost on all three were $3.00.

Another neat piece, little cheapie...99 cents.

This little ceramic pitcher was so cute. I have a beautiful red dish set for Thanksgiving but no gravy boat! I think it will work well. 99 cents.

Christmas music from 1932. The book is in perfect shape and it looks so adorable on my piano with Christmas knick-knacks. $1.99

These neat little ceramic beads were in a bucket for 79 cents each. (The other two posted below were the same). All of them are about 2-3 inches long and a couple inches wide. I have jewelry plans for them!

I KNOW, I know! How awesome is this duck handbag? SERIOUSLY??? It matched the outfit I had on today. I can not wait to put something together with this. ONE DOLLAR.

Cute little pair of wedge-y red loafers. Excellent shape, like new. $3.

Leopard print ballet slippers. Brand new vintage from JC Penney's. All tags were still on! 99 cents.

These crazy sexy three inch red suede hills are BRAND new from Nine West. They were obviously never worn and had the original department store sticker on them; impeccable shape. $3.00.