Wild Thang at Fat Chix

 WILD THANG AT FAT CHIX

This morning I stopped in to Fat Chix Coffee Cantina in Grand Haven, Michigan. If the coffee doesn't wake you up...the decor certainly will!  What a fun little place on Beachtree street.  The coffee is moderately priced and of good quality, and the ambience of the place is quirky, down to earth and completely sub-pretentious. 

It almost seems unfair to shoot in black and white there.

I love the "pay yourself, make your own change" vibe on the everyday coffee counter. There are goodies of all kinds stacked literally from wall to wall; from gourmet sauces and Trader Joe's odds and ends to sweet rolls! Speaking of sweet, this precious guy was checking me out this morning as I hauled my tripod to and fro. I never did catch his name.

This outfit was 100% thrifted! The black skirt is something I've been favoring alot lately. It's just SO great with busy prints of every color, and it's a flattering cut for me! The tiger print mock turtleneck was a Hope's Outlet find this week for $1.49, and I'm loving the black microsuede wedges I bought at Goodwill for $6 brand new. They were a clearance item from Target (Merona). This wonderful little color block suede vintage clutch was from St. Vincent DePaul's, averaging at 15 cents from a recent "bag sale" score.

One of my favorite things about being out and about for outfit/thrifting posts are the locals I get to chat with. People are so responsive and friendly in this area. If I could only remember to keep large stacks of business cards with me, everywhere I go...

It's kind of fun to do your bracelets OVER the sleeves sometimes. I do get a little OCD on occasion though, when trying to "push my sleeves up" for everyday tasks.  Having something constricted there can push me into a freakout. Haha!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start! If you find yourself in need of a little shock therapy tomorrow morning, try Fat Chix in Grand Haven. Keeps the old eyeballs open!

Nickie's Ten Dollar Outfit

Nickie’s Ten Dollar Outfit

If you’re a follower of my blog, you might be impressed with the lovely gaggle of girls I know; it certainly impresses me! My beautiful friend Nickie agreed to share her adorable summery outfit with thrifted elements that only cost $10!

The white dress (which is actually a skirt pulled up and belted) was $2 from Goodwill, as well as the white and cork wedges, which were $4. If you haven’t tried the skirt trick, you should! I’ve done this before myself and it’s a fun way to transform a longer skirt into an instantly summery strapless dress! The key is the belt—you’ll need that for shaping!

The final element of the outfit is the $4 clearance belt from Pamida. Voila! It’s called looking awesome for a ten spot.

If you look closely you might notice a surprising addition to Nickie’s outfit that makes me smile. Tiny skull earrings! Got to make your mark! J

Thanks so much to Nickie for lending me her stunning face for this outfit shoot. If you’d like to see more of her outfit shoots, please stop by my photography page at Pineapple Chantal Photography- or click the picture below!

See you this week for an outfit post on Mackinac Island in Michigan! I’m going on vacation…woohoo!

DIY Glitter flats!

glitter! glitter! glitter!

I was reading Real Simple March 2012 and I came across this page of adorable glittered shoes. I love glitter everything, and shoes are no exception.

I'd come across many, many glitter tutorials in the past, so I thought why not give flats a try? I'm not going to do a full tutorial here because there are so many great ones out there (I'll link a few) but I will tell you about my experience and SUGGEST that you go out to a thrift store and pick up a thrifted pair of shoes to try this out on! It's a great way to recycle and that way you won't stress if it doesn't turn out perfectly...

i could roll in this glitter! teehee!

I started with an old pair of flats. Of course, I removed the jewels from them to use on another pair! Then I coated the shoes using a paintbrush with craft tacky glue (there are many different brands, a lot of people prefer "Modge Podge".) I sprinkled multi-colored regular chunk glitter all over, then dipped my brush back into the craft glue and "pressed it" into the shoe carefully, sort of "packing it in". After it was tacky, I looked for thin spots to put a second coat over. I've also read tutorials that say to mix the glue with the glitter, but I find that very hard to spread and a bigger pain in the butt. Naturally, you'll want to put some newspaper down or do this in a sequestered area. Honestly, I didn't make much of a mess. Don't worry...

the craft glue dries clear!

so cute and oddly enough, the glue and glitter are flexible--no flaking!

...and I have plans to "glitterfy" other things, because it was so fun. You should try it!

_________________________________________________________

GLITTER TUTORIALS:

Here is a tutorial from Polka Dot Bride using a fine glitter (I prefer the chunk myself!): http://www.polkadotbride.com/2011/10/glitter-shoes-tutorial/

Glittered Sneakers from Martha Stewart (Now I want to do a pair of my Chuck high tops!!!):http://www.marthastewart.com/856703/glittered-sneakers

Another glitter flats story (I chose this one because the author made me laugh when she said that "...anyone expecting her to create a perfect layer of Modge Podge can go punch themselves in the face"....hahah! : http://hellomoye.com/2011/01/18/diy-glitter-flats/