Thrifted Jewelry
I am really lucky to have a good and reasonably priced jewelry section at my favorite thrift store. It’s always fun to see what good and awful things end up there. I was cleaning up my jewelry box a few nights ago and decided to snap this pic of my favorite thrifted jewelry. Some of it is vintage, some of it not, but it’s all awesome.
The round rhinestone brooch in the center is from a local consignment shop. But it was missing a rhinestone and the pinback was broken so the owner gave it to me for free. I wasn’t even buying anything else, just stopped in to see what she had. I ran a silver chain through the loops and it is my new favorite necklace. The necklace above it, the gold fan shaped one is a working opening and closing metal fan hand painted with Asian motifs. Also all sorts of awesome and 25 cents at a yardsale. I need to go buy some thin dark chain and make the swallow and the hot air balloon charms into necklaces. They were each 50 cents, and I LOVE them. But they got lost in the bottom of the jewelry box and I forgot about them for a while.
This is my recent collection of granny beads. Only depending on what you wear them with they are a little less granny and a little more awesome. I think each necklace was around $1. I don’t know if any of these are true vintage pieces or not. I tend to doubt it, but who cares. Heidi has been able to use them in all sorts of outfits and they look less granny and more “hey that necklace looks not awful.” Win win.
And i just had to show you this cute little purse that Heidi gave me a few weeks ago. It’s only about 5″ tall and has the cutest little pears on it. She knows me so well and always gives me the greatest presents ever. We are watching a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving today, one of my favorite turkey day movies. Thank you Netflix for still having one in stock this week. (But that Mayflower one that is on the same disc is a total dud.) Have a good Tuesday.
Get Dressed: Pink Plaid
I’ve decided to call this whole project of revamping my wardrobe with my sister Project: Get Dressed. I really started working on it the first time at the beginning of August when I was trying to find something acceptable to wear to my 10 year highschool reunion without spending a lot of money. I found a too big broken zipper dress at the thrift store and turned it into this. Well, Heidi helped me turn it into that. And since then we’ve been working on stuff. I pick up things I love at thrift stores or discount stores from the list of basics she says I should keep an eye out for, and then she comes over and helps me get dressed and stuff. I am proud to say that after a few weeks of following directions I was able to put this outfit together all on my own for church yesterday. My first ever PGD that I worked out all by myself. I think that’s kind of a big deal. Go ahead and laugh, but this is coming from a mom who up until a few weeks ago wore jeans and a solid colored tshirt every single day. With Chaco sandals as long as there was no snow falling from the sky. This outfit has over 10 pieces, which is like 8 more than my old standard. I am totally getting better at dressing myself.
Outfit Details: Pink vintage skirt, belt, and yellow Nine West purse: thrifted. Blue cardigan, zebra scarf, gray tights and black boots: Ross over the past yearish. White and gray striped tee, Walmart $3. Leaf necklace: Bass outlet. Turquoise and mother of pearl bracelet: Honolulu Flea Market 3 years ago.
I thrifted this vintage pink plaid skirt a few weeks ago for $5. It’s a wool/silk blend. It was one of the skirts that I took to Lynette so she could alter it for me. Because it would be years before I got around to that stack and I really wanted to wear it this winter. The waist was fine (as long as I wear it on my actual waist, one of Heidi’s rules and something else I’m getting used to) but it was a very awkward and unflattering length on me. Lynette cut off the extra and hemmed it for me and I think I’ve worn it three times in the last two weeks. Which for something that has to be dry cleaned is kind of a big deal.
I’m not really a cowgirl/country kind of girl, but as soon as I saw this belt I loved it for some reason and it came home with me. The little inside tab that sticks into the belt hole is a tiny little metal saddle. It’s like real cowboy stuff here. And it goes with a lot more of my clothes than I would have imagined. Maybe I really am a country girl… who knows. These gray tights are my first big girl pair of tights. Real live comfy cozy and warm tights. I’m sold. It also helps that these are fleece lined. The first time I put them on I texted my sister and told her that I was wearing sweatpants to church. They are that comfy. Fleece lined tights in every color is a new high priority on my shopping list. They are amazing.
Heidi is going to explain the rules for wearing a white tshirt. The first rule is don’t do it. The second rule is you can wear a white tshirt as long as you follow these other rules and whatnot. She’ll explain it better. In my book this doesn’t count as white because it has gray stripes on it. And I wore my zebra scarf the whole day and you couldn’t see it anyway. I just took it off so Scott could take a picture of my necklace and belt, which no one else saw the whole day because of the scarf. So since you couldn’t see the not-exactly-white shirt I don’t think it’s breaking a rule… of course I could be wrong. HA!
I hope that this weekend I can get some more Project: Get Dressed pictures taken. Preferably without this little one’s help. The number of pictures that her or parts of her ended up in is hilarious. I will never turn into a fullblown fashion/weeklywears/daily outfit blogger for 3 reasons. 1-I feel like a dork posing for pictures of myself 2-Because I can’t actually take pictures of myself, and I feel like an even bigger dork posing for pictures of myself when a real person is on the other side of the camera 3- I am way more critical of photos of myself than a picture of something I’ve made. Posting these is not easy for me. Babysteps…
Previous Project:Get Dressed posts Vintage Plaid and Leather, 10 year Reunion.
Last Week in Instagrams
Scott got his new job three months ago. I still feel like we are in transition. And then we got hit with a few more setbacks in this little road called real life and what I thought was the real new plan has changed again. I swear, I do not remember life changes being so hard for me to deal with before. And good changes! We prayed and prayed for this kind of a change! ANYWAY, moving on. Here’s what we’ve been up to this week.
Monday: Field trip to the firestation. And we were all sick. Scott home sick from work, me hopped up on cold medicine and armed with a lot of tissues for her very runny nose. But we couldn’t miss the firestation. She took her own hat and carried it around the whole time.
Tuesday morning: Made one little Indian costume for her babydoll for show and tell, done before 8:30am. A miracle.
Wednesday (a busy day): started by climbing on an icy roof to put up my moms Christmas lights. Six strands of them.
Then Creamie fell off a barstool and got a huge bump on her head and a major bloody lip. Lovely.
So that called for a frozen yogurt date instead of a sandwich for lunch. It has protein in it, right? and fruit? and dairy? As far as I am concerned it was a well curated healthy meal.
And since the icecream made her feel so much better, on the way home we took a detour to my favorite thrift store. The detour was a good idea. I came home with lots of treasures but this was the score of the day. I can’t wait to get this cleaned up and put it in my house. Fiveteen bucks of love right there.
Thursday: It was a rough day around here… I ate a whole pan of brownies. But not the crusts. I am an anti-crusty brownie advocate. If someone would hurry up and invent an edgeless brownie pan that would be stupendous. Sorry edge lovers, these all went in the trash.
Friday: A little better, but still not totally awesome. So we built another fort in the living room out of old sheets and watched movies and played in there all day. Here she is wearing her cape, rainboots, indian feather headband from preschool and nothing else. Ha!
Saturday: Went to a baby shower for my friend who is finally pregnant, and with twins! Then to lunch with my sister, which is always awesome. (I bought the pattern for these from etsy shop winter peach).
Sunday: I just made Pumpkin Spice EggNog Ice Cream. Recipe: Buy eggnog, mix with a little cream and pour into the ice cream freezer. Wow. So so good.
This afternoon we took some more pictures of outfits Heidi has put together for me. I’ll post some tomorrow. We didn’t do very many because, surprisingly, changing clothes in the car at the park in 35 degree weather is not very fun. I’ll have to figure out a new method I suppose… I hope your week was lovely.
Get Dressed: Vintage Plaid and Leather
I mentioned a few posts ago that my sister has been helping me get dressed lately. And through this whole process I have come to realize three things. 1: Just because a white shirt goes with everything doesn’t mean you should wear it. 2: If I stick with Heidi’s plan I am going to need a cardigan in every color and 3: I have a love affair with buying skirts at thrift stores. 3: part 2: I need to find a new system of hanging these skirts up in my closet, because they are currently taking over my bed and the comfy armchair in the corner because I don’t have enough hangers. It’s truly out of control.
I found this vintage plaid skirt a few months ago and when I bought it I didn’t think I had a single thing in my closet that would go with it. I didn’t even try it on, I just put it in the cart and brought it home. That is actually a standard practice for me buying skirts. Weird, I know. After I held onto this skirt for weeks, not knowing what to do with it, I told Heidi I’d make hot fudge sauce if she would come over and go through my closet. And guess what. I actually had a lot of things to go with it! Who knew? But before I wore it I sent it (and like 8 other skirts that needed a little attention) to my new tailor Lynette. She fixed hem lengths and took in waistlines and made everything much more flattering and up to date. More on that later, but I am so SO glad I just took everything to her. It would have taken me years to get around to altering all of these skirts, and in two days she was finished. And just like that I have a whole new winter wardrobe. Amazing.
A few months ago I spotted this purse at the thrift store. It is vintage Etienne Aigner, all leather and so far one of my favorite thrifted items. It also goes with everything, which I didn’t know when I bought it. I just knew that I loved the color and the woven leather and even though I had already made my purchases for the day I stood in line again to buy it.
Boots have been on my wishlist for years, but I never could buy them until I went shopping with Heidi last week. I have tried buying boots on my own and always had to return them. I don’t even think I’m that picky. Tall, leather, classic…. it shouldn’t have been that hard! And it wasn’t, once I had the right partner in boot crime. See, Heidi has a knack for shopping, and is the best shopping partner in the world. And after spending a few afternoons in my closet she knows everything that I own and can recall at anytime what I have that will go with this or that. And she can rattle off a whole outfit to go with that cardigan in about 4 seconds. I think she might be the 8th wonder of the world. Also this is one area where being a freakishly identical twin totally pays off. I suggest everyone have a shopping buddy who has your same features and is exactly your same size/shape. Because looking at something on a real person that is not yourself makes it a lot easier to decide if you like it or not. It was one of the best afternoons I’ve had in a long time. We should do it again soon.
Outfit Details: Skirt, belt and bag: vintage and thrifted, Boots: Bandolino from DSW, (I still think I need to buy some dark cozy tights to wear with them… yes?) Cardigan: Costco like four years ago, Scarf: purchased in Russia 9 years ago, and this was the first time I’ve ever worn it. Pathetic. Weird puffy hair: c/o wind and wrestling children for a few hours.
Heidi is working on a guest post about this whole “revamp the closet” with some helpful tips and rules and blah blah blah. Because I do not claim to be any sort of expert and I can’t do this without her. I’m working on taking the pictures to illustrate this post. Real before and after shots of outfits from my closet that I put together and outfits from that same closet that she puts together. It’s going to be fun! And in the meantime I am swearing off buying anymore skirts at thrift stores.
Baking Pies
We are having some friends over for dinner tonight and in between cleaning up toys and sweeping the floor I made a few pies this afternoon. I love making pie, it is one of my very favorite things to do.
I haven’t made an apple pie for years, but a few weeks ago I picked something like 10 boxes of apples off of a friends tree and I still have apples stacked up in my pantry waiting for me to get to them. I used 5 different kinds for this pie, and it might be the best one I’ve ever made.
Creamie was helping me too. She worked on this little pie, and we had just enough filling to pack it full of apple cinnamon goodness. I scooped the last few bits of apple into my mouth after I filled up both pies and oh my goodness they were good. It might be the best apple pie I’ve ever made.
Creamie can hardly wait for her little pie to cool off enough to eat. As soon as I pulled it out of the oven she pulled out a plate and a fork and told me she was ready to eat it. This little one turned out so cute I think next time I make pie I’ll just make 7 or 8 of these instead (or you know, 30 of these teeny tiny ones!) Because everything is cuter when it’s nice and tiny!
And in case any of our friends aren’t apple pie lovers (I’ll forgive them I suppose) I made some vanilla pudding and made it into my moms fabulous banana cream pie. Because everyone should have a few options when it comes to pie you know. It’s a good thing I’m out of time or I probably would have made a pumpkin pie too! Now my house smells like pie and I think that is the perfect way to start any weekend.
A Little Thrifting
So I’ve been doing a little thrifting lately. OK, a lot of thrifting. Heidi and I are in the middle of this very large expansive project to make me not look like a frazzled mommy all of the time. But since I am not ready to inject sleep into the bags under my eyes, we settled for a mini wardrobe makeover. OK, major wardrobe makeover on a mini budget. I’ve been buying clothes for me at thrift stores. I haven’t really even looked for clothes for me at thrift stores before. But starting at the end of the summer I started looking. Seriously. And wow. A whole new world of fashion has opened up for me!
I have a lot of pictures to take of myself (which is always kind of awkward) before I can really explain what I mean, but I have never been so excited in my life to get dressed. Or nervous (read, still in the middle of this project.) Tomorrow morning I am going to pick up a whole batch of awesome and then I can tell you more about it. But this pic above is part of my latest score from this afternoon. Four vintage wool skirts, $5 each. From left to right, black and white houndstooth, blue and gray herringbone, camel colored pleated and then black and white herringbone. They all fit, mostly. They all need the hems moved from very awkward midcalf-ish/ugly leg length to more classic right-spot-of-my-knee length. They are part of an overhaul of my wardrobe that I am doing as inexpensively as possible. But so far has included a grundle of skirts, two pairs of boots, jeans and new shirts plus like 17 new belts. (Yeah, I totally wear belts now. Which is more of a surprise than I expected.) She also gave me some very specific rules to follow. One of them is not to wear a white tshirt ever ever again. More on that later. Actually, more on all of this later. Heidi is changing the way I buy clothes for myself, how I thrift, how I look at color and how I organize my closet. Also, she just got engaged last weekend and I couldn’t be happier for her. Seriously, she is marrying a wonderful wonderful guy and I couldn’t be more excited for her. If you are into reading gushy adorable engagement stories (or looking at stunning vintage diamonds) read her story here.
Under the Hood
Last week Scott had to replace one of our headlights that was burned out. Creamie took it upon herself to help him. As soon as he said he was going outside to fix the car, she put on her boots and grabbed a stool to follow him. I went out a few minutes later (so he could actually fix the headlight instead of keeping her from running into the street or chasing a cat down the road) and this is what I saw.
I didn’t know I was going outside to keep her from falling into the engine. But I love this picture!
There she was, face in the engine right next to her dad and fingers getting greasier and blacker by the minute. And she was as happy as could be. The headlight box took a while to get out (one of the clips was broken and it took a while to wiggle it out) and she was completely entertained “helping” for almost an hour. And it wasn’t even the kind of helping that isn’t really helping, but is mostly just getting in the way. She stayed out of Scotts way for the most part. She just wanted to be right by him. It was so sweet.
Daddys toolbox was her favorite. I think she pulled out every single tool and used it to fix something in the car. Moneky wrench, screwdriver, jammer, chisel…. they all went under the hood for a few minutes before she’d put them in a little stack on the sidewalk next to his box. When his box was empty she declared the car fixed and was done playing.
She was so completely hilarious banging away under the hood with whichever tool she had in her hand at the moment. And I was also really glad she didn’t drop anything in there.
We did find a big old screwdriver in there, it was almost 18 inches long. Who knows how long it’s been inside the engine. It wasn’t one of our tools, so it has been in there for at least four years, maybe more. This car has been in the shop over and over for minor repairs and I was shocked no one found it before now.
It wouldn’t be a car repair without getting under the car to check things out. And she was more than happy to help out. It was a great afternoon, and I am so glad I had my camera handy to snap a couple hundred pictures of the whole thing (you’re lucky I only posted six…)
Last night I made some pumpkin spice frozen yogurt. The recipe still needs a little tweaking but oh my goodness it is delicious. I’m off to finish off the last of the batch before I settle into a little sewing.
Living Room Fort
It’s cold and though the sun is kind of shining, it feels very much like a rainy day. So I spent the morning pretending to be productive, and rearranging my closet (more on that later.)
Then I ordered some delicious takeout for lunch, we built a tent out of vintage sheets in the living room and watched a movie in our tent while we had an indoor picnic.
And Creamie has been playing in there all afternoon. She has every stuffed animal, doll, baby, toy, pillow and lego guy she has all piled inside. I’m sure the books in her room will be the next guests.
And we are watching movies and having a great old time. I think we are going to start dinner with dessert and hopefully have an early bedtime. And then I hope to get back to my sewing machine.
Sugar Free Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
I posted earlier this week about the cute little mini pumpkin pies I made. I volunteered to attempt a sugar free gluten free pie for a church activity on Tuesday. I am not going gluten free, but I have been going carb free and sugar free for about a month now and I thought it would be a fun challenge. The mini pies were delicious. My neighbor dropped off my sugar free gluten free mostly healthy (for pie) at the church and when I arrived at the end of the activity to help clean up and pick up my pie dish…. it was still full. No one had even tasted it. They had put a few slices on plates and set them out on a sugar free/gluten free table…. and no one even tried it. I’m not going to lie, I kind of wanted to cry. I make really good pie. I’ve been practicing for a long time. And I’m good at it. And no one even tasted it. I put the pie in my car and took the whole thing home and in less than 24 hours my little family of three had eaten all 8 slices. And loved them all. It really is delicious, and I hope that someone on the internet looking for a pie recipe for Thanksgiving finds this post and tries it. I’ll make this pie again. But just for my family next time.
Gluten Free Pie Crust (makes one 9 inch shell)
- 1 cup Almond Flour (I used Bobs Red Mill Almond Flour/Meal. This stuff.)
- 1/4 tea salt
- 1/3 c. unsalted butter, softened (or shortening)
- 2 TB ice water
Mix the salt and the almond flour together, and then cut in the butter until it is all incorporated. I did this by hand with a pastry blender (you could also use a couple of forks) because it is such a small batch. It only took a minute. When it is all mixed together add the ice water 1 TB at a time until the dough starts to stick together. When you make regular pie crust you want to be careful not to mix it too much, that’s what keeps the crust flaky. But with almond flour it doesn’t much matter. It’s more like a graham cracker crust than a regular crust. Which means you aren’t going to roll it out. Flatten small pieces of dough with a spatula or your fingers and then press them into the bottom and sides of a 9″ pie pan. Try to make the crust an even thickness all the way around the pan. For the edges, I just pressed the crust onto the lip of the pan and trimmed the excess off. Now make your filling.
Sugar Free Pumpkin Pie Filling for one 9″ crust
This is not a secret recipe. It’s not even mine. It belongs to the famous Libby and her awesome canned pumpkin. It comes straight off the back of the can, with just a few alternations.
- 1 15oz can plain pumpkin puree (or 2 cups homemade pumpkin puree)
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup Splenda* (or sugar substitute)
- 1/2 tea salt
- 1 tea cinnamon
- 1/2 tea ginger
- 1/4 tea cloves
Mix all that stuff together and pour it into your pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees** for 15 minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 350 for another 40-50 minutes. Let it cool for about 2 hours before you put it in the fridge or serve it. Ok, so here’s the deal. Almond flour bakes into a dark brown a LOT faster than white flour. So I suggest using a pie crust shield. You can find these online, at a kitchen supply store, Walmart or maybe even a grocery store since it’s pie baking season. I used a shield except for the last 15 minutes and I wish I would have left it on the whole time. My crust is browner than I like, though it still tasted just fine.
*One note about sugar substitute. Splenda is my preferred choice because it doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste when it is baked. You can choose whichever one you like, but according to my sugar free friend who helped me with this recipe, Splenda is the best for baking. And they didn’t even have to pay me to say that.
If you are worried, I’ll just tell you, the crust doesn’t taste almondy. It has a different texture than a white flour crust, more like a graham cracker kind of crumbly/mealy texture, but it isn’t an overpowering almond flavor. I can’t wait to try this crust with a fruit filling. I might even get brave and make a sugar free/low carb version of my very favorite Rhuberry Pie. Almond flour has about a quarter the carbs of white flour, but it has a lot higher fat content. There’s always a tradeoff, isn’t there. So. Go forth. Bake pies for your celiac or carb conscious friends. But don’t take them to the church party. Save this one all for yourself.
** For my soapbox on oven temperatures and why an oven thermometor is important read this post.
Strawberry Shortcake Costume
A few weeks ago I was sorting through all of Creamies clothes and pulling out the ones that were too small when I came across this little red vintage dress in her closet. And as soon as I saw it I decided she would be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween. And not the new updated Strawberry Shortcake. The one that I grew up with. I looked online and found a Michael Miller strawberry print (Blossom Berries) for her hat and everything else just kind of fell into place.
I made her apron, bloomers and hat and then on Monday afternoon decided she needed a matching candy sack too. I finished up her bag about 4:00 and then hurried to take pictures before we went trick or treating. Unfortunately I forgot to put the little polka dots on her face until I was nearly finished. Bummer.
I tried painting a pair of white tights with green stripes and it was a total failure. I ordered these stripey tights on Thursday and was beyond ecstatic when they arrived on Monday afternoon. Yay for $6 expedited shipping! (Of course, that made her tights about $12, more than everything else combined!)
I had to fix her hat one more time before we went trick or treating. I made this hat about 4 times before I got it to look and fit right. And after we were done taking pictures I pinned an elastic headband to the inside which kept it on much better. I sewed one of my bath loofah’s to the inside to keep it all puffy. And if I hadn’t had to make it four times I would have had time to make a little strawberry pincushion for the very top.
Last year on Halloween it was rainy and cold and just plain awful weather. This year it was 70 degrees and perfect. Creamie loved trick or treating, and her bag got so heavy she wouldn’t carry it anymore. But the only thing she wanted to eat was one dumdum sucker. Then she told me she’d had enough and she would save the rest for tomorrow. I don’t know where she comes from sometimes.
I can’t wait to figure out what she is going to be next year! And maybe I’ll actually make myself a costume for next year too. I better start in January, or it might not happen. Ha!
pinksuedeshoe 