weekly visual moodboard be sure to click on the image to view image sources.
This post was scheduled to go up over the weekend, but my blog was experiencing some technical difficulties, so it’s a bit late–so I hope you had a happy holiday!
Wishing you all the loveliest and most joyous of holidays!!! I just wanted to say thank you for your lovely Christmastime messages and emails the past week–they have so appreciated! Hugs to you all!
- I’m wishing my hair wasn’t so short since seeing this messy bun tutorial.
- Sal shared some great tips for using water in unexpected ways to help with wardrobe problems…
- Christmas might be over after today, but these cupcakes need to be made anyway!
- I’m loving these flamingo thank you card printables–so sweet!
- Seeing tours of other’s closets and how they are set up is always a treat, and Elsie’s is no exception.
I’ll be taking a break until after the New Year since SH and I really need to catch up on some rest + relaxation. So until then, dear friends, may you have a safe and happy New Year!
December 27, 2011 ·
9 lovely thoughts
posted in links
· tags: weekly inspiration
Hello! Apologies for the radio silence the last week… Sailor Husband just returned home from six weeks of training, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied spending time with my favorite guy. We’ve baked cookies, finished unpacking his uniforms, went to see Christmas lights at a local botanical garden, and generally been catching up on what we’ve missed over the past weeks apart.
But I wanted to do a little Christmas-themed post before it got any later into the season (I keep forgetting Christmas is this weekend!). I’m usually so excited about Christmas and traditionally have a slew of themed posts. But this year between the move and SH being away, I just didn’t really get into the mood as much, sadly. (If only Christmas were still a month away!)
Let’s talk about what I did get into this year: wrapping! I usually like to come up with some sort of theme and keep things fairly coordinated for packages. Which is fairly obsessive, I know, but I figure this is the one time of year I can indulge my love of matching things. This year I had a huge stack of packing paper from the movers, and desperately wanted to use it as wrapping, rather than just send it off to the recycling center. I loved the unbleached color and knew it would be perfect!
For the tags and trimming, I was originally planning on cutting out gingerbread men and stars from some leftover paper shopping bags. Until I discovered that the holiday Trader Joe’s bags had printed tags for you to cut out. So much easier than my idea! Yet another way I’ve been able to reuse something rather than waste… I also raided my stash of leftover yarn bits and pieces for the string. Which means everything is tied up nicely!
It’s not my most inventive Christmas wrapping, but considering I’ve been a bit preoccupied the past few days, I still think it’ll look fantastic under the tree!
What are some of your favorite “recycled wrapping” ideas?
December 21, 2011 ·
29 lovely thoughts
posted in holidays
· tags: christmas
This sweater has been sitting in my to finish pile for too long. It was halfway put together, and then I never finished it. Totally finished, I think I remember why I wasn’t falling all over myself to wrap this project up: it’s a bit wonky in the shoulder area (a bit tight and the armholes are higher than I like). Which I can only attribute to having finished knitting this during our last trip to California (1 1/2 years ago!): I’ve noticed I tend to tighten my gauge a lot when I knit while traveling.
But a little background first! This was knit from the original Stitch in Time by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford and is a 1930s sweater. The 1970s edition of this book is only facsimiles of the original patterns (while the new editions of the book have been thoroughly updated), which also makes me wonder if perhaps part of it was not only my tension but the original 30s pattern as well. Anyway: lesson learned! I remember sitting on the plane, thinking to myself “this looks rather narrow through the shoulders“, but soldering onward. At the time I wasn’t quite as confident with my knitting skills: now I would go with my gut and alter the pattern!
Even with it’s little fitting misses, it’s still a cute, wearable sweater. The yarn is a very nice, undyed, fingering weight merino that I picked up on the cheap. I love the button detail along the left shoulder too (I used some shell buttons I picked up on Etsy awhile ago). It’ll work especially well on days where the weather is chilly, but not frigid (such as today! We’re once again bouncing back from some rather cold days and hitting the upper 50s!).
For those interested, the pattern has been included in the newest edition of A Stitch in Time: Volume 1 (or so Ravelry tells me; I sadly don’t own a copy of either the first or second volume of the Stitch in Time books!), and is called “It Cannot Fail to Please”. Fellow Ravelry members can view my project page for this sweater here.
More pictures of the sweater here.
December 14, 2011 ·
65 lovely thoughts
posted in knitting
· tags: a stitch in time, knitting, sweater
jacket: vintage, thrifted | fur collar: vintage, thrifted | beret: unknown | purse: Target | sweater: vintage, thrifted | skirt:
made by me | belt: thrifted | brooch: thrifted | shoes: discount shoe place | tights: Target
Apologies about the onslaught of outfit posts–but right now things on the creative/crafty front are still just starting back up (I finally finished organizing my sewing area last week! Hooray!), and inspiration posts are on hold right now as I’m having some technical issues with my computer. But I promise later this week I’ll have something more creative-like to show you; if nothing else I have a pile of knitting projects that need to be finished and shown off! (Good motivation to finish what I’ve been procrastinating on! hehe.) Until then, please excuse the hiccups in the usual posting schedule and content… (And forgive my silly poses… I was trying to emulate some of the 30s and 40s model poses, but end up looking a bit awkward instead!)
I feel like this is an outfit that looks a bit like something Faye Dunaway would have worn in Bonnie and Clyde (which I’ve admittedly only seen once). A little 30s with a late 60s/early 70s twist. Which seems to be the way a lot of my outfits have been turning out; my love of the vintage revival looks of the early 70s has resurfaced a bit over the last few weeks as I’ve found pieces in the thrift shops that seem to fit that aesthetic beautifully. I’m most excited about the jacket ensemble (the collar is a seperate find–I just had it tacked on for the day!) and the sweater. All are thrift finds and in some way fulfill long-standing items on my “to find” list. Especially the sweater: it’s a gorgeous, fuzzy angora with that 80s-does-40s silhouette that fits my wardrobe perfectly and is really warm!
I wore this over the weekend when I went to visit a local art museum. It had been on my list of things to do since we moved here, but I finally got around to it! I had such a great time too–I feel like my creative inspiration banks were refilled with a riot of colors and new ideas. Now just to find time to put some of those ideas to use…
I hope you’re having a splendid Monday, friends!
December 12, 2011 ·
52 lovely thoughts
posted in outfits + wardrobe
· tags: fall-winter, outfits
weekly visual moodboard be sure to click on the image to view image sources.
What’s this?! A return of the weekly inspiration post! hehe. I’ve been compiling up some great links as I’ve been going through a month’s worth of posts on my feed reader, and there are some fantastic things in here, so I hope you get a chance to check them out.
- Via Pinterest a super easy how-to for making baked apple chips (a perfect snack!).
- These beautiful felt flowers would be perfect for so many embellishments!
- Some lovely vintage, detachable collar inspiration on Kathy’s blog.
- A neat how-to on painting an old clutch purse. You could do all sorts of designs!
- Laura Mae shares some tips on how to apply seam binding.
- Lazy hair day? Tasha shows you a quick way to add some vintage flair with a beret!
- Fantastic how-to from Lauren on applying bias binding in one step and mitering outside corners.
- Need some winter inspiration? Check out this post of vintage, winter fashions.
I hope you are having a splendid weekend! I’m planning on finishing off my weekend with some Christmas gift wrapping (I’m trying so hard not to put this of until the last minute!), perhaps a little more sewing, and curling up with my knitting later on to watch a classic movie (or two…). I finally feel like I can relax a bit around here without boxes nagging at me to be unpacked–which is a lovely feeling!
December 11, 2011 ·
9 lovely thoughts
posted in links
· tags: weekly inspiration
