An Array of Texture, Halloween Accessory

It's time to break out those costumes, cake on the makeup, and get spooky!

 

With Halloween right around the corner some terrifying texture is a must.  I was brainstorming ideas when I came across this old skeleton ring hidden in my jewelry box.  Cool hu?!

 

...but to be stuck on my finger, where only the occasional eye sees it, nah.  This needs to stand out, attract attention, make a statement.

 

I started by ruffling a piece of lace into a circle.

 

 

Then I slipped the skeletons through the hole and secured the ring into place.

 

 

I left the actual ring attached to the skeletons because I thought maybe I'd keep it as a ring.

 

 

But my goal was bigger than that.  So I took some more lace and made a headband.

 

 

I secured the ruffle skeleton piece to the headband, but still left the ring attached just in case I ever want to wear it that way.  To cover up the silver from the back I attached a black feather.

 

 

Here's the finished piece.  Sorry my hair is so dark, it blends right in.  But I still like it!

An Array of Texture Tuesday, Bib Tee

Last week I was going through Sawyer's plethora stuff, as I do every week for things he's outgrown (a little sad, right?), when I came across this...

 

 

I'm 99% positive it's a bib, but I've always been a little curious as to how this hand-me-down worked and I've come to the conclusion it's missing a piece or two.  But to throw it out would just be silly.

 

I know I've recently done a bib cover tutorial, but I didn't want to have to wait to use this.  So I'm taking a simple tee, particularly this burgundy one (I feel manly in this color), and I'm dressing it up for a more feminine look.

 

 

First, I carefully took off the trimming, so I just had one layer to work with.

 

Then I shaped the top of the bib to match the neckline of the t-shirt

and

attached it to the shirt with a zig-zag stitch.

 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  ...I know, most of the work was already done for me, but hopefully I'll enjoy it a little more!

 

If you were wondering...Bryan and I had a great time last night, kiddo free!  We spent the evening enjoying the new country band, Florida Georgia Line, singing and dancing till our voices and feet hurt.  They rocked the house!  I was hoping to post a few pictures, but sometimes I forget I have a cell phone to take pictures with; when you have zero cell service at home and mainly use a house phone, it's bound to happen.  But here's Florida Georgia Line's new single, Cruise, if you want a peak at what we relished in last night.

A special thanks to my Aunt Carla for watching our little monster!

 



 

Burlap Wreath

Wreaths are a great way to decorate; the front door, an empty wall, for every season, holiday, or special event.  With a million and one different ways to embellish a wreath and seeing them everywhere with the upcoming seasons, I was itching to try something!

 

Most wreaths are made using a foam ring, blah.  I didn't have one on hand and didn't plan on running to the store to spend money on something so frivolous.  So I decided to get crafty.  My first thought was to head outside to raid mother nature of her fresh branches and form my own.  But I didn't feel like going on a treasure hunt at the time.  I do, however, still plan on using that first thought, eventually.  My second thought, a wire coat hanger and burlap!

 

 

This wreath is fairly simple to make and takes no time at all, so let's get started.  First, form the wreath with the wire hanger and leave it open ended.  After fudging and bending to get the perfect circle, cut 4" wide strips of burlap.  Pull a thread from the middle of the strip to ruffle your fabric.

 

 

Next, thread the burlap onto the wire, accordian style, pushing the burlap around the circle as you go.  Fill the wire until desired fullness.

Note: The length of my burlap was 64" long and I needed 3 strips to fill the wire for a full look after ruffling.

 

 

Twist the ends of the wire together to make an enclosed circle.  You'll have to play with the burlap a little to cover up the showing wire.

Lastly, I made some paper flowers from old book pages, glued them to a piece of cardboard, and attached a clothespin to the back for easy removal from the wreath.  This way, I can make an embellishment for different seasons and holidays without having to make a new wreath!



Here's the How To for the paper flowers.

 

 

An Array of Texture Tuesday, Scarf Wrap

It's Tuesday again!  As I was a little unprepared this week, I decided to make a simple fix for an easy project.  Since the cold weather will be calling all warm clothes, I figured restyling a few things would make it feel like I have a new piece to wear, rather than just the same, boring items I've been sporting for the last three years.

 

So without further ado, a simple fix...  A long, flappy scarf turned into a modest, secured scarf wrap!

 

First off, I picked this scarf because I hate the tassels on the ends...they drive me absolutely crazy, bonkers, nuts!

 

Make sure each tassel is knotted tightly at the base of the scarf.

CUT the dang things off!  It may look a little rugged on the ends, but in my opinion, that only adds some flair.

Add a few buttons to one end of the scarf.  On the other end, match placement of the buttons and make button holes.  *With the knitted design of this scarf I just used the loose knit as a button hole.

Now all that's left to do is wrap and secure in place.

 

In the end, I decided to take the middle button off.  It was just too much for me.  On the contrary, I don't think I will be having any drafts on my neck this fall, that's for sure!

An Array of Texture Tuesday, Sweater Boot Socks

Well, another late post tonight; what's new, I know.  Sorry for the lack of anything exciting this week.  "Summer got the best of me" as my mom would say, not because I lost inspiration, but because I was having too much fun in the sun!  And it did it again.  With very few warm days remaining, we took that camping trip.  And boy was it fun!

 

My boys enjoying the river.

 

Not to worry!  I made it back in time for another textured Tuesday...

 

After months of asking Bryan for items from his closet, he finally made a gracious donation, a sweater, for this week's An Array of Texture!  Although, I was very hesitant about cutting into it; he's not the sweater type but he did like this one and it always looked so good on him.  Sadly, it just doesn't fit, his shoulders are too broad anymore.  So for now, I will only be taking the sleeves for a warm pair of boot socks, who knows, maybe I'll turn it into a sweater vest for him!

Cut the sleeves off of the sweater.

To fit my leg better, I turned the sleeves inside out and sewed a straight line up to the cuff.  Trim the excess fabric.

Turn the raw edges under and sew two rows for a clean finish.

Accessorize if you desire!  I left these plain because I enjoyed the simple look.

Ready for fall; a cozy pair of boot socks!  Although, wearing these with boots cover up the design, so another option...

 

A fun pair of leg warmers!

1920's Finger Waves

Finger waving is the moulding of wet hair into an "s"-shaped wavy form with fingers and a comb.  It was a very popular hairstyle that developed in the 1920's, to add style and to soften the appearance of the bobbed hairstyles, and stayed popular throughout the 1930's.

 

How did the women from these eras have the drive to get up and do their hair in the morning?  I wish I had that urge to want to do my hair everyday.  Go figure, it's the one thing I'm particular about before leaving the house, I just wish it was easier.  Finger waves could be a great way to take control of the messy-mom-bun on top of my head.  Not to mention, how I'm always being rushed out the door by my husband because my hair is holding us up.

 

 

Finger waves are a beautiful look and they may just have solved our problems.  I noticed this tutorial on a site I follow from time to time called Glamour Daze, a vintage fashion and beauty archive.  Although, if I waited around all day for my hair to dry after being pinned up, we'd never leave the house.  But we all want a happy husband, so in order to save time, that impatient grin, and still come out with a timeless look, sleep on it.  Let your pinned hair dry and take shape while you sleep and all that's left to do in the morning is comb them out and add a little hairspray.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

An Array of Texture Tuesday, T-shirt to Tank

Yes, we will miss the warm weather and the sun, our golden tans and the clothing.  Those simple pieces of an outfit that make you happy, such as a pair of sandals and a tank top.  So to inspire the last few sunny days of summer I am turning a simple t-shirt into a fun and flirty tank.

Before

After

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures and I promise to improve on it...

To start the transformation from t-shirt to tank, cut off the sleeves of the shirt on the inside of the seam, leaving the raw edge.  Note:  The raw edge look is intentional and most t-shirt fabrics won't fray, just make sure your cuts are smooth.

Next, cut off the hem of the t-shirt, leaving the raw edge as well.

With the leftover fabric from the sleeves, sew together smalls strips, 1/2 inch wide, long enough to make a ruffle all the way around the neck hole and attach it to the shirt.

To add a little more flair, attach a small yo-yo to the side of the neckline.

There you have it.  A simple tank to show off those golden arms (okay, mine not so much) a few more times!

An Array of Texture Tuesday, Bib Cover

Welcome back to another Tuesday filled with layers and layers of texture!  Today I will be using some fabric scraps to change the look of a dress, so that maybe I'll want to wear it.  I received this dress as a hand-me-down over a couple of years ago (I also have one in black).  I love the style and fit of the dress but never wear it because I try to avoid wearing anything with a label and as you've probably noticed, I'm not much of a skater.

The style of this dress reminds me of relaxed summer fashion and a nautical look is what came to mind, so I just went with it.  I knew to cover up the label I'd need to put a bib style of some sort on it, but I also wanted to add character to the dress, so pleats were a must:

 

I frayed all of the edges of the fabric, then I pressed the pleats into place, and sewed right above the fold for a crisp look.

At this point I thought it needed something more...sailorish!  I grabbed some navy blue scraps and whipped up a small ruffle to line the bottom with (sorry about the limited pictures).  The tricky part was attaching the bib to an elastic neckline.  I pinned the bib to the fabric right under the elastic as it was stretched out and sewed it into place.  As you can see in the picture below, it shapes with the elastic when it's relaxed.  However, when it's being worn you don't notice it because it's stretched out.

To finish the look, I attached two buttons on one side of the bib.



Here is the finished look!  Now, if someone could navigate me towards the ocean...

I found my way to the ocean once before, nine months pregnant:  here is the same dress in black, worn as a maternity dress because it was super comfy!  If only I had thought of this before.

Beret

Coming to you from last night, letting you know how it went...

I think it turned out pretty darn good!  What do you think?  I wasn't too rusty after all and I finished it by time the football game ended.  A functional accessory for the upcoming season!

I used a super simple pattern that is very easy to follow that can be found here.  I added two more rows onto the expanded part of the beret for a fuller look.

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Supporter of new blogs?  My sister, Casual, started an awesome new blog about her, as she would call them, unfortunate quirks (I would call them hilarious, because that's what she is; hilarious!).  She is a comedian by nature and it's about time she started sharing her stories with the world.  As she would say, It's Never A Casual Friday!  Check it out, just don't laugh so hard you fall off your dinosaur...  (Step Brothers...get it?... Anyone?  ...we're big on movie quotes around here)

A Beautiful Disaster

That's what I would refer to my motherhood as...

When we leave the house Bryan always laughs at me because I have a whole mess of stuff neatly packed into my diaper bag that never seems to be big enough.  "We'll only be gone for 20 minutes."  Being the overly prepared mother that I am, I know better than that.  You never know when you're going to need a change of clothes for a dirt lovin' toddler, or if the weather changes from 90 degrees to freezing (evidently I'm prepared for natural disasters too), or even when you'll need to change a diaper.  Then there's snacks for baby, mom, and dad, along with a sippy cup and a water bottle; Bryan is always lecturing us on the importance of hydration ("My leg hurts..."  "Drink Water.").  You can't forget the fundamentals; wallet, keys, phone, and sunglasses (that go into a case that's way to bulky).  I even have hand sanitizer, lotion, a pen and notepad, a few First Aid items, because you never know when dad will need pain killers, ointment, and band aids, and how can you forget a few basic beauty essentials for mom; chapstick, lipgloss, bobby pins, and a manicure set.  Besides, it's better to have something and not need it than need something and not have it, right?  Please tell me I'm not the only obsessive compulsive parent out there...

After having gone through many diaper bags over the past year, it's obvious, I'm picky.  If it lays wrong, if I don't feel organized, it just doesn't work out.  So I took to making them.  The most recent one I made lasted for well over 6 months and I wonder how.  With no zipper, drawsting, or cinch, it was open for the world to see what I carried around with me and worse when it was placed on a flat surface.

Before:  Open for all eyes to see

New and Improved!  A cinched tote with room to spare, and it's reversible!  My husband called it my Santa Bag, I guess it's pretty big.  The tutorial I used for this oversized tote I found at This Big Oak Tree.  Although it doesn't say it's reversible, it's pretty easy to make it.  All you have to do is flip it right side out and weave the belt back through the button holes on the outside.  Just make sure to use two different coordinating fabrics, that you will enjoy!  In my case, I've been looking at these two silk pillow cases for a couple of months now.  Mark it up to my frugality!

After:  Privacy

An Array of Texture Tuesday, Tuxedo Blouse

Welcome to the very first Tuesday of  An Array of Texture!  I thought I would start this Tuesday off by the use of my trusty closet.  After rummaging through all of the forgotten items that have been lost in the dark over the years, I came up with my first exciting piece...

A white button-up shirt with three quarter sleeves.  Not a vintage piece, but in dire need of a textile lift.

I decided to take this plain button-up and attempt to transform it into a tuxedo style blouse.

Step 1:  Using a lace trim, I sewed it into place on both sides of the button holes and buttons running the length of the shirt.

Step 2:  With the same trim lace, I sewed it around the opening of the sleeve.

And with these two easy steps, I created a beautiful tuxedo style blouse.  Success!  What do you think,  does a little texture go a long way?