Eyelet of April

 

I've recently become obsessed with buying 100% cotton tops.

 

 

I fell for this airy J. Jill swing style button down.

 

 Purchased from St. Vincent de Paul on Beechmont.

(3.99)

 I probably should have steamed this before taking photos. Oops.

Seen here with J.Crew cropped jeans I found at the same time.

($2.50) It was half off jeans day.

 

Here's the shirt in action.

And by action I mean napping in Ault park on a beautiful spring day .

 And trying to read but distracted by ants.

This was last Sunday the 14th.

The trees were looking gorgeous per usual.

(courtesy of Cory's photography skills)

All That Glitters

2013, so far, has happened in a flash. 

 

It was like staring at a fist full of glitter. Or this shirt. (Eh?)

Recently, I went to L.A. for a week to visit friends.

It was a magical time, filled with a day of vintage shopping on Melrose. 

 

I found this vintage star sequin top at American Vintage.

The shorts were jeans that I cut off and rolled. 

Top ($8) Shorts ($2.50)

 This hat was my one typical vacay souvenir.

 Found in downtown L.A. ($10)

 And just for fun, a mixed-media option.

Dress. Target. ($25)

Until next time, Bon nuit!

The Cubicle Makeover

I knew I wanted to transform my brown cube

because it looked like this...

 

As you can see, it was very brown. 

Brown walls, brown desk, brown cube walls, brown carpet.

All that fine and dandy for an office setting but

personally, I need color.

 

 

Thrift stores are often a box of puzzle pieces. 

Luckily, I'm a person who enjoys solving problems.

This fun, bright curtain was clearly the answer.

Curtain, $3, Target brand, Goodwill where Beechmont and 275 meet.

 The vertical pattern appealed to me.  

Who doesn't want their space to look taller?

 

Before

 For Christmas, my family gave me a heavy duty sewing machine.

It's sort of magic. However, I am not yet magical at sewing.

 As you can see my cube has panels.
I cut the curtain into four equal pieces and hemmed all the edges.
  I thought this would be an easy project. 
While it wasn't too difficult pinning the hem did take patience, a skill I'm still acquiring.

 After

 

 

Before                        After

 

 

Color energies me and lets the creativity flow.

 

 

The cube walls are a cork-like material.

The ease of attaching anything to the walls was the source of inspiration for this project.

Sliver thumb tacks were used to adhere the fabric and gave it an upholstered look.

Thumb tacks, $2, Michael's

 

 I did visit a fabric store during the search,

and similar prints were 4-10 dollars a yard.

I'm waaaaaaay too thrifty for that. 

While sitting at my desk,  I wanted to feel inspired not think to myself

was it worth the money?

It took about four different thrift stores trips to find the right fabric.  

Of course thrifting is a hobby of mine, so it didn't feel like work.

I suggest making thrift lists so you don't feel like you're finding nothing.

Bonsoir à partir Cincinnati Thrift!

The Green Military Sweater: Part II

 So I decided to dye my green sweater. 

When I found this sweater at Goodwill in Florence, KY, I loved the fit but wasn't crazy about the color.

See the previous post in the series here: The Green Military Sweater

Dyeing thrifted items has been an educational experience.

Problems I thought I would have, like even coloring or looking homemade, haven't been issues.
The challenges has been shrinkage (I'm guessing something to do with the chemicals in the dye)
and not achieving the total color. 
This was the issue with this dye. 

Believe it or not, I put the sweater on the left in black dye. 

As you can see, it came out dark green. 
The dye was for cotton and wool, so all polyesters, like the zipper and thread, did not dye.

You can see the zipper contrast better in this close up. 

Frankly, I'm glad it dyed dark green instead of black. That contrast would have been too harsh.

To read more about my different dyeing activities click a link below:

The Cardigan 

From Cincinnati Thrift, have a very happy New Year!

A Very Thrift-Y New Year's Eve

 When I go out for a swell time

I like to show less skin and more personality.

 For a fun and flirty New Year's Eve look, try a full skirt in a bright print.

Skirt, $2.50, St. Vincent De Paul in Mt. Washington.

Top, $7, T.J.Maxx

Shoes, $17, Target (circa 2002)

Mixing  prints may look difficult

but it you think of them as solid colors  it gets much simpler.  

Side Note: It's much easier to mix when you stick to one large-scale print.

 

 Check out my other posts on wearing thrifted, full skirts:

Full Black Skirt: Part II 

Full Black Skirt: Part I 

Wool Gray Skirt: Part I 

Wool Gray Skirt: Part II 

Have a happy New Year!

The Red Pants

 

I knew I wanted red pants this fall/winter season.

My first attempt at the trend was buying white pants and dyeing them red. 

These were my second purchase from St. Vincent De Paul in Newport.

Pants, $4

 

They are high-waisted, straight-legged pants with pleats in the front.

Due to this bold, dated look, I wanted to pair it with classic pieces to calm down the red

and of the moment items to bring it to 2012( almost 2013!)

  

Most of this outfit is thrifted.

Yellow lace puplum, $2, Goodwill in Florence Kentucky.

Black Cardigan, $15, LOFT.

 

Necklace, $2, Goodwill in Anderson Township

The chain on this necklace is rather long

so I tied the end (seen below) to draw the attention to my face.

 Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

Nautical Thrifting Nonsense

  

So I know what you're thinking...

It's the end of December, it can't be that warm in Cincinnati.

Well, you're right.  

These photos are from November 17th when it was still 60 degrees out.

I've been a little lax on the blogging.

It's 35 and snowing here, which I find to be wonderful.  

 I've started making "Thrift Lists."

These lists contain items that I'm looking for that have no real deadline. 

Here's my current list:

Bookends, artist portfolio, wedding dress and a striped shirt.

I have yet to find any of these. 
I've tried on quite a few wedding dresses and striped shirts, but none have been right.

I did however, find these lovely striped sweater.

$2.50 (half off) at Goodwill

Preppy really isn't my style

 so to counteract that vibe, I mixed it with more stripes. 
This is actually a dress a bought for Mexico last summer.  It was $18 at T.J Maxx.

Walking is one of my favorite activities. 

It's possible that I've just aged myself 60 years but

I don't care.

One of my favorite perks of my new job is being able to walk home.
I knew I needed new shoes that would be work appropriate and comfortable enough for the .7 mile stroll.
Don't know if I mentioned this before but,

I'm a boot person.

$69, Clarks from Nordstrom Rack

Stripes on stripes on stripes.

     

 Side note. 

My hair is not actually long enough the pull the bun off smoothly. There are ruffly 3 billion bobbi pins holding up the back. Fun times.

Bon nuit!