What we wore: Martha and Nellie {Art Walk}

Sometimes you meet someone and from the beginning, you just know that you are meant to be friends.

Martha and I met in October and after getting to know each other, it became obvious to both of us that we value and appreciate the same things.

Its hard to make new friends as an adult, especially outside of the work realm. To meet someone with so many similar interests and sense of style, in rural southwest Missouri, that is pretty awesome.

So, here is a new little feature on this blog: What we wore! Every time we get together, we both appreciate what the other is wearing so much that I thought it would be fun to show it off a little.

Martha just started her own pop up vintage shop called Fluffy Pop. She has an amazing little travel trailer full of handmade crafts and art and vintage clothing. She has amazing style and a great eye.

Last month, we wandered around the Joplin Art Walk. It was a little bit hot and steamy, we were both sweating our bangs off by the end of it....but it was a fun night and a good memory. We stopped at the 9art photo booth for this cute little mustache pic.

Thanks for reading!!

New Vintage Dining Room and Hungry Caterpillar Halloween Costume!

So crowded!

With nothing on the calendar this weekend, I made the most of every minute!


Friday night, watched Mad Men and ate sushi on the couch.


Saturday, went to Springfield to do some vintage shopping...had lunch with some great friends....

Best of all, found a great new dining table...completely made-over my dining room with the new find.


The old dining table was nice, but I hated sitting in there because it was just too crowded. I wanted something vintage.

Old Table

 

New Table Detail

 I really wanted something that was more chrome, and more floral...but I realized a couple of things after shopping all day.

Finding a chrome dining set, with 6 chairs, and two leaves under $500 in good condition that didn't clash with my orange paint and stripes would be next to impossible.

New Table Chair Detail

So I felt really lucky to find this set with the dark green chairs.


When I found the floral table cloth, I was in love with the whole arrangement!

 This is now my favorite room in the house! A great place to eat, pin ideas to my pin boards on pintrest, or type up new blog posts.

Sunday morning, in my newly revamped space, I spent a few {hours} on pintrest, brainstorming ideas for my Halloween costume this year. I have to dress as a story book character for my school carnival, so I always scramble around at the last minute trying to figure out what to be...I usually throw something together...this year, I wanted to make something really cool...but I wasn't sure what.....

Then I saw the cutest picture of a baby in a Very Hungry Caterpillar costume...and I realized that it would be easy and super cute to make for myself. The baby version was crochet, so I googled for more ideas.

I was delighted to find all kinds of things for inspiration.

When I went hunting in my stash for green fabric...I had very little...hmmmm. I wanted to start on it right away, and I did not want to have to run around town finding green fabric so I had to improvise. When I spotted a white pillow case in my stash....I thought it might work to paint the fabric?

Um, yes. Painting the fabric...that would definitely work. So I painted one side of the pillowcase with 'Eric Carle' colors and textures. After it dried, I peeled it apart and cut out arm holes and  a neck hole....it was a little too tight to wear as a dress and be comfortable...so I decided to turn it into an apron.

I cut the bottom to be sort of rounded and started sewing lines across the front to make the segments of the caterpillar's body.

Then I stuffed those segments with batting, added some ribbon around the top for the neck, and added one of the few green strips of fabric that I had for the waistband.

The hat was tough. I have only ever made a few hats. I made a 'trial' hat.....but it was too small...so I thought I could just make the red one little bit bigger....that didn't really work, so I started sewing together little panels, sort of like a beach ball...the result is a little bit wonky, but I stuffed some purple felt antenas and added some felt shapes for the eyes and nose and it looks pretty cute.

The last thing I made was the feet. I just cut out a foot pattern, traced it on brown fabric....sewed two pieces of brown fabric together to make little 'pillows'. I attached those to the body, and viola! A caterpillar costume. I plan to wear it over a long-sleeved green shirt, and a pair of pants. It should be easy to take on and off, and it won't be too hot.

I have a little 'Hungry Caterpillar' bag, I am thinking about putting some food in there from the book: Lolly pop, apple, orange, etc.

For the school carnival, I was sort of thinking about taking my brown sleeping bag to school so that I could curl up in my 'chrysalis' in the corner...wonder if I could get away with that?

 

Oh mah gosh!

Did you guys watch the New Girl last night? Well, if you did not, you totally need to find it online and watch it. I laughed hysterically throughout the show, and I haven't done that with a new show in so long!

This year, I have been infusing lots of vintage into my wardrobe at school. I am super inspired by Mad Men and vintage looks I have found on Pintrest.  Here are some of my favorite outfits.

Okay, now I am going to get back to my t.v.....so many shows premier this week, my DVR is already super full!!

~Nellie

Nellie DOES Love Vintage

Wow, I have so much stuff to write about and so little time.

It is the first of August which means unfortunately, my summer vacation is pretty much done.

I plan to go to school today and do a bit of work in my room so that I can be ready for Open House in a two weeks. Bleh. I am not ready to go back. I have enjoyed every single second of my break. I have a bad feeling about this year. Last year wasn't my favorite, and I am worried that this year will just be bad. I don't know why. I am hoping I am wrong.....but I am just uneasy about everything.

Over the weekend I had a nice little trip to St. Louis to visit some friends and watch an viewing for a short film. It was great! Went to the art museum, did some vintage browsing, and ate some yummy sushi. Oh yeah, and I had FROYO....we don't have any place for that here so I always try to get some if I go anywhere that might have it. ;-)

On Friday,  decided to wear the most perfect vintage dress ever. I found this dress a while back and I have been saving it. It is my favorite vintage find. I paired it up with a headband and some heels. EEK!

Wow, Ken Robinson's video on creativity and education is just incredibly inspiring. If you have a few minutes, go watch it!

Also, be sure to read my Birds of a Feather post today.

Anyhoo....I'm off to work at school...Bachelorette finale tonight, Lady Gaga tomorrow night in KC....Anyone else doing either of those? I'm excited for both!

Deer Karma,

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to go to a local thrift store for the first time. We have lots of flea markets, second hand stores and antique malls so there are many to explore in this area, and I had just heard about this one. I went by myself, which is unusual because I rarely go on such an adventure when I am alone.

This particular antique mall was a real winner. I found lots of good things including an owl trivet, a beautiful flower cross stitch, a jar of buttons, a tin match holder, and the most perfect white Japanese ceramic fawn. This was the first such fawn I have found at a local thrift store so I was thrilled to get to take her home. She was the most perfect little deer in the entire world!

I happened to have a large collection of things in my arms when I was shopping so I made a small pile at the front counter while I toured the store. I noticed a sign, quite frequently throughout the shop. 'You Break It, You Buy It' in green marker was clearly posted and I silently chuckled to myself, what clumsy oaf would break something in a store like this....haha.....As I shopped, I could hear the women at the front counter cackling loudly and talking about the nature of their work....I could also hear the twang of a country song playing softly over the speakers. The store wasn't very crowded, a couple of boys with their dads...a woman with her sister in a motorized wheel chair, a couple of old men, another lady or two prodding around with piles of thrifted goodies.

At one point, I was half-way through the store and I reached for a jar of buttons. I misjudged the location of a precariously stacked salt shaker on top of the button jar and much to my dismay, it tumbled off when I picked up the buttons and crashed loudly on the cement floor. The glass shattered and for a second after the loud smashing noise, there was nothing....The women at the front had stopped talking, and I froze in my tracks. 'You break it, you buy it...you clumsy oaf,' nice going.....

I heard the woman a the counter say something like "I know where that came from" and I imagine that she walked over to the little boys that were with their dads or somewhere else in a direction opposite of where I was standing. At that point I grabbed the intact salt shaker and checked the price...$12.00???!!!!??! Okay. Big decision to make here. Do I go up to the front and confess and pay the whopping $12.00 for a broken shaker...or do I kick the remnants under the rug and pretend that it never happened??

For most honest people, this would be an easy decision. But I really struggled with what to do. I already had a large stack of things that I really wanted today...and if I had to pay for the broken shalt shaker I would have to put back some of the things I really wanted.

I decided to compromise. I bought the jar of buttons from the booth....and kicked the broken salt shaker under some shelves. It would probably be weeks before anyone noticed that it was missing anyway. Besides, there didn't seem to be anything special about the clear salt shaker with a red lid. I ended up spending nearly $50 in the store so I felt like I was doing the right thing at the time.

A few days later, I was setting up a still life in my kitchen. I wanted to take some pictures for a photo scavenger hunt and I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of the white fawn yet! I grabbed some fabric and as I was trying to arrange it on a shelf for a backdrop, I set the little white deer down for just a second. Before I knew what happened, that beautiful-perfect-in-every-way-little-angle deer fell of the shelf, slammed onto the counter and smashed into 6 horrifying chunks. Oh no! I hadn't even gotten to take a picture of her yet!! Quickly, I tried to get my glue gun going and then super glue and as hard as I tried to put my little humpty dumpty back together again, it was uselsess with her fragile little legs, and that one tiny missing shard....she would never walk or stand or be beautiful again. I was so bummed. SO BUMMED.

Not fair. She didn't deserve to go out like that. That poor, sweet little deer did not deserve an ending so terrible. How could this have hap----oh wait......Karma.....right.....The deer didn't deserve it, but I definitely did. Right. My grieving period for the deer was cut completely short by the fact that I realized what had happened and why.

In a much related note....my one little word for the year is 'Give.' I haven't done much giving the past couple of weeks so I decided to do something for one of my students at school.

This little girl is so sweet and happy and special. I decided to buy her some new shoes and a new dress...I can't really tell you all the details of her situation, but she definitely deserves everything and I know she will be totally grateful. I went shopping for her right after school on Friday...and it felt so good picking out the things for her, just because it was the right thing to do...not because I want anything in return...I just want to make this little girl feel good.

On Saturday, I went to another antique mall....and I happened upon the most delightful family of fawns. Each one more beautiful than the broken white fawn from a few weeks ago. I knew they were meant for me.

I couldn't afford them all...but I brought a few home...and whispered to the rest "I'll be back for you" ....and I know they will still be there as long as I keep doing the right thing and being a good person.

Deer Karma,
I got your message. I will do better next time.....
p.s. thanks for the fawns.....
nellie

Thrifting the weekend away.....

Last weekend was so nice! Well, it was rainy and foggy...but I stayed up late crafting and slept really late...I also got some great finds at thrifty shops around town. Here are some of my favorite finds:

This owl was gold...I turned him green...lime green...isn't he so cool!!! I am still trying to find the perfect place for him.


These owls are going in my bathroom...on a shelf...they will look so cool in there!





Okay...I have wanted to create some spray painted birds every since I saw the idea over at Rachie's Place. Read more here.



In addition to all the cutie birds, I also found a box of vintage fabric at the flea market.....for $10...these are my favorites:

I already used that green polka dot stuff on my colored pencil sketchbook!

But there are tons of them....perfect for practicing my new sewing skills....

...and she even threw in some really cool quilt blocks!


Well, I hope you are having a great weekend too!!