Anthropologie Inspired Box

Do any of you get the Anthropologie catalogs? I can pore over their yummy clothes and beautiful photos all day. Anyway, their last one was very imaginative, with lots of pretty vintage pictures - so pretty! Useful, too. I love using vintage pictures in my collages. And I came up with the perfect use for them. My mother gave me some old metal boxes to use for storage, and they were nice, but I thought...there's got to be a way to make these not only functional, but decorative as well. So I used my favorite technique with the phone book pages to cover the entire box with torn up pages. Then I took some ripped up sheet music and cut out a bunch of pictures. Some I had had before, but most of them were from the Anthro catalog. Then I outlined the torn paper edges in sharpie to give it some interesting depth. I did three coats of glue on top so they could withstand the "elements" of my room, and I was done.

Time-consuming, but simple. Here's how it turned out:



Pretty, right? And totally free, which is the best part of all.



What do you think?(: I really love how it turned out, and it's prefect for storing all my ribbons and sewing things.

Have a lovely day!

Anthro-Inspired Plate

I've been attempting to redecorate my room lately, and so far, the process, if a bit slow, is going well, and my room is looking lovely. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I took an old blue plate that I had found in a drawer, and remade it to look like an Anthropologie plate that I had seen in their catalog.

Theirs:



Mine:



It's simply freehand sharpie. Pretty cute, huh? It was tricky, though, since I couldn't erase anything! But I like how it turned out, and it looks perfect with the rest of my decor.
Very simple and easy, if you're good with freehand.



She isn't quite the same, but then I'm always super critical of my drawings. It's similar, anyway!

I have more posts coming soon, so bear with me!

Post #50! & Blog Makeover

Hi, everyone! It's been awhile since I last posted, almost a month! But I promise that I have some cool stuff coming up. I just finished downloading all my photos, so be prepared for at least a couple posts in the next few days.

First things first, what do you think of the new blog? I really love how simple and clean it is. I had it made over by Paige of Simply Handmade by Paige, and I think she did a really great job. She has a great blog, with lots of sweet tutorials -

Like these:

An Anthro-Style Shirt

Ruffle Dress

Very cute, right? =)

Paige also has a very sweet etsy shop called Pink Lemonade, where she sells some of her creations. My favorites include:

This headband:


& this bib necklace


Definitely check out her blog and shop. You're guaranteed to find something you love.



(All photos from Simply Handmade by Paige and Pink Lemonade)

The Fungus Among Us

Don't ask me why (I don't know myself), but mushrooms are one of my loves. Those swollen masses of fungal mycelium really get to me. They're so tiny and sweet (some of them, anyway), and remind me of the fairy circles I read about as a little girl. I recently discovered several clumps on a hill, to my delight and my parents' dismay. And since it was such a lovely day, I went out (still in my velvet and tights from the capelet post) to photograph them.


This guy was a loner with an interesting shape.


It looks like an animal may have taken a bite out of this one...

And I took a couple flower pictures as well, since it was so sunny and they looked so cheery in the light.





And do you want to know something strange? Though I may love to study and look at mushrooms, I can't stand to eat them.(:

Have a lovely day~!

Capelet From Men's Sweatshirt

My poor, neglected blog...how long has it been since I posted?? I think the last time was October 9, almost a full month ago! Needless to say, school devours most of my time, though I have somehow managed to find time for crafting and relaxing (the two are almost synonymous), but not so much for blogging...I think it's mainly laziness, but I'm going to blame it on school. After December 16, I'm free! (for a month, anyway) And that should mean plenty of posts.

Well, where to start? I suppose I should probably explain how I came to have gigantic, ugly gray sweatshirts in the first place. Long story made short, my aunt (well-meaning) asked me awhile back if I'd like some old sweatshirts to cut up. Excuse me, but the first thing that came to my mind were colorful, zip-down hoodies, probably from her kids. Um, no. Three extra-large men's sweatshirts in that odious gray color that I hate so much. I saw them and thought, "What on earth am I going to do with these?!" But I always come up with something, and last month, I saw this lovely capelet on Ruche:



And I thought, "Hmm...now, doesn't that bottom part look exactly like sweatshirt material?" You know how in cartoons they have that little light bulb that goes off when someone gets an idea? That was me. =)

And so I dismantled an extra-large sweatshirt, took the bottom of a jersey skirt I had shortened, and sewed them together, embellishing the top with a vintage button from my mother's collection and some roses from a craft store. When I was making it, I was watching "Squanto: a Warrior's Tale" at the same time, and I was very much inspired by the monk's habits. Which may sound weird, but I loved how they draped. I'd love a habit of my own, though no tonsure, please!

Here's how it turned out:



You can't see it well, but I added ruching at the top to give it that drape-y look.
I wore it to church (a bit nervously, as I've never worn anything like it), and got loads of compliments. It's also very warm, which I hadn't counted on either.

And the back:


Simple, yet elegant.





All photos are courtesy of my lovely sister.(:

Have a lovely day~!