Refashion Rescue: 60s Style Earrings

I loved the shape of these drop earrings when I scooped them up for $1 at a local flea market- however, I wasn't in love with the color so I just painted them! This is super simple and very similar to my vintage hand mirror refashion post. Now I love their 1960s look and they will be much more versatile!

Refashioning a Jewelry Piece:

1. Gather Supplies.
• Jewelry piece you want to change the color of (Could be anything! Jewelry with details that are semi-flat or flat are easier)
• Krylon silver foil metallic spray paint (or whatever color you prefer)
• Cosmetic wedge sponge
2. Spray your paint on the sponge and press onto the piece.
3. Repeat until you get the desired effect/ level of coverage.
4. Let it dry and enjoy your new jewelry piece! 

Do you have any other jewelry refashions or DIY's? I'd love to hear them!

DIY Jeweled Sandals

Earlier this summer I was dying for jeweled sandals- something that would instantly dress up basics (I don't wear flip flops ever!) However- when I looked around the prices were just ridiculous for jeweled sandals- like $60-$80 for nice ones that didn't look horribly cheap. So I was off to gather some supplies for my own attempt...

Supply List:

• Flat sandals (or any shoe for that matter). A nude color is best but otherwise a color that will coordinate with the colors you plan to do your gems in. Also don't choose ones with straps that are too thick (the gem won't cover enough space) or too thin (the gem will not be secure enough). Cost: $3 @ thrift store
• Bag of gems (variety pack comes in a clear plastic bag) from Michaels.  These can be more expensive so check for on sale or grab a coupon online. The bag comes with tons of colors/sizes/shapes so you will have a million left over for more DIYs.  Cost: $9
• Flip flop glue from Michaels. You could probably also use another adhesive but I wasn't sure.   I had doubts the gems would really adhere well but this worked incredibly well! Cost: $3

Directions:

1. Lay out the gems you want to use and try your best to place on shoe to map out the placement.
2. Glue on, wait to dry and your done!

Total Project Cost: $15 (but with tons of gems left over to inspire oodles of other projects :)

The Faded Diary: Flashback

Hi Readers!
I wanted to do a flashback of some of my favorite posts since I started my blog this past April. I'm excited to share that I now have 20 followers! I know that's not a lot but I'm just happy to have someone else reading along besides my husband :) So thank you!
Peruse the past below (click on the link to go to the post) and see if there is anything new to you...

Vintage Bride

30s on Jones

Time Traveling & Print-Mixing

Sheer Seventies

Flights of Fabric

Refashion a Kids Dress into an Apron

Makeup Bag Blues

 

Dinner Party

A Day Off

Reverse Refashion

Inspired by India

Flapper Fun

Oh, and if you enjoy my blog but haven't yet subscribed, be sure to click "Follow" so I know I have readers out there :) I've also had some questions from a few friends about how to stay up to date with posts-you can either:
1) Click "Read Along By Email" to get posts in your inbox  OR
2) Click "Subscribe" if you use Google Reader etc.

And as always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts & comments!
Which post was your favorite?

Outfit Snap: Day Off

Here's a casual outfit I wore recently for hangin around town... featuring a vintage pajama top I thrifted recently. Did I mention that I love wearing pajama pieces for outerwear??! (I've got some pj pants to debut soon!)

Outfit details:
Vintage pajama top- thrifted
Shorts- jeans stolen from husbands closet & cut into shorts
Hat- Nine West @ Belk
Flats- thrifted
Floral bike basket- DIY project- Walmart basket w/ Dollar Tree flowers attached using fishing wire

(No Sew) Refashion a Kids Dress into an Apron

I spied the most gorgeous little girls dress recently while thrifting with my Aunt Sandy and since I have no little girl to wear it, we thought it would be oh so easy to turn into an apron.

You want to look for these full-skirted dresses that already have a sash to tie in the back. Just check the zipper placement to be sure it can be cut where you want to.

All I did was:
1. Waited for my husband to be gone.
2. Got fabric scissors and cut the skirt off.
3. Tied it on and swirled around like mad, imagining myself as a 50s housewife.

If you know how to sew then you can figure out how to do this even better! A tip is to watch the size- we found another cute dress but it was too small to make a proper apron- just hold the skirt up to you and tie on and check that it covers the front enough. If your wondering, my dress was a size 6x.

There are so many dress options out there that would make darling aprons. We spied floral prints, frills, flounces, and beautiful taffeta plaids that would transport you into a gorgeous holiday hostess circa 1952!

Have you any other ideas or past projects for refashioning children's clothing?

Lamp skirt DIY

I refashioned an old mini skirt into a lamp shade cover...



Exhibit A: inappropriately tiny skirt



Here's how you can:

1. Figure out what old shade you want to cover up or spruce up.
Measure how wide the top is and the length. (My medium sized shade was about 9 inches wide and 9.5 in length).

2. Find mini skirts.
The shorter the better- (think teen sizes). If you no longer have your old high school duds you may want to hit up local thrift shops! Look out for stretchy or adjustable waistbands that can fit over your shade's width & will cover the length. If not exact length you can add trim or cut it and add trim. Search out the color you would like and look for fabrics and textures that coordinate with the space. For the most part, the dressier the fabric the better. Don't forget that prints make a great impact as well as skirts with lots of detail like ruffles, tiers, lace, and so on.

3. Put a skirt on it.
Yep, that's it.

4. Accessorize if needed. 
Use brooches or trim applied with fabric glue to be done with it.

Outfit details:
Skirt- Abercrombie and Fitch (will be vintage in about 8 years)!


I look forward to sharing more DIY recycled projects in the future with you!
One disclaimer though:
I'm real lazy and will not spend oodles of time on any project. Another confession- I can't sew (yet). So in light of all this, any project I share will likely require minimal skill, time and effort. I am not about perfection- I just want the "look" and to go on with my life!

Playclothes!

On my days off, I always look for the most comfy, easiest thing I can throw on... I just want to get out of the house as quick as I can and walk around beautiful Savannah!

So I have quite a few of these Hanes men's v-necks-
I consider these staples and I love wearing them around- but even that gets old- and the heat here lately makes sleeveless tops a better option! So, armed with a pair of scissors and two black shoelaces my husband tried to throw out the other day, I altered it a bit.

 







After cutting the sleeves shorter and the v-neck off, I just gathered the fabric on each shoulder together and tied in a bow with the laces.
That's it.
























Sorry I look so sad in this shot- maybe it was the sudden rain outside that forced us in! So instead of seeing playclothes having fun outside you get a boring wall and carpet backdrop :(

Outfit details:
T-shirt- Hanes (altered & embellished)
Play shorts- Forever 21
Black patent baby sandals- Belk
Nail color- Urban Outfitters "crowded"
Heart sunglasses- I forgot (old)!

What's your favorite DIY T-shirt idea you've seen or done?

Satin Ribbon Lash Luxury

So I was feeling experimental one night recently and got this idea of cutting a satin ribbon to create faux false lashes!

All I did was take a razor blade and start shredding the ribbon. The pieces came out looking like false lash strips which is where I got the notion to do this look. I applied the strips with lash adhesive- not incredibly effective for long wear but I think works fine for photos.

I kind of like the Twiggy-esque look of this for dramatic bottom lashes.... kind of a neat (and frugal) alternative to using up lots of false lashes if you want to have fun with 60s makeup looks for photos.

This was really just a thrown together look.... I touched up my eyes with shadow to finish it off.

So what had me playing with ribbon in the first place is a tip I found in this book:

 
That being- in the 1950s, Elizabeth Arden recommended "velvety lashes"- a look to be achieved by scraping a velvet ribbon with a razor blade and then apply by rolling your mascara wand into it and then onto the lashes.

When I read this I didn't have a velvet ribbon on hand so I haven't tried it yet but as you see I got another idea from the satin ribbon.

Retro Makeup by Lauren Rennells is honestly a must-have book for anyone who wants step by step instructions for recreating a vintage makeup look. It's filled with TONS of images and I love that there are lots of examples and interesting tid-bits that are lesser known. Even if you know a bit about vintage makeup already, you will find this book useful. To date it's really the best vintage makeup guide book I've found. (Emphasis on guide here because unlike lots of others out there this book will show you how to achieve the looks and give you the context).

More info available on the book here.

Also, Lauren has an awesome vintage beauty blog that I follow that you will want to check out if you love vintage makeup and hair- Bobby Pin Blog.

If anyone tries this with velvet ribbon let me know how it turns out!

DIY modern 1930s nails: part 2

As a follow up to my post on how to do a modern update on the 1930s half moon manicure,  here are some other color combos that I've tried and liked. (I'm also dying to try out white and black as in the image above, however applying the white takes more time and precision- more on that later). For now, some recommendations for the easy glitter route....







Left to right:

Mac Turnelle (or any deep black)/ LA colors Art deco in silver (best deal at dollar tree)

Essie chinchilly (or OPI french quarter for your thoughts)/ wet and wild party of five glitters

Mary Kay plush plum/ Lancome limited edition golden hat collection #003*

*I LOVE this gold color- hard to find glitter like this and looks awesome all over the nail as well!

The middle duo would be best if you want to try out this trend in a more subtle way- as the drama of this look generally comes from high contrast combinations.

DIY modern 1930s nails

Ever need to get a fill-in but no time to get to the nail salon? Or like me, you just want a way to make your manicure last longer? Personally, I love this quick fix solution- such a modern update on the half moon manicure that was so stylish in the 1930s....






all over color: urban outfitters smush
Moon color: obsessive compulsive cosmetics






If you know me, you've probably noticed that I'm a big fan of the half moon manicure and all the different possibilities for color combos! I have so many favorites and there are different techniques out there so I will be doing a follow up post on this subject later along with a little more history!

For now, here's my quick shortcut technique for getting the look that can be accomplished in a matter of minutes for the lazy fashionista that wants a funky update on this vintage manicure style. FYI- The reason this can be done so quickly and you don't notice imperfections much is because of the texture of the glitter.


How to:
1) Likely you will need to first apply a fresh coat of your existing color or a similar color I'd you don't have the same polish. Let dry- doesn't need to be completely dry though.

2)Using a glitter nail polish of your choice (I prefer silver, gold, or rainbow-shown here), apply only to the moon area at the base of you nails, creating a curvy half circle shape. I recommend starting out small and then making the moon area larger if desired.

3) Reapply glitter to make more opaque if desired (that's the look I did).

4) Let it dry a bit then finish with a clear top coat avoiding the glitter area.

Tip:
Look for glitter polish that is more opaque/thick with lots of sparkles than translucent and you will get the look much easier. Also, the thicker the glitter, the more it camouflages the space where you need a fill-in (if you have fake nails).