// #thriftstylethursday // Thrift Swap & Giveaway

I'm pretty excited about today's post, guys. Martyna, one of us Thrift Style Thursday girls who blogs over at Spoolish, had an idea a little while back to set up a swap between us. We'd go thrifting on a budget for our partner, throw in a few extra special gifts and send off our packages after having styled the pieces we chose. I'll start with the items I chose for my partner: Martyna!

She specifically requested long sleeved t-shirts and cute dresses. I was able to find two long sleeved t-shirts in a soft heathered maroon and a soft gray and white polka dot. No luck on the dresses, but I did come across this fun animal print body con skirt that I thought would look awesome on her.

After a bit of playing around, I came up with these three flat lays to style each piece. The first is nice and comfy: long sleeved t-shirt with a black and white scarf, boyfriend jeans and some Chucks. The next look is definitely girls' night out (or date night) with a lacy black top, statement necklace, dangly earrings, and some sparkly heels. Last, but not least is another comfy but cute look: polka dot t-shirt, long necklace, dangly earrings, cutoff jean shorts and beaded mocs.

Can't wait to see how Martyna styles these pieces!!! Now, for my package. First off, Martyna is ridiculously good at this kind of thing and included little notes with super sweet and useful extras :) These buttons are AMAZING and I can't wait to put them to use! Seriously?! Holy Mother of Pearl ;)

She also included some pretty envelopes for my crafting, some of her favorite teas (which I immediately made use of because they arrived when I was sick), and a note sharing a little about each piece. Then, today, I saw this on the back of her card...P.S. Want to be pen pals? YES!!!

Then, there's this. It's a totally cool vintage pillow case that she's been hanging onto thinking she'd make it into something. But now I get to make it into something for both of us!

Ok, to the clothes. The first piece is this bright pink Tommy Hilfiger button-up. I decided to go with the preppy feel of this top and paired it with my diy ombre dyed skirt and a pair of gray and pink flats. Something about the pink top and navy striped skirt just works for me!

The next piece is this floral cardigan. Now, I love me a cardigan, and pretty much anything floral makes me happy. I paired it with this casual jersey knit dress in charcoal gray, and kept the same shoes on because they matched nicely :)

Talk about a happy mail day when this kind of package comes your way...want one of your own? We are hosting a giveaway in which FOUR, yes four, lucky readers will win a thrifted look picked by us! Want to enter? Here's the info...

You can enter up to 36 times by following the participating ladies on any or all forms of their social media. So get to it! We are excited to try out our thrifting skills on some of you :).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that you've entered, make sure to check out my swap partner, and all the others' posts! Here's a list to make it easier :)

My partner: Martyna of Spoolish

Carissa of Carissa Knits and Miche of Buttons and Birdcages

Zhenya of Being Zhenya and Beth of Bethie the Boo

Kristi of Delightfully Kristi and Brittany of The B Life

Peace,

Andrea

// #thriftstylethursday // Winter Blues

When I chose this week's theme it was not meant to cause the winter blues but to inspire us to shake them off...those of us still experiencing winter, that is ;). Some of you are lucky enough to be enjoying other lovely seasons. Winter definitely gets me down on the yearly and though there are tried and true methods of busting up the blues, I still succumb and hit the "I hate winter and everything about it and everyone involved in liking it" stage... Time to stop. Winter may last a bit longer around here or it may be on its way out for good, either way, I gotta accentuate the positive, so to speak.

And I think today's look does just that! It is all thrifted, all blue (with some metallic and cognac hints), and flattering.

I bought this dress (yes, it's a dress but knotted up I can wear it as a top!) a year or so ago and haven't worn it yet. I keep planning to, but I've got to reattach a couple of buttons, which I now find I've misplaced. :-/ I love the rich embroidery, woven accent fabrics, and the pretty faceted clear buttons. The scarf was thrifted more recently but also has seen little use, so to keep my neck cozy while taking pics, I decided to throw it on. And I don't hate that it's a bit matchy-matchy! The jeans I just found two weeks ago and have worn them a couple times. My boots are the pair I wear most often and have been repaired to live another several years on my feet. I love them. That is all.

And now, to overload you with photos of this look because I love it so much! Feel free to quickly scroll past in order to reach the links to my fellow Thrift Style Thursday bloggers.

And now, click on the pics of each of these ladies to see what they've come up with for the Winter Blues, and if you want to visit our FB page, click the image in the center! Oh, oh, oh!! I almost forgot! Be sure to check back in tomorrow as some of us participated in a swap with each other and we'll be sharing our thrifted gifts :) We'll also be offering you a chance to win a thrifted look of your own!

Peace,
Andrea

A Quick Refashion

So I posted a pic of this sneak peek at a refashion I had an idea for a few weeks back on Instagram.

Then, I didn't do the refashion. Life is busy. I'm working more (which is great) but haven't found the balance yet between that, my family, my hobbies, and cleaning...yes, that totally deserves its own category! ;) So the blog is slightly neglected as is my refashioning pile. But this weekend, I got to it!

I started out with this tunic that had darts at the hemline...don't ask why that's a good idea in a woven fabric. I unpicked the darts and the hemline first. Then I took this 'made in Nepal' thrifted silk scarf and zigzagged it to the bottom of the tunic, about two inches up from the hemline. There was a small hole just below that point, so I wanted to cover that, while keeping the final hemline above the knee.

The excess fabric underneath is still there for now. I was essentially too lazy to trim it and finish it, though that will only take a matter of minutes once I get to it. I had also opened up one side seam of the tunic's hem so that I could then sew down the side seam after attaching the scarf. I trimmed off the excess scarf material, zigzagged the raw edges and also stitched down the seam at the new hem and where the scarf connects to the tunic, then pressed the seam open.

And that's it. I think I'll actually do one more quick fix after seeing the finished product in pictures, which is to stitch down the scarf much closer to the top edge so that it doesn't stand out from the tunic so much...does that make sense? I zigzagged it onto the tunic about a quarter inch from the top edge of the scarf and it looks a little funny. Anywho, I didn't iron it before snapping some pics, but here's the after!

I styled it first a little dressier with thrifted heels, necklace and clearance earrings.

And a little more casual with a thrifted belt and clearance sandals. I don't love the styling on either, but I was pressed for time. I can work out how I'll actually wear it once warmer weather hits.

For now I've got another easy dress to add to my wardrobe. I'm not in love with it yet, and may never be, so it could find its way into my Instagram shop at a later date. Time will tell! Here's the before and after.

Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts on if you would have done the same, chosen a different fabric to lengthen the tunic into a dress, and used the scarf for something else entirely.

Happy Monday, and Happy Refashioning!
Peace,
Andrea

// #thriftstylethursday // Luck of the Irish

We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the theme Luck of the Irish for this week's Thrift Style Thursday post. Thank you Beth of Bethie the Boo for picking my favorite color :). Though, for being my favorite color, green probably features less than other colors in my wardrobe. I've been on a big blue kick lately. Anywho, back to the green!

I picked one of my fav (and one of yours as well based on post views) thrifted refashion projects. The Green Granny Silk blouse I made over earlier last year. It's easy and a little oversized and flowy...perfect kind of silk blouse, in my opinion. I chose a pair of skinny gray cords I bought on clearance that have fun zipper details at the hip and ankle.

Then, I figured that even though I'm just kicking around the apartment today cursing the weather that calls for more snow tomorrow, I may as well accessorize a tiny bit, and picked out a pair of earrings that were a gift from my husband purchased from a local maker, and a pair of thrifted moccasins.

I think the earrings definitely bring it up a notch ;).

For my actual St. Patty's Day outfit, I only went with a small touch of green in the form of my doily diy shoe makeover found here.

The shoes along with a comfy chambray, white tank and thrifted skinny jeans seemed like just enough of a good thing.

Now go over and check out all the green-inspired thrifted fashions the ladies came up with!

Peace, Andrea