yellow sweater, Target skirt, blue gingham shirt

my talented sister hand knit this yellow sweater when we lived in Georgia.  it is at least 20 years old.  it's bright yellow (can you see?) and has patchwork design.  first time i'm wearing it in years and am so glad i kept this sweater for sentiments it brings. 

yellow sweater - made by my sister

gray sparkly skirt - Target's clearance ($13!)

black suede wedge booties - Urban Outfitters

tights - not sure

bracelet and earrings - Kohl's (old)
Liz Claiborne black "alligator" purse - Goodwill

Not Just Dorothy
in the spring i will be pairing this gray sparkly skirt from above picture with my not just Dorothy shirt from Sears Outlet (Land's End blue gingham shirt $7), DSW brown sandals and Goodwill straw purse (brand new for $1).  or with another Goodwill find: white vintage woven wicker purse ($2).  what are your thoughts?  would you wear gingham?  if so, how?

pearls and ribbon necklace - Forever 21 (old)

pearls and ribbon bracelet - Old Navy (old)

ELLE, November 2010, p.130

Etsy feature: GiddyUpGirlz

ordered my gorgeous sparkly belt from Wendy (a.k.a. Thrifty Momma) on Etsy.  her shop is called GiddyUpGirlz (originally she was planning on selling western-wear exclusively).  Thrifty Momma has beautiful vintage womenswear.  i could not be happier with my belt!  please check this shop out!  here are some of my favorite items:

Sweetheart Dress $24.99

Military Madness Dress $35.00

Velvet Polka Skirt $23.99

Lady in Red Skirt $19.99

i like green, black and gold color combo.  i hope i did not look too much like a Christmas tree in this outfit.  oh well, it was just a family party hosted by my husband's cousin and his lovely wife.  needless to say, the belt had to come off during festivities ;)

black shirt - Ross (old)

black jacket - Target TJMaxx (sorry!)

green skirt - Goodwill

black and gold scarf a la Van Gogh's Starry Night - Goodwill or local antiques shop

earrings and necklace (as bracelet) - thrifted

sparkly belt - GiddyUpGirlz on Etsy

Report crinkled patent leather flats -  amazon.com

Gucci Spring 2011 from Style.com

chunky knit cable+lace+leather

chunky knit cable sweater (off white) - SteinMart

lacey skirt - SteinMart

gray shirt - Kohls

genuine leather clutch - Goodwill

ring - Target

shoes - Payless turned into DIY Louboutins

 here is an action shot of my DIY Louboutins ;)

cracking myself up b/c this ushanka is so NOT Soccer Mom

faux fur aviator hat - Target (last year's purchase)

in this hat i look more like someone from Doctor Zhivago story than a Tennessee soccer mom, but who cares?!  it's really warm, and i'm wondering why i have not thought of this before? 

what do you think of my new skirt?  i love it.  i bought the skirt from SteinMart the way you see it, but seems like an easy DIY for those of you who can sew (gray pencil skirt with black lace strips attached).  

how did this happen?

Nina 5 mos, Cordell 24 mos; Christmas 2005

my sister-in-law made Nina's dress;  Cordell's reindeer sweater is from Hartstrings (i want one like his)- Dec'10  Can you tell they have opposite personalities?

could not find Mario cake so ordered this cake with a road and added cars to the top

Thank you for my Wii.  But can I get a Mario xBox 360 too?  Cordell decided to write us a thank you note... with a request!

we celebrated my son's 7th birthday last week.  this year we decided just to have a small family party.  my kids are just 19 mos apart.  she was a surprise!  i used to amicably make fun of other friends who got pregnant by surprise but it happened to me!  where did time go?!  how did my babies grow up so fast????

Cordell, Soccer Mom and Nina - summer 2009

military coat + faux fur clutch+vintage photos

cream silk shirt - Goodwill

black pleated skirt - Goodwill

scarf - Macy's (old)

gray trouser socks - Walmart's Faded Glory

wedge boots - Urban Outfitters

ring - Target

locket - JoAnn's pendant attached to JoAnn's long chain (sold separately), also seen here

faux fur clutch - thrifted clutch with fur DIY

Topshop pleated maxi skirt for $90

of course this is not exactly like Topshop's skirt i wanted but... it's pleated, it's black, it's long and was only $2.00 at Goodwill (wearing this today)

i bought this black coat at Essex in the spring for $35.  so excited to finally get to wear it!  it's 75% lambswool, 25% camel-hair.  many times Essex has just junk but i am so glad i found this diamond in the rough!  and of course as you already guessed i replaced original buttons with JoAnn's military style hammered brass buttons.

my outfit today (especially my coat and my locket) kind of reminded me of some family vintage pictures i have brought with me from Georgia when i immigrated.  these are some of my Georgian ancestors.  original photographs.  one of them dated October 14, 1910!!!  these photos are taken 100 years ago in the country of Georgia in cities of Tiflis (now Tbilisi) and Kutaisi. 

i don't speak German but i think this last photograph says Jolly Christmas! (thanks to Google translator) in German.  the handwritten note is in Georgian language and is addressed to my great-grandmother Nadia Guelesiani from her cousins.  apparently they used photographs as greeting cards back then.  they all are on some kind of really heavy paper. Jolly Christmas to all!  shobas gilocavt! (that's in Georgian)

DIY: fur clutch

Michael Kors fur clutch (picture from become gorgeous)

Chanel fur purse (picture from becomegorgeous)

what you will need:
guinea pig clutch (mine is burgundy and has an interesting detail in front, pretty plain in the back - Goodwill $2.99)
faux fur (i used two 9x12" precut craft fur from Hobby Lobby- $2.99 each)
chain (optional) from any craft store (mine came from JoAnns and is leftover from my belt DIY)
scissors, hot glue, needle and thread

my clutch measured 10.75x7x1.75".
cut craft fur pieces in half lengthwise (i started with two 9x12" pieces) to get four long strips (i only used three of these long pieces).

i hand stitched three long strips together (even if i had a sewing machine i would not know what to do with it). 

fold above pictured  piece and stitch edges to make a "pocket" as shown below:

slide your clutch into the above mentioned "pocket":

cut an opening for closure and hot glue fur to the outside of your purse/clutch:

the step in the picture above is optional: i hot glued golden chain to the purse.  on the back side i only hot glued fur in the middle so i now have two little pockets there.

and VOILA!  my "new" fur clutch/purse.  will show tomorrow how i wore it.

12/12/10 Edit:
the day after i posted this i discovered this stylish blogger from Kentucky (we're practically next door neighbors)  Sara of shortofsomething blog and her fabulous faux fur clutch DIY.  Please check it out!  love little bow detail on her creation.  isn't it adorable?!

short of something blog

Nordophilia

D&G Fall 2010

 my inspiration today comes again from lovely Reena Rai of Fashion Daydreams.  i looked everywhere for a light fluffy maxi skirt for cheap (i mean dirt cheap) but alas!  no luck.  even could not find anything like that skirt at Goodwill :(  but i did buy two snowflake design sweaters!  the first one (the classier one) is new from Sears Outlet for $7.  the tacky sparkly one is from Goodwill for $2.  my pants came from Walmart and reminded me of ski pants.  i just had to do my elastic in the hem trick similarly to my green pair (still had elastic left over from that project).

snowflake sweater - Sears Outlet

black pants - Walmart's JMS with elastic in the hem

black suede booties - Urban Outfitters

funky black purse - Liz Claiborne Goodwill
ring - Target
fur bracelet - DIY

red sparkly snowflake sweater - Goodwill

gray lacey socks - ?

black shoes - Louboutin DIY

 vintage mink collar coat - Goodwill for $15!!!  promise to show more of this soon

 as promised i wore my "new" Louboutin DIY shoes today.  so far so good.  i will let you know if i have any problems with this but so far i am very pleased!
ain't this little Swedish family cute?  these sweaters below are on sale now at Hanna Andersson ($40 for adult sweater, $30 for kids).