Spot the Difference

Left: my vintage heels by Nina Shoe company/ Right: Urban Outfitters black panther court shoe

Urban Outfitters Black Panther court shoe

Do you see what I see or am I imagining things?
I bought my heels back in 2010 at Goodwill for $2.50 and posted about them here and here.  The burgundy genuine suede shoes were made by Nina Shoe company.
Urban Outfitters black panther court shoe is painfully similar to Nina suede heels, is it not?  A golden panther/cat, black background; golden trim on top and bottom of the heel.
Here are more photos of me wearing beautiful Nina shoes two years ago:

DIY Idea: Heels with Metallic Detail

Urban Outfitters black suede wedges (old) with DIY metallic detailed heel

Usually, I post DIY projects that I actually like AND wear.  I love reflective mirror or metallic heels but don't think could wear them in our little suburbia (so this DIY is temporary). The idea is so easy, you can complete it under five minutes!  I love using self-adhesive Contact Paper in my projects.  It adheres firmly with no residue after removing.  Just peel off Contact Paper in case you get tired of the look. 
All you need is Stainless Steel Con-Tact Paper from Home Depot (I got mine in our local HD for only $6 for a giant roll).   This is self-adhesive so you don't need any glue.  Just cut out desired shape and attach it to the heel or make a metall cap toe shoe following instructions on A Matter of Style.
Optional:  with metallic dimensional paint make small dots to resemble screws. 

I've used Contact Paper (or Con-Tact Paper) to make my color block purse and metallic tips on my cat-eye glasses (both projects still strong and unpeeled) as well as several other projects.

DIY metallic tips with Contact Paper

DIY color block purse with Contact Paper

Inspiration for my mirror detailed wedges came from:

Topshop Reflect Metallic Heel Sandal $120

photo from Shoetease...  Can anyone please ID this shoe???

My Georgia: Flora in Caucasus

I remember after being away from home for several years (far away from home, all the way across the ocean), it was utterly exciting, strange and special to come across some flora that I recognized from back home.  It is not surprising that after being in the U.S. for 18 years now, I had to have Flora in Caucasus by Hans Heiner Buhr.  This book is available from blurb.com.
This is a collection of beautiful photographs of mostly wild flowers identified by their Latin name and by the location the photos were taken at.  It's truly a treasure for me and I'm planning on ordering more for my sister and my friends.  If the embedded image below doesn't work for you please try this link.  You should be able to view the entire book!

Flora im Kaukasus by Hans Heiner Buhr | Make Your Own Book

I used to have a small garden of my own around our gazebo.  That was until we got Louie (Black Lab and Golden Retriever mix).  He ate all my plants and practically destroyed my beautiful garden.  I used to have some flowers that were also common in Georgia and the Caucasus region.  The photos below are from my own garden from several years back (pre-puppy era). 

Fox Glove (blooming) and Hostas

Iris

Georgia Blue (my favorite!)

Pincushion Flower

Louie, caught red-handed eating my Yarrow (photos taken last year)

our garden BEFORE we got Louie :)

Animal Instinct

my wolf tee (from The Mountain) worn with my Old Navy military jacket

the back of my wolf tee - DIY writing with fabric paint

As if this wolf design was not cheesy enough I decided to personalize it with Steve Jobs' quote "Stay hungry, Stay foolish".  The only problem is when I wear this shirt I cannot get rid of a pesky tune in my head that goes something like "hungry like the wolf" by Duran Duran.  Oh, dear, what have I done?!  I now wish I'd gone with my other cheesy options like "Eat Meat" or "Trust Your Instincts".  

O, well!  At least my wolf shirt has only one wolf face and not three.  The comments on amazon.com for this infamous three wolves shirt are just hilarious!   You have to check them out if you're having a bad day and need a good laugh. 
Have I told you about The Mountain yet?  The Mountain is the company behind those large face animal shirts.  Some so cheesy some so cool!

hey! this girl stole my tiger shirt (The Mountain White Tiger Face/ Street Style via)

The Mountain Rottweiler Face tee/ Givenchy Rottweiler tee

The Mountain Silverback Portrait/ Christopher Cane tee via

The Mountain Black Panther Face tee resembling Givenchy or Topshop Black Panther tees

DIY: Lace Heart Applique Tee

Made this lace heart-shaped applique for Nina back in February and forgot to share with you.  I don't think heart designs are just for Valentine's so here we go...
First, choose your cotton shirt and lace fabric.  I decided to do gray on gray, but you could improvise with shirt color and lace color.  Other cute options for lace are black or pink (all available at JoAnns Fabric Stores). 

I liked the look of gray lace on gray shirt

Then, draw and cut out our own simple heart-shaped pattern from a newspaper:

newspaper pattern

Using the pattern cut out your shape from the lace fabric.

I used Elmer's Craftbond Adhesive Spray Glue only first, but it did not look so permanent to me.  So I ended up hand-stitching my lace applique to the shirt using Invisible Nylon Thread.
Enjoy!

Kids Activities: Creative Ways to Practice Spelling with Children

Each child is unique.  I know this from my own experience: my son and daughter are opposites in so many ways.  My son learns easily with "traditional" methods where as my daughter is creative and very artistic; therefore she learns quicker if taught creatively. 
To practice spelling Nina enjoys writing with or on:  Dry Erase board, chalk on chalkboard or on sidewalk, window crayons on our kitchen windows (my favorite).
More ideas are Aquadoodle mat and Play-Doh "spaghetti" or sharpie on foil.  All give different experiences, textures and are tons of fun!  Creative alternatives to the plain old pen and paper ;)

Nina Aquadoodling her spelling words

making play-doh "spaghetti" for spelling words

Nina's spelling words "written" with play-doh

Cordell using sharpie on a piece of foil while waiting for the school-bus in our foyer

Parallel Universe

I am a firm believer that one can look chic at any price point.  You don't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on each outfit.  Anyway, who does it really?  Famous actors, singers, very successful business people...  The rest of us (mortals) have to think of food, mortgage, children, education, retirement...   Even if I were a millionaire, why spend that kind of money on clothing when you can look chic in vintage.  Plus, I think it's more fun that way.  I would think it must be utterly boring to wear only expensive brands.  But what do I know?  Well, OK I would enjoy expensive shoes ;)
So here is my little comparison Earth vs. Parallel Universe

$16.80 on my eBay vs. $325 Stella McCartney Tiger Print Tee

$29.99 vintage striped dress on my Etsy (SOLD) vs. street style vs. $148 at Nordstrom

$12 colorful paisley skirt on my Etsy vs. $2,330 Jill Sander skirt at Polyvore

$69 art deco black sequin dress on my Etsy vs. $10,500 art deco Gucci dress

$22.80 black sheer pleated palazzo pants on my Etsy SOLD vs. Macy's

$10 snakeskin and hardware clutch on my Etsy vs. $3,950 Celine bag from Polyvore

thrifted jungle print pants (my own, not for sale) vs. Anne-Cathrine Frey's similar pants

pastel mint and peach shorts, pastel pink bag, mint clutch (all thrifted, all my own)

my own thrifted tapestry purse vs. Dolce & Gabbana winter 2012/2013

Linking up with Spunky Chateau's Thursdays Are for Thrifters Link Party.

The next day EDIT:

I hope I did not give a false impression of someone following trends blindly.  I buy things because I like them...  Like those mint green shorts and peach pastel shorts I purchased in 2010 (at Goodwill).  Please check out this POST of me wearing those peach shorts.  I was obsessed with mint green and pale peach in 2010 as you can see from these posts with super cheesy titles: Georgia Peach, Peaches and Plums, and Home Alone2.  Talk about setting trends!  JUST KIDDING!!!!

Similarly, that tapestry purse and the jungle print pants...  I purchased them because I thought they were beautiful.  Later, I saw D&G runway collection and street style versions and thought: hmm, wait a minute... that looks just like what I got at Goodwill, lol

My Georgia: Tbilisi Massacre of April 9, 1989

Yesterday was April 9th.  I did not forget about it, I just was really hesitant to re-post this video (I already posted about it last year).   It's difficult to watch and the events are emotionally difficult for me to remember.  I was about 17 then and was not present at the demonstration but could have easily been there.  

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the    bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Ronald Reagan

Floral + Gray

gray sweater - Target

gray tank top - Walmart

skirt - Goodwill

nude shoes - old (Ross?)

bracelets - old

This thrifted skirt with bright tulips has become my favorite to go piece this spring.  It can be styled in so many ways: with neutrals, or with bright solid blouse or cardi.  Or another floral print on top (had not tried that look yet).  Photos taken at my parents' house (my sister and one of my nephews are visiting from New Jersey).  This was the third place we've gone to yesterday. I looked exhausted and my makeup disappeared.  So that's why had to crop photos. 

My Georgia: Red Easter Eggs

our red Easter Eggs

Usually we celebrate Easter American style with Easter bunny and colorful eggs filled with candy.  This year I decided to introduce Orthodox Easter tradition of dyeing eggs red to my kids.  Red eggs are the symbol of Christ's blood and rebirth.  In Eastern Europe they also bake Paska - traditional Easter yeast bread.  A friend told me Paska is really hard to make so I did not even try.
In Georgia they traditionally use plant roots (strawberry roots???) which was impossible for me to find in Tennessee.  That's why we used Rit dye (Scarlet Red) instead (not safe for eating).  While eggs were warm we decorated them with crayons with children's names and crosses.  You can dye eggs red with onion skins or other natural dyes.

eggs decorated with colorful melting crayons

Some of my favorite pictures of my children are Easter pictures we used to take every year when they were little.  Have a great Easter!

Cordell and Nina (Nina's first Easter), 2006

Cordell and Nina (Nina's first Easter), 2006

Kids Activities: Easter Window Clings

chocolate bunnies window silhouettes

Easter Egg window cling

Nina and I made these chocolate bunny and Easter Egg window clings/silhouettes yesterday from clear contact paper and acrylic paint.  This is a great way to decorate children's windows or kitchen windows for Easter.  See easy to follow step by step instructions by Skip to my Lou HERE. 
Improvise with shapes and colors and make your own!

Nina at work painting

decorating with glitter glue (optional)

I made this one for our kitchen glass door; do you see Lou's dirty paw prints all over? :)