Happy Rex Manning Day!

Last week we took a trip back to the 80s to visit Cindy Mancini's closet in Can't Buy Me Love. This week we are sprinting with love into the 90s, the decade of grunge. I heart the 90s. I was a child of the 80s and a girl of the 90s.

I loved the grunge look, the grunge music. I found this little plaid, wrap skirt straight out of the 90s.

So little and cute and so very EMPIRE RECORDS!!!!!

Now, this little plaid wonder may have fit me 20 years ago, but now, not so much. But if you unbuttoned the wrap and brought together the two sides in the center, the skirt would fit! I just needed a way to make it stay together without the buttons. Plus, it was a little on the short side for an old girl like myself.

I added a faux leather portion to the bottom of the skirt to lengthen it a bit. Then I added a metal zipper to the center portion.

Of course, the total Empire outfit wouldn't be complete without a blue, fuzzy sweater. So I found a blue fuzzy turtleneck sweater. I was too scissor happy to take a before picture. I cut the neck of the sweater off and slashed it up the back where the back zipper was. I then took some seam binding and hemmed the neckline and now cardigan edges. Once those were finished, I added some faux leather trim that was remaining from the scraps I used on the bottom of the skirt.

Young and fresh. Empire Records.

My modern take on the Liv Tyler outfit. Nice schoolgirl blouse underneath the edgy fuzzy cardigan and the cool re-styled skirt.

It is a little more secretary-friendly than Liv's outfit. But still retro, old school 90s style. This doesn't mean I will be shaving my head Robin Tunney style. Nor will I be dancing on top of a building roof like Renee Zellweger, at least I won't be caught doing so anyway! 

Happy Rex Manning Day!!!!!!!!

Thrifty Tips to Hide Your Addiction

Hi. My name is Kristen and I am a nail polish-aholic.

Hi Kristen.

It's true. I have an addiction to the glorious lacquer that is painted onto our fingernails. It is a quick fix to a bad day. It is happiness in a very small bottle. Pretty soon, however, one begins to accumulate a lot of 'happiness.'

Have a bad day at work? Swing by Target or the drugstore on your way home and pick up a new color. Instant lift. Tired of feeling like the only thing you do is work, cook, clean, do laundry and repeat? When the chores are done, brush on a coral, flaming red or even a glitter infused blue. You won't feel so bad leaving that last load in the dryer overnight because you don't want to mess up your manicure.

Nail polish-aholics have their brands of choice, just like any other addict. Essie, OPI, Butter, Sally Hansen, China Glaze-I could go on and on. And I probably own a bit of each. My favorite is the Julep brand. I am a Julep maven. Remember back in the 80s/90s when you got cassette tapes/cds in the mail each month form Columbia House? Well, Julep is a little like that. The mailman brings me happiness in a bottle. Awesomeness.

Julep nail polish is the Walter White Blue of the nail polish world. I am convinced it is the best.

But where does one put all these little bottles of happiness? You can't just leave the bottles laying around for the world to see your shameful addiction? As pretty as the colors are to your own eye, if your bedside table is completely covered in bottles, you have a problem. If you start to stash your bottles in random areas around your home, you have a problem.

I have found a solution.

I picked up this awesome train case the other day at Second Impressions Thrift Store. It is in excellent shape and does not smell or have any stains inside. Bonus! It is the perfect size to store my 'bottles.'

A beautiful blue Samsonite from days past. The mirror is still inside even. I carefully organized my bottles according to brand and color. I placed a layer on the bottom and then used a basket from the dollar store to keep the bottles in the second layer.

I love how there is a handle on the top of my hiding place. I keep it next to my bedside. You never know when you may have to make a quick emergency getaway in the middle of the night due to fire or some other horrifying reason. Grab your pants, your purse and by all means, your nail polish stash!!!!! Save the important things!!!! Do not let the firemen carry your stash-they will not understand and possibly toss it into the fire. 

Nothing comes between a woman and her nail polish collection. Nothing. 

So if you are having problems hiding your addiction like I was, go find yourself a pretty little train case.  On the outside it looks like you are simply carrying or storing your cosmetics, like any normal woman.  But stuff that sucker as full as you can with tiny bottles of happiness. And you will run out of room. This is inevitable. Just get on out there and get another case. Two hands, two handles to carry!

Happy thrifting my friends from your polished buddy in the north!

Cindy Mancini's Jacket

I was a child of the '80s, a girl of the '90s and a woman of the new millennium. I used my fair share of aqua net hairspray, plastered Johnny Depp posters from 21 Jump Street on my wall and watched many a teen heartthrob movie well before the 1990 calendar ever turned over. When I recently came across a vintage, suede, fringe jacket while thrifting, I was instantly transformed back to one of the greatest 80s teen flicks ever.

Oh yeah. That's Cindy Mancini in her mom's suede fringe jacket before the red wine gets spilled on it and before she tries to get the store to give her a new one and before Patrick Dempsey uses all his lawn mowing money to 'buy' her as his social entrance to the popular world. The movie is Can't Buy Me Love and it is a classic. Before Patrick Dempsey was McDreamy, he was little nerdy Ronald Miller. There are some star studded cameos in this flick also. Little Seth Green played Ronald's younger brother and Mr. Rico Suave himself, Gerardo, was one of the popular jocks.

As you can see in the picture, I was a little scissor happy before I remembered to take a before picture. I  am not too crazy about all the fringe, but the jacket fabric is fabulous. I removed the fringe from all around the jacket and headed to the fabric store for some sherpa fleece. I had a little sticker shock when I saw that the sherpa was $17 a yard!!! Fortunately I only needed 1/4 yard so my jacket re-style didn't break the bank.  I sewed the fleece onto the jacket like I would seam binding. I left the neckline fleece free. And because I had a little bit left over, I added some to the cuffs.

Modernized and very practical for the current climate. It isn't anything that will make Patrick Dempsey show up on a riding lawn mower and whisk me off into the sunset, but it will do for a date night or two. 

Happy thrifting from your 80s reminiscing friend of the north!

Thriller Jacket Re-Deux Part II

I know you were totally infatuated with the red leather jacket re-style from two days ago. I left you hanging with the cliffhanger of what became of the cast off denim jacket. Like the season opener of your favorite tv drama, here it is.

I see so many denim jackets in stores this fall with grey sweatshirt sleeves and a hood. I took a simple grey hooded sweatshirt and cut off the sleeves and hood. I sewed them to the denim jacket, carefully leaving the outside seams on the denim jacket as they were. I love the cool zipper in the front. This jacket can also be found at Second Impressions Thrift Store and is available for purchase right now. Remember, a portion of Second Impressions proceeds benefits the Grand Forks Humane Society. So not only do you get some cool, new threads to wear, you do something nice for your furry friends as well.

Happy thrifting from your chilly friend in the north!

(I think I need another jacket!)

Thriller of a Jacket Re-Style

The leaves are turning color, the wind is getting cooler and the temps are getting down there. Fall is here and thicker jackets are a must. Bring out the leather baby! All through the magazines I see leather jackets for fall. Biker jackets, suede jackets, sherpa jackets, all sorts of jackets. And red seems to be the ULTIMATE color for fall jackets.

This vintage red leather jacket from Second Impressions screamed Michael Jackson. In it's day, it was quite the hot coat to wear. It still has a degree of coolness but it is begging for a re-style.

The body of the jacket is in great shape. The sleeves, not so much. I didn't want to rip apart the main part of the jacket, so I simply removed the sleeves with a seam ripper. I have said it before and I will say it again; a seam ripper can be a girl's best friend.

The jacket was still cool without the sleeves, but I thought it too needed a friend. So I matched it up with a cool denim jacket.

Using a scissor, I cut the sleeves off of the denim jacket and sewed them to the leather jacket. The jacket that looked like it stepped out of a Michael Jackson video now had a modern twist and could easily be worn with a drapey top, skinny jeans and boots. The boots are an always must. 

I couldn't just leave behind the denim jacket. Tomorrow I will show you what I did with the denim scraps.

This funky, red re-do can be found at Second Impressions Thrift Store and is now available for purchase.

Beat it!

 

KISS-ing It!

Sometimes you gotta follow the KISS rule-keep it simple, stupid! Some of the coolest, easiest re-styles can be done without even using a sewing machine.

I recently had a 50% coupon for JoAnn Fabrics. All the fabrics I wanted were on sale, so I couldn't use my coupon on them. And one does not waist a 50% coupon! I headed to the trim aisle to find the next best thing. I found this funky, chain link type of trim. It was costly at almost 8 bucks a yard. But I just loved how unique it was and went home with two and a half yards courtesy of my coupon. By the time I had reached home, I knew what I was going to use it on.

I had a pair of ankle zip crop jeans I found on a clearance rack for  $5. I am old enough to remember when ankle zip jeans were cool over 20 years ago. So I was quite pleased when I saw they were making a comeback. I decided to use the trim to go down the sides of each leg, ending just above the zipper.

I did not want to nor did I think it would be possible to stitch the trim to the jeans. So I broke out the next best option-Fabric Fusion glue. This glue is great for adding details to clothes as it is machine washable and even dry-cleanable. And it sticks very well. 

I glued the trim to the sides of the jeans. I did one leg, one night at a time so it could dry adequately. The end result was so cool.

I think these jeans will look great tucked into boots for the fall and winter. And it was so simple to do.

Another recent non-sewing project involved a skirt re-style for Second Impressions. The skirt was missing one button and a very blah looking button at that. I removed the remaining buttons and dug through my stash to find some very cool, silver square buttons. On the side of the skirt where the smaller buttons were on the pockets, I added two round silver buttons. The entire look of the skirt was transformed.

This skirt can be found and purchased at Second Impressions thrift store. The jeans will be found sticking out of my favorite black boots all season long.

Remember-when in doubt, KISS it!

Kiss it good.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Remember when you were in elementary school and one of the first books ever read to you or that you learned to read was The Little Engine That Could? The heartwarming children's story of a little train  that puffed it's way up the mountain remains in memory with that that one line.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can......

Such was the case when I went thrifting a week ago on a rainy day during my lunch break. I was browsing through the dresses at Second Impressions and came across this dress with an AWESOME print. I was in love. I seriously heard harps playing. Really.

I absolutely loved the colors, the print, the fabric, the length, the style. What I didn't love was the tag that contained the size inside the dress. It definitely was not my size. I sighed and put it back on the rack, but before I left the store, I ran back and grabbed it.

I know I am not the only woman who has purchased a dress in hopes of fitting into it someday. And I have been watching what I eat lately. But even if I dieted well into the winter, never cheating, it might just be a year before I lost enough to fit into this dress. Sometimes I can be rather impatient, especially if I see something I want to wear RIGHT NOW.

I tried the dress on and it fit to a certain extent, that extent being it wouldn't zip all the way up the side. So, like the little engine, I tried and tried to get the zipper up, all the while saying to myself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

In the end, I knew I couldn't. I was beat. It was either 6 months straight of only melba toast and cottage cheese or the alternative. Elastic.

Out came the scissors and slashed away the upper part of the dress. I was careful not to hurt the colorful waistband. I removed the side zipper entirely and then stitched up the side where the zipper once had been.  On each side of the bottom remaining portion, I added elastic to the colorful waist band. 

I then dug through my re-style stash and found a simple black knit top. I made a line with tailor's chalk across the top where I intended to cut it in half.

I then stitched the black top to the bottom portion of the dress. I used a stretch stitch when I went over the elastic in the waist.

Not wanting to waist one bit of that awesome print, I removed part of the sleeves from the original top portion of the dress and added them to the sleeves of the black top. Since I plan on wearing a belt around the waist, the elastic will not be showing. Once I do lose a healthy amount of weight, I will remove the elastic and stitch the waist band back together.

The end result is a funky, bohemian print dress that will look great with boots and a long, beaded necklace. Ultimately, a black floppy hat and large shades would complete the look, but I don't think my children would ride in the same car with me if I wore a floppy black hat. They tend to be embarrassed when I wear hats around them in public. 

With the added elastic and the stretchy knit of the black top, I am now able to comfortably wear the dress and even manage to breathe! I am so glad I didn't leave this little baby behind because of a silly sizing issue.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can!!!!!!!