Thrifty finds and welcomed opinions

A couple weeks ago I went thrifting, I found a few gems.

This blue striped button up with embroidered flowers. I'm basically obsessed.

However, it is a little bit big, so if any of you have quick sinching tips they'd be welcomed :)

 I also picked up this amazing clock and thermos. I'm so happy about it.

Yesterday I was very productive, meaning I crafted. I'll have a DIY up for that little flower wreath hopefully tomorrow! Also I'm coloring and cutting my hair on tuesday, I'm not looking to cut too much off, but the color will be a bit lighter.

Have any of you heard the term "Bronde"? Meaning brown blonde? I'm obsessed. Here are some examples of what i'm thinking! Opinions are welcome! 1, 2, 3, 4

I'd love to hear what you all have to say :)

Also I'm watching Dan in Real Life again..Seriously the best soundtrack.
I hope you're also having a lovely sunday

-Rachel

Costume Sneak Peak.

I came up with a fun idea of not being a hobbit for halloween.

so right now im painting apples onto my dress.

basically.... 

it's going to be fantastic. i'm so excited.

p.s. diy costumes are the greatest....

what are you dressing up as slash

any guesses as to what i'm dressin up as? 

leaves are a changin'

fall, definitely my favorite season.
the beautiful colors in all the trees.
all the yummy pumpkin and apple treats.
thanksgiving? halloween?
bbbuuuuttttt.
probably mostly cause I adore layering my clothes. they make me feel way pretty.
I have a thing for jackets, cardigans, chunky scarves, and knitted headbands.
I thought I'd share one of my favorite outfits for this autumn time.

(secretly, i only picked this picture cause my bum looks good. right? right.)

I'm proud to say my necklaces and shoes are the only things I bought full price.
I got my jacket (6$), pants (8$), and backpack (3$) at the D.I.
My flannel shirt is a hammy down from my lovely sister in law.
And I bought my earrings (3$) at an antique store.

nothing brightens my day more then a good deal.

Have you found any good deals lately? Tell me about them.

xo, rach

Thrifty Nifty Wednesday: Purse to Satchel

I went to the D.I. today for the first time in a long time.
I found this cute suede fringe purse...but the handle was all short and reminded me of junior high.

so I cut off the handle and sewed my own out of this cute remnant I've had for a while.

I like it very much. 

pretty cute huh. 

Total: 3$ 

xo, rach

p.s. sorry about the camera phone pictures.

Thrifty Nifty Wednesday: shoe edition

I haven't done a thrifty nifty in a while.
But i'm excited about this one.

Shoes? They're so great right? But for some reason they're also a million dollars.
Reminds me of flight of the conchords?
(a new zealand based musical comedy duo)

They're turning kids into slaves, just to make cheaper sneakers
But what's the real reason? Cause the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper
Why are we still pay so much for sneakers when you got them made by little slave kids?

but seriously. i'm a cheapster and cringe at spending lots of dollars for my feet.
hence, the shoe section at thrift stores? greatest.

While a majority of shoes there are gross, and over worn.
You get the occasional, not worn, super cute, super cheap.

Here are my great finds.

(i think i want to paint these all color blocked...? what do you think)

8$

6$

5$

5$

As I said before...i'm such a cheapster when it comes to shoes.

Any recommendations on how to not spend a million dollars?

let me know :)

xo, rach

p.s. As you can see there is a bit of wear on them,

but I have had them all for 6 months or more.

and I like them.....a lot. 

thrifty nifty wednesday: jacks to jewelry tutorial

I had a dress to share with you today for thrifty nifty wednesday,
but I thought I'd switch it up :)
I found these jacks this morning at the DI and they got my gears a turnin.

Things you'll need?
-Jacks
-Wire (I used 24 gauge wire)
-Pliers
-A necklace chain

1. Start by wrapping the wire around the middle of your jack.

2. Wrap the same piece of wire around an end that has a "ball" top,
and then wrap around the ball top of a different jack.

sorry! I got a bit ahead of my self... I then cut the wire and started the process over, 

but you could easily just keep the wire through out all.

3. After you've connected all your desired jacks together,
find the middle of your necklace and line up where you would like your jacks to hang.

5. After you have found where you want it to hang, find a whole in the chain that lines up with
end jacks, and middle jack. 


6. Feed the wire through the chain and wrap it around a ball top on the middle or side jacks
until the chain is tied up again the jack. 

7. Make sure all your wire is wrapped around the jack tight so it doesn't poke you.

8. Be super cutesy. 

I think you should know I'm now obsessed with wrapping things in wire for jewelry.

You can expect to see more. 

ENJOY

xo, rach

a room for my bed

My bedrooms small, and usually messy. 

I have a gigantic bed that takes up 75% of my room, 

and more than not, I resent it.

I've also got lots of things..mostly crafty things, but things none the less.

Lately I've been trying to, slowly but surely, organize my life.

I woke this morning with a burst of energy.

and from 9-4 I decorated my room nonstop.

(seriously, I secretly forgot to eat...all day)

I hung bird cages, cut out chalk board paper and tea cups.

I hot glued lace, filled a mason jar, and rearranged my walls a 100 times.

I can tell you now, I love my bedroom much more.

its pretty cute. I'm probably never going to leave again. 

(for the fact it's adorable, and the fact my feet ache a bit)

I am really excited to show some picture's to you!

p.s. lots of things in this room will be featured

in the next few weeks for thrifty nifty Wednesdays.

(i'm excited about that too)

Here it is, tell me how you feel about it? 

yeah I have stuffed animals on my bed, whatcha gunna do bout it. 

I'm in love with my dresser right now.

 gunner's always photo bombing.

tea cup. on a doily. on a cork board.

thrifty nifty wednesday! shadow boxes.

that's what they're called right? i think so...lets just go with it.

I got a pack of 2 via the DI for 1 dollar. 

Steal? I think so. 

All in all, I'm a happy camper.

I love the little touches of my room that say me.

My holga, I love her. My bunting banner says "It's all love" my favorite song by ingrid. 

I have a small obsession with doilies.

Picture's of my best friend, my savior, and my nephew.

It's all very much who I am. 

What pieces of your room say you? Tell me all about it.

I hope you like it as much I do!

xo, rach

p.s. follow me, it'd be a fun thing to do. 

Thrifty Nifty Wednesday: Maxi skirt

My favorite thing to buy at thrift stores are skirts.
Its my "go-to" when I can't find anything else good.
I usually luck out. This time I think I definitely did.

Peter pan necklace: DIY 2$

Shirt:Walmart 5$

Skirt: D.I. 5$

What's your favorite thing to get at thrift stores? Let me know! :)

xo, rach

A Bust? Almost.

Today the D.I. was a bust. I was dissapointed. 

I usually have no problem finding something wood like that I want to paint, or clothes that I want to refashion, or vintagey things I'd like to use a photo prop.

I almost gave up at least 4 times.

I looked and looked and found almost nothing worthy of my attention. 

While I don't have picture's I found one small thing I wanted to call my own.

styrofoam balls.

While you can find these at 500 different stores..I got 6.. for 1.50$

{So i feel pretty cool}

There's a craft I've been saving in the back of my mind and now I can do it. :)

Pomanders. 

they are the cutest. and will make cute decorations on my wall.

via the tiny tiara

via craftzine

via the sweetest ocassion

adorable huh? I'll show you what I come up with, when I come up with something :)

xo, rach

Thrifty NIfty Wednesday: Suitcases please.

They're not practical. They are old and broken. But being a photographer they make great photo props.
Three vintage suitcases coming to the total of 14$. Me and Ben recently used them in a missionary photo shoot (fun huh?)

Here are some picture's to show you how lovely they (and carly) are!

(i know this one doesn't have suitcases, but its stunning right)

I'm thinking about getting some more and making a suitcase night like such

..either way they are just too fun!

xo, rach

Thrifty Nifty Wednesday: Mustard Please

So one time I went to the DI to look for some home decor type deals.

I found some way fun stuff.{like those cutesy hangers}

"K lets just go, I'm all done." said rachel naively, for she hadn't even looked at any skirts yet.

And if I've got any advice about the DI it's that 85% of the time they have great skirts.

Fortunately I changed my mind and found this beauty.

Mustard, Pencil, Pockets, Pleated, 6$, Sold.

Just call me Zac Efron, cause I feel pretty lucky.

p.s. I apologize for this grainy camera phone pictures.

 xo, rach

Thrifty Nifty Wednesday; leather bag

D.I. 

7$.

leather.

one strap.

floral.

velvet.

Yeah I like it a lot. 

DIY: Book Stack Necklace

 DIY: BOOK STACK NECKLACE

I first saw it via anthropolgie. Then I saw it all over the interweb and I couldn't help but try and make one myself.

*side note: i'm still not great at diy's, sometimes I add in extra materials, lose materials, and forget to photograph along the way so bear with me :)

Materials:
-An old disposable book
-Super glue
-Three different colors of leather
-A necklace chain
-A necklace clasp
-Craft pliers
-Push pins
-A pointy thingy..(the one with the red handle, i found it in my daddy's tool box!)
-Scissors
-Tape

1. Cut your leather into rectangles (I used some leather cases for glasses I found at the D.I. at 75 cents each)

 If it has wierd fabric on a side, feel free to just pull it off :)

2. Measure your leather on the book pages and cut them out, then fold them in half. 

4. Layer your pages individually rather than one folded in another.

5. Bring all the pages to an even surface and then bind them with masking tape

(I used clear tape, and it doesn't stick to the super glue very well so i reccomend masking.)

 6. Put your super glue down on the leather and lay your pages on top and fold
( I also super glued some pages together, so it wasn't so open looking...)

 7. Let them dry underneath a heavy book, I used the host.  :)

 8. I left mine to sit for about 45 minutes, I then cut off the edges that were sticking out with scissors and an expo knife.

9. Poke through the leather and first couple of pages with a sharp pokey thing so your pin can have a place to start, then push the pin all the way through

10. This is where things get a bit crazy so bear with me. I bought some certain pin things to ultimitaley hold the books together, of course I couldn't find them anywhere. I used some extra earring hooks instead.
I simply flattened out a hook and guided it through the hole I made with the pin.
Sadly the hook was not long enough to go through all three books so I took my pliers and made my own loop from the bottom of the earring hook, and hooked it to the top of another earring hook...you got all that?

Then to hold it all in, i just bent the bottom of the second hook all crazy like. :)

11. In the midst of doing all that I attached my clasp and took of some of the chain off so it was the length that I wanted and then attached the books!
That step is as easy as prying open the chain links and closing them.

 AND DONE :) 

Don't mind my hair, I know its the craziest. 

 I hope you like, cause I sure do! I hope you got it all!