Fish Bowl Snowman

I dont recall where on the internet I first saw this idea but I loved it instantly. I have seen this done with both 2 and 3 fish bowls. I made mine with just two because Dollar Tree only had two sizes. Its a pretty easy craft to make.

Here is what you need:

Mod Podge (I used glossy)
Glitter
Fake Snow
Figurines, pine cones or flowers- or anything festive you would like to display in the bowls
Hot glue
Santa hat ornament from Dollar Tree
2-3 different sized fish bowls
Small paint brush or sponge

Oh- and a messy crafting table to work on!

First I decided what would go where. I placed items in the bowls to see how they would look before I got started.

Then I used a paint brush to paint Mod Podge around the bottom of each fish bowl. While it was still wet I sprinkled glitter in the bowl and shook it around to cover all the Mod Podge. I let it sit and dry for about 30 minutes after.

The next step was to glue my decorative items to the bottom of the fish bowls. I used a Dollar Tree snowman figurine, a bottle brush tree, a white pine cone and some silver glittery leaves. I snipped the leaves off the stem and I did not glue those down. I simply placed them in the bowl around the pine cone because gluing them would probably be more difficult than its worth.

Next I sprinkled fake snow around the decor.

Some people glue the bowls together and glue the hat on top. I decided not to do that. I didn't feel it was needed and was afraid of dripping glue on the sides of my fish bowls. So I just stacked them. Also now I can change up the decor easier if I like.

Ta-da!

Creating An Awesome Shirt!

I fell in love with this dress at the thrift shop. The top has a cute ruffle and the print is amazing! Oh and pockets- it has pockets!!! What I didn't fall in love with is the skirt portion of the dress. Its very short and narrow. Narrow being the worst part about it. No room to move. And not very flattering. But that print just had to be had! So I bought it and decided to create a shirt out of it. No zippers to worry about, just a simple hem. This is an easy refashion. Here is the dress:

So I snipped off the length under the pockets, leaving room to create a new hem.

 I folded it over twice to prevent fraying, pinned it, and stitched away!

Here is my new shirt:

Please excuse my lack of a head- its a bad hair day because Im not leaving the house so I refuse to take it out of my sleeping bun!

Vintage Dress Needs a Fix

I have this really neat vintage dress that is really well made and pretty intricate. Unfortunately its too long for me and so all these years I have never worn it. With my moms help we went bout fixing it. The first thing I did was hand sew some spots where the beading had started to come loose. I made sure it was all nice and tight and then we got started on making a new hem. Here is the dress:

Its also missing a belt!

First we measured and then cut off the bottom with pinking shears.

Next we sewed a lace trim on the bottom.

Then my mom hand stitched the new hem so that you wouldn't be able to see it from the outside. She made tiny little stitches that I would never have had the patience for but Im so glad she showed me how to do it because had I sewn it the way I normally do with the machine it would not have looked as good.

After that we ironed the new hem down.

We also had to cut the lining and sew a new hem on that. The lining is sort of rough feeling because its old and my mom thought I should remove it but I opted to keep it because it adds some fullness to the skirt.

Hem the lining

Can you even see these tiny hand made stitches!?

Inside view. Tiny folds in the hem to keep things straight.

So here it is after- I still need to find a belt or sash that will work with the dress. I was too lazy to button it up all the way for the pic and find proper shoes. I need to wear it out and update with a new pic once I do!

And the results!

Best of Fall Time Fashion From JustFab

I have my top three favorite fall time fashion finds from JustFab. I love faux fur and winter sweaters so let me present:

Marquet!

These boots are seriously comfortable! And they remind me of my favorite animal the fox!

I love the icy winter blue of this turtle neck sweater.

And check out the cute open back detail! Its warm but not stuffy at all.

And my final favorite is the faux fur stole. What a cute and festive accessory!

It has a satin lining and I cannot wait to wear it out to a holiday party or out to dinner! How cozy is this!

Mini Halloween Scene

I made this a couple months ago and have been meaning to post it before Halloween. I love making miniature scenes like this. Here it is is in its finished form:

I found all of my supplies at Dollar Tree and Michaels Crafts.

Need:
Paint
Glue Gun
Fake moss
Figurine
Stickers
Woodsies
Some fake trees or plastic leaf backs from artificial leaves.
Various other miniature decor of your choosing

I got the wooden stable I used as a building at Dollar Tree in November. Its meant to be a nativity stable but it works great for other projects like this one. Just painted the back wall orange. I sorta wish I had used purple now. Oh well.

Then I glued the gate and the plastic back of an artificial leaf (a tree for this project) to the background and used a puffy ghost sticker to stick between the gate rails.

Oops its sideways!

Boo!

I had a miniature bird in a cage so I used some sewing thread and hot glue to attach it to the ceiling.

Then I started gluing my little figurines and other decor the the floor. I placed them all first to see how I wanted it arranged before I started gluing to avoid mistakes with spacing.

Yummy!

I love these! So cute!!!!

I used fake purple moss around the bottom of my tree to hide the plastic mound at the bottom.

At the time I didn't have a grave stone figurine so I made one myself with some paint and a rectangle Woodsie piece. I glued some smaller Woodsie pieces to the back of my "grave stone" so it had some width to glue it down with.

And its done! Such a fun craft to make!

I later got a grave stone figurine from Dollar Tree and Im going to replace my wooden stone with the new figurine soon. I'll update this post once I do!

Pretty Dress To Even Better Skirt

I picked this dress up from the Goodwill a week ago. I love the orange silk top and the skirt is really cute with buttons and pockets. I LOVE pockets! I tried it on and there was one issue. As you can see in the image below one side bulges out. And you probably can't see this in the image but the other side pulls to the center slightly. I was about to give up and sadly place it back on the rack when I suddenly had an idea. I could turn this dress into a skirt! The skirt was really what made the dress anyway so I wouldn't miss the top too much despite the fact that I also LOVE silk.

Uneven sides are no bueno.

So I got to cutting. I couldn't just cut the silk off and leave it at that. First it would show at the top no matter how close I tried to cut it. Secondly I needed to fold the zipper over so that the zipper pull wouldn't pull off. So I cut and left about two inches of silk so I could fold it over. This worked out best because there is no silk fray at the waist and the waist is super soft now too.

SNIP!

Then I pinned it down to get it ready to be sewn.

Not the straightest cut but it will do.

Next I sewed it down. Here is the catch- I needed to sew it right on the waist seam or my black thread was going to show. I did my best to sew straight and keep it on the seam but that was tough.

So as you can see below I didn't sew as straight as I should have. Im not that great at sewing straight just yet! I can fix it though- I decided if it bothers me when I wear it I will pick out the thread in this section and re sew just that part.

Ooops- its fixable though!

Next I took the hooks off of the top where the zipper originally stops and hand stitched them to the top of my new skirt.

Im a tad sloppy but you can't see the white thread from the outside.

At least not while wearing it!

I love the way it turned out. SO much better! Maybe I will turn the silk top into a sash or something for another refashion.

Easiest Way To Open A Tight Jar

My grandmother taught me this trick and it has always worked. Unless you really really pound the jar it won't break anything. At least I have never once had that happen. Just a firm tap is all it needs. You can also turn the jar upside down and hit it flat onto a flat counter top but I don't recommend that for all surfaces. 

Fashion Going Forward

So I know its the middle of summer and not fall yet- but as soon as August hits Im thinking about pumpkins and scarves and booties and hot apple cider! And everything fall fashion! I want to share my favorite recent JustFab releases for going forward into September and October.

Vasha

I love this bootie and cannot wait to wear her! That color and that detail on the toe!

Liyanna

Im a tad obsessed with this burgundy color as you can see. Its perfect for the fall season!

Flor

The site calls this black but to me its like a cold weather sweater grey. I love it.

Glass Trio

I just think this is soon cute!

Ribbed Boatneck

I love boatneck tops and three quarter sleeves. So flattering. I must have this top!

Francios

I know I should have named this blog post "Burgundy" but its the perfect fall color! I love this bag so much. Obsessed actually.

Trench

This creamy white trench is perfect for October- not too hot and super stylish.

So there you have it. Some of my favorites going forward into fall time. Check out the site because there is so much more you will find to fall in love with! (See what I did there- FALL in love)