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Refashioned and Recycled: Shirt into Apron

Okay, this is one of the reasons I love Etsy. Well, besides the fact that I sell stuff there. Because I can find original, practical, affordable, and way cool gifts like this one.

Refashioned Shirt Into Apron

This used to be a guy’s shirt. Now it’s an apron. This has so much going for it: the dark blue plaid means it’s not going to show every stain it gets. It’s washable. It’s practical if you cook. Wouldn’t you rather wear this refashioned, fun, useful apron while you’re cooking, and not get olive oil on your best jeans or dress-you-wore-to-work? And, major plus, it’s CUTE.

And it’s refashioned: a double-bonus major plus. Judy, the owner of the wonderful Sew It Was shop on Etsy, has made it the focus of her shop: she takes old garments and gives them new life. New FUN life. New useful life.

Also, if I might point out, super affordable life. These are all pluses I wanted to mention.

But most of all, I like this garment – and I could use it – and I bet you know a couple other people who would love it!

DIY Rhinestone Glass Jewel Button Earrings

I think these are just darling – earring jewels set into closed, flat-back settings, so you can make your own button or stud earrings. Add a little sparkle to your everyday outfit! These are not Extreme, or dangling, or any of that – they’re just fun and pretty and you can wear them anytime or anywhere.

Rivoli rhinestone jewels for button or stud earrings

These are “rivoli” jewels, which have a faceted point (rather than “flat table”, as in “table tin cut”) on the face of the jewel. They have a wonderful sparkle, and they’re available in vintage patina brass or light golden (raw) brass settings. Use a secure jewelry glue to add an earring post or clip-on to the back, and you have quick and easy and gorgeous earrings.

Lots of colors, too – I show them here in soft rose pink, crystal, peridot green, and light colorado topaz (golden tan) – but I’ll have lots more choices in my Etsy shop– I just took this pic first.

Gifties for your buds, or for yourself – look great, and spend less. This is a good plan!

1950s Vintage Bombshell Dress Wow!

I’ve found a new favorite vintage shop on Etsy – just look at this fabulous dress!

1950s vintage dress in blue and black... view 1
1950s vintage bombshell dress in blue and back - this is the back view

And it’s great to see model pics, isn’t it? So I know how the dress looks on a real live person. Talk about versatile and classy – like I could wear it to work or for Date Night – without being all fussy and Trying Too Hard. This is what I want – what I NEED – in a dress.

It’s available at Wyoming Vintage on Etsy. I think this girl may have tapped an unexpected treasury out West – her shop is full of wonderful finds. Go check it out, you are so totally going to thank me!

Scott Carpenter – Godspeed to you, too

Scott Carpenter died today. If you weren’t a space freak like me you might not remember the name. But a lot of us do. He was one of the Mercury Seven. Good looking, brash, hey he was a test pilot and probably a prima donna. Married four times. I bet he was a handful.

Scott Carpenter

Wish I’d known him. He was one of my heroes.

Red Rhinestone Jewels

Because parties are coming. Christmas, and New Year’s, and office parties, and for that matter, any special occasion you want: ruby and red and crimson and siam are always in style.

and it doesn’t hurt that you can make yourself (or gift your BFF) a pretty pair of classy earrings – for bucko less than it costs to buy them at Macy’s 🙂

Like these:

Red glass beads and rhinestone jewels available in my Etsy online jewelry supplies store

These are some of the vivid red rhinestone jewels I have available in my Etsy jewelry supplies shop right now – hey, party season is coming 😉

Multi Color Glass Wrap Bracelet

Okay, this time it’s not vintage. But the bracelets I found are so colorful, versatile and easy to wear, and inexpensive, and did I mention colorful? I just had to show you guys 🙂 ]

blue green and purple wrap bracelet from wrappedandsnapped on Etsy

Isn’t that a great bracelet? I had a really hard time choosing one to feature here. The shop is WrappedandSnapped on Etsy and the artist, Jennifer, has so many cool bracelets to choose from! She has a flair for mixing colors and textures, and that’s not even mentioning her braided cuffs.

Seriously, you need to go look – these are great for school, for gifts, and like I said – just for fun!

Vintage 1940s Shoes ooh la la!

Holy toledo, take a look at these shoes – talk about girly and gorgeous!

vintage 1940s black peep toe slingback pumps

Now that’s what high heels are supposed to be. Attractive, interesting detail, great 3″ heels that are NOT so high you can’t walk in them. A platform to give you a bit of extra height but not a ridiculous, silly platform that some shoes have that we won’t talk about. These actually look comfortable!

And I mentioned gorgeous, right? Imagine the dinner date you’re having while you’re wearing these. Go find them at VintageAccessories4U on Etsy.

If they are already sold, believe me you’ll find lots of other cool goodies. Did I mention the red leather combat boots?

Yeah. Go look 🙂

Earring Designs using those Rhinestones

So these are just examples of the classic crystal rhinestones I was talking about the other day. I played with a few very basic shapes, rearranged a few times to play with design ideas. Like these:

classic rhinestone earring designs

See what I mean? I tried a few “insert Tab A into Slot B” (without actually inserting) – these are simple but effective. I’ll probably post a few more complex styles too – but I wanted to show that clean designs, and simple shapes, can combine to make some very cool earrings without you having to invest a lot of time – or money, for that matter.

(cough) Of course the stones are available in my Etsy shop – with lots more pretty glass beads and rhinestone jewels. Yeah. You knew that 🙂

Classic Crystal Rhinestones

Really the title says it all. I think people respond well to color – I love it myself, I love the fun and vitality of it. But there’s something to be said for using classic, sparkling rhinestones. Like these:

crystal rhinestone glass beads and jewels in my Etsy shop

They are always flattering, they go with everything, and women from 15 to 50 wear them happily. Correction: from, what, 10 to 90? I’m not sure – but from time to time, we ALL like a little bling and sparkle 🙂

If you’re a jewelry designer, or simply making gifts for your loved ones (or yourself) you really can’t go wrong with crystal rhinestones. There’s a reason they call them “classics”.

P.S. And yes, that link takes you to my Etsy shop. Like you didn’t know that 🙂

Gorgeous vintage dress – and did I mention cleavage?

All right, yes, that was just a teaser. Because this is a girly and gorgeous dress – and there’s no cleavage. The whole thing that caught my eye about this dress is that it is pretty, and flattering, and if it’s your size it would look good on basically everybody between about 14 and 84. Yes it would look different on those two females – but think about it, it would look GOOD.

Melon peach vintage dress at Lucky Dry Goods vintage shop on Etsy

And the thing is, sometimes for one reason or another you need something classy and dressy that is modest. Maybe you’re trying to impress his mom (or give her a snow job, what do I know). Or to wear to your very conservative office party. Or something. But you still want to look good. Well – here’s your dress.

It’s available at Lucky Dry Goods, a vintage shop on Etsy. And may I just say, that if this delectable garment is already purchased, when you go to check? There are many irresistible vintage finds just waiting for you to pounce. Did I mention the Black velvet dress from the 1930s or the gold lurex pantsuit that Alfred Hitchcock would totally have used in one of his films?

I mean, you have go to check. Trust me on this one 😉