Spring Project and a New Summer Look

While I had every intention of writing and creating projects all last week, I had a cold that I just could not shake. I do apologize for how long it's been since I've posted.

Spring is full blown upon us (Pollen and all) and boy has it been a busy one! The weather has finally turning nice and the sun has been out, a little too much perhaps. Thursday it was 96 degrees outside! Now that is warm. With all this warm weather and budding flowers I've been thinking a lot about the summer and this (literal) new season in our lives. This summer is going to be a really good one. I just have that feeling. 

I typically don't like the heat much at all but I've actually been really excited for the temperature to be rising because over the winter I picked up a bunch of summer dresses on sale for super cheap and I've been eager to get them out of my closet. 

To go along with this "New Summer Look" theme I have two things to share with you. The first is: I have bangs now! I haven't had bangs since I was about 6 years old and I just decided that I wanted something really different and so I am going to have bangs for the summer. I do think I'll let them grow out, but for now I'm rather enjoying them. I only just cut them Friday so I'm not quite used to feeling them sit on my forehead yet, I'll be used to them soon though. What do you think?

The second thing I want to share with you today is this dress!  This is not one of the ones I mentioned above that I got over the winter, although in a way I sort of did... 

My mother, who knows me all too well, gave me a bag of ugly clothes for Christmas. Now, you may be asking, "Why would someone want ugly clothes for Christmas?" Well, I would! And I was so excited to receive them! Although they weren't clothes I would wear, they were made of amazing material that was just begging to be cut into. I immediately paired these two dresses together to be the perfect combo of elegance and ruggedness but I didn't get around to putting the project together until just recently. And I have to tell you... This is probably my current favorite dress. It is so much fun to wear and it really could work for almost any occasion! I'm in love.

Some of my Christmas clothes!  

Although I did like this dress, it was four or five inches shorter than I want to wear.

The project was super easy. I cut the skirt off of each dress, pinned the white skirt to the brown top, sewed them together, and now I have a brand new dress! The brown top has a drawstring waist and the white material has enough give that I didn't have to worry about closures at all, which is always a relief. 

This dress was a not quiet my style and a  little fancier than something I would wear, especially not on a regular basis. 

I'm sure you won't find the exact same two dresses, but hit up your local thrift shops and find two dresses to combine. Be daring and pair materials that wouldn't typically be put together. You just might surprise yourself! 

Please share in the comments what contrasting garments, accessories, etc that you like to pair. I would love to hear your ideas! 

Shared on the Homestead Blog Hop

Sock Bun Tutorial

This is a super easy hair style that will stay up all day! 

Whether you need the perfect hairstyle for a ballet recital, an easy up-do for your Tinker Bell costume, or you just need a bun that you can count on, this is it. And all you need is a sock, two hair ties, and a few bobby pins

 I first learned how to do this at a birthday party when I was about 15 years old. My friend (the birthday girl) had a woman over to do henna tattoos on us. This woman used to be in the military and she told us that in the military women have to either cut their hair short or get it to stay up and out of the way. She showed us with an old sock how she had been taught to keep her hair up.. I (thinking this technique seemed very interesting) was voted her model... so, even though I ended up having a fantastic up-do, I had no idea how she had done it because I don't have eyes on the back of my head. When I got home that night (yes she let me keep her old sock) I took it down in front of the mirror so I could see how it was done and just reversed the process to put it back up. 

As you see, between being in the military and dancing on stage, this is the perfect bun! 

This past New Year's Eve Costume Party  my sister Mary was Princess Leia and I put her hair up using this same technique only with two side ponytails. And (as promised on that post) I will now give you the tutorial! 

Start by cutting the toes off of a sock. The sock should be a similar color to your hair just in case any of it peeks through, although if your hair is really thick that shouldn't be a problem. 

The thicker/bigger the sock you use, the bigger the bun will be. My sister (my model)  has long, thick hair, and, looking at the picture, you can see there is almost two sections to the bun. If your hair is medium length, and/or you use a bigger sock, the lower part (the part that wraps around the bun) will not be as prominent. 

Now, take your sock at the bottom (where you have just cut it) and hold it in both of your hands so that your thumbs are inside the sock and the rest of your fingers are supporting the outside. Start rolling it outward. Once you have rolled up the entire sock it should resemble a doughnut. 

There are actually things you can buy that do the same thing as this sock. They are called Hair Donuts and you can buy them on Amazon HERE. I have never used one of these, but the way I see it is if you have a sock, why buy one of these donuts? If you have ever used one, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it? Is it any different than using a sock? 

Put your hair (or whoever's hair) up into a high pony-tail. The higher the pony, the higher the bun. If you want a bun right on top of the head, that's where the pony-tail should be. 

Put the hair through your sock so the sock sits around the hair-tie at the base of the pony-tail.

Spread the hair over the sock so that you have a nice hair fountain spewing out of the center of the sock. Put a hair-tie over the hair and the sock so that it rests beneath the sock. This creates the bun.

Gather up all the hair that comes out from around the sock and gently twist it all together.

Wrap the twisted hair around the hair-tie, at the base of the bun, and secure with bobby pins. For extra fun add a decorative scrunchie, some silk flowers, wrap a string of beads around it... and Bippity Boppity Boo! Just like that you're ready for the ball! 

..

Thank you Mary for being a very patient model!