Lace

Remember that one remaining find I wanted to share? Well here it is, this delicate wisp of a lace dress. Only, when I paid $8 for it at the Welfare League Thrift, it was anything but wispy…

In fact, matronly 80’s-puritan ankle-length formal gown (with a Golden Girls silhouette, as one flickr commenter just pointed out, hitting the nail on the head I think) would better describe what I found hanging on the rack. This just goes to show that a diamond in the rough may be hiding in the most unlikely of places, so always be on the lookout.

The dress was originally made up of two pieces. Step one of the world’s simplest DIY dress transformation (Andie in Pretty In Pink I am not) was to remove this under-piece, leaving the knee-length lace shell.

I’m hanging on to it though, as I have visions of turning that bottom section into a lace skirt, any thoughts on the easiest way to go about doing that are more than welcome.

I wasn’t feelin’ the shape of the tapered sleeves so with a few quick snips of the scissors, off they came and step two was complete. The bib collar hangs over the front and back and completely hides the seams that I cut along so I didn’t even need to be that careful.

If you look closely you can see a second flap of lace that hung down from the bib collar which I thought was a pretty detail and went back and forth about whether to remove it, but in the end…

I preferred the dress with a belt and the extra piece of lace hung low enough that it covered the belt, which looked weird, so off it came and my dress was complete, literally as quick and easy as 1, 2, 3 with no sewing involved!

I like the combination of lace and denim and the way my trusty lil' jacket can give any dress a more casual feel. For those of you who mentioned wanting to find a little cropped denim jacket of your own, mine is actually a thrifted XL GAP Kids jacket, so if you’re small enough, don’t forget to check the kid’s section!

Also, the white vintage full-slip that arrived in Andrea's giveaway package is absolutely perfect under this dress, what perfect timing! Speaking of which, I did indeed pick a winner yesterday for my own giveaway and *drumroll please* the winner (as chosen by the mysterious random number generator) is susan said so! Congrats Susan! I'll be doing some thrifting especially for you this week :)

Since purchasing the lace dress last weekend, it seems like lace is now everywhere, I guess it has been and I’m just now noticing it. I'll leave you with some beautiful lace-spiration to gaze upon, enjoy!















(sources: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-10,11,12-14)

Goodies for Me, Goodies for You: A Giveaway!

First, a big heart-felt thanks for all the sweet kitty condolences on my previous post. They really have been a comfort to read, and so appreciated :)


Now on to the happy news: It's my turn to host a fun little giveaway! It all began here with the original giveaway hosted by Leah and now, after winning Andrea's, I am third in a growing line of lucky winners set to pay it forward with a giveaway of my own :)


I was thrilled to receive the above parcel from Andrea last weekend. Full of lovely vintage, thrifted, and handmade goodies, it definitely brought with it some much needed cheer, thanks Andrea!

Now it's my turn to assemble an awesome little package of my own for the lucky winner of this giveaway. To enter, just leave a comment on this post by Feb 6th and I will randomly choose a winner in one week :)

By entering, you are taking the following pledge:

i __________, promise in good faith, to pass on some love of my own. i will get a small flat rate box from the post office and fill it with my own goodies and pass it along to someone in my own giveaway/contest/whathaveyou. and i will ask them to pass their love on as well, and so on and so on. i will also come back to this post and let leah know when i am doing this so she can follow along.

Alrighty friends, I promise to thrift up a fabulous little package for whoever wins, so good luck!

And the Winner Is...

I put all the names from the giveaway into my most cherished thrifted tin and called upon my lovely little assistant to do the honors.

Drumroll please...



Ooooh, the suspense!

Tadaa... Congrats to the lovely Sal of Already Pretty! Looking forward to thrifting for you Sal and I'll be emailing you soon about details :D Thanks again to everyone who entered. It was especially fun to get to see so many previously unknown readers :)

Matchy Finds and a Giveaway!!!

The other day I found this cotton, presumably 90's, button-down baby-doll dress for $4.50 at Salvos. I like the soft faded plaid AND it even has side pockets! I also picked up the adorable little boy's bow tie on the same trip (the lady didn't even charge me for it :). Aren't they just perfect together?

Among life's simple pleasures, the more common than one might imagine phenomena of thrift finds that magically seem destined to be together is a personal favorite. I love the way the floral print on this recently thrifted skirt ($3, Salvos) and the small flower painting I found for a dollar at the Hospice Thrift compliment one another and seem to call out springtime in unison.


Now, you may be wondering, what in tarnation does any of this have to do with a giveaway? Well first of all, no, I'm not planning to give away the above items. In fact, I'm not even sure yet what I'm planning to give away because that all depends on who enters and wins, and of course what the thrifty powers that be happen to send my way for said person.

As I've mentioned before, since starting this blog, I've discovered my LOVE of thrift swaps, and more specifically, the art of putting together individualized thrift packages. I really can't even tell you how much fun it is for me and if I could make a viable career out of being a personal thrift shopper, I so would.

In relation to the topic of the post, I love how themes seem to always work their way into the putting together of these packages. I'm convinced there is something magical about it all ;)

So, as a way of paying tribute to my one year blogiversary and the reaching of my 200th post, both of which I recently let slip by without noticing, and also just cause I think it would be fun, I'd like to say thanks by giving all my readers, and yes that includes you if you happen to have just randomly stumbled here for the first time, a chance to receive a personalized thrift package put together just for you by none other than yours truly :)

So if you're interested, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Simple as that. I'll leave it open for a week (through next Tuesday) then come up with some method of randomly choosing a name probably involving some sort of vessel containing names on pieces of paper and I'll announce the winner later in the week. Good luck!

P.S. - I'm off to Santa Cruz for a few days to visit a good friend I haven't seen since we were both pregnant. We're going to introduce our daughters who are only a few months apart in age for the first time so I'm excited. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and they live near the beach, so it should be lots of fun. I'll continue with my Weekly Picks posts next week. Hope you all have a great week!