Brick Walls Are Closing In // What I Wore

This is my last post from my trip to Ohio/Pittsburgh last month. As I said in my last post, I got to spend the night with Lauren and explore her town a bit before leaving. I took so many pictures that I thought it would be best to split them into two posts.

I got this dress at Lauren's favorite thrift store, and boy can I see why she likes it so much! I got this dress for a mere $2, and it is the perfect with eyelet dress! Every white eyelet/lace dress I've had before has been too short, but this one is seriously perfect. Not to mention that I also got a lovely purple shift dress for $1, and the most beautiful black velvet strapless dress known to mankind for $2. Seriously, I cannot wait for the weather to cool off more so I can take that dress for a spin.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Maddie and I are heading down south after I get off work to stay with our grandparents tonight before continuing on to Missouri tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to drive on the open road again! (I really am a Missouri gal at heart.♥

♥ ♥ ♥       

dress: thrifted

denim shirt: Plato's Closet

belt:  Talbots

necklace: Little Black Bag

bag + Me Too flats: Forest Bootery

watch + bracelet: Francesca's Collections

lipstick: Urban Decay Revolution in Anarchy

DIY Jewelery Holder Dos and Don'ts

I'm not going to have this be an actual DIY post, because - let's face it - this DIY is all over the internet/interest. What I am going to do is give you a little run down on how I attempted this project, and what I learned from it:

DO check your local thrift store for pretty dishes + candle holders: I found both of these plates and the candle holder at one of my favorite thrift stores. The plates were six dollars for around two dozen, and the candle holder was a buck. On my next thrifting trip I ended up coming back with so many dishes for future projects!

DON'T invest in any fancy supplies: When I looked up what kind of glue most people used for this project I found a lot of different opinions. Since we had Krazy Glue in the house and I was lazy, I decided to try that and it worked just fine! No need to invest in anything fancy.

DO let your project sit with a heavy-ish weight on it for a couple hours: I let it dry just a few minutes the first time, and the top plate came off a a couple hours later (*le gasp!*). So I re-glued it and put a couple heavy-ish bowls (I didn't want it too be too heavy and risk breaking the dishes) on it for several hours, and I haven't had a single problem with it since!

DON'T let the idea of doing a DIY freak you out: I know some of you out there don't think you're patient/creative enough to do DIYs, but don't let that psych you out! This is probably the easiest, and most fool-proof DIY I've ever done. I didn't even measure to find the center of the dishes. Seriously, you can't mess this up!

DO use this to organize all your gorgeous jewelery: I love having somewhere to stash all my rings so they stay all in once place instead of spread out all over my room!

DO get creative and have fun! On my last thrifting trip I got two larger dishes and made a cupcake stand - so cute! I should Instagram a picture later so you all can see.

Have any of you tried this project before? Comment and tell me your tips/tricks! (Bonus points if you have pictures to show me what lovely things you came up with! xo)

Lately {Pyrex and Tangled}

1. Lots of casual outfits this past week (tee shirt not pictured).

2. It's a big hat day! (Big hat courtesy of Maddie.)

3. A pretty graduation present from my aunt in California!

4. Got to spend a lot of quality time with this little cutey this week!

5. Pretzel roll + half an eclair + half a brownie + an Izzy soda = perfect snack.

6. New dress! Thrifted this beaut for just $6! It'll be perfect for my uncle's wedding this autumn.

7. Spent some hard earned cash on makeup this week! (clockwise: L'Oreal

8. My mustache key chain. Can't believe I haven't photographed it before now!

9. Saturday night Molly and I spent an hour skyping + going through our Pyrex collections. After putting aside the pieces for her + the ones to get rid of, my collection fits in ONE box!

1. Only Hope // Mandy Moore

2. When Will My Life Begin // Tangled

3. Home // Ok Sweetheart

1. This song was recommended to me by a friend early in the week and I just love it! It's such a lovely song. ♥
2. Listening to Only Hope by Mandy Moore made me want to listen to When Will My Life Begin - so I did. It's just such a fun song! And I mean, seriously, who can help but like all the Tangled songs??
3. I found this song through Beth's blog, and I love it so much! I've baked chocolate chip cookies twice in the past week (don't you judge me!) and both times I listened to this song. Also, I'm longing for kitchen like that! All the Pyrex and a gorgeous Kitchen Aid mixer?? *swoons*

The Big Blue Sweater // Thrifting Thursdays

A few weeks ago I decided that I needed a big, oversized teal sweater in my life. I searched every online store I knew of and came up totally, and completely empty handed. Which was sad. Then, about a week later while my mom and my little sister and I were taking a quick spin through my favorite Salvation Army, what should I see hanging up with the sweaters than this beauty! It had a couple snags I fixed both of them, and now have a completely lovely sweater for only $2!

So here's my thrifting tip: if you're in a thrift store packed with stuff and don't have a lot of time to/are too lazy to slowly and carefully go through everything, keep  your eye our for patterns/colors/fabrics you like. You can go a lot faster this way, while still having some order to your search. Good luck!

Fuzzy Blue Lights // Daily Outfit

 {jeans//Old Navy :: shoes//Blowfish Shoes :: sweater//thrifted :: necklace//vintage :: coat//gift}

Sorry these pictures are so blurred - it was getting dark when I took these pictures. Aside from that, though, what do you all think of my hair!? I finally bit the bullet and got it professionally dyed. It turned out darker than I was planning on, and I sorta hope it softens up a bit, but I'd much rather have it too dark than too light, and I'm really pleased with it! Finally I can wear bold make up and have it pop again! ♥

Friday night my family and I went to our favorite pumpkin farm to get pumpkins to carve. It's a really small farm run by a family on their property literally right in front of/behind their house. It's such a lovely place to visit each autumn, and we all really look forward to it. They also have a corn maze (that we haven't got around to doing yet) and donkeys, sheep, goats, a lama, and they used to have chickens and rabbits but we didn't see them this year. I even got to pet some kid goats! They were so soft and adorable, and two of them were play fighting. It was adorable!

Vintage Pyrex Haul // Thrifty Thursdays

Vintage School Chair // A Peek into My Room

My cousin, Molly and I started a tradition of going to every thrift store within ten miles of her house every time I come to visit. Last time we did I scored this awesome vintage school chair for $2! My other cousin, Anna, got one too, and even did some research on the manufacturer. She found out that the company was sold in 1957, so it's at least 54 years old! By far one of my best finds ever!

The clock on top of it is from Ikea, and all the jars are thrifted, too. The blue jar is from the bi-centenial, so I spray painted it to make the details on it more noticeable. Thanks to Wish Upon This for pointing me towards the tutorial.

Thrifting Thursdays - Hope Chest Haul

I decided to do this post in writing instead of a video because I figured I should explain the concept of a hope chest, since I'm assuming a lot of my readers don't know what it is.

A hope chest is a very old idea and is traditionally a chest filled with linens and other house hold things that a young woman takes with her when she is married. Among the Christian community it's fairly common for a girl to get such a chest and things to put in it for her eighteenth birthday. My family doesn't do that, however, and since I hate the experience of finding something I would love to use in my own home, but don't have a need for now, I decided to start my own. At the moment it's just being stored in a vintage suitcase that wasn't serving any real purpose, but I hope some day to get an actual chest that I can personalize and then use in my home once I move out.

Two weeks ago I did a lot of thrifting with my cousins, and got some real goodies for my chest, here's a few of the things I got:
{Corning mugs/$.33 a piece ~ plastic desert plates/$.39 a piece ~ Pyrex casserole dish/$3.50} The Pyrex casserole dish is by far one of my favorite finds. It's so funny because just a couple days before I found it I had been reading on Miss Indie and A is for Ampersand about Pyrex (I'd never heard of it before) and then lo and behold! I find my own! It's a good thing I have a hope chest, because I never would have been able to pass it up.

What's your best find? I'd love to hear about it!

Bedroom Decorations Thrifting Haul

I had so much fun doing my last thrifting haul video, that I decided to do another. This one is all the stuff I got for my room, and a couple other random things. I hope you all like it!

Thrifting Haul Part 2

So here it is! The second part to my video thrifting haul. I had so much fun making these videos that I think I am going to make it a regular feature! What do you all think of that? Comment and tell me your thoughts!

Thrifting Haul

I was planning on posting some pictures from when Heather, Christina, and I went to the beach, but I haven't finished editing them yet. So I hope you'll enjoy this thrifting haul video instead. After I made it I realized it was fifteen minutes long! So I decided to make it into two parts. I'll post the second part on Thursday.


It's my first "vlog," so I'm a little awkward, and I talk a little too fast, but I hope you all like it anyway. If you do comment and let me know!

Find of the Weekend - My LBD

The past several months I have been on the look out for a dress to wear to a friend's wedding in the spring. I have scoured Modcloth (several times) as well as any other place I could think of. I found a very nice dress at the Limited, but it was out of my price range, and not quite what I was looking for...

Well, Friday night I found the perfect dress - at a resale shop, of all places!! I now introduce you to my new love:

It's a Saks Fifth Avenue dress - I'm guessing from the 90's or maybe 80's - with original tags. The tag says it was originally nearly $200 - and I got it for $10! I am overjoyed! I just love the neckline and shoulders - it totally reminds me of a dress from the 40's!

It's a little more classic than I was planning on, but that's fine since I can get some more fun accessories to loosen it up. :)