Thrifty Thursday No.1

I love thrift shopping so so SO much. Browsing the rows and racks of unique items and coming across beautiful, vintage, and straight up weird finds makes me euphoric. It's like a thrifting high. Today I went on a pretty fantastic thrift shopping excursion and have plenty of pictures to prove it. Are you ready to follow me on my super exciting, retro-tastic thrifting adventure? Yes? Good!

I started with the books! I like to stop by this section to look for unique, old additions to my bookshelf. I keep my eyes open for cover designs and colors that catch my attention. (In this case, I say it's okay to judge books purely by their covers.)

This is a small stack of some of my favorite books I found. I think these would look so pretty stacked on a coffee table, shelf or side table. 

Next, I looked at the records! I love browsing through these for the retro-ific cover art. I also keep a look out for anything I think would be worth adding to my vinyl record listening library.

I love the photo art on the Nutcracker Suite I found. It's weirdly creepy and enchanting at the same time.  And those Brass and Percussion graphics are killer. 

Next, one of my favorite rows: Knickknacks! 

This is were you can find the best and weirdest stuff

Isn't this tin stinking adorable? It looks like a cute little cottage! I want to fill it up with cute little cookies or candies and give it to someone. (If you get this for Christmas, you still have to act surprised and like you've never seen it before)

 I also found these elegant swan vases. I think these would be so much fun to creatively incorporate into a room design.

And my final "knickknacks" find was this cute little gold/bronze bird statue. This would be such a sweet addition to a shelf or side table arrangement.

I found this very 80s glass and brass hexagonal chandelier that would be such a fun addition to a modern/eclectic room. I know this style of light fixture is pretty outdated right now, but I feel very strongly that if you style it right, this could seriously be the coolest chandelier ever. 

I always check for old suitcases at thrift stores and am rarely disappointed.. This time I found a pair of vintage cream-colored Samsonite cases. These would work great as decorative small storage and would look so cute stacked in the corner of a room.

I found this cane rocker! Holy cow, isn't it beautiful? And it was only $20!

I also saw this fantastic wicker disc chair. 

And this awesome velvet grandma couch. I love  love love ugly floral couches. I was swooning all over this thing

Next I saw this cupboard with sliding mirrored doors. I think this would look so pretty painted gold or just re-stained (keeping the mirrored doors of course).  

Next, clothes! My favorite!

 Um, can we talk about how awesome this blazer is? I look like a super classy banana from the 80s.

I mean, just look at that collar! And those cuffs!

Next up, this fantastic grandma sweater! 

I grabbed this coat to try on because I thought it was funny, but then I accidentally fell in love with it. It makes me feel like a fancy Russian diplomat. Also, it's super duper warm and cozy. 

I'm a sucker for a Downeast dress. So when I find one at a thrift store, I really can't pass it up. especially when it has a keyhole neckline AND a peter pan collar. 

I found this overwhelmingly pink embroidered mu mu. (I didn't buy it because I knew my dad would make fun of me for wearing a mu mu, but darn! Looking at these pictures I wish I had! I'll have to go back tomorrow and see if it's still there.)

And this shnazzy black pantsuit. 

To wrap up my thrifting sesh, I took a quick stop at the shoes.

I found these super nice Durango cowboy booties

Aren't they awesome??

I tried to talk myself into buying these American Eagle flip flops because I need some sandals, but I just couldn't do it. I can't handle flip flops. 

I also found these way cute gold shimmer sneakers

And these awesome patent leather platform loafers. Too bad these were about 5 sizes too small! Aren't they fabulous?

And that's the end! Thanks for joining me! 

DIY Glitter Bow Flats

Last week I found my perfect vintage wedding dress. At a thrift store. For twelve dollars. 

Since then I've been scouring the internet for the perfect wedding shoes. I knew I wanted something gold and something with ankle straps (I love ankle strap shoes almost as much as I love Sam...okay, that's a mega exaggeration, but I sure love 'em a whole lot.)

I couldn't find anything that I absolutely loved, and everything I just kinda loved cost at least $300. So I decided to make my own! Yay! They are exactly what I want and cost me hardly anything! Here's how I did it:

I got these suede flats at Forever 21 for a whopping $0.11. Okay, technically they were $14.90, but I used some store credit I had towards them. Still, not bad, eh?

For supplies I bought gold and silver extra fine glitter, Mod Podge, a pack of sponge brushes, and 1.5" ribbon. Together all this cost me about $18 and I have plenty left over glitter and Mod Podge I can use for future wedding crafts. The nail polish I already had on hand, but any clear polish, even the super cheapo stuff will work.

I started by pouring about 1/4 c. Mod Podge into a disposable bowl. and adding both the gold and silver glitter. (The gold glitter was a bit more yellow than what I wanted, so I used the silver to cool it down a bit and give me the gold tone I was looking for)

I mixed it all together then decided that my Mod Podge needed a bit more glitter; you really have to  guesstimate on the amount of glitter you put in. I tried to put in as much as I could without making my glue/glitter mixture too thick to spread on smoothly.

Here it is all mixed up!

And then I went to town on my shoes! I've glittered other shoes in the past and have found that suede-like materials seem to "hold" the glitter best.

When I got glitter on the edge of the sole, I would just scrape it off with my fingernail. I figured this was easier than trying to tape off the sole plus it gave me super posh glitter accents on my nails. So I guess this is a 2-in-1 diy. Shoes AND nails!

My shoes dried pretty fast (in about 30-40 minutes) and only needed one coat plus a few touch ups here and there

While I was waiting for my shoes to dry, I cut two yard-long pieces of ribbon (though I probably could've/shorter) and brushed some clear nail polish across the ends to keep them from fraying.

Lucky for me, my shoes already came with little loopy-tabs on the backs! (but after my 2 minutes of research before starting this project, I was thoroughly prepared to add my own tabs with some glue and extra pieces of ribbon. See this tutorial)

I squeezed my ribbons through those tiny loops and...

Voila!

All Done!

What do you think of this tutorial? What should I have done differently? What should I try next? Let me know in the comments below!

Friday Fashion Face: Andrew

How would you define your personal style?

I like to consider myself a combination Prep/ hipster(?)/ ????? I don't really fit under a label. I just wear what looks good to me and what I want.

Where is your favorite place to look for new clothes?

My absolute favorite store is H&M, yet I'm usually limited to like one item per trip due to the $$$

Who or what inspires your style?

I get a lot of inspiration from the internet. There's never not a time when I'm not looking up the latest trends on tumblr or Instagram. I follow a lot of YouTubers like Troye Sivan or Connor Franta who inspire me. I would kill to have a wardrobe like them.

How has your style changed over the years?

Oh goodness. Everything? I hate looking back at old pictures and thinking, "I wore that???" I definitely have gotten more of a freedom as I've gotten older to buy things that I know my parents might never buy.

What is your current favorite outfit?

 My current favorite outfit at the moment is a creamy white t-shirt layered with a grey floral short sleeve button down, dark wash skinny jeans and tan oxfords.

What current fashion trends do you love?

 My current loved fashion trend are white converse. I just think they look great with lighter washed jeans! Also floral print anything.

Who do you think is the most stylish person of all time?

The most stylish person (people) of all time? James Dean, Marina Diamandis, Audrey Hepburn, Troye Sivan and Colton Haynes

What is your favorite time period in history for fashion?

My favorite time period in history for fashion would be the 1950's. It seems as though everyone actually gave an effort as to what they looked like, something I wish we still had today. Also the amount of class was out. of. this. world. 

What style advice would you give yourself five years ago?

I would definitely tell myself to stop wearing tennis shoes and cargo shorts all the time. And also to put some product in my hair.

If someone asked you for style advice, what would you tell them?

I would tell them that taking the time and effort to look good is 100% worth it. I just feel so good about myself when my hair is done, my clothes are clean, and I'm wearing something I love. Also, never be afraid of wearing anything you think other people won't like. I get bad looks all the time about what I'm wearing. It hurts, but I know that as long as what I'm wearing makes me happy, then I will never stop wearing it. So just don't care what anyone else thinks. BE YOU!!!

Want to be my next "Friday Fashion Face?" Email me at emmaanne501@gmail.com