How to Keep your Daughter's Leggings Down

For some reason my daughter's leggings always ride up her legs. We have been in a lot of cold places lately and I really wanted to make sure she was more covered. Then I remembered something I used to have as a kid called stirrup pants. Remember these beauties?

I knew this would be pretty easy to duplicate and would solve our pants riding up problem. I gathered what I needed, needle and thread, elastic and scissors, as well as her leggings.

I cut two equal pieces of elastic that were a little longer than the width of the hem of her pants. Then, using the side seams as a guide, I hand sewed them on.

Ta-da! Now we have leggings that will tuck into her boots and stay there!

Style: Summer Dress for Winter

It never gets too terribly cold in FL and as a result, I don't bother to own a lot of winter clothes. Instead, I have layering pieces. One way I use them is by extending the life of my summer dresses by pairing them with a long sleeve tee and leggings. Make sure the print of your dress is not overly Spingy or Summery.

Hat/Boots: Payless
Scarf: Gift
Jacket: Old Navy
Dress: Ross
Leggings: Wal-mart

The great thing about FL is that it did not take me long to shed the hat, jacket and scarf!

Style Challenge - Part 4

Days 19-21

Day 15: I Since I only had a few days left I had to do the last of my reader outfits. This was worn for a trip into town to go to Olive Garden and the Dollar Store!

Day 16: Another reader outfit, but I had to switch to boots because of the snow! This day we just went to Wal-mart and Sheetz for a sub.

Day 17: Another reader outfit. This was a busy day of travel, drop in, travel, and a meeting! We were taken to the Original Bob Evan's Restaurant. It was the nicest Bob Evan's I've ever been to.

Day 18: Also, a reader outfit, but I was not up to a real picture! This was a travel day, finished by a trip to a huge mall right by the Pentagon for dinner.

Day 19: This is the last reader outfit and the last day that I got a picture of. We stayed at a hotel near Washington D.C. and spent the morning and early afternoon going to see the White House, Lincoln Monument and the American History Museum. I picked up the scarf as a souvenir!

My last 2 days I still managed not to repeat any outfits, making the challenge a success. I think the hardest part wasn't repeating, but getting the pictorial proof! I also realized that I could have done it with even less clothes, especially if I was willing to repeat.

Style: St. Augustine

Recently our family went with some friends to St. Augustine, FL. I tried to take a few "artsy" pictures!

It really is a pretty little historic area! I would have gotten some pictures of the bridge and bay if the weather had not been so windy! We decided to grab some dessert and discovered this cute little bakery that smelled amazing!

We just bought some cookies but they had some lunch specials that looked yummy and cheap! We will be remembering this place next time we come! I decided to wear a dress that I had turned into a skirt. It was a fun outfit that was plenty warm!

Shirt/Scarf: I don't remember

Skirt: DIY

Jacket/Necklace: Old Navy

Boots: French's

Fashion Challenge - Part 3

Days 9-14

Day 9

Day 9 was packing and diner with my extended family.

Cardigan: gift from Mom

Shirt/Tights: JCP

Tank/Skirt: Wal-mart

Boots: Target

Pin: DIY

Day 10

 

Day 10 was travel, church, travel, meeting, dinner. Loooong day, but Sundays usually are for us.

Dress/Cardi: Vanity

Belt: Gift

Scarf: Wal-mart

Day 11

Day 11 was driving and snow. After we got to the hotel we showered and went for some dinner but I seriously should have grabbed an extra jacket!

Cardi: A'gaci

Shirt: Target

Skirt: DIY

Flats: Payless

Brooch: Gift

Day 12

Your lucky I documented this. It was pretty tragic! More driving and snow with a stop for lunch and a stroll through the mall. All I have to say for the socks is that there is a draft in our car at the feet on my side!

Cardi: A'gaci

Top/Socks: JCP

Skirt: Thrifted
Shoes: Payless
Scarf: DIY

Day 13

Day 13 was lunch with the Pastor and a meeting in the evening. I pulled out one of my reader looks but had to change out the sweater as I have not been able to to laundry for a few days, and it's cold!
Sweater/Shirt/Tank: JCP
Skirt: Wal-mart
Flats: Rack Room Shoes
Necklace: Gift

Day 14, today is not getting documented because I doubt I will be leaving this room! Not upset about that though as it is quite cozy!

Blogging For Books - Free Books!

A friend recently posted on her blog, Alex Marie, about a website she had heard about at a conference called Blogging for Books. The concept of the website it that they send you a book or an e-book and if you read it and review it within an adequate time frame, they send you another one. I decided to give it a try. My first book was a Christian romance.

The Inconvient Marraige of Charlotte Beck

Here is my review:

If I had realized that before I finished it, some things would have made a lot more sense. I make it a point to never start in the middle of a series for this reason alone. Beyond that, I did enjoy the story. I read it very quickly while traveling and I could easily see the scenes unfolding in my mind.

I enjoyed the love story aspect of the book. The reluctant suitor was a true gentleman and a good man at heart. The heroine reminded me a little of Emma, by Jane Austin. She meant well but had a way of messing things up in pursuit of her own interests. She was also much more selfish than she realized at first. I also enjoyed the time frame that the book was set it as I find details of life from other time periods fascinating.

I wish that faith, and an explanation thereof, would have been a little more prominent in the story, however. I think if I had read the first two books in the series already then that might have been explained a little bit better. I also thought that the resolution happened very quickly and a little awkwardly, but again, this might be explained by no knowledge of the previous stories. This was a quick and amusing read, but I would recommend reading the first books first!

If you decide to sign up with Blogging for Books, make sure you read everything and follow all of the steps to save yourself a headache. I recommend checking out the FAQ's.

Wrap Dress to Skirt Tutorial

 I recently bought this dress from the flea market. The cut and the polka dots spoke to me, but when I tried it on at home, the fit didn't! So, I decided to turn into a skirt. I laid it out flat to get an idea of where to cut it.

Once I had a plan, I chopped the top of the dress off.

I too some straight pins and pinned down where I wanted to bring the two sides together. The front hem was cut at an angle so I sewed down to the ruffle and then took it off the machine and pinned again before stitching the rest.

I turned it inside out and cut the extra fabric from the overlap away so that it wouldn't create extra bulk.

Then I got some black elastic out and measured it around my waist and stitched the ends together.

Next I pinned it to my skirt. To do this, I started where I stitched the elastic and lined that up with one of the side seams. Then I folded both pieces in half and pinned where the halfway marks lined up. I continued this process, folding both in half and adding pins, until I had 8 pins.

Next, I sewed the elastic to the skirt. You have to stretch the elastic as much as you can between pins so that the stretch will be right. Finished!

I decided to wear it to church that week.

Sweater: Coldwater Creek
Tank: Wal-mart
Belt: Target
Tights/ Flats: Payless
Jewelry: Southern Women's Show and Flea Market

And yes, I was wearing a Hello Kitty necklace and earrings! Love it!

Pillowcase Dress and Matching Scarf for Mommy!

I finally got the courage to sew for my daughter and made her a pillow case dress using this tutorial. The original piece was a too-big dress that I picked up for a dollar at a yard sale. I tried to alter it into a skirt for me but was unhappy with the result. The new dress is made from the skirt and the ties are made from the band that went around the top. When I finished, I still had some pieces left that I wanted to do something with.

I pieced them together, overlapping edges that I had ripped.

Then I sewed it all together, kind of going for a raw edge look.

I honestly was not that happy with the result . . .

 . . . but, being that it was only a scarf, it still looked cute on!

Sweater/Belt: Target
Shirt/Skirt: Thrifted
Shoes: Payless

I would defiantly make us matching stuff again, I will just plan ahead to have enough fabric!

Fashion Challenge - Part 2

Here are days 5-8! We are at my grandparent's house for the week.

 On day 5 my Grandma and I took the Dida to the park as it was supposed to be the nicest weather for the week. Good thing we did because it rained and snowed the rest of the week! I decided that this was a great day to wear on of my reader created outfits. This one was submitted by my mom. Sadly, I forgot to pack the owl necklace! I wore a simple one that my husband gave me instead.
Sweater: Coldwater Creek
Tee: Target
Tank: Walmart:
Skirt: Thrifted
Shoes: Payless

On day 2 I went grocery shopping with my grandma and then to church. I wore another outfit submitted by a reader, Rachel. She chose leopard flats and black boots, so I wore the flats for shopping and the boots for church!

Sweater/Trench/Boots: Target

Tank/Skirt: Walmart

Hair Flower: Southern Women's show

On day 3 the Hubs and I got to go on a date! We went to an Italian restaurant called Gondolier and walked the mall. I picked up a new black bubble necklace for $5! I was very excited! I'm also wearing a new bib necklace that I made myself. You can't see it very well but a tutorial will be coming soon.

Sweater/Tank: Target

Skirt: Thrifted

Boots: French's

Boot Socks: JC Penny (on sale for $2!!) 

On day 8 it snowed!! The Hubs, Dida and I went out in it for a little bit in the morning. It was almost gone by the afternoon. After lunch my Grandma and I took the Dida to visit an elderly family friend and I had a reason to put on something other than junk clothes.
Sweater: Coldwater Creek
Skirt: DIY
Scarf: Cato
Brooch: Vintage, gift
Boots: French's

Go back and see Part 1 here as well as my Style Challenge, here.