Look of the Day: Dressed in White

 Ahh, summer dressing. The simpler, the better. I live for it. In the winter, I'm tired of layering by Christmas. It takes so much thought and planning.

Warm weather clothing, though, you only need one piece (or two, if one piece is see-through like this dress is).

 This is another fab find from Deseret Industries. It had puffy sleeves, but I cut them off. Puffy sleeves are not my thing. They made it look like a nightgown/choir robe. Subtract the sleeves and I've got a new favorite dress! It's pretty much the same story as this white dress, which is my other favorite dress. Let's see how long I can keep them white, because the other thing I love best about summer is ripe fruit. Disaster in the making. Although, I wore it to my mom's last week, and managed to keep it clean.

What a treat to have enough flowers to cut for a bouquet. I really love floral arrangement and wish I had more room to grow my own flowers. Tilly and Otto get along so well. I'm so glad he loves everyone (Frida was not great with kids).

(Speaking of disaster, I just dropped salmon salad all over my desk)

Vintage maxi dress (similar) - American Apparel Hot Short - vintage Nordstrom sunglasses (similar) - Birkenstocks

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Joyeux Neon: DIY Christmas Cards

  Who says neon pink isn't a Christmas color? It sure as heck brightens up those long, cold nights! This year, I decided my cards would be gold and neon pink. Honestly, I wasn't too sure about the colors, but they are turning out spectacularly! Well, at least I think so.

The picture of the card does not do it justice. Neon can be tricky to photograph, but I think it gives you the idea of what can be done with a little neon and a lot of gold!

Sourcing your materials:

1. Vintage Kitsch

Christmas decor and gift wrap are the things no one wants at garage and estate sales, so it's easy to find great stuff at dirt-cheap prices. I found the bell seals, the neon poinsettia, the super cool Santa in a sports car, and the snowy tree all at one estate sale. If you don't have time to go estate saleing, there's tons of cut vintage stuff on Etsy. This set has a lot of great pieces. I have a couple small kits for sale, too, that would be perfect for holiday crafting. 

2. Cut It Up

Post cards and old books are fabulous for crafting (the pine cone is from an old kid's encyclopedia). You can use every part! Text adds texture, hard covers can be used as canvases, and many old books have beautifully patterned end pages that can be used for all sorts of decorative purposes.

3. Think Outside the Pages

Even easier and cheaper? Recycled magazines and newspapers! The polka dot snowflake was a Wall Street Journal and the reindeer envelope was either a Martha Stewart Living or National Geographic.

4. Practice Makes Perfect

I write out a lot of my own greetings on the front. With a little practice, you can have beautifully lettered holiday cards. Each one unique! Get some watercolors and a fine brush or use a nice pen and just write out your words until you like them! You can get ideas from Pinterest or watch a tutorial if you're not sure where to start. If you live in the Seattle area, Sarah at Paper Source, teaches an amazing hand-lettering class!

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