Retro Redo (episode 3)

In the beginning of last school year, my amazing geometry teacher, handed me two dresses that she didn't want any more.  Well I took them and 10 months later I finally did something with the first one, the other is still in the process of being "remade".  When I tried it on even though the color looked good I just couldn't see myself wearing it, and couldn't think of something to make it in to.  Until I looked at my sister.  She was smaller than me, so that meant that, I could use the material more easily and that's how it all started...

I put it on her, and it was perfect.  (to big for her = Perfect!)  Definantally enough material to use for her.  So I went to work with my machine and shirred the waist and did a couple little tricks with my serger, and sure enough!  There it was an adorable skirt perfect for summer, and great for school!  She loved it.

Formal 2013!

  It's that time of year again!  The Birds are chirping, every girl is sitting in the classroom wondering who will ask them to prom/formal this year?  Kevin?  Mark?  Bob?  The guys are all day dreaming about what they could have done with the money that they are now spending on there date.  But the most important thing that is going through every girls mind is... "What am I gong to wear to the formal!?!"

  Yes!  FORMAL!  It's here and we are going to shop till we drop, while staying within a budget of under $65.00!  I promise you it is possible!  Do not be alarmed!  You do not have to spend your parents life savings on your prom or formal!  "What?"  "No way?"  "I am going to faint!"
  Now, there are several ways to be money savvy when it comes to formal.  For example, you could trade dresses with some of your good ol girl friends from the year before.  If you have a big sister that has moved out of the house you could gab one of her old dresses, maybe give it a hem, a little tweak and wallah   Brand new for you!  But if you are like me, you really like shopping!

  First of all, never ever go to a bridal shop, a prom dress store, boutique, or a mall.  Don't even go to Ross!  Their stuff is cheap... but that is for a reason.  Besides why would you want to go to where everyone else is getting their dresses?  You know that fear you get, when you think, "What if somebody wears my same dress!?!?"  Well avoiding these stores, avoids that problem.  So here is what I did.  (P.S.  It was so much fun!)  I went to the Antique mall!

  "What?"  "The Antique Mall?"  Yes people the Antique Mall!  And in my neighboring town's antique mall there is a upper room called a the boutique.  In which there are millions (hypothetically speaking) dresses, men's suites, accessories and more!  They have great prices and superb costumer service.  Their dressing rooms are right next to the only bathroom in the entire "mall"  for easy access if you know what I mean. (wink wink).

  Oh hey guys I just got back from my commercial break.  Anyways this upper room is great, there are a bunch of good dresses ranging from 1930's to now days!  That's right you can even get the resent stuff for really cheap!  As in money people.  So in this upper room my friend and I played dress up, trying on things from the 80's and she went all out accessorizing every outfit!  What fun!

  So here comes the most exciting part of the entire shopping trip as every shopping trip is for me... the bargains.  Now if you have been reading my blog then you know that I like to look up the original price, (if I can find it)  and give it an evaluation on my bargain, you know to see if I got a good deal or not.  So I looked up my dress and it turns out to be a Mori Lee by Madeline Gardner!  Isn't that exciting?  Don't worry I have never heard of her either.  Well it turns out that her dresses go from $100 (on sale) - $700!  My dress by looking at her other designs was probably around the $200 range, and I got it for only $34.00!

  You just fainted didn't you?  Yes!  I knew it!  Well after finding my perfect formal dress, and my friend's great 1960's dress.  We headed off to just look around the "mall" and see what we could see in about five minuets   There was this one booth that had a rack of jewelry from the 50's-60's.  And low and behold there it was... I grabbed this cute necklace, my mom said it looked like the same color as my dress, and behold it was... the perfect necklace.  And only $6.00!  Hey that is pretty good for an authentic vintage necklace that's around 50 to 60 years old!  My grandma could have worn this same necklace at her prom or formal!

  Well after buying these things we went back home... and my mom and I woke up early the next morning to complete the outfit!  By the way if you have or will be going shopping with your mother for prom or formal, please say thank you and wish her a happy mom's day! :)  Love you mom, and thanks! <3

  As I was saying, we went to another town to look for the accessories (great story but this post is getting to be extremely long, way longer than I thought it was going to be).  Haha!  So my mom and I went to this great "world" store, you know like the kind that you get stuff from all over the world like jewelry (wink wink).  We walked into the store with only a picture and a vision!  In which was fulfilled for an even better bargain than we could have ever expected!  The perfect earrings, that actually matched the necklace!  It was a pack of 12 for $4.50, so one pair that I would wear for formal was only .38 cents!

  Next we went to Joann's Fabric (I love you my love!  I told you I would come back some day!)  So we got some gold sash that was a bounce off color of yet again the necklace, and the sash really gave the dress more of a shape on the torso and it also really tied the whole outfit together, literally!  This was not all that cheap but hey, I do think that there are very small exceptions to the rule.  Remind you I say VERY small exceptions.  So here it is $7.47.

  Lastly the shoes, did you know that Payless has coupons?

 So we went to Payless to get their "every day low price" of  $19.99, (aka $20)  for only $12.49, (aka $12.50).  With the help of a coupon, and my sister who needed a pair of shoes so that we could get the deal. :)  They are comfort plus nude pumps.  Love them!  I love them so much that they are still up here right next to me on my desk I can see them right now.  And they are mainly here because there is no room in my closet because of my dress.

  So if you were calculating all of those prices and didn't get under 65 then your calculator is broken.  So lets recap.
  *Dress:  $34.00
  *50's-60's necklace:  $6.00
  *Earrings:  .38 cents
  *Gold Sash:  $7.47
  *Shoes:  $12.49
Total amount, drum role please... dralalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala :  $60.34

  "Whoo hoo!"  "How dose she do it?"  "Lalala!"  "Yay!"  "Bravo!"  "Ole!"

  So those of you nonbelievers, is it still impossible   Well maybe for those who really just hate spending bottom price.  But really, who is that?  Everybody loves a good deal but not many know how to get it.  So I hope that this will be appealing to all of you prom/formal shoppers out there, and maybe you parents could show this to your little princess, and prove to them that they can look great and still pay the minimal amount.
  So happy shopping and bargaining and may all of your prom and formal dreams come true.
Until next time,

See Ya Later!




 

Retro Redo Episode 2

 These posts are starting to come out of my ears!  "WHAT?  I CAN"T HEAR YOU!  I HAVE POSTS COMING OUT OF MY EARS!"  When was the last time I did a retro redo?  I can feel your excitement... that or my own excitement.  Well this is it.  Retro Redo, episode 2.  Another item from my moms old out of date closet, and then stripped apart to put into my vintage/old/new closet. :)  You ready, I am about to tell you the secret to how I did this... O.K. hear it is.  I hemmed it!  What?  No!  But how?  That's right folks,

I hemmed it, and the rest was just using my own pieces from my own closet and vewalla!  It became my own.  O.K. here's the video. :)

Again, like last time.  Sorry if the pictures are blurry,

I really need to learn how to fix that. :)

Sweater heven!

So.... now that the winter break is over... I'm back baby!  Well today's post will be short and sweet.  Thrift stores!!!  It's not going to be as extravagant as the last thrift post I posted.  But this post is still going to be post worthy. Did I say post yet?

 I got these sweaters at St. Vinnies, and if you know me, then you know that I love to wear sweaters!  They are so warm and cozy, and you can never have too many sweaters.  But wait here's the back story...
So I was looking around in the "long sleeved" section when all of a sudden my mom calls me over and says,
"Hey Nicole come here, they have an entire section of sweaters!"  I was in shock, it seemed as if my whole world was turned upside down and backwards, what? an entire four whole 20 ft. racks dedicated to sweaters?  But how can this be? I looked over to where my mom was and ran to the sweaters!  Oh my loves!  My hearts only desire!  This is where we belong!  Together in a sweater heaven.   

 And I only bought four.

But hey that's more than some people!  So if you are a St. Vinnies fanatic, then you know that they only have a couple prices, and that they price by category.  So that means that everything I got was only $3.27 each.  Why do they not do $3.25, well it could be because they have a super secret savings account where they can store all of those extra 2 cents from all of those sweaters to buy themselves expensive things for their houses!!!  That or it's just because they can.

Cute ruffles!

This is my little sister, I tried on this sweater and it did not fit.  But it was adorable and I thought hey this would totally fit little sister!  Soooo... I had her try it on, she loved it and mom got it for her.  So really I am showing you five sweaters but I only bought four. Smiley face :)

Love the intricate weave knitting design.

Salmon stripes!

What a pose! 

RED! RED! RED!

The Bazaar!

Sorry the Picture is so blurry, my camera was dying!

Again it has been around 2 months since I have posted a blog.  But my reasons are really good.  You want to hear them?  Of course you do!  Well I have been so busy with this bazaar at a local church and, oh man, it takes a lot of time and effort.. effort what's that?  Yes folks effort, sweat, blood, and tears.  But I thoroughly enjoyed it. -I'm smiling right now.

SOLD!

Well the bazaar lasted from Friday Nov. 2nd to Saturday Nov. 3rd.  I made good sales and had a really fun time.  I was right next to my sister's piano teacher, her and her sister, were selling baked goods, (YES!  I don't have to get up and move to get my lunch!)  And also next to this guy who made things out of wood.  He said that he just started the craft.  Across from my booth was this guy who had the most detailed and amazing paintings ever!  If I had the money, and the space, one of those paintings would be hanging in my room right now.

This was my 3rd bazaar and my best one yet!  I made a good profit, and got my name/ stuff out there.  I received some orders and had a great experience   

Well, like a lot of shows on TV have that one show called the filler show.  It is the show that fills the gap giving the writers and staff a little break so they can gear up for the next great episode.  So that's what this is folks, see ya later. 

Fairies and Felines

 O.K., I have a whole bunch of new skirt designs for you all!  And I have chosen only three to show you.  But never fear for Lady Nicole and her trusty side kick Sir Brother Machine, will show you the rest some other time.

So let me introduce you to the felines skirt (as foreshadowed in the title.)  This skirt was inspired by... Wal-Mart!  Forgive me, I am a traitor!  Oh my dear Joann Fabric store!  How I am sooo sorry, but the fabric was so conveniently on the way to whatever else I was shopping for!  And the colors looked great together, and, oh Joann, they were on sale for only $2.00 a yard!  Can you ever forgive me?
         And that is how I got that fabric.
Moving on....

The rest of the fabric was all given to me by my sponsors   (Thank you Grandma, and sewing consultant!)  They are like my fairy god mothers of fabric!  This pink and black polk-a-dot one is totally cute, just for that little baby on the go!  Now I am smiling like a person who thinks babies are so cute.  Wait a socond... I am that person!  Hey what do you know!?!

And now for the skirt you have all been waiting for... it's, dralalalalalalalalalalala, this one!  I was so excited to create this skirt.  First time doing pick-ups on a skirt or anything for that matter, all by myself, just figured it out. (with some helpful tips from other blogs.)  And BAM!  It was supper fun to make.  Did I say I liked it?  Oh ya, it's one of my favorites.
Oh Joann Fabric store!  How I love you so much.  For it was you who was selling this fabric!  It was you who inspired me for the greatest of them all!  And yes it is you I will always love!  Oh Joann Fabric store!  Thank you for being there for me in times of need!  I'll see you next week!

And that was another episode of Lady Nicole and her trusty side-kick Sir Brother Machine!

See ya later!

Hunting for Treasure... Arrgh!

(My Sisters Closet) 

I do believe that it is high time I posted something.  And what a better thing to write about than a back to school, blog... post... thing.  Yes this may be a bit late, seeing as some people have already started school, and most are done shopping.  But hey this can always become great knowledge for shopping any time of the year, even next year's back to school shopping.  Whether you are in high school, grade school, collage, a mom with kids, or just a person who likes to shop right before school starts, and... you want to save a ton of money, keep on reading.

(Angle Birds Antike Mall)

A group of girls and I thought it would be fun to do some thrift store shopping.  Well we went to four thrift stores, (My sister's closet, Plato's Closet, Value Village, and Union Gospel Mission)  and 1 Antique mall, (Angle Birds Antike Mall)

I will present my wonderful treasures by giving you what the price of it would be, what the price is, and what I actually got it for.  So, with out further a do.

O.K. so... these little black heels were bought at a thrift store I went to on my own.  It's a new thrift store in our town called Restyle Resale.

They are Nicole Miller brand and have a cute little flower thingy on the toe of the shoe.  These shoes could have been baught at JCPenny's for around $30-$60.

                   I got these cute things for only $6.00!

So now back to shopping with the group.  We went to Plato's closet, and all of us loved the store.  Since I don't like to spend money I thought their prices were a bit spendy.  But then again every thing that they had was new used, so it over all was a pretty good deal.  And what is also really cool, is that on some of the items, they will put the original retail price and then their price.
So these teal wedges would have been $17.00 at payless.
They were selling them for only $5.00 instead.

Also at Plato's I got this awesome dark cheetah print shirt.  Polyester and spandex mix.  My favorite fabric to wear.  I paired it with some jewlery that I already owned.
I wasn't able to find a good original price for this and the store didn't know either.  The brand is XXI and you maybe could have found it at rue 21, just to give you an idea of what it could have been.  Well I got this awesome piece for $8.00.  For me that's expensive but hey if you could feel this fabric you would pay for it too!

We went to this one thrift store called Union Gospel Mission.  The money goes to a good cause and families in need.  Well they were having an awesome sale!  Red and white tags were 75% off, and blue tags were 50% off.  What a deal!  So naturally I go searching for the right colors of tags.  In my search I found this adorable jacket.  It still had the original store tag on it.  Once this wonder was $44, and then it magically became, $5.47!

 This was bought from the same place.  A nice polk-a-dot shirt.  For it's original, original price, I had no clue.  The tags had been cut out completely!
Well the stores price was $2.97, with their 50% off I got it for only $1.48!  A great deal!  I love sales!

Another store we went to was The Value Village.  They were also having a sale.  $2.00 blue tag day, and half off of green tags.  So I again was in the zone to find these colors.  And I did!  This Worthington shirt would probably retail at Macy's or JCPenny's for around $20-$40.  They priced it for $9.99 and I got it for only $2.00!  Again, I love sales!

"Soooo.... I know that you have totally been noticing that I have been wearing the same pair of jeans in every single picture."  She said sarcastically.

If you really did notice, then I give you a thumbs up! There I just did it for all of you noticers of detail!  Anyways, I had to save these jeans for the end,  I always need some kind of a grand finally, an amazing ending paragraph, an exclamation point at the end of every sentence!

This is again for you noticers of detail!  On the back pockets there is an M and then a K.  Do you know what those letters stand for?  MICHEAL KORS!!!!!
And then some of you ask, "Who is he?"  Well to those of you who don't know.  He is a fashion designer, a judge on Project Runway, (which I watch faithfully every week) and he has won a life time achievement award.  But the most important points to remember are Fashion Designer, and judge on Project Runway!
Micheal Kors jeans are designer jeans and they run from $70 to wait for it... $700!!!  Value Village was selling them for only $9.99 and since they were a green tag, I got them for only, drum role please, drlalalalalalalalalalalalala, $4.99!
In all agreement best buy of the day!  Maybe even the Century!

Well this treasure hunt has gotten very long.  Maybe I should edit it down?  Nah!  Well if you should leave this post with any knowledge of thrift store shopping it should be that when shopping at a thrift store don't just expect every thing to be cheep.  Some stuff can still be a little spendy.  Always always always try and look for the sales, if they have any; never buy something that is $10 unless you absolutely love it, and keep on digging through the sand for that treasure, because you never know if those designer jeans are just $5.00 away.

This is Micheal Kors, the Designer Judging on project runway with Nina Garcia Edditor of Mair Clare magazine (On left) and super model/ host of project runway Hiedi Klum (On right).