Saving a Sweater

When I graduated college, my mom and I went through my closet and did some major purging. We filled bags and bags with clothes destined for Goodwill. After we were done, we decided I needed a new wardrobe full of professional options for interviews and the working world. One of the first things I bought was a white sweater with black and white dotted ruffley rosettes on the front. I loved it and wore it to so many of my interviews that my mom nicknamed it my "interview sweater".

A year and a half later, the ruffley rosettes had started shredding in the wash and getting tiny black and white threads on EVERYTHING. It just got to the point that I couldn't stand pulling the threads off all my clothes after washing them, so I had to decide what to do with the sweater. My first thought was, of course, to throw it away. It was shredding so badly that I couldn't even bring myself to let a poor soul at Goodwill buy it. Being the crafter I am, I wanted to save the buttons off the neckline. They're the pretty knit covered ones that are much more expensive to buy new. But then I realized that if I could save the buttons, maybe I could save the sweater by just removing the ruffles.

My sweater, pre-surgery

The ruffles were attached to strips of a mesh-like backing, so I had to remove the mesh strips instead of removing the ruffles themselves.

Using my seam ripper, I VERY CAREFULLY ripped out the stitches that held the ruffles on, being sure that I was grabbing the thread and not the fabric of the sweater.

Here it's easy to see those mesh strips I was talking about. They came off very easily, but it took a little time and a little patience. You can also see in the picture that the texture of the mesh left an imprint on the sweater. At this point I wasn't sure if that would be an issue, but I knew a round in the wash could do wonders for something like that.

All the mesh strips after I got them off. I considered saving them to do something with.. but they just fell apart at the slightest touch, so they ended up right in the trash.

And my sweater now, clean and imprint-free after washing and drying it, like I'd hoped. If you look closely enough you could still see the faint remains of where the strips used to be sewn on, but I really don't plan on anyone looking that closely at my chest... awkward. I also imagine that another few washes and the knitting will rearrange itself so it'll be as if the strips were never there.

I love this sweater and I'm glad that I can keep wearing it (now with even more outfits since the ruffles are gone!) I hope I've inspired you to take another look at a piece of clothing before you toss it.

Blooming Books

When I moved into my new apartment a few months ago, I really wanted my bedroom decor to be focused and intentional rather than a hodge-podge of stuff I already had.
I wanted to incorporate my existing bedding because I absolutely love it. It's pink and white striped Ralph Lauren sheets with a green Ralph Lauren blanket. It's so very me. (and apparently very Ralph Lauren too...) I bought some new white bedroom furniture online and switched out the white pulls for some dark bronze ones that help make the pieces look less mass-produced. I painted two of my walls a dark gray and hung a white shelf over my headboard.

(Try to ignore the cord to my very stylish IKEA light...)

And that's where I got stuck. I knew I needed something on that shelf, but I wanted something great, so I was patient until inspiration stuck.

Inspiration came to me in the form of this beautiful piece of art by Mandy Lynne:

I love everything about this photograph. I love that the flowers and stems are a perfect color match to my bedding. I love the old books. I'm a huge book collector and I especially love older editions. I like the use of pretty papers to personalize the look. I just love it and I decided it would be perfect for my shelf. I did considering just purchasing the artwork and setting the framed piece on the shelf, but I couldn't find it at a large enough scale to look appropriate. So instead, I decided to create my own version of it.

I already had a few books to choose from but I added a few extra from a thrift store because I liked that the inspiration photo had pretty colored books.

The Nancy Drew books were a gift from my aunt years ago. I have eight of them in a variety of pretty colors. Since I've read them a hundred times and I won't be doing any damage to them, I thought they'd be perfect for this. Added to some thrift store books and some more old books from a family friend, I made a nice stack.

A trip to Michaels helped in my hunt for pretty papers that matched the delicate, feminine look I was going for.

So pretty.

While I was at Michaels, I also grabbed the necessary items for the flower vase... but I didn't take any pictures of that process because it consisted of 1.Cut stems and 2. Place flowers in jar. Not rocket science.

To wrap the books in paper, I cut a piece just large enough to wrap the spine and cover the spine's writing with a little left over to hold it in place.

I didn't want to use any tape or glue at the risk of damaging the books, so I relied on the pressure of the stack of books to hold the paper in place.

I used a larger piece of paper on the second-to-top book since the top book is so much smaller. It gives the impression that all the books below are wrapped in a similar fashion. I chose to leave the two oldest books unwrapped because I like the variety and the titles are worn off anyway. (The top green one is Vanity Fair and the lower blue one is Gulliver's Travels.)

A strip of bandage stolen from our first aid kit and my book stack is complete.

My proportions are a little different then the original artwork, but that's creative license at work. And while I wish that cord was gone, I'd like to think the flowers help distract you from it. I think I achieved what I was looking for. I really like it and that was my goal.

Pantone's Color of the Year 2012

Last year, I posted about Pantone's Color of the Year for 2011, Honeysuckle, a color I love.
I'll admit I don't love this year's color quite as much, but it's certainly inviting and envigorating.

Leatrice Eiseman, the executive direction of the Pantone Color Institute says this about the color: “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it. Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

From home decor and accessories to cosmetics to fashion, this color will be everywhere this year. Pantone calls it "a bit exotic, but in a very friendly, non-threatening way." Even though you won't see me sporting any tangerine eyeshadows, I might consider working a cute top into my wardrobe.



No inspiration collection would be complete without an owl. It's science.

Tangerine Tango is supposed to give us "the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward". A little political subliminal messaging from Pantone here in election year? I doubt it. More like not-so-subliminal messaging that tangerine is a color that can easily transition from early spring through summer and well into the fall season. That's a message we can all support.



Half Marathon Excitement!

The Disney Princess Half Marathon is about 6 weeks away and I am in hardcore training mode.  Granted, hardcore for me still isn't really that hardcore, but I'm trying here. I am truly getting excited though, and as any of my friends will tell you, when I get excited about something, it will completely take over my life. Luckily for you lovely blog readers, this time it means crafts related to my race and not a marathon training guide.

One of the ways I keep myself motivated to train is by checking the countdown on the Princess Half Marathon site. I know that as the days tick down, my runs need to be getting longer and my times need to be getting shorter. When I saw this Chalkboard Countdown on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one for myself.

the original website Pinterest links to

I LOVE countdowns anyway. They're constantly my Facebook status. Days left until friends come to visit: 7. Days left until my next work vacation: 135. (wow, that's depressing.) Days left until my birthday: 245. I could go on, but I won't.

After I decided to make myself a chalkboard countdown and I needed a board to start with, I headed straight to Goodwill.

I found this gem for $1.21. (I also grabbed a board game for $1.51. Score!) I'm not even sure how it was supposed to work as a birthday calendar thing, but I liked the shape of it.

Following Martha Stewart's directions, I needed paint and unsanded grout. I actually already had both in my crafting arsenal, but if you don't, unsanded grout is easy to find at a hardware or craft store.

Before mixing up the chalkboard paint, I painted the birthday board with a coat of regular paint to help cover.

The directions I found were for gallons worth of paint, so, as usual, I winged it. It called for a lot of paint to a little unsanded grout, so that's what I used. I mixed it up until the grout blended with the paint and became paintable (is that a word?) again.

I painted several coats onto the board to make sure there was good coverage.

I could still kinda see the original designs, so I added a few more coats. (Sure, I could've sanded that off in the beginning, but that would have been too easy.)

After it was painted perfectly, I covered the whole thing with a coat of chalk to condition it.

And then wiped it off with a slightly damp cloth.

I liked the lettering on the original chalkboard and how it was clearly not just a chalkboard, but was specifically a countdown chalkboard, so I definitely wanted that on mine too.

I found some great letters, started in the middle and built the words out from there.

That's pretty centered.
So now it's ready to countdown!

I propped mine up in my bookcase and started my countdown...
41 DAYS LEFT!

But that's not all!
(Cue the infomercial music...)

One of the big parts of the Princess Half Marathon is the costumes. Thousands of women (and a few men) dress up in crazy costumes to run this race. Everything from just a tiara or tutu to full princess ballgowns. I have NO idea how anyone could run so far in something like that! I don't want anything to slow me down (I'll be slow enough on my own) so I decided that a big bow in my hair would be plenty costumey, but it would have to be a pretty great bow, so of course I made it, thanks to some great videos from youtube.

My running top is aqua colored and both Cinderella and Kappa's colors are shades of blue, so choosing colors was easy.  I also happened to find this great grosgrain bow on the sale rack at Michaels. The bow isn't quite right, but once I snipped the thread holding it together, it was yards of great ribbon at a much better price than buying a new spool of ribbon. I love a good deal.

Since videos can explain how to make these bows much better than I can with pictures, I'll link to Youtube videos explaining each part of the bow.

The Pinwheel Bow (Fast forward in the video to 1:10)

Topped with two Surround-A-Bows (skip to 1:45 in this video)

Topped with a modified Classic Boutique Bow (Just watch this whole video. It's great.)

Topped with a smaller, white Surround-A-Bow. (You don't need another link to the video, do you?)

FINALLY topped with another classic Boutique Bow. (Have you lost track of how many layers of bows there are? I have.)

I hot-glued each layer together and then hot-glued a barrette to the back to ensure that it won't fall out on race day.

Now that I've got a great bow for my hair and a countdown chalkboard to keep me on track, all I have left to do to get ready for the race is actually train.... That sounds awful.

Chicken Enchilada Stoup

That is not a typo, I meant to say Stoup.
Any fan of Rachael Ray will be able to tell you exactly what a Stoup is: it's halfway between a stew and a soup. And it's one delicious meal.
In college, lunch at Atlanta Bread Company used to be a weekly thing for my friend Rachel and me, and I'd always order their chicken enchilada soup. One day I come to find out they've stopped making it.. and what a sad day that was. The only possible way to continue living was to find a recipe and make it myself. I did some research and tested out some recipes and settled on this one that I love. It probably bears no resemblance to the original soup recipe by this point, but I don't care. This is good stoup.

Ingredients are, as usual, pretty simple. One cup each of chicken broth, cream of chicken soup and enchilada sauce (mild or medium, your choice. I go medium because I'm not a wuss.) Then cooked, shredded chicken, black beans, corn, onion and jalapenos, all in amounts to your liking. I add a lot of each of them which is probably why my soup is a stoup.

After you've chopped up the onions and jalapenos, sweat them a little in some oil. The original recipe called for them to be cooked for a while to be fairly soft, if I remember correctly, but I like the taste and texture of the raw veggies, so I typically only cook them for a few minutes.

Then add in all the liquids: the broth, the cream of chicken and the enchilada sauce. The cream of chicken soup will be thick, so let it cook a while to thin out and blend into the soup before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Finally add the chicken, the corn and the black beans. I never measure these ingredients, I just keep adding them to the pot until it looks good, but it's usually a few handfuls of each.
Then just let it cook on medium for 15 to 20 minutes to let all the flavors blend, stirring occasionally.

This makes a lot of stoup, so I'll eat a bowl (or two) and then portion the rest into containers and pop them in the fridge. They rarely last more than a day or two.

Best served with tortilla chips (hint of lime is my favorite) and a BIG margarita. Mmm.

Chicken Enchilada Stoup
1 large can of chicken (or any cooked, shredded chicken of an equal amount)
1 can of black beans, drained
1 small can of corn, drained
1 can of chicken enchilada sauce (mild or medium)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup of chicken broth
1/2 white onion, diced
3 jalapenos, seeded and diced

1. Sweat the onions and jalapenos in oil until they've reached a tenderness you prefer.
2. Add the enchilada sauce, cream of chicken soup and chicken broth and cook on medium, stirring until the cream of chicken soup has thinned out.
3. Add chicken, black beans and corn to taste.
4. Simmer the stoup, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes or until flavors have blended.
5. Serve with chips and enjoy. :)

PS. HAPPY NEW YEAR!