For those who believe clothing should be an expression of ourselves, but not 0ur value (mind over price tag), who aren't afraid to shake up an office casual day or who want to let their hair down on the weekends.

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Monday

Be The Change


I loved word puzzles as a kid. I designed this inspired by today's National Day of Service.

One of my favorite quotes is "To do is to be, To be is to do, to do be do be do." This week we embark on an inspirational change for America. Get on board!

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Saturday

Renaissance: Spanish Embroidery

On a great day at a thrift store, I walk out with something embroidered in my bag. I’m like a hawk when it comes to that stuff. I can spot embroidered thread on a fabric from miles away. You can find it on everything – dresses, sweaters, western shirts and skirts. I love it because it oozes of authenticity and craftsmanship. The pieces below didn’t cost a lot, but the time it took to make them makes me feel luxurious.

Sunday

Reinvention: A Little Something Extra

I was looking for a way of adding a bit more flavor to this turtleneck and thrift-store skirt ensemble. The skirt is great. It was made in India and has silver sequins sewn in throughout it. But it was still a little too plain for my taste.

Over the holidays, I rummaged through the clearance section and found a ton of gift wrapping ribbon in unique styles that could possibly be re-purposed. I purchased a 15 ft. spool of gold ribbon with black velvety embellishments from Target for about $2.50

So I thought this would be a great opportunity to see how I could use this with an outfit. I cut a piece to fit across the top of the skirt with a little bit of an overlap. Then I used my gold metallic flower pin to secure the ribbon to the waist.

Now it's more Indian Gypsy. Plus, I mixed silver and gold for a bit of rebelliousness.

Monday

Color Bleeding Breaks Girl's Heart, Almost


I have this fabulous white Mexican embroidered thrift store dress that I love. Not enough to marry it, but enough to want to get married in it.

Sunday afternoon, I get my trusty toothbrush out and my Colorox Stain Fighter detergent to clean a few areas that had gotten dirty from my mishandling. To my horror, I noticed the violet thread was bleeding onto the white fabric in four different places. I had been planning to wear this dress during my upcoming vacation. I hadn't even worn it out in public.

After panicking for a second, I googled "rid of color bleeding." The first suggestion was boiling the article of clothing in a water/bleach mixture. I was preparing to do this until I realized that the bleach would probably take all the color in the dress out. (No. No.) The next suggestion was Oxiclean. It said it wouldn't harm colors while taking the unwanted stains out. I rushed to the store, picked up a bucket and proceeded to soak my dress for about an hour.

Sure enough all the dye stains were gone, and my dress is as good as new. I wish I had pictures to show you the difference, but I was having a fabric emergency. Now, I'm soaking my black and white striped Gap shirt that got red dye on it from washing it with colors.

The moral of the story: don't give up on things with stains without googling a solution because Oxiclean (Versatile) saved my dress and me from a very bitter divorce.