"Boppas" Day Present

My sister and I have a tradition for Father's Day (or Boppa's Day, as we call it, because we call our grandfather "Boppa") of making him a tee shirt every year. The tradition started when Anya was in preschool and her class decorated tee shirts by slathering a dead fish with paint and laying a tee shirt on top to make a print. As we've gotten older, we've continued the tradition by designing the tee with a theme from something significant that happened that year. In past years, we've decorated the tee with a cityscape of Jerusalem the year we visited Israel, bats and balls to represent the fact that he came to all of our softball games when Anya and I both played softball, our hand and footprints when we were little, a Union Jack and cityscape of London the year we visited the UK and, one of my all time favorites, when we printed a photo of Anya and I on fabric "paper."

About a year ago, we found out that my Boppa (who we had always thought was an only child) is actually one of four brothers. The past year has been pretty unbelievable and we've loved getting to know all our new relatives. Anyway, something else we found out is that my great great grandparents were world famous animal trainers and toured with their own circus act! So, for this year's tee shirt theme, we chose this silhouette of my great great grandfather Max Gruber standing atop his elephant, Eva. The picture was taken from a real photo from The Queenslander newspaper from Australia, on 4 February 1905. As you can imagine, it's now one of our favorites and our Boppa absolutely loves it (which is most important)!

Spring-y Attire

When I think of springtime, I immediately think of flowy dresses and pastel colors. Based on those ideas I have the perfect spring outfit. A few yards of pale pink linen and one dress pattern later, and I have the perfect outfit to wear to any spring-y semi-formal event.

This dress is a little Gatsby-esque, with it's v-shaped neckline and flouncy skirt. Although I accidentally made it a little too large, it can be mostly fixed by pairing the dress with a metallic skinny silver belt. To go along with the belt, I matched some silver ballet flats that work perfectly with the rest of the outfit. I think a nice silver necklace and an updo would like great with this outfit. Now I just need an event to go to so I can wear it!

Sarah xo

Bonus: you totally look like a princess while petting cats in this dress

Grab Bag Goodies

I don't know about you, but I love receiving packages in the mail, no matter what they are. That is why I was so excited when I found out that my mum had ordered for my sister and I two of Modcloth's Grab Bags. In case you don't know what they are, you can order from the clothing/accessories site Modcloth a "mystery package" for only $10, choose whether you want a dress/shirt/pants/jewelry etc, fill out what size clothing you usually wear, and receive a mystery package with your item just a few days later in the mail. Anya and I both received dresses :)

 The first dress we got is a simple white shift with crochet lace detail on the hem and sleeves. So sweet and sophisticated, this dress just screams tea party or some other formal event. Maybe even a graduation ceremony?

The second dress is described as a "prom dress", but I'm not so sure about that. It sure is beautiful though! It is a nice length, not too short or too long, and the gold abstract pattern gives the dress a very art deco feel. Maybe this would be more appropriate for a homecoming or semiformal :)

There you have it! If you want to buy one of these for yourself, here is the website :)

Sarah xo

White House Correspondents Dinner

Though it took place a week ago on May 3^rd, I thought the “nerd prom,” as the White House Correspondent’s Dinner is affectionately known, deserved a mention. The biggest names from the worlds of politics, sports and Hollywood seemed to be there and I’ve chosen what I think were the top fashions from the evening.

Of course, no best-dressed list is complete without Lupita Nyong’o, who is a literal goddess. I also love a good peplum, but what I especially love about this particular Oscar de la Renta dress is that it’s a more interesting, unconventional take on a plain old peplum. The polka dots make its pop against a backdrop of elegant but rather safe solid-colored dresses.

           

I also love Katharine McPhee’s Paule Ka gown because of the perfect salmon color. The shade is so pretty on her and it’s accented in just the right way with the color contrast at the top and by her slicked-back hair. I especially love the red clutch that she added to the outfit: who says pink and red don’t go together??

Freida Pinto’s Thakoon dress is so simple, which, in my opinion, makes it especially elegant. The pale pink color adds to the sophistication, but the center cutout makes it a little edgier.

The most beautiful dress of the evening, however, without a doubt, belonged to Michelle Obama, in an off the off the shoulder, grey and white Marchesa gown, featuring an embroidered bodice and full, flowing skirt. I think it was the perfect dress and definitely one of my all time favorites.

What was your favorite dress of the evening? Comment below!

Sarah xo

MOOD

Last week, while in NYC, I finally got to visit Mood Fabrics. Do you all know about this store?

Has anyone else ever been there before? It’s absolutely amazing! It’s three stories filled with

every single kind of fabric (including some absolutely gorgeous designer fabrics), trim, button

or accessory you would ever want or need. They have over 31 different kinds of fabrics, for

example, and 14 different types of buttons. As you can see, one entire wall is just buttons – floor

to ceiling! I have never seen so much fabric in one place. It was so hard to make a decision about

what I wanted because there were so many choices! I felt like I just walked around the store

endlessly touching just about every bolt of fabric in the store, thinking about what I could use it

for. I was so tempted to just buy a couple yards of random fabrics, just because I loved so many

of them. In the end, though, I restrained myself and found a really pretty, black and white plaid,

wool blend jersey. I’ve had a pattern for a cape/jacket for a while now and the fabric I chose

was just the right weight…I think it will be perfect! It’s the project next on my list – as soon as

I finish the lavender sundress I am currently working on. That should be done this week and,

hopefully, will be next weekend’s blog post.

From Free Bin to Fabulous

After not posting for a couple weeks in a row, I'm trying hard to get back into the habit of posting every weekend, which explains the new post so soon after the last one. Anyway, it finally seems as though spring has descended upon the Boston area. Yay!

This cardigan is so incredibly easy to make and is perfect for a chilly spring day. Did I tell you about the "free bin" at Smith College? It's a box in the lobby of Anya's house - what they call dorms at Smith - and students put in anything that they want to give away. Anya's found not only clothes, but linens, and shoes, too. She says things never last very long in there and it's really a great way to find things to upcycle!  Anyway, she found this long sleeved tee one day. It's a pretty color but ended up being just a little too small to be comfortable. As you should know about me by now, I'm a big fan of upcycling so, instead of just putting it back into the free box, she gave it to me to transform. All I did was make a simple cut up the front of the shirt, add some pretty vintage looking ribbon along the cut edges and it's a new cardigan! It's the perfect accessory for a chilly morning and looks really cute!
So, next time you're tempted to give away a long sleeved tee because it's too small, think about transforming it into a cardigan instead!

Darling Dolls

Sorry I've been a little behind in posting lately! Lots of homework in the past couple weeks took up all my time. Well, not quite ALL of my time since I did manage to make these three dolls. I have a new baby cousin who's now just three weeks old. We went to meet her and, since she has two older sisters, we decided to make a doll for each of them.

 Aren't they cute? They're our version of the Black Apple doll by Emily Martin.

 I love how each one is just a little different. I do need to give Anya some credit here - she is the one who painted the faces and made the little animals since we thought it would be fun for each doll to have a special friend. We just found out that the little girls love their dolls and sleep with them every night (yay!) but they fight over the little bunny. Oops! We'll be visiting them again in another couple weeks so my next project might just be making another little bunny and maybe a few more little animal friends. I have another little cousin (another girl!) who is due in June who also has a big sister. I just might have to make another couple dolls for them, too.

See you next week!

Sarah xo

(black apple doll photo credit: http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/dolls/)