Wardrobe Re-fashion

When I first bought this hat years ago,

I was an awful shade of blue.

Not quite navy, not quite royal,

but somewhere in between.

It had a brown ribbon to cap off the dull factor.

Despite how I grew to feel about it,

I did really love it when I first purchased it.

As you can guess it sat in my closet for far too long,

until one day I had had enough.

I ripped off that ribbon, and grabbed a can of black spray paint 

and when to town.

What and improvement.

Now it was the perfect blue/black,

and fit great (which is a big deal when you have an enormous cranium).

Even though I wore it all the time now,

I still felt like it was missing something.

Then one day a few weeks ago,

I decided to get to crafting to finalize this 

year long wardrobe re-fashion.

Here's what you'll need:

hat

fabric scissors

a stip of fabric 

(about 4 inches wide,

 and long enough to wrap around the hat with some over lap.)

pins

hot glue/gun

Step 1:

Fold over hem and pin in place.

Repeat on other side.

I left my band a bit over 2 inches wide.

Once it is pinned, press flat.

Step 2:

I started in the opposite side of where I wanted to

have to two ends over lap.

Apply a stip of glue,

and press down the middle of the strip of fabric. 

Work you way around,

one side at a time glueing a little bit as you go.

When you get around to the ends leave about

2 inches unglued.

Step 3:

At this point you should be left with about 2 inches of fabric on each end.

Twist and manipulate the fabric until it looks the way you want it.

I looked at a fedora that I love and tried to copy that twist closure. 

Glue that into place and then double check to make sure the rest of the band is 

securely glued into place.

Let it dry fully before enjoying this little beauty.

10 things i couldn't live without this week

1. this week i marched my butt into a gym and signed up for a membership.  i have been feeling fat and tired lately and there is not point in just sitting around in my misery.  gyms are really intimidating to me and especially now that i am older.  it seems that the older i get the more insecure about myself i am becoming.  walking into a gym to me is like that classic movies where girls are being hazed by their sorority sisters and they are circling all the fat on their bodies with markers. ugh.  all the hard bodied girls who wear makeup to exercise and have a more fashionable gym attire than my normal everyday wear. yikes. well i decided that i wasn't going to let any of it get to me. i was going to face my fears and insecurities and i was going to exercise. in a gym. with other people.
2. one of the best things about being a gym member is having access to group fitness classes! and i took the best yoga class this week.  i can't wait until wednesday so i can go back for more.
3. my crafting productivity has been at an all time high lately.  the hubs and i have been powering through some projects. keep your eyes peeled this week for my new jewelry hanger, magnetic make up frame, and next week i will share some goodies that i made for a friends baby.
4. i have been trying to cut back on my diet coke consumption. and surprisingly i am doing very well. i am down to one a day and killing it! and best thing about it....i am substituting all that diet coke with about 64 extra oz of water a day.
5. we have been having some crazy weather lately. i am not going to lie... i really love it. we went for a hand full of days with constant rain, then a few days of 90° blue skies and today we woke up to some very chilly 40°.  mother nature is keeping us on our toes down here in south florida.
6. we had a super family fun day saturday. we woke up early and headed to the city diner for breakfast, scooted over to bed bath and beyond, then decided that it was the perfect day for the beach.  we got home threw together a picnic and cruised down to the ocean.  this was the first time this year that the beach was genuinely packed with people. holes were dug, waves were rode, sandy sandwiches devoured.  a great day was had by all.
7. the hubs and i went on the best date night ever saturday! i think that we agreed that it really was the best date ever. we met up with some friends for dinner at an awesome burger joint, burgerfi. then we went to see the dropkick murphy's at the pompano beach amphitheater.  this was the first show the hubs had been to since before the boy was born. and boy we were going out in style.  my girlfriends, who are long time friends with the band, got us all access backstage passes. we were on stage, in the green room, and post show hanging out at the busses drinking the band beer. it was all a dream come true for the hubs and i was so happy that i could make it all happen for him! best date night ever!
8. oh and where was the boy this whole entire date night? at his first ever slumber party. my fantastic friend christine offered to take the boy. he proclaimed her little girl to be his girl friend. so cute! he spent the night with their family, partied it up, and from what i am told was an angle! he was so tuckered out the next day that he actually passed out on the sofa....so cute.
9. the boy and i had some serious luck garage sale-ing this weekend. he scooped up a hand full of matchbox helicopters and airplanes, and i found an adorable mid-century side table....for only $1. it needs some serious work, but for a dollar....i'll buy that project!
10. my friend christine passed me on some seriously amazing vintage fabric for my birthday! i am so excited of it's possibilities! and there is a lot of it too so i am thinking that there may be some larger projects in my future! can't wait to share them with you!
9.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. oh man, i am just in love with my new red floral skirt that i found at family vintage. and i am kinda in love with family vintage it self...just found out they will be having another yard sale coming up in september! can't wait.

2. ballet just keeps getting better and better....or maybe it's me that's getting better at ballet. i am not sure how i went for some many years without structured dancing in my life. don't get me wrong....i shake my booty all the time, but the discipline and control that ballet takes is a different story.

3. i can see changes happening in my body. besides the weight loss, i physically look stronger. i am long and lean, and i feel more poised and far more flexible. it's kind of an amazing thing.

4. all this talk about how fantastic i look and feel made me hungry for some deadly gooey chocolate cookies! check out these delicious gluten free lava cookies.

5. i finally got my na fianna cd in the mail. me and the boy can't stop listening/dancing/singing to it. i won a contest a while ago (yes can you believe it....i never win anything) that they were holding to help promote their american/canadian tour. na fianna is a great traditional folk and ballad band from ireland...and you know how i am a sucker for irish music. make sure you check out their album and show some support to the band!

6. i finished my pencil skirt the other day and got to take it out for girls night test drive. it's kind of amazing. and there is something about that skirts color pallet with turquoise shoes that makes me feel complete.

7. i bought my plane tickets for north carolina. the boy and i can't wait to be there! the trip went from being and nice quite family vacation to what sounds like a giant reunion-ish family party. can't wait to see everyone. i have plans to take lots of pictures and maybe spend some time getting lost in the woods.

8. the hubs and i went on a great date night, it's not something that we do often, but when we do it's always amazing. we ate dinner at a place downtown that we always over look...god knows why because it might be the best restaurant we have down there. then we cruised over to our local pub for some drinks with some friends. we ended the night down by the water watching shooting stars.

9. i finally started working on a restoration project that i have been sitting on for a while. my great grandmother gave me a necklace that my father helped make when he was a kid. i have had the necklace for a while and have worn it in the past, but due to the necklaces delicate condition it's been out of the rotation for a quite some time. so i took it apart and started to put it back together again....with a little re-fashioning. can't wait until it's done so i can share it with you!

10. we took the boy for his first movie theater experience. it was awesome! he was so excited when we got there, the look on his face was priceless as he took it all in. we got our popcorn and candy and settled in to our seats to watch the smurfs 3D. not only did he love the movie, but he was so good. he sat in my lap (mostly because his seat kept folding up on him - which was hilarious) with one had in the popcorn and his little 3D glasses on. as soon as we left he wanted to go back.

thrifty finds.

oh man this past weekend i went to another one of those fantastic vintage yard sales that we are so lucky to have here. the house of vintage was cleaning out there shop and they had some pretty spectacular deals. i was lucky enough to bring these little beauties home!

this skirt is exactly what this summer heat is calling for. it's comfortable and such a great airy fabric. not to mention it kinda looks amazing blowing in the wind (or doing twirls).

i just fell in love with all these necklaces and it wasn't my intentions at first, but i absolutely love them all together.

did i mention that the ever so delicious ps561 truck was parked out front?!?! yum. there's no better way to end some fantastic shopping then with an avocado covered hot dog.

sweet little birdie mobile

at this point i am pretty sure that my cousin and his wife have opened the gift that i made for their soon to be daughter. so it's safe to post pictures and share this project with you guys. i have seen these fabric bird mobiles for a while now, and have just been searching for an excuse to make my own. they are so sweet and swing around so beautifully. i found the pattern for the birds over at spool, if you are into sewing and haven't checked out their website you should.

the fabric choice was an easy one for me. my cousin and his wife are naming their baby after our grandmother, and since i have so much of her old fabric collection i knew that's what i had to use. they are decorating her room in a pink and white winnie the pooh theme. i thought these sweet little vintage fabric birds just screamed "hundred acre woods". i hope that they love the mobile as much as i do. i think it's one of my favorite things i have ever made.

sweet little birdie

these little ladies have been keeping my too busy to blog. hope you all have a fantastic holiday weekend.

looking forward to some sweet homemade gifts and sundays 10 things.