In The Valentine's Mood

The house is so dull after all the Christmas decor gets put away. It needed some sprucing up and I have been waiting to try some ideas out. Last year, when our other house was for sale, I couldn't put together this darling "tablescape" that was inspired by Pottery Barn's catalog with all the vases full of leaves and such, but this year I was super excited to finally execute the idea. I filled the vases with conversation hearts, red licorice, and valentine nuggets, added faux rose petals from Wal-mart and pearls from JoAnn's, it sure is festive and the kids love it!




I did the mantle with inspiration from Tatertotsandjello, a darling blog.



Hobby Lobby and the local scrapbook store also contributed to my decorating. Happy Valentine's Day All!

"Goodwill" hunting

I am loving scouting the thrift stores lately for things to alter. Today I went out to get a used comforter for the dogs and saw these cream heels and just knew I could totally make them sassy. Yes, I did get the comforter, but I am thrilled with the way the shoes were transformed with (once again) fabric, pearls, hole punch, and fabri-tac. I wanted them to have a vintage 1940's feel, shabby fabric/ribbon and all. Don't you just love them?!

The Before:


The During:


The After:

New Year = New Trends!

Happy New Year and Happy New You!!! The latest fashions flying out the doors of "retailworld" all revolve around two key trends for Spring: flowers and stripes. The flower trend will continue to make a BIG presence in the Spring via prints of all sizes and accessories (shoes, purses, necklaces). Be glad you invested in those adorable bib necklaces with all the rosettes made out of tulle and chiffon, you can carry them into Spring and really jazz up a striped tee and jeans outfit, or go with some really fun floral shoes with a striped tee/cardigan to give some femininity to the manly nautical look. If you are really bold, like the runway models and fashion designers, pair a stripe top with a floral skirt or vice versa. Key point with stripes though: accessorize to avoid looking like a jail bird on the loose! The nautical look is also emerging as a key transition trend into Spring, based on the Fall's military trend, so keep that cute military jacket around; it will look darling with a girly floral skirt or over a striped tee! Just remember: don't over do it, own your fashion, and don't just get dressed ladies....get OUTFITTED!

One can never have enough shoes!

I am on a roll with all the fun shoes out there in retail-land! I love shoes and even more, I love shoes that I can make on the cheap! Here is the latest creation: a Victorian inspired flat. All you need is a plain black flat (thank you Payless $10), ruffled lace, 1/4" satin ribbon, sharp scissors, fabri-tac, gem-tac, and vintage Cameos. My total cost was under $20 yet again!

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Love the bow laced up the back of the shoe! Looks hard but is simple to do as long as you have a leather punch or sharp scissors.

I was Featured on....

an amazing blog that i LOVE: Someday Crafts! Be sure to check them out! Many thanks to them for featuring my feather trees in their "tabletop tree" post today.

$167 tank for $7.50

Everywhere you go right now (in the stores), 40's inspired fabric rosettes are all over this season's hottest looks. I am totally loving them! From necklaces to shirts, they jazz up anything. I tried my hand at them for the first time last night, and I absolutely LOVE how this tank turned out. Thanks to Old Navy for always supplying me with a "canvas" to work with. A $5 tank + $2.50 worth of washable poly/silk fabric = "hautemama" couture!




The Splurge



The Steal

Kate Spade Inspired Shoes

I saw a fabulous pair of Kate Spade shoes at her store recently, but at the tune of $185 they were definitely a no-go. So of course I had to put my thinking cap on and with the help of $8 shoes and a $9 necklace from Charlotte Rousse, some grosgrain ribbon, and a needle and thread I was able to come up with my own version. You could use any type of embellished necklace but make sure it can easily be taken apart. Since big flowers are so popular right now I had no trouble finding one. The one I used actually had 5 flowers on it so now I have three extra to play with.




Cut 12 ribbon strips 5" long, hand sew them into flower like shape.


Sew ribbon flower onto shoe.


Super glue flower and reinforce by sewing around two of the metal petals thru the shoe.


Super cute!!!