Old to New in October: Butterflies

Natasha of Required 2 Be Inspired and I are hosting Old to New in October. The premise of this month-long project is to take something you already own and don't love and turn it into something totally wearable, again! It saves money and helps you recycle your wardrobe while getting crafty!

When Old Navy gives you butterflies, you try for a year to style them and then you chop them up and do a DIY. I loved the print on this dress when I first got it and then I had the toughest time styling it, so it's been in the "to do something with" pile for a while. The ruffle on the bottom was also a turn-off because it felt very little girl-ish. Good thing I have a little girl, right?

I took the slip out of underneath the dress and cut the hem to use for later.

Then I chopped the dress almost in half and laid the grey over the unfinished hem to see how my concept would look.

I couldn't bear to toss the old ruffle, so I made an elastic waistband skirt for the small fry so she could rock the butterflies, too. I can't wait until we go out in our matching outfits. We'll be so awesome.

And here's my finished product! Just a sweet little top that I can wear with skinny jeans and a blazer or cardigan- SO much better than the crazy dress I thought was so cute last summer!

Anika Burke Eclectic Boutique has graciously agreed to sponsor our entire Old to New in October project and will be providing some lovely prizes for not one, but THREE winners at the end of the month!

To qualify for any prizes, you must link your refashion project either here or at Required 2 Be Inspired on any Thursday during October. Each time you link up, it counts as one entry! The first prize winner will be chosen by Anika Burke, Natasha, and me based on the most creative and wearable project. Two other winners who have linked up throughout the month will be chosen at random! To be qualified for the random draw, you must link back to Anika Burke in your post. You can simply say, "Old to New in October is sponsored by Anika Burke Eclectic Boutique!" Or word it however you'd like, but as long as you do a project, link up, and link back to the online shop, you're in for the random draw!

- First place (most creative/wearable): $20 credit to www.anikaburke.com PLUS the Elegant Rose flower bracelet and two matching accessories!
- Random draw: 12 piece prize pack (12 Anika Burke accessories!)
- Random draw: 3 piece prize pack (3 Anika Burke accessories!)

 

Old to New in October: Glitterized

Natasha of Required 2 Be Inspired and I are hosting Old to New in October. The premise of this month-long project is to take something you already own and don't love and turn it into something totally wearable, again! It saves money and helps you recycle your wardrobe while getting crafty!

What girl doesn't love a jar of glitter? I know that ever since I was a little girl, I've adored all things sparkly and although I never owned a pair, to this day, I covet the red ruby slippers you can find at Target, Walmart, etc. In fact, it took every ounce of my being not to purchase the little girls' size 5 red ruby flats at Target last week. It's not just the red, though. The whole glitter thing is gorgeous and so girly. I knew I'd have to find a pair of my ragged shoes to DIY for one of the October projects and here's my take:

I took a very sick, sad, 5-6 year old Old Navy Mary Janes:

How I did it:

1. Cut straps off shoes (you can still see the tabs in the final product)

2. Stuff shoes with newspaper

3. Cover shoes in glue

4. Dump glitter on shoes

5. Let dry

6. Mix Sparkle Mod Podge in a spray bottle with water, shake, spray shoes

7. Let dry and wear!

This was relatively simple, but very messy. There's glitter all over my front porch, despite vacuuming and using gobs of water to rinse it. Oh well, I guess if I love glitter as much as I claim, I'll be happy with a glittered porch.

You can still see some white in with the glitter and that's because I couldn't wait to take pictures. The Mod Podge is still soaking wet in the final product photos and it's night time, so there isn't enough shimmer to show! I can't wait to dump the glitter out when they're dry and wear 'em in the sunlight for an outfit post!

Remember to link your refashion to this post or to Natasha's at Required 2 Be Inspired! And don't forget about the prizes and our lovely sponsor!

Anika Burke Eclectic Boutique has graciously agreed to sponsor our entire Old to New in October project and will be providing some lovely prizes for not one, but THREE winners at the end of the month!

To qualify for any prizes, you must link your refashion project either here or at Required 2 Be Inspired on any Thursday during October. Each time you link up, it counts as one entry! The first prize winner will be chosen by Anika Burke, Natasha, and me based on the most creative and wearable project. Two other winners who have linked up throughout the month will be chosen at random! To be qualified for the random draw, you must link back to Anika Burke in your post. You can simply say, "Old to New in October is sponsored by Anika Burke Eclectic Boutique!" Or word it however you'd like, but as long as you do a project, link up, and link back to the online shop, you're in for the random draw!

- First place (most creative/wearable): $20 credit to www.anikaburke.com PLUS the Elegant Rose flower bracelet and two matching accessories!
- Random draw: 12 piece prize pack (12 Anika Burke accessories!)
- Random draw: 3 piece prize pack (3 Anika Burke accessories!)

Old to New in October: F21 Tunic

I'm teaming up with Natasha from Required 2 Be Inspired and hosting the weekly series called Old to New in October! We are going to be refashioning items that we already own into things we'll actually wear! Old to New in October is a link-up and every week that you do a refashion project and link up with either Natasha or me, you'll be entered to win some fabulous prizes! We're still working on putting together an awesome package for our winner, but rest-assured, YOU WANT TO WIN!

Think of this as a money-saving and creative opportunity! For instance, I'm on the road to being a stay-at-home-mom in just a few months. I need to learn how to coupon so well that the producers of Extreme Couponing are staking ME out. And I need to learn how to make all of my clothes work for me so I don't feel the need to purge and repurchase!

For my first Old to New in October challenge, I chose to refashion my black Forever 21 tunic. This piece is near and dear to me because my very sweet friend, Rochelle, gave it to me before she left for Japan. It's a tunic on people of normal height, but it's a little mini dress on me. I considered going the tunic route and just hemming it up. But I actually don't have any black cotton dresses. As you can see, the length is a little too short for everyday wear and the neckline is majorly plunging. While I could leave my options open and layer anything I want under the piece, I decided to add an inlay and matching hem to make this an appropriate and sweet dress.

Before:

I've had this floral fabric laying around for almost a year, thinking I'd make a skirt for myself or maybe Little S. That hasn't been done, so I figured it'd be great for this project! I was into leaving the slate black and white so I could really play with the dress however I want in the future.

What I did:

1. Cut a triangle of fabric to cover the low-cut neckline area.

2. Finish the raw edge that will be the top of the inlay.

3. Pin and sew inlay to inside of dress.

4. Cut and iron fabric to make patterned hemline.

5. Pin and sew hem to dress.

6. Turn dress inside out, remove pins, trim seams.

This was super easy and fast! I finished the entire project in less than an hour of total working time. Now, my seams aren't beautiful and finished on the inside because I didn't find that necessary. If I'd been doing the refashion for another person, however, I'd have finished it all up so it would look neat from the inside and outside!

From tunic to dress, I've created a much more appropriate piece that will now be a staple in my wardrobe. The floral pattern gives the dress a fun girly feel, but the solid black keeps it just a bit on the edgy side so I can really style it however I want. I decided to go ahead and show you three different ways I'd wear this dress in the future, now that my ta-tas and booty aren't hanging out.

After:

Edgy

dress: Forever 21 via Rochelle, refashioned

denim jacket: American Eagle

shoes: Ross via Rochelle

necklace: The Word Jewelry

Sweet

shoes: Gap via Whitney

necklace: Doe Run Jewelry

Professional

blazer: thrifted via Rochelle

booties: Payless

necklace: Doe Run Jewelry

Natasha and I would love to see your projects! Link up using the linky tool below or on Required to be Inspired! And if you didn't get a chance to participate this week, don't worry, we'll be convening again next Thursday to show off next week's refashion projects. Remember, every time you participate, you're automatically entered to win the prizes we have in store! And we'll keep you updated once we've got the whole thing together! So link up and grab our Old to New in October button for your post!

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Old to New in October is sponsored in part by Anika Burke Eclectic Boutique!

Old to New in October with Required 2 Be Inspired

I have such an exciting announcement to make! I discovered one of my newest favorite blogs recently and it's Natasha's Required 2 Be Inspired! We got to talking and decided it would be really fun to do an October project. Both Natasha and I are mothers to toddler girls, like to make clothing, and have personal style blogs. We figured we could come together with a fun, budget friendly link party that would not only involve our readers, but SAVE MONEY by refashioning current belongings to make new items!

That's how Old to New in October was born.
The premise is simple. Take something you own and make it new again with a little elbow grease. Each Thursday of the month, Natasha and I will host a link party on our blogs where we share our project of the week with you and you can share yours as well! We are really encouraging our readers to take part in this project because you'll not only save money, get to be creative, and add to your cold-weather wardrobe, but each time you link up, you'll be entered to win some fabulous prizes at the end of the month!!! Our giveaway(s) are still a work in progress, but rest assured, it's going to be awesome and we'll keep you in the know throughout the process!

If you're planning to participate in Old to New in October, please leave a comment below this post or on Natasha's post so we can check out your refashions! Each Thursday, you'll be able to come either here or go to Required 2 Be Inspired to link up your project and enter the giveaway. Also, if you are going to be a part of this exciting series/challenge, please grab the button below to display on your sidebar and/or in your Old to New posts!




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