Inspiration and Future Commitments

I am sure by now all of you have seen the fabulous blog A New Dress A Day. If you haven't you should go there right now! Here is a quote from Marissa that basically sums up the point of the blog

" So long to mall trips and hello to sifting through piles of vintage pieces at flea markets and at neighborhood garage sales. Each day for the entire year, I’m going to introduce a new piece into my existing wardrobe that I’ve found from these places. On top of this, I’m giving myself a budget of $1 a day.
One person’s trash is becoming my treasure this year.
365 days. 365 items of clothing. 365 dollars. "

Marissa is currently on day 266 and has remade some seriously ugly clothes into something fabulous. I spent hours reading the back posts on her blog and I was amazed at her creativity. I really look forward to see what else she creates. Her blog has really become a major inspiration for me when it comes to refashioning clothes.

The end of my 2 month Wardrobe refashion is quickly aproaching. When I started my 2 months without shopping I thought it was going to be hard. I love to shop as much as any girl and I thought not being able to do so was going to be close to unbearable. Turns out I was wrong. I have more than enjoyed the last 2 months. I have spent a lot more time at the thrift stores and shopping my own closet. I find myself daydreaming about new patterns and new items I can create for my girls. It turns out that this whole refashion thing can be a bit addictive.

Even my girls love my new found hobby. Because of the challenge I have not done any traditional back to school shopping for the girls. I was feeling a big guilty about this and offered to take my oldest daughter to get a new outfit for the first day of school. She looked utterly crushed when I suggested it and asked why she could just wear the orange dress I made her. I told her she could still wear it but I thought she might like a new dress for the first day. She shrugged her shoulders and said "Alright but you need to make me some more dresses for the rest of the week." It was the best compliment I could have received!

Since everything is going so well I have decided to make another Wardrobe Refashion commitment but for 4 months this time. I am excited to see what new and fun items I can make for the girls and I!

PS My neighbor should be back this Thursday and my posts will be much more consistent after that. I looking forward to things being less busy and more normal around here.

Copy Cat

I have realized that some people are naturally creative. I love these types of people. They have an ability to make the most ordinary things extraordinary. I have found that I tend to gravitate towards creative women. All of my friends have some amazing creative ability from cake decorating to writing to sewing. Then there is me.

I am not a naturally creative person. I truly struggle when it comes to the creative part of my life. I am completely unable to come up with original ideas. What I am good at is copying other people. I am a fairly fast learner and can pick up almost anything if someone shows me how. Now that I have been introduced to the world of craft blogs I can find a tutorial for almost anything. I can connect with hundreds of creative women who are willing to show me how to make anything. My list of projects and literally tripled in the past few months. I have been able to make some beautiful things for the girls and I because of the tutorials I have come across on the craft blogs I read. I am total copy cat but I always try to give credit where it is due. I use to just save pictures on my computer for inspiration now I make sure to tag them so I know where they came from.

If I am not copying other Crafters out there I am copying retail items that I have seen. I will be completely honest, most of my creative endeavors stem from the fact that I too cheap to pay for things. One of the first projects I copied was some flower hair clips that I had seen at a craft fair. I made beautiful flower hair clips for the girls because I was not about to pay $15+ for one when I could make it for $2. I often look at things and think "I could make that" so I won't buy it. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't but I love trying. I have be able to gain so many new skills through copying those around me!