Fair Time

Greg went for the ultimate nachos.  I chose the Fried Green Tomato Burger.  I chose the better dinner. Obviously.

Fried Green Tomato Burger.  Mhmmmmm.  

Before and After shots of my dress! And our penguin, story to follow.

Dress: Thrifted and upcycled, $3

Belt: NY&Co., $2

Necklace: Puerto Rico, 50¢

Wedges: Modcloth, $30

I wanted chocolate and sprinkle covered strawberries on a stick.  Greg wanted a funnel cake.  He got what he wanted- this time... And here's why:

Since neither Greg or I had ever really been to the fair, I had a mental fair checklist.  Included was to try a crazy fried food (Fried Kool-aid and Fried Banana pudding was garnering my interest,) to win a stuffed animal, and to ride at least one thing.  First off, the stuffed animal.  We thought we had a strategy.    We looked around for a game that looked pretty fool proof, and settled on the dart balloon game.  All you had to do to win was hit a balloon from less than 3 feet away.  "FIVE Dollars and a guaranteed prize!"  The worker pointed at us and we were sold.  Mistake One.  She gives me a dart and we hand over a $5 bill.  I somehow manage to hit 4 balloons- with one dart.  Clearly this game was made to sucker people in.  I win a little bitty pink animal.  Yay, mission accomplished. But somehow the trained scamstress tricks us into throwing 3 more darts, and then demands another $15. We said no thanks, we would just settle for the little animal.  But nope, at this point we "Owed it no her.  No questions asked."  So we walked away, large blue penguin in tow, $20 poorer, and much smarter.  

We named him Scammer.  

Chambray and Jeans

Jeans: Gap, Free from co-worker

Top: J. Crew Outlet, $35

Wedges: Belk, $12

Purse: Target, $11

Bracelets: Mix and Match, but guaranteed cheap

Earrings: Self Made! See tutorial in previous post

I've never cared to try the whole chambray and jeans thing.  Then yesterday as I was getting dressed in my go-to black skirt and chambray top, I felt the need to try the jeans. It's been a very jeans type of week.  Errryday.  What's been your go-to outfit?

Feather Earrings DIY

                    Francesca's, $14                                                                         DIY, cost of $4 (with extra materials leftover!)    

So I've been dying for a pair of peacock feather earrings.  I bought a pair at Francesca's, but while walking through Hobby Lobby an hour or so later I realized I could make them myself!  The store bought earrings went back to their shelves and $10 went back to my wallet.   Success.      

Prepare yourselves.  This is pretty much the easiest DIY ever. 

Total Cost:  <$5 

Total Time: 5 minutes 

Materials needed: 

1 package of desired size peacock feathers- For this tutorial you will need to get feathers that are already bound and have a little plastic loop to string them.  I bought Fancy Feathers (pictured below) at Hobby Lobby.    

1 package wire earrings (the kind that don't have anything dangling off of them)

1 pair scissors     

(1 pair wire pliers- I didn't use these but some people might need to)

Step 1:  Hold the feathers up to your ear and decide how big you want them to be.  The feathers I purchased had a super long black feather attached to the back that I did not like. After you decide how big you want them, trim the sides and bottom to desired size.  I also rounded the edges to give mine more of a typical "feather" shape.  After you cut the first feather, hold it in front of the second one as you cut it so that they are the same size and shape

Step 2: Using wire pliers (or your fingers if you're good at this type of thing) pinch open the bottom of the wire earring and thread it through the plastic loop on one of the feathers.  

Step 3: Using pliers or your fingers, tightly clamp the wire earring so that it won't come out.

^That's chocolate under my fingernails, not dirt.  Brownies for lunch=win

All done! Enjoy your new (cheap!) earrings!  

Ideas for leftover supplies

Make another pair of earrings (duh)

Make a keychain

Glue the feathers and some beads to a black headband

Glue the feathers to a picture frame

Thread the feathers through a chain and wear it like a necklace!  

Fashion's Night Out

ALSO, I worked the Fashion's Night Event at West Town Mall (my previous internship was through the mall.)  It was the first event of it's type in Knoxville, to my knowledge, and it was awesome. There was a red carpet, VIP lounge, swag bags, giveaways, free champagne and chocolate, and live models throughout the mall.  Talk about an event. 

As soon as pictures are up I'll be sure to share!

Southern Football Games

I'm back! For good this time *hopefully* thanks to a brand new charger Greg ordered for me.  First up, pictures of the UT game on Saturday!

We were sitting on the UPPER deck.  I zoomed into the field to get a picture of Smokey, and got this.  Probably the most hilarious thing ever.  

        

You can't really see it, but they played a commercial during the game of John H. Daniels, a custom tailor from Knoxville, sewing Head coach Derek Dooley's bright orange pants.  So ironic since I had just sewed my bright orange skirt!  If I find the commercial, I'll definitely post it.  Such a good promo.  

           

    

Top: Old Navy, $6

Skirt: Self Made, cost of $5

Sandals: Payless, $7

Watch: Target, gift

Sunglasses: Forever 21, $5

Clutch: Free with Clinique purchase (Gotta love the freebies!)

You know how you can grow up with something and never realize it's unusual until you see it done differently?  Well in the South, people dress up to go to football games.  Not all people, not all games.  But its not unusual to see college kids in ties or dresses.  Personally, I kind of love this because I appreciate any opportunity to dress up.  The catch is, it is SO hard to find something cute and this specific shade of orange.  I have no idea where all of the girls are getting their dresses, and I did some serious hunting.  After multiple unfruitful shopping trips, I gave up and bought fabric the night before.  I made this skirt the morning of the game, and although it's nothing special, it definitely fulfilled the need!

Today

You get this free. 

Awesome?  Oh yessss.