Summer Dressing

Today, instead of the traditional crafting I'm used to do, I decided to craft a summer outfit. Here is what it looks like:

It's something I'd wear for a morning at the farmer's market, lunch with the girls, an afternoon of thrifting for treasures, and shopping for craft supplies. Oh summer, I'm glad you've arrived!

Pucci-Inspired

Happy Friday friends!

A final make-over for brown paper bags

that are looking a little blah.

Today, I'm using a design that's quite iconic:

These are prints by Emilio Pucci. They're geometric and vibrant.

Now, let's work on the paper bag:

Start with a pencil sketch.

Then assign some color {I used watercolors}.

Here's the blah to TADA! reveal:

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Have a sensational weekend!

A Lot Like Liberty of London

I have accumulated a stack of brown paper bags from shopping and food take-out. As long as they are clean, I flatten them and keep them in case I need to wrap gifts. I like to dress up the bags in my own blah to TADA! magic using markers or paint.

   Today, I'm using the floral prints that Liberty of London is famous for as a design peg.

I recreate the design by sketching.

Then I add some color.

I'm sticking to pinks...

...and white.

And a little bit of green.

You'll notice that I staggered the position
of the flowers instead of keeping them
close together.

A hand-painted bag to wrap a present
for a perfect friend...TADA!

The SoWA Vintage Market

I took a trip to Boston a few weeks ago and I'm sharing with you a few of my finds. Yesterday, I told you about the SoWA Open Market. 

Aside from a Farmer's Market and Craft Market, you'll also find a Vintage Market. Unlike the Farmer's and Open Markets that are only in business from May to October, the Vintage Market is open year round. 

It's held indoors allowing sellers, buyers and merchandise to be safe from weather changes. It's open from 10 am to 4 pm...take your time and get ready to hunt for treasure!

Here are some of the lovely things I saw:

Shabby meets industrial chic! If I had a
craft room, I would use this to store
my tools and supplies.

I wonder how many Grandmas' sewing
kits were raided to come up with this
collection. Oh, the stories they
would tell!

Floral dishes and intricate jewelry

Vintage fashion -- I'm fancying the bags!

Pins and brooches

Letters and numerals that I want to turn
from blah to TADA!

Postcards from all over the world

This makes me nostalgic. "Annie" was one of the
first movies I saw {and thoroughly enjoyed}.

I want to own one of these and really use it for travel.
Then I can use it for storage and as a decorative piece
in my living room.

I love this desk and the footstool {it needs some
new upholstery, though}.

This was one of my favorite booths, Recycled SilverWear by
John Atkinson {he doesn't have a website}. He fashions
rings, bangles and earrings out of vintage silver cutlery
like spoons and forks. For a closer look at his
creations, you may go here and here.
They're beautifully made...blah to TADA! indeed.

Thank you for indulging in my fascination with markets!

Organizing Ideas

Hello friends! I hope you had a nice weekend and a celebratory Father's Day. I wish I could say I had a relaxing one. Sigh. You see, there was a leak in our bathroom, and water found its way in our closet floor. Um, our closet floor is carpeted. I was more afraid of mold and smelly carpets over water damage to our possessions. What a blah. The TADA! part of this experience was that our apartment's maintenance team quickly responded by fixing the leak, and bringing in industrial fans to dry the carpet. They also put fresh padding before securing the carpet in place. 

We spent the weekend returning our stuff in the closet, and vacuuming like crazy people {the industrial fans spread dust everywhere!}. The damage was minimal -- just a soak under the sun to make it all better {very happy that the sun was out and it's summer; just imagine if this happened in winter!}.  

I'm also grateful that I organized our shoes last year. I put them in plastic shoe boxes similar to this one: 

via The Container Store

It's an organizing tip I've seen in many magazines. My initial reaction was, "Who does this?" I thought it was too much work, and depending on the number of shoes you own, you'll need A LOT of these boxes.

via The Container Store

 But I finally succumbed and realized what a good solution it was. Here's why:

• It keeps shoes protected from dust, and in my case, water
• Because the boxes are transparent, you can easily see what's inside {makes getting dressed/picking shoes easier}
• The box sizes are uniform making them easy to stack or pull out

Take a peek at my version:

I got the boxes from here and here, and I even printed photos of the contents. It's a TADA! investment, when considering both time and money. I know for sure that my shoes will last a long, long time.

More organizing ideas all this week!  

Summer Staples

I'm really enjoying the long sunny days,

the endless list of outdoor activities

and the carefree outfits that

only summer can bring.

This week on blah to TADA!, I'm pulling

out some stuff hiding in my closets and then

injecting them with a summer kind of vibe.

Let's start with sandals, shall we?

A pair of silver sandals is cute.

But you know how we can make them cuter?

With a few embellishments made out

of tulle, rhinestones & pearls.

All sewn together.

TADA! Pretty in pink.

A nice way to show off a new pedicure and

just the right companion for a summer dress.

Give an old pair of sandals a lift and do a

little blah to TADA! yourself.

A Winter Walk

All this week, I was ranting about how winter

can be such a blah and how I cope

while staying indoors.

Today, I'm celebrating winter's TADAs!

C'mon, take a walk with me.

I think winter is TADA! after the

snow has fallen and the ground is

immaculately white.

Even if the holidays are over,

it still looks like Christmas

when snow settles on the trees.

Shadows are more dramatic

on an icy, white canvas.

Winter can be quite solitary,

but it's good to drown in one's

thoughts sometimes.

But the biggest TADA! of winter...

...the promise of spring!

Happy Friday Lovelies.

Summer Shoes

While doing some spring cleaning, I found some stuff

that I haven't worn in the longest time, like these blah shoes:

Experts on organizing would say, "Get rid of them!"

But I want to give these shoes another chance.

They're comfortable after all.

And if you can recall, I update the look of a shoe

with some shoe clips:

Buckles from the "Bag of Scrap"

A more colorful version of the buckle

Clip-on earrings

Flower patches

And because I've been sewing the past couple of days...

...I'm sewing up a pair of shoe clips using felt & crochet thread.

Trying out the lazy daisy stitch which I haven't done in a while.

Curve the edges and attach to a pair of clips with hot glue.

Then add to your old pair of shoes.

TADA! It's like I have a brand new pair!