Six Degrees of Blogging

My friend Erin at Little Texas Love Nest posted about my blog in her Six Degrees of Blogging adventures.  I'm finally getting around to posting about the great blogs I've found!


Here are the rules (sorry Erin, I copied & pasted these from you!):

*Start on your blog and clink on another blog's link. Keep clicking through to another blog until you get to the 6th blog.

*Leave a comment on their blog saying "Hey, I found you through 6 degrees of blogging! You are being featured on my blog today! (Leave your blog URL so they can find you and the featured post.)

*Write a quick blurb on your blog with the 6 degrees button, a link/button to your featured blogger and a few nice words about them and their blog. Encourage your readers to visit your featured blogger and leave them some comment love!

*Link your blog up on the MckLinky blog hop (feel free to grab the blog hop code if you want) so we can visit your blog and see who you found! The goal here is to find new blogs. Find someone who might not have found otherwise. To encourage other bloggers by leaving them comments of support! Follow other bloggers and they will return the favor by following and commenting on yours. Now go click your little heart out!!

1st Degree: Pudding and the Post-Fab Princess

I don't remember how I happened to stumble across this gem, but believe me, you will die with laughter when you read the J. Crew math posts.  She really hits the nail on the head with some of their wtf-were-the-designers-thinking questions we all have.  Incidentally, if you'd like to learn how to make some of the t shirts they charge way too much for, check out Ruffles and Stuff - she has great tutorials on making your own versions on the cheap.  I'm currently in the middle of making the ruffle henley t, but I ran out of thread :(

2nd Degree: Academichic

I liked the tutorials on this website.  Lately, I've been all about buying stuff at thrift stores and chopping them up to make new clothes or household items.  (Maybe I should have called my blog the Chop Shop).  Anywho, the ladies have put together a plethora of inspiring fashion plates for you to copy at your whim!

3rd Degree: Adventures in Dressmaking

Ok, so I cheated here.  This blog has really inspired me lately, so I stuck it in here for fun.  Another one with lots of ideas for cutting stuff up and sewing it back together.  Over the past week or so, my brain has been filled with ideas from all these great websites!  Great tutorials here.

4th Degree: Centsational Girl

Another DIY website, but this one is geared towards home decor and furniture.  If I had the time, I'd imagine myself doing all the projects she showcases so beautifully.  

5th Degree:  Craftynest

I tried to find a website that wasn't about crafting, but what can I say, I'm drawn to them.  Check out the bath mat made out of wine corks!  I'd never even dream that up so I'm glad someone is more imaginative than me, or else I'd be bored beyond belief on my days off.  I'm going to need to drink more wine so I can make one of those!

6th Degree: DogInCar

I finally found one that isn't about crafting!  This one has reader submitted photos of dogs in cars, the title is self explanatory, no?  This one I guess can be a tribute to my dad, who's a veterinarian and dog lover.

Check out these blogs and make some new friends!

Giveaways from my fav blogs!

Head over to Nautical by Nature and enter the nautical giveaway for 2 lavender linen sachets printed with purple seahorses from Isola Bella.  All the items are hand printed by the artist.  They offer stationery, art, kids items, and table linens to mention a few.  My fav is the red coral linen pillow.  Entries are due March 31.

My pen pal Erin is hosting her first giveaway at her blog Little Texas Love Nest.  Some lucky person will get a set of 3 Liberty of London for Target prep bowls in a pretty pink pattern and a copy of Peace Meals cookbook by the Houston Chapter of the Junior League.  Entries are due March 30.

PS - can anyone help me figure out how to set the background so the little shabbyblogs.com ad doesn't cover the post title?  Thanks!

Shopping Adventures at Target

I went to Target after work today to check out the much publicized Liberty of London collection.  I figured it would be outrageously popular, so I was happy that my local store still had a large collection for me to peruse.  


If I had an income other than student loans courtesy of Uncle Sam, I'd have grabbed more!  I did pick up a couple of the shirts to wear to work that are wicked sweet (sorry, New England kind of rubbed off on me!).  I got the Tiered Ruffle Keyhole Tank in Fairford Replacement print and the Ruffle Neck Top in Turquoise Isis print, both for $20 each.  The Kiss Lock Wallet in Jennifer Flowers Blue caught my eye too, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it.  Here are in real life pics that I took to share.  




I wanted to buy the cute ceramic canisters and tea pot, but decided to wait and see if they'll be around long enough to go on clearance.  I also saw a curtain panel on target.com that would be an excellent way for me to get a big piece of fabric to craft with.  I've been searching for Liberty fabric online and it's usually $36 a yard or more!  We'll see what happens.


Tonight when I was showing off my new purchases, my room mate told me I shop more than anyone she knows.  If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me...

What's in a name?

You may wonder how I decided upon my blog name...or maybe you could care less and no one is actually reading this except hopefully my mother.  Well, if anyone cares to know, I owe the name to my previous awesome roommate Megan.  She scores a little low on the creative scale, and she made a great decision when giving me free reign with her credit card.  Obviously, she didn't know me very well yet!  


A trip to her family's flea market one weekend started it all.  She saw a cushy looking footstool that was $20.  I told her to ask for it for $5.  This was my first time at a flea market, but much like the bazaars in Egypt, I hear it's insulting if you don't haggle a bit.  So we toted home this footstool that had a few rips in the fabric and the original sticker from HomeGoods ($79.99) on the bottom.  I told her to stop at JoAnn's on the way home and we picked out a great floral/paisley print from the clearance section to recover it with.  She had already pilfered her aunt's sewing machine for me to use - how sweet is she?  We get back home, I turn on the football game, and start disassembling the footstool cover.  I used one of the pieces for a pattern, cut out the new fabric, and had the new cover sewn in about an hour and a half.  Megan woke up from her nap and said, "Oh wow! It's like magic - you should be a decorator!  I'll tell everyone I have an original Phone Home design by E.T."  And thus the name is born!


Here's a pic of the ottoman before - not terrible, but not fun either.

And after I worked my magic!  Don't worry, the bottom wasn't flapping in the breeze.  We staple gunned it down the next day.  It even has a matching fabric covered button.  How cute :D

My First Post!

I've been thinking about blogging for awhile now, and the other day when a random stranger asked me where I find J. Crew stuff to sell on eBay, I decided it was finally time to share my crazy ideas with the world (or anyone who cares to read about them).

I'm a young Midwesterner, currently transplanted to the East Coast until I graduate in May. Since I'm currently single and don't have anything else in particular that's taking up my free time, I'd like to

try my hand at this blogging business.

Let's start with a craft project, shall we? Since I moved to my temporary apartment, I found the bedroom furnishings a bit lacking for my ginormous J. Crew collection... So, what is a girl to do but head to the local Goodwill? Well here's my dresser, a bit dated, don't you think? A work in progress and almost finished. All you need is

one ugly piece of cheap furniture, a sanding block, and spray paint primer and a spray paint color of preppy choice. Voila! A brand new dresser that sells for crazy amounts of money in those cute little boutique stores so popular around here.

I guess I forgot to mention that I save myself into the (almost) red zone. Here's the stats on this project:

Dresser from Goodwill: $25 (on sale from $49)

1 sanding block, 2 cans of Kilz primer, and 2 cans of blue spray paint: $24.77

Total $50

All in a day's work :D

I still have to add the finished pic, but here's a peek!

Check out the wicked shading on the edges of the drawers. And all that brass hardware! Definitely retro '50s...