Who doesn’t wear pearls to do housework?

I’m finally getting rid of whatever the heck kind of “bug” decided to put the moves on my immune system at the end of last week, so I made my way to the pharmacy, then stopped across the street at the party supply store to see if they had any reasonably priced decorations I could use for next month’s fashion swap. I bought a jumbo pack of white tissue paper to get started on poms and other fluffy decor, a tablecloth, and I was just about to give up on finding anything mint green as I stumbled on some in the form of wrapping paper. That would have been satisfying enough, but I rounded the corner to find June Cleaver themed napkins that say “Who doesn’t wear pearls to do housework” on the front, and “Made from scratch is so overrated” on the back. I laughed out loud and picked them up, then rounded another corner and found matching pink polka dot napkins, and now my life is complete. This is going to be one cheeky little retro theme!

 

Now, speaking of wearing pearls to do housework, I rarely wear my pearls, but I have been rather handy around the house lately! My completed projects include a key/note rack with a vase, mock valances for our giant living room windows, a DIY lamp, painting an old mirror, making custom contact paper backing for our built-in bookshelves, and decorating our new (to us) shelf unit. Enough talk, though, here are the pictures:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

For the next several posts, I’ll break down how I DIY’d the heck out of our apartment so you can, too. Today, I’ll start by telling you about our awesome Loomi light. I’m proud to have supported Loomi’s Kickstarter project to help the design team raise money to sell and distribute the unique light from an expired patent. I went to school and was friends with Lauren, one of the team members, and was so excited when I heard what she and her friends were doing! The Loomi kit comes with 30-something pieces made from durable cardstock that fit together like a really cool 3D puzzle. You can paint it, draw on it, punch holes in it, or do anything else you can do with paper. Of course, if you would rather have the lamp made from a different material like, say, milk carton plastic, you can do that, too, by tracing the design and cutting out the pieces yourself. I used watercolors to paint my Loomi, and, while I love it just the way it is, I plan to draw tentacles as if a cephalopod is trying to work its way from the inside out. When the light is assembled in the globe version, it resembles waves of swirling water, so I thought that would be appropriate! Anyway, go check them out and order yourself one or two, then send pics of your finished creation to be displayed on their website or Facebook page. They’re cool like that.

Gentle hugs,

Chels

Hi, my name is Chelsea, and I’m a swapaholic.

My friend Paige has been giving me clothing she doesn’t wear anymore for a while now. She realized a year or so ago that she didn’t know half of what was in her closet, and has been going on sporadic cleaning sprees ever since. We started out exactly the same size, but I’ve lost a little weight over the past year, so, as my friend Allison put it, my clothes were “falling off” of me. So, guess who got them? She did, lucky girl. Half of them I had received from Paige. It’s like the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, only with cuter shoes.

Along the same lines, I’ve been following Punky of Haberdash Vintage, a traveling trailer of vintage awesomeness, and also of The Swapaholics, a team of women to put together giant swaps all over the place, for years. Needless to say, I’ve been hoping, wishing, and praying for a streamline trailer and a good clothing swap to come my way. My craving has been satiated by the occasional swap with friends, and my compulsive trips to the local thrift shops (hey, it’s as close to free as you can get!) I even suggested hosting a swap to a couple of gals at church last year, but it seemed that the idea hadn’t caught fire yet, and no one was very interested.

Imagine my glee when, a few weeks ago, a friend, who I just happened to have shared my maiden name with (no relation as far as we know, but it sure was confusing for people in high school,) piped up on our small group board and suggested we hold a swap at the church! I instantly gave my two cents of yes, then offered to help with decorations and planning. She, another friend who just happens to be her sister in law, and I got together last night over Mexican food to hash out the details, and came up with a plan.

So … drum roll please … I’m proud to present to you our very first swap:

There’s a whopping $1 entry fee to cover the initial costs of supplies to host the swap, and ladies of all sizes, styles, and ages – from teen to the most seasoned fashionista – are invited. We’re hoping for a big turnout, since you don’t have to be a part of the church to participate. It’s also right around the time school will be starting again, so it’s the perfect time to find some new clothes to wear to classes, whether you’re the student or teacher. I’m so excited, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

If you’re in the DFW area, click on the memo to visit the Facebook event page for more info and RSVP.

Gentle hugs,

Chels