DIY gonna try :P

Stripes and Puff Sleeves

Photography by Becca

Thrift stores can have some of the neatest things in them, when you look closely. Now, this probably isn't news to you, but it's something that comes to mind nearly everytime I go in one.

Our family has a few favorite places in nearby towns and some of them even have a separate section for vintage/costume clothes. Becca and I could get lost in there for hours.  :)

   This dress was a find from one of those places, but it needed a bit of altering.

 The cuffs on the sleeves were too tight to wear comfortably,

 so with my handy-dandy seam ripper (love that thing!), I removed the cuff,

                               

and then gave it a wide hem that I could fit a piece of elastic in.

I also altered the collar, but unfortunately forgot to take a before picture of it.

I love the grey stripes, and the shape of the skirt. I borrowed a petticoat slip from Becca to give it a little more fullness.

The brand is You Babes II by Fritzi (yes, a rather strange name), and the tag doesn't look very old, possibly from the 80's, but I really like the old-fashioned look of the dress.

And now for possibly the best thrift store find ever!

All thanks to Becca too.

Yes, these shoes!

We were looking around the shoe section of a thrift store, when Becca spotted them. We both loved the vintage look of them, but they were my size.

They were in wonderful condition,  practically brand new, and only $2.50!

The brand name, Naot, was unfamiliar, so just for kicks and giggles, I decided to look them up online.

Ok, are you ready for this? 

These shoes, brand new, cost $180!

 If you want to see for yourself, click here (same brand and style, but different color. I couldn't find mine for some reason)

What a deal, right?

I love these shoes! Besides being adorable, they are super comfy, and the grey color goes with nearly anything.

   Thank you Becca!

Happy Reformation Day!

Imagine that when you went to church on Sunday, you had to stand, sometimes up to 4-5 hours, while the priest read a sermon in Latin, and you couldn't understand a word of it.

    How could you learn about God and his message of salvation?

     That was what is was like in the 1500's, and during the time of a young monk named Martin Luther.  He saw all these problems with the church and wrote a list of 95 objections, nailing them to the door of his church in Gutenberg, Germany.

 The date was on All Hallows' Eve, October 31st, 1517.

A date that has changed the world.

Martin Luther saw that the people were being deceived.  Since they didn't have the Bible in a language they  could understand, they had to trust what the church told them.  What if the church was wrong?

The people were told that to get to heaven they had to do good things, confess their sins to a priest, take the Lord's Supper, and even then they couldn't be sure.

One popular way to insure that you or a loved one could go to heaven in Luther's day was to buy an indulgence. 

"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs" - Johann Tetzel, seller of indulgences.

This slip of paper could be bought for a few coins, and you, or whoever you purchased it for would be guaranteed a place in heaven, even if they had already died and were in "purgatory"

But that's not how God's salvation works. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven.

"For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast" Ephesians 2:8-9

Buying a slip of paper, or trying to be good will never win us favor with God.  He sent His only Son to die for us, to pay for our sins.  How is there anyway we could add to that gift?

We must repent, turn from our sins, and have faith in that gift of salvation God has so generously provided for us.  Then, we can know for sure that when we die, we will be in heaven with Him.

Martin Luther also translated the New Testament into German so that ordinary people could read it, not just the studied priests and monks who could read Latin.  .

So, with that little lesson on the reformation, I can go on to tell you about the fun thing we are doing tonight.

The home-school group our family is a part of is having a family game night, and if any one wants, they can wear reformation era costumes (medieval), or dress up like a character from the Bible.

Well, Becca and I never pass up an opportunity to wear costumes, so I got right to work putting some together. 

A while ago, we tried to make a Romeo and Juliet movie with some friends.  We had a lot of fun making costumes, and even filmed a couple scenes, but we had a major problem... We didn't have any boys to act in it!  So, needless to say, it was never finished, but we kept everything from it, which led to the beginning of Becca's costume.

This was the dress for Juliet's mother.

I fitted the dress better, added some embellishments, and voila!

No, sadly that is not our horse.

 For mine, I thought out an idea first, figured out what I needed, then headed to our local thrift store.

There I got a leather jacket, a men's button up shirt, and a big piece of heavy fabric.

I turned the shirt into a peasant blouse by cutting off the collar, pockets, cuffs, and buttons.

I took the sleeves off the leather jacket, changed the neckline, cut it shorter and used the extra piece to make a scalloped edge. (sorry, no pictures)

The fabric I used to make the skirt.

The skirt has pockets!  :)

Farewell!

Altering a Vintage Dress

Here is a dress I (Beth) found in a vintage/costume area of a local thrift store. Pretty cute, don't you think? I thought so too. I loved the light blue color, the daisy print, and the collar and sleeve cuffs with the lace.