Shabby Apple Gift Card Giveaway!

I'm so excited about this giveaway!

Shabby Apple is an absolutely adorable online clothing shop.  I'm pretty sure that they are the clothing embodiment of Quaint and Quirky!  Their fashions are vintage, modest, feminine, fun and liveable.  Shabby Apple not only offers regular women's clothing, but maternity, new mom, child, and preteen styles as well.    I was so happy when they contacted me to give away a gift certificate on my blog!

One winner will win a:

Yes, a $75 Gift Certificate to Shabby Apple!
Here is the fine print:

• To enter, you MUST do two things.  Like Shabby Apple on facebook:  Shabby Apple's Facebook Page.  Next, visit Shabby Apple's website and pick a favorite piece (or outfit).  In your first comment, tell us which item you like the best!

• If you'd like additional entries, share a link to this giveaway on facebook and/or twitter and comment again telling me you did so (one comment for each one).  Make sure to leave a way to contact you!

I will keep the giveaway open until Friday, August 17, 2012.  I will then pick a random winner and announce by Monday.

This contest is open only to those with US Shipping addresses. 
Shabby Apple has also generously offered all blog readers 10% off for one month using the code quaintandquirky10off !

What would I pick?  Maybe this:

or this:

or this:

Have fun dreaming about what YOU would buy!

Super simple baby dress - or "Make it Work"

Amelia needed a new dress Sunday morning.  Ummmmmm... maybe "needed" is a strong word.  Anyway, I made one Sunday morning before church.  Sort of...

I had a skirt in a bigger size made from the Oliver + S tutorial found here:  Lazy Days Skirt
I had given it a regular hem on the bottom though - not a ribbon hem as was shown.

When I tried it on Amelia, I found that it fit her torso and the length was fine.  I used the same fabric to cut out two 3.5 inch wide by ??? inches long (I just overestimated) strips of fabric.  I sewed long ends together to form a tube, turned them inside out and pressed it with the seam in the center back.

I tried the dress on again, used safety pins to determine where the straps should go on the front and the back and sewed them onto the dress (I finished the ends of the straps with my serger, but you could just turn the raw edge in and sew it closed on both ends).
Note:  I left a significant tail in the back for the straps so that I can reuse this dress as a shirt next year and lengthen the straps as needed.

I had this owl from a scraps tutorial I had previously done, so I topstitched it in place.

Tutorial here: Scrap embellishment tutorial .

What's the point of this blog post?  Make it work.  Not every project has to be perfectly laid out, planned, and executed.  Sometimes it's fun to work with what you have and improvise.  Try it.  It's freeing!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!  I'll be back to show you a fun Christmas present wrapping idea I had! 

Dress Contest

Recently, there was a design a dress contest sponsored by Christa Taylor. I was excited to see that someone I "know" (translation - I'm a faithful blog reader) is a finalist for the contest! Emma from A Banner of Crimson has a fabulously vintage taste in clothes, so I definitely trust her design! Her's is the Ava dress.

Check out the Christa Taylor Blog and Vote!

A shimmee and a sketchbook

I made some more books for my etsy shop, which I'll be building up some more this summer. I loooove these books. I made several for myself and I think they are perfect as sketchbooks or journals. The pages are gridded and are great for drawing and sketching designs. Or you can ignore the grid completely.



I'm giddy over this one. The paper is to die for if you love vintage fashion.



Quaint and Quirky Etsy

Wednesday

The weather here is so different from the beginning of the week! Fifties then, mid-eighties tomorrow. That's New England for you!

Shirt: Gap

Skirt: Banana Republic Outlet

Necklace: Kohls

Flip Flops: Reefs

Monday and Tuesday

Skirt, sweater, knee socks, and t-shirt - Target

Boots - J.Crew

T-shirt - J.Crew

Skirt - Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes - Steve Madden leopard print

Flower belt

WIFD Sunday

It's another week of feminine dress! Or... let's see what Keri wears this week and if she can actually post on her blog EVERY day...

Sunday's outfit was predetermined for me really. I went to a 50th birthday party for my aunt and ladies under 50 wore lavendar and pink. Ladies over 50 wore purple and red. We had a great time!

Skirt and sweater: Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes: Kohls

This is at the party. It is an old house, turned in to a bed and breakfast that also does events.

It was lovely and totally my aunt's style!

The elegant mantle

The tea setup - The menu was tea, pastry and sandwiches.

My aunt - was she surprised?

Some guests

Happy Birthday, Auntie Cheryl!

My mom's gorgeous cake... handpainted!!

My grandmother - she was quiet festive with her nails!

Stay tuned for more outfits this week!

Favorite Fall Outfit

This is my final Fashion Week outfit. It's one of my favorites. The skirt and shirt are from The Limited (though bought at different times). The necklace, which people say look like malted milk balls is from Macy's.

I think it looks like something my mom would wear in the 70s. So I like it. The 70s are not particularly my favorite clothing decade, but I like this style.

Thank you, dear readers, for obliging this fashion trip this week! It was fun!

Twirling

The outfit I wore is a great twirling outfit. And what's the point of wearing skirts and dresses when you don't twirl??? I'm also a big fan of going down stairs wearing a poufy skirt. I love the effect of the POUF! That's my favorite part of being a girl!I promise that I do have 2 legs.
And for a clearer look at the outfit:Dress: Ann Taylor Loft
Sweater: My mom's closet
Necklace: My mom's jewelry box
Shoes: Mudd (I agree Shannon...Mudd has really cute styles!) from Macy's

For careful readers of my blog, you might realize that that's not my kitchen. I'm dog sitting for my parents - hence the stealing from my mom's closet! ;)
I miss stealing from my mom's closet and she misses stealing from mine!

Fashion week - Wednesday

I love mixing patterns - too much sometimes. When we have mix match day at school, most people come in wearing patterns that I would wear together normally!

Today I'm wearing a skirt from Ann Taylor Loft, a shirt from J. Crew, a sweater from Target, the floral shoes that I promised would return this week, and tights from the Gap.

Grace is wearing a collar from the Fashionable Friends line of dog collars that I make. ;)

Fashion Week - Tuesday

Today's post is brought to you by Animal Planet. Just kidding, but sometimes I feel like a very girly park ranger in this dress.

Shirt dresses are absolutely my favorite type of dress. Interestingly, I found this one in Arden B. which is a very modern store. I'm not sure where this style fits into their aesthetic, but I'm glad it was there!
I now know why there were many housewives in the 50s - it takes all day just to iron this thing (and you can see that it could have used a touch up in this picture!)

The shoes are from the J. Crew factory store in Virginia. I highly recommend it. It's the outlet's outlet and the prices are very very very reasonable.

Fashion Week!

Over at Sense and Sensibility, they have a feminine dress week once a season. This is the week! I did a baaaaaad job of taking pictures during the summer week, but I'm committed to this one!

My outfits this week will feature skirts or dresses, which are my favorite things to wear (and fleece pajamas).

Here's today's outfit:
I absolutely love equestrian style outfits. Maybe it's because of my unfulfilled desire to learn how to ride a horse.....
~My skirt is from Ann Taylor Loft and I got it several years ago for a STEAL! I almost feel guilty about how cheap I got it. I mean some poor cow somewhere died for me to buy this skirt at an unspeakable price. Poor cow!
~The sweater is from Target. Love Target.
~The underneath shirt is from The Limited and it is gorgeous, but I burned it with the iron and ruined the lace, so now it has been delegated to undershirt.
~The boots are from Macy's. Here's another picture of the boots: