How to Rescue a Dress from the Donate Pile

 Blazer: Tulle; Dress: swapped and Dyed; Heels: Zappos (similar); 

Earrings: Buffalo Exchange; Belt: Target (similar)

Happy Friday! I wore this dress which I found at a clothing swap last summer.   As a simple dress, I got a little bored with the color and was thinking about tossing it in the to-donate pile for my next thrifting trip.  But I decided to get a box of RIT Dye and see if I could give it a fresh look with color.  I'm happy with the results.  For a person who doesn't have sewing skills (yet), a box of dye is my favorite way to give clothing a new look.  If you have one, what's your favorite way to rescue items from the donate pile?

I've decided to move my links of the week post to Saturday, so expect to see it tomorrow!  

Have a lovely weekend.

Stripes + Teal

Top: thrifted; skirt: F21 (dyed); Shoes: purchased w/a gift card c/oBurlington Coat Factory

A few weekends ago, I dyed (with RIT Dye) a summery skirt to give it a second life.
Have you give any clothing or accessory items a second life lately?

Faux peplum/Keeping it in neutral

Pencil it in

Top: Nordstrom (junior's dept.); Skirt: swapped; Heels: Zappos; Necklace: H&M

Happy Wednesday! I don't think that pale colors should only be worn in the summer, but I'm thinking about dying this pale pink skirt a color that would be more versatile than its current pale pink shade for the fall.  I really like the midi length of the skirt but am usually stumped on how to style it because of the color. I'm looking to the fall 2012 Pantone colors for inspiration.  I'll post the results once I've made up my mind. What color would you choose, a shade of green close to bright chartreuse perhaps?

Feeling Pink

Blazer: Swapped; Skirt: F21; Shoes: Zappos; Clutch/Watch: Francesca's; 
Necklace: Target; Top: F21 (old)
 

I guess I'm feeling the color pink these days.  I found this pink blazer at a clothing swap recently and spray painted some well worn heels pink to give them a different look.

What color are you feeling these days?

Hope your week is going well!

DIY: What Color Should I Dye My Skirt?

My shopping budget is tapped out at the moment, and it's just as well because I need to start saving my pennies for my 2012 travel budget anyway.  Since I can't shop, I figured that it was time to take a  look at my clothing and see if I could give any of my items a new lease on life.  I decided that I love the shape and fit of the Forever21 skirt seen below, but I'm not in love with the color, so it's now a candidate for dying.

I was inspired by Megan Nielsen to try my first attempt at dying several months ago and it's pretty easy but I haven't made time to dye or overdye any other items. Here are a few swatches from RIT Dye website that I'm considering:

So readers, I'll ask you what color should I choose?

Adventures in Jewelry Making

Top: H&M; Skirt: UO; Necklace: self-made (materials c/o Michael's); Bag: thrifted; 

Sandals: Jessica Simpson via Dillard's

Holy wrinkled skirt!  I had no idea I walked out of the house so wrinkled until I looked at this photo...oh well.  I don't care much for ironing and removing wrinkles in clothing is a bit beyond my current Photoshop skills. Forgive me!

On another note, I was given a giftcard from Michael's and purchased materials to create my first piece of jewelry,  it's been a goal this year to try to explore my crafty side, so this turned out to be a fun project and timely project!  Here is a synopsis of how I made the necklace:

 

If you'd like to explore your own crafty side, use this code to pick up materials to create your own statement piece this summer.

Note: I received a $50 Michael's giftcard to purchase the materials to create my necklace.  I chose to write about this project because I thought it would interest my readers and will always make an effort to be transparent about any items or materials I receive.

What Would You Do With This Top?

I was given this (never worn) top deemed hopeless by its previous owner and challenged to refashion it into sometime more "wearable."  I really don't like to turn down a challenge : ) 

I had a few ideas on what could be done to it, but thought I'd ask you ladies what you would do with it.  Some of my ideas include: cutting off the sleeves and wearing it with black shorts, Using the top as material to decorate a plain clutch bag, making it a mini skirt....

So, what would you do with it? Please let me know in the comments!

Same trench, new color

I was going to give away a cream colored trench I've had for several years but decided to give it a new look instead by dying it after being inspired by Jessica and Megan's tutorials.

I used Rit Dye from my local drug store and chose two colors, Sunshine Orange and Scarlet because I liked them both. I decided to use the Scarlet dye for the trench and plan to use the Sunshine Orange for another piece of clothing later.  This is the result.

The coat is a little closer to coral than bright red in real life, but I like the color.  I guess I should have left it to soak in the dye a little longer for a deeper color.  

I'm quick to give away clothing when it doesn't get much wear, but I'm happy I re-thought getting rid of this trench.  Dying wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be and I definitely plan to try it again sometime soon.

Creative DIY T-Shirt Ideas

I saw these creative DIY T-shirt ideas by one of my favorite blogs, My Style Pill. I definitely plan on trying some of them. I have several T-shirts that could use some "sprucing" up.