Easy Holiday Sweater DIY ~ Sparkly Shoulders!

* A sweater
* 2 Beaded or Sequin trim appliques - there are tons of fun styles here {I picked mine up at Bargain Yardage when I bought my DIY tablecloth materials}
* Needle/Thread/Scissors - or really, if you disguise them well, safety pins will do the trick





* Decide where you want your appliques and pin them in place

* note: because of the cowl neckline on this sweater, my appliques stick out over the shoulders a bit. If you have a regular crew neck or v-neck sweater, you can apply the entire applique to the sweater without sticking off the shoulder ...unless you want it to, that is.




* Following the threads of the applique, loosely hand-stitch onto your sweater OR if your sweater is acrylic, you can carefully safety pin them on underneath.



















Wanna make a cute headband? Just hand-stitch elastic or ribbon to the ends of one of these cute appliques and tie it around your head! Easy!

Have Fun!

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fashion, diy fashion, easy diy, holiday sweater, bedazzled, appliqued shoulders, sweaters with stuff on the shoulders

Thanksgiving 2010 & What I Wore

What I Wore ...not much time to do a proper outfit photoshoot that day really but . . .
* Corey Lynn Calter Victoria lace shift dress in bone ...from GILT ....but you can get one here now {the back is a v - which you can actually wear in the front if you wanted}
* Brown tights {ancient. so old actually that I had to wear underwear over them just to keep them from falling down. Yes, you needed to know that} - you can get some at American Apparel
* Heritage 1981 long gray cardigan
* Gray Rosegold ankle boots ...also from GILT ON SALE AT GILT RIGHT NOW!! ... you can get them in brown at BlueFly ...or in black at RevolveClothing ... last seen here
* Hair: Curled with hot rollers, then clipped up the front. {and if you follow me on Twitter, you may know that at the end of the night when I took my hair down, it looked 10 times better - and you will also know that I hate that}

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Although our Frenchie, LeRoy has an annoying but serious hunger for babies {which my brother works endlessly on trying to fix - see in photos below walking LeRoy behind Delilah - though it may just look like he's dangling a big steak in front of him} - just when we all thought LeRoy had relaxed and given up on his baby take-down quest, he managed to slip by us all and pop Delilah right in between her eyes. It made her cry. It made me cry. But we all got over it {hopefully}, locked LeRoy in the bedroom for the remainder of the day and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We had a lovely mix of friends and family join us for the festivities and even though I was in the kitchen for most of the day, I really enjoyed hosting for the first time in our new-ish house ...which will be the home of many holiday gatherings to come. When we moved in at the end of last January, I was so looking forward to the holidays in this house and now that they are here, I am loving every minute of it.

Because I was busy busy busy all day, I wasn't able to get too many photos but here's a little slide show of the ones I did get ...and if you haven't seen my table settings yet, click here

hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

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My Thanksgiving Table Decor ~ Ikat & Antlers

...DIY pop art canvases ...DIY glam feathered light fixture ...DIY holiday tablecloth










I gave you sneak peek at the elements here ...and even then I had no idea how they'd all come together {though I did know I wanted to cover the skull that belongs to the antler}. Thats much how I work. I have ideas ...I grab handfuls of items then put them together last minute. I honestly wish I could've put them together prior to Thanksgiving to post ideas for you but it's just not my style.

Though I was short on cloth napkins for the dining room table and may have preferred these glasses {or these more budget friendly ones}, I really liked the end result. I may just leave it up for a while or work the antlers centerpiece into a Christmas setting as well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.


Link List: Couleur Nature Kantha Throw in multi from GILT - {link is for pink one - see multi color below STYLE INFORMATION #GDC10-06} | Mikasa/Studion Nova square white dishes | Everyday white round coupe plates & cereal bowls {used for soup} - Bed Bath & Beyond | Burgundy Stemless Wine Glasses | Fitz & Floyd Everyday White Medium Pitcher {I used for gravy} Bed Bath & Beyond | old colored, stemmed red wine glasses | Dining room table from Pampa in Sherman Oaks | pewter velvet tufted Lola bench from Z Gallerie

the kid's table

...DIY rope napkin rings


Link List: plum/purple leaf placemats - Bed Bath & Beyond | glasses from Ikea {ages ago} | leaf cloth napkins - Crate & Barrel | Everyday white round dishes - Bed Bath & Beyond {coupe dinner plate & cereal bowl - can't find exact online} | round kitchen table & chairs - Dining Rooms Direct

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* Happy Thanksgiving *

Of course I couldn't choose just one shot of the dogs in all their Thanksgiving glory for this post ...that wouldn't be like me at all. Please excuse their "dog parts". I'm against modesty patches just as the husband is against removing their balls. Yes, it seems as though I'm talking about balls on Thanksgiving. What can I say? {I think they're pretty "thankful" they still have theirs} Also note, these are my table napkins tied on like bandanas ...and yes, they went right back on the table after this photo shoot was over because I'm classy like that.

From our family to yours ...hope your Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful.

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I felt like a Ralph Lauren ad from the 80's

What I'm Wearing
* Vintage denim button down ...again I seemingly cannot get enough of this button down shirt! sheesh! I literally wore the denim & cognac ensemble LAST WEEK
* Victoria's Secret cognac/burnt orange chunky knit asymmetrical cardigan - which I adore however, the combo of the oversized denim shirt WITH the chunky knit sweater didn't do my arms any favors.
* Asos boyfriend belt BACK IN STOCK YAY! {runs a tad big. Mine is a Medium but I could have gotten a small because when I wear it around my waist, it's in the last hole & still loose. Though because it's a bit big, I can also wear it with jeans around my hips} ...yet another item I'm wearing at least once a week it seems
* Vintage winter white skirt. My mom made this skirt for herself in 1971. The original idea was inspired by the 1954 movie White Christmas - with a 70's twist, obviously. But over the years, the hem fell out {or maybe someone washed it?} but I've kept it because I always wanted to wear it ...though I never have. I sort of love it all wrinkled and frayed hem. It gives it an entirely different look. In fact, all day I sort of felt like a 1980's Ralph Lauren ad meets present day Chloe {since it is SO OBVIOUSLY inspired by the look}
* Sam Edelman lace up granny boots ...with little nude socks {it's CHILLY!}
* Kenneth Cole beaded necklace that I doubled with a ribbon to wear as a choker/collar piece. {see how I did it here} {it's a long strand, sans hookage} I can't find my gold hued one but there's a gorgeous blue one here
Hair: curled with hot rollers. See the ones I use here ...see a bit of a tutorial here. Should I do an entire hot roller tutorial? Lemme know ;)

. . . a look up . . .

Oh the sunsets in LA are just so glorious sometimes. No matter how many times I've seen a pink and orange sky, I cannot help but just look up and stare in awe at the beauty.

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And since I matched this huge Jim Dine heart painting that hangs on the wall directly across from my desk @ the gallery, I thought I'd share with you my view . . .




Hope you are all getting a little time off work today ...or at least a half day so you can be with your friends and families, or finish preparations for the yummiest holiday ever tomorrow. If I don't see you again til Friday, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.

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Thanksgiving Tabletop Decorating Elements

Luckily I have a stepdad who has an abundance of cow skulls and horns lying around ...and because my mom doesn't want "dead animals" in her house, I get them all ;) Thanks Barry!






I'll be using my DIY Holiday Tablecloth as a base and possibly the ikat blanket {details below} as a runner, with these vintage tarnished silver candlesticks. Love.





Couleur Nature Kantha Throw in Multi -IkAt- available on GILT NOW! - the link is for the pink one but if you see below where it says "You Would Also Love" & they show it in my multi-color and oranges

I actually ordered a blue and white Ikat throw for our Master Bedroom but this one came instead. I was going to send it back but laid it over the bench in our dining room and it sort of tied all the colors from our Living Room together ...and I kinda fell in love. Like I said above, I'll either use it on the table in the center or keep it on the bench.

kitchen table

Plum leaf placemats from Bed Bath and Beyond $1.99 each over a vintage beige lace remnant. Possibly using these leaf napkins from Crate & Barrel {link: closest match - bought last year} with my DIY rope napkin rings




...is always a bit more fun/cute

{see Halloween kitchen table here - compared with my Halloween dining room table here}

a few outdoor elements

* I purposely bought my Halloween pumpkins late in October so I could use them for Thanksgiving decorating as well ...sitting next to pretty White Poinsettias in white pots.



...and a festive fall wreath on the front door.


The husband and I are finishing up hanging the Christmas lights today ...and we keep adding more sections of the house and running out of lights -he's out getting a few more sets now. I think when we finally finish and turn them all on, I'm going to feel like the Griswolds. Here's hoping they all work ;)

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The Ultimate Gift Guide for the Ultimate Nerd

...brought to you by my husband



* Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect $350





* Inception DVD Briefcase set $49.95





* Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] $24.99





* Call of Duty: Black Ops Prestige Edition $149.99






* Call of Duty Black Ops Limited Edition Strategy Guide - Hardcover $34.99






* iolite Portable Vaporizer (Black) $199





  
* Green Lantern Symbol T-shirt $19.99
* The Flash Symbol T-Shirt $19.99
* Iron Man 2 Arc Reactor heart T-shirt $19.99





* Rock Band 3 Wireless Keyboard and Software Bundle for Xbox 360 $169.99

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