Amusement

Outfit Details: Top (Dress) : Vintage (remixed here and here) // Skirt: Kickstarter gift from Chantilly Songs (remixed)// Scarf: Grandmother's// Brooch: Vintage // Shoes: Thrifted

Hello Darlings, 

This past week has been nothing short of relaxing and I am enjoying that quite a bit...maybe a bit too much:) It's always a lovely thing to catch up with loved ones and that's exactly what we have been doing.  Cake and pie is not in short supply and neither is delicious food.  Why does dinner always taste better when it is cooked by mom?  Anyhow, Albert and I snuck away for an afternoon and hit all my favorite places in my hometown - the antique mall, an old fabric store where my mom and grandmother took me to pick out fabric for my dresses when I was little, my favorite Thai cafe, and the local Starbucks - because I can never have enough coconut mocha fraps this time of year.  Anyhow, we were close by to this tiny old amusement park that my family took me to once in a while when I was a kid and it is sadly now defunct.  I'm oddly obsessed with creepy and rusted old defunct parks like this.  We were both so curious and eager to enter and explore, but I chickened out as there were men mowing the grounds.  I can be a bit of a scaredy cat I will admit.   Oh well, maybe next time.   So there I stood at the entrance mysteriously enchanted by this once lively little place.  

Wishing you once fantastical week!

Love bunches, 

Red Delicious

Hello Darlings!

Hope your weekend was spectacular as always.   Mine certainly has been filled with lots of coconut rum cake and strawberry pie so I'm in complete satisfaction at the moment.  I'm currently out of town visiting with family all week long, so pardon the brief quietness around here.  In the meantime, my shop Allyhoot Vintage is doing a giveaway over at A Little Slice of Special.  Up for grabs is this vintage red delicious apple necklace.  So if that tickles your fancy, head on over here for a try at this sweet little beauty.

Hope to catch up with you very soon.  See ya tomorrow:)

xx 

Marisa

Adventuring

Outfit Detail: Dress: In Shop // Sash: Anthropologie (old - remixed here) // Brooch: Vintage - antique mall // Floral Crown: DIY // Shoes: UO

Sunny Saturdays simply call for a little adventuring in our natural surroundings.  Week after week life can be very busy for us three.  We are here, there, on the move and on the go.  For an introvert like me, this can be a little taxing...but this was one fine week we actually had a moment to kind of take it sweet and slow and relax a bit, and so Saturday will surely follow suit before another busy week is on the horizon.  So here we are again just exploring one of the trails in our neighborhood.  I love this peaceful little spot.  It was our own for that moment so we laughed and skipped stones and just enjoyed our time together. 

Wishing you a sweet Saturday as well!

Love Bunches, 

The Craft Room: Tie Up Slouchy Tube Top DIY

Happy evening to you darlings!

Since the weather has been all warm and sunshiny, the DIY itch has been upon me.  Not so very long ago, I picked up this skirt at Goodwill for $1.00.  Though it was flimsy, cut kind of crooked, and poorly made, I snagged it anyways because I kind of just loved the boho inspired print.  Anyhow, I thought it might make a perfect tube top since it was smocked around the waist area - so that is exactly what it became.

What you'll need:

1 midi or maxi length skirt with a smocked waist (or elasticated)

Scissors

A needle and thread

1.  With the skirt on and pulled up to your underarms - where you will be wearing it as a top - measure how long you want it to be (this should be slightly below your natural waistline).  Mark this on the back of the skirt. 

2.  With the skirt on the floor make sure the sides are laying back to back (like you hang a pair of pants on a hanger).  At the back of the skirt (which with be the back of your top) measure about an inch down from your mark and cut a slightly curved diagonal line down to the bottom (if you want your front ties to be thinner, cut further in).  

3.  Unfold and you should now have something that resembles a hi-lo skirt.  Lay the skirt so the longer part is facing up.  Cut a straight line right up the middle to at least the length of the back.   (In my case, there was a seam already up the middle, so it made this very easy - if not, you will want to measure where the exact middle is).  

4.  Try it on now and see if you want to make any revisions (ie. cutting the ties higher, thinner, etc).  

Make necessary revisions as needed.  For me, I decided to cut up the middle just a bit higher than the length of the back to make my ties a little longer in the front and I cut into the skirt a little deeper so that my ties were thinner.

5.  Iron the skirt and hem up the rough edges all around.

Whoohoo - you are finished!

I was pretty much so pleased with my result here.  I think next time, I would cut my ties a even thinner but nonetheless,  I look forward to wearing this little piece all summer long on those 90 degree days.  

A proper outfit post with it is soon to follow:)

The weekend is just about upon us.

See you very soon!

Love Bunches, 

Hello darlings!

Just a quick pop in before I post my DIY to let you know that my shop Allyhoot Vintage is sponsoring a giveaway over at Sprinkles of My Life along with a nice handful of other pretty shops.  Up for grabs is this vintage pastel purse.  Head on over and enter here if you do so wish :)

See you later!

xx

Marisa

Primary State

Outfit Details: Top (Dress) Modcloth // Skirt: Vintage - Gift from Vintage & Gee // Scarf: Thrifted // Brooch: Antique Mall // Shoes: UO

Ello there,
It's Tuesday and apparently I am a week ahead of the game when it comes to dressing for Memorial Day next Monday....or so says my husband...hehe.  Oops.  Anyhow, in our neighborhood this trail that you see above - which is right up the street from my house - has finally been un-gated and opened up for more exploring - so if I weren't in heels and a skirt that is exactly what I would have done.  Methinks it might lead to the top of the mountain we live on, so I am so curious to find out.

These last couple of days have been uneventful and pretty much full of just lazing around & working on a couple of DIYs I have going on at the moment.  Spring always puts me DIY mode, ya know?  So hopefully by Thursday, one of them will make it onto here:)  Short and sweet is the name of the game today darlings as I must get up off this couch and go outside.  It's just way too pretty to stay in.

Until then!
Love bunches,

Hello and happy Monday darlings!

Just a quick little pop in today to let you know that starting in June, I will be accepting sponsorships for Shades of Monet.  Some exciting things are on the horizon for this little corner of the blogaverse - and I couldn't be more thrilled.  My ad rates are super affordable, so if you are interested in promoting your business or blog, hop on over here or click on the Sponsor tab to find out more info.  The checkout process is a breeze and if you book now for June, I am offering an additional 20% off all ad spaces with the code SummerShades. 

That's all for now.  Keep an eye out this week for a fun DIY project and I'll see you tomorrow with my regularly scheduled post:)

Love Bunches, 

Ice Cream and Alley Ways

Outfit Details: Dress & Tote: c/o Cute Vintage // Skirt & Shoes: Modcloth // Floral Crown: DIY 













Oh hello there,

I can't even believe another weekend as arrived already...how time flies, but trust me, I am not complaining:)  As I mentioned before Al and I spent some time in Philly this past week with friends and visiting family.  This city just never gets old to me.  Really, it's just a home away from home.  Anyhow, now that spring has sprung and summer is peeking it's head around the corner to say a warm and friendly "hello", one of our favorite places to go is The Franklin Fountain.  It's the sweetest little old fashioned ice cream parlor - cash only, a vintage candy counter, homemade ice-cream, fudge and retro appliances... even workers dressed in authentic garb, this place couldn't get any more charming.  So there we went....again and again and probably all summer long because it's just that good.  I failed to snap a photo of my creamy creation because I hoovered the whole yummy thing before the thought ever crossed my mind:)

Also on the sweetness meter, I was ever so thrilled last week to have come home to the most darlingly wrapped package sent to me from lovely Rachel of Cute-Vintage.  Inside was the perfect little summer sundress complete with rainbow striped stitching and a smocked back...oh, and a tote!   What's not to love about that?  Anyhow, I wore it to tread through the city with this past weekend and I can tell it's one of those pieces that will be perched at the very front of my closet all summer long.  I layered it up here because it was slightly chilly and I'm perpetually cold and I was inspired by this apron skirted dress that I recently saw at my local antique shop, but I also look forward to keeping it simple with a big straw hat and pair of sandals.  Now pass me a fresh squeezed lemonade:)  Thanks Rachel, you are a doll!  Her store Cute-Vintage is full of other pretty treasures too, so pop on by if you are on the hunt for something sweet.

That's all for now darlings.  Enjoy that Saturday sunshine!
Love Bunches,

Blood Brothers

Outfit Details: Dress: Vintage in shop // Hat & Shoes: UO // Brooch: Gift from sister // Purse: Vintage



















Saturday was spent in the company of great friends in a great city.  I stuffed myself with poached pear salad with goat cheese and shepherd's pie and later some good old fashioned banana ice cream with brownie chunks at The Franklin Fountain.  Then we frolicked by the water.  Boy did we ever frolic ... like a bunch of goobers, but it was fun and kind of silly.  At night we were serenaded by the lovely Ingrid Michaelson.  Though our feet hurt from standing a long while and we decided we were old enough to break out the orthopedics, the music was so sweet as was the evening, so it really didn't matter - especially since third row standing position was scored.  So we danced and we laughed and enjoyed one another's company and were very thankful that moving to a new town meant meeting friends like these.  Before heading back home we did the most unhealthy thing and got cheesesteaks and experienced the heart of Philly all together.  I think I felt like a kid again - out and about gallivanting and carrying on in a city that never sleeps.   I do believe being in the company of true blue friends, makes you feel young at heart...and that's quite a good feeling.

The End.

Wishing you a carefree week darlings!
Love Bunches,

Oh the Places You'll Go

Hello there darlings, 

I'm taking a little ol break from the blog today as I am still out of town visiting family, but you can find me here and there doing a interview at Of Corgis and Cocktails and guest posting at Thrifting Through Life...both very loverly blogs by two very loverly ladies - Katherine and Laura:)

Pop on over and say hello if you have a moment.  

Be back to the grind tomorrow.

See you then!

xx

Marisa Noelle