My favorite dress right now!

Hey everyone! You all may remember me wearing this dress a while ago in my thrifting video. You can watch the video over here-http://singinginhisname.blogspot.com/2011/03/thrifting-introductionhaul.html
Well I have found that I can wear it without a blouse under it and its still pretty modest I believe. Its cool and light for the humid summers here.
I bought it for 8 or 9 dollars I believe when I was about 12 or 13 and I still love it. :) I am wearing a pair of earrings that are from when I was about 7 from Florida and my gladiator sandals I scored for $20.00 2 years ago. So this outfit cost me about $30.00 overall, but these peices have been used in my wardrobe for a while, so I say they have been paid for considering how long I have been wearing them. The pearls were given to me for my 18th b-day by my parents.

I hope you all are having a lovely summer! Its busy for me since I am still doing clep tests, but its a good busy. :) What is your favorite thing to wear in the summer? Mine are definately dresses and sandals! :)

In Christ,
Rebecca

Thrifting and lovely finds

I was gifted by an older women with some lovely belt buckles! I was so excited as I was the only one out of the three women in my family, my mom, sister and I who wear belts. So I got to keep all these lovlies!I had too much fun photographing them with the old tree as a great backdrop!

They came in all shapes and sizes and colors and some of them still un-used on the cards! The ones on the cards say 90 cents each! I am curious how old they are, I am thinking not very old, but still they are a treasure, as you can't find any in the stores such as these. :)

 

I was so excited when I realized that this lovely ribbon the older lady gave us would make a great belt! I loved the cheerful flower and heart design! It makes me remember my childhood. :) *unicorns and toad stools and fairies* Then I found out they were not real. :)

The dress is Merino brand from Target- thrifted $4.00

Vintage leather peep toe heals- $.75 thrifted

belt - free!

blue necklace- gift made by a friend

Jean shoulder bag- Ashley of Bramblewood fashion( won in a give away!) thank you Ashley! I love it! Its my summer go to bag! :) see her blog here-http://bramblewoodfashion.blogspot.com/

White lace head band- Garlands of Grace Etsy shop ( purchased with my birthday money in April) visit their store here-http://www.etsy.com/shop/GarlandsOfGrace?ref=ss_profile

total for outfit- $4.75!!!

Oh and on another note, you all may be wondering, hey that dress seems a little short Rebecca! Well I don't believe its too short, it covers all the areas I believe need covering. Anyones thoughts on this? Are the knees in some way not modest to show?! My dad does not think so, but hey some people may believe it can distract guys. Been wondering what guys and gals might think on the subject of well knees. :)

Have a lovely rest of your wednesday! I decided to dress up a bit more since my dad is going on a date with my sister and I. :) Can't wait!

In Christ,
Rebecca

Thrifting and my Memorial day outfit

just had to do a photo of this great little pouch my parents gave me for my birthday in April! Not sure how old it is, but that fabric is great isn't it?!

 Hey everyone! I hope your Memorial day was not only fun but also filled with joy in the Lord. Praise God that mine was! He gave me joy today as I have starting really having to ask for that daily these days. :) But praise God He gives us joy when we ask for it! I was a grump a lot this past week because I was not spending as much time in prayer and with the Lord as I should have. I just needed to get back into being with my Savior because its not a duty and its because I need and want to be with Him in prayer and meditating on His Word.

Praise God as well for all our veterans who have served in our armed forces over the many years the United States has been a country under God! Praise God as well for the troops who are still over seas and have just come home. My dad is a veteran so all the troops really mean a lot to me! I don't believe I would appreciate the military as much as I do if it were not for my dads example of making sacrifices to defend our country as well as my grandfather's example as well. Praise God for all these brave men!

But anyway back to the outfit and thrifting post. :) I was blessed to have this blouse come into my wardrobe Tuesday when my mother found it at our local charity thrift shop here in our home town. Its H&M and it seemed as though it had never been worn! $4.00 and I was sold. :) I have two white blouses in my wardrobe already, but they seem to be a new staple to my wardrobe for summer, so another was a big help to me.

 

I also wore my favorite brown thrifted belt I found a while ago last February I believe. Its been a wardrobe staple for me as well, it defines a waist well with shirts and blouses as well as dresses. I believe belts are great! They are my favorite wardrobe accessory really. :) Can you tell by my outfits I post?! The red skirt is one that was made about 5 years ago. It was the first skirt I believe I ever made! I remember getting the fabric and being excited to try out doing my first skirt with my sisters help. She ended up doing the hard past, the zipper, of course! But I still learned a lot and now I am glad to say I can put in zippers with confidence. :)

Now for the reveal of my favorite, most amazing thrift find to date I believe!!! On friday my mother and I went to the charity thrift shop again, yes we went twice this week because we had some donations on friday, so we just had to see if I could find a pair of black 1940's ish sandals! I had found so many expensive ones online on etsy and did not want to pay all that money! So when I dug through the rows of shoes and found these in my size I was floored!!!

The Lord truly helped me find them as He usually does and I am proud to say I paid only $3.00 for these beauties that I believe will get so much wear for many years! I paid with my change from my coin purse! What a blessing and what a surprise these were to find.  They are real leather and the heel is not too high for daily wear in my opinion. Lord willing photos of them with my swing dress to come.

Have a lovely rest of your week!
In Christ,
Rebecca

Sewing A Swing dress

vintage singer sewing machine is up and going finally! We had it serviced and now my sister and I are loving it for heavy duty sewing, such as slat bonnets we are putting up for sale on our website soon. Sewing through cardboard would not go well on my Janome modern machine. :)

 Hello everyone! I have been sewing up a storm today and since Monday. I decided to sew myself up a 1940's swing dress. I watched this movie here-http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036160/ and this movie-http://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Thousand-Women-Phyllis-Calvert/dp/B000MOUA3G and that was dangerous! Now I just really badly want a swing dress. :) Both very fun movies by the way! I would recommend them to older viewers though, both have romance scenes in them that are a little intimate. And of course in the era drinking and smoking were both very prevalent, of course its that way today too. Basically if you are under 18 ask your parents permission before watching. :) They were pretty enjoyable though and gave me a lot more insight into what it was like during world war 2 in Britain that is. Wonderful dresses in both movies! great inspiration!

My yellow roses have been doing so so well! I will post a tutorial for doing rose water later. It smells wonderful!

I have the bodice finished now, except for the waist band. In these photos I was in the middle of hemming the sleeves with some lace an older woman just gifted us with! I was so excited as its so much easier to hem with flat lace and its so much prettier. :)

I studied for psychology while hand sewing the inside seams with french seams and hemming the sleeves with lace as well as pinning the sleeves into the bodice and then sewing them up. I am trying to finish the dress so I can wear it on Sunday morning for church, but we will see if that works out because I am not the most timely seamstress. So many other things to do besides sewing. :) Also it may just be hideous and I might not want you all to see the finished result. :) But I believe that will not happen Lord willing! :)

I have not sewn a dress in about a year because every time I tried to sew a modern dress by myself or any dress by myself it turned out unwearable. Civil war gowns I have usually had help to sew them. But I have never sewn a 40's dress before. But it seems to be going well so far. I love love love my fabric! I bought it off the red tag table at our Joann's in April and its a polyester/rayon blend I believe. Its gotten humid these past few days in the high 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so I hope to get it done for Sunday before we get 100 degree Fahrenheit weather!

The lovely lace above! I just loved using it for hemming! It was so much easier. I also received these vintage scissors from the nice older lady who gave us some sewing supplies. They are nice and sharp and great for seam ripping. I hate seam rippers because they are never sharp! So small scissors are much better for me. 

The pattern I am using is from Sense and Sensibility patterns and you can find their website in the side bar under my favorite web sites list. The bodice above as well, its hard to see with the busy print the details, but I love that because you can't see my mistakes as well. :)

The fabric up close and personal above. I thought it was funny because some of the flowers seem to resemble spider webs, but you did not notice that right?? I will just look as if its a bit of lace in between the roses. :)
I hope your day has gone well! Its been lovely here. I will be sharing some outfit posts soon and progress on the swing dress as well as a tutorial on how to make rose water Lord willing soon. I tried it Tuesday and its wonderful! Also some thrift store finds as well will be shared soon. :) Do head over to Casey's Elegant Musings to see her finished swing dress in the mean time. Its so cute! :) http://elegantmusings.com/tag/swing-dress-sew-along/

In Christ,
Rebecca

My Hair Care routine update and self sufficiency

Hello everyone!

I have been asked by a few friends in person and on the blog sphere what my hair care routine actually is. So I am going to try and answer that question in this post. There are so many different things on the internet, it did seem overwhelming and a little scary back in August 2010 when I took the plunge and decided to wash my hair with an egg and some baking soda and water. :) I first heard about the method from the Feelin Feminine website. You can find it here-http://feelinfeminine.com/ Jocelyn had also posted a lot of tutorials on her blog A Pondering Heart, that interested me and thats how I took the plunge and washed my hair with a fresh egg from some of our friends hens. :) I also rinsed with apple cider vinegar back then, but now I don't do that anymore and love the results much better.
Little did I realize that I would be changing the way I thought about taking care of my curls. :)

Now here is a recent photo from about a month ago of what hair looks like currently. I believe its much healthier to the touch, not so dry and brittle and much bouncier curls. :)

photo credit-http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/shopping-storing/food/storing-hard-cooked-eggs-10000000695687/index.html

I told you all that the first thing I tried was washing my hair with an egg. Now I do not wash my hair with an egg every day. My new routine that has been working for me is doing it once a week, but washing my hair with water and the egg yoke only. I use the egg white whisked for moose. Like I said I do not do this daily, just once a week. I highly recommend using fresh brown eggs from a farmer you may buy from or friends who have laying hens. But if you can't get that get brown organic, cage free eggs from your grocery store. The white eggs you do not know where they have been and they don't have as much protein and stuff that is good for you in them. Since most white eggs were processed in a plant and were from chickens who were ill treated and not fed good stuff they won't be so great for you. But anyway brown eggs are the best in my opinion! :)

photo credit-http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/

The next thing I use it baking soda, now many of you may be saying it has no smell really and you use that for baking, not washing?! Well baking soda actually is a very good for washing just about anything, hair included. My mom uses it to scrub our sinks and I scrub that sinks in the bathrooms and the bath tub with the stuff. It also works great on tile. I am not sure what is exactly in the stuff that makes it such a great thing to clean with, but it works well for hair as well. I only scrub my scalp with it. I don't dump it all over my hair. I talked about in this post putting a little in the bottom of a condiment/sqeeze bottle and adding water up to the top. I still do this, but I have cut back on how much baking soda I use. My hair is very dry usually and baking soda can dry out your hair. 


I have heard in the no shampoo world that gals like me with hair that tends to be dry use very little( I don't measure it when I put it in the bottle), but I probably use about a teaspoon and a half I am guessing. But definitely experiment yourself to see what is best for you. I have heard gals with hair that tends to get greasy should use more than what I would use, because it will keep there hair not so greasy. 

You may be wondering what do you do for conditioning your hair?! You said you don't use vinegar anymore. Well I stopped using the apple cider vinegar because my dad and sister and mother all said my hair smelled funny, not bad, just a little weird. :) That was before I had added essential oils to my routine. Maybe when you all experiment you could add some essential oils to your routine to cover up the vinegar. But instead of vinegar I have been using an organic conditioner we have that needs to be used up. But now that thats gone I am using egg whites again. But I don't put that in till after I have gotten out of the shower. I don't condition in the shower anymore. This works well for me. You just take one egg white from one egg and whisk it till its frothy and then put it through your hair just as you would a store bought moose or gel.  It works great for me!

I also have started using essential oils. I love to use orange or lavender. I add a few drops to my baking soda shampoo and I put some in my hair between washings when I don't need to wash it but I want some scent. I love the natural scent and I am never using store bought bath and body works sprays again either. I love essential oils instead. I have seen bottles of it at wegmans, which was the best buy for us when we first wanted some essential oils to try and at whole foods. Wholes food is really expensive, so I would recommend that as a last resort. We have now been getting them in bulk from a whole sale company. So that has been great! But definately research how you could make or buy them cheaper than at the regular grocery. I have been making rose oil this past week with yellow roses from my yellow rose bush in our yard. I plant to make some rose water as well. So you could do that as well instead of essential oils. I so very much want to be self sufficient and not need to go to a grocery all the time. We hardly go anymore, since we started growing some veges, going to the farmers markets, getting eggs from a local farmer, milk and meats and cheese as well from a local farmer. So we hardly go anymore! So start small and try and make your own maybe. I was inspired very much this month by the Devrae family.Here is a video about them below-

They are totally self sufficient, well dependent on the land the Lord has given them. I would love for my family and I to be able to be somewhat sufficient as that someday. We are hoping to get laying hens soon, but in our city it may not be aloud. Still seeing if we can though.:) 


well sorry for the rant off of hair care, but definately when you change your life style from buying off a shelf all the time to buying from farmers, etc. or growing it yourself you tend to appreciate and be more thankful for what the Lord has provided. I have found this to be true! No way am I sufficient on only the land the Lord has given my family, but we are trying to be more frugal with our purchases and buying fresh and natural foods and products instead of the massed produced stuff. This has really been on my mind lately after going to the food and farmers rights rally. 


Have a lovely rest of your monday!


In Christ,
Rebecca


I thought I better add a list of places where I found recipes and other encouragement and ideas about going without store bought shampoos and conditioners. 
http://ylcf.org/gotcurl/ - great place for curly girls!
http://aponderingheart.com/blog/?p=4749
http://aponderingheart.com/blog/?p=2201
http://feelinfeminine.com/?page_id=2 - I was featured with my no shampoo story in their e-book on feelin feminine, may be worth your money if you are new to it and want all the resources in one spot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0hizHWghc&feature=related - this gal did a great video telling about what she uses to wash her hair! I got inspired by her in the first place when I found her on the feelin feminine site!

I hope all these links help you all out! :)

Draped Cardigan and how to wear it

Hey everyone!
Yesterday I was browsing some thrifting videos on youtube and came across this great video for sewing up those drapey cardigans that were all the rage this past winter. I really wanted one and never bought one because they were expensive and I did not have the money to spend. I just so happened to have some stretchy jersey laying around that was going to be a skirt, but I wanted this cardigan more. :) This gal gave me the inspiration to sew one up! The music is loud, so you might have to turn your volume down. Just a friendly warning! :)

So I did exactly what this gal did in her tutorial for the sleeveless one, and then I added my own sleeves. I just measured around my arms and used that measurement to draft the sleeves. It was so so easy! Now I have a great go to cardigan for wearing with most anything. I have tried it with a dress and 3 different s kirts shown below and love it! I don't think its frumpy at all with skirts or dresses. Just pairing it with the right thing makes all the difference. If you have some knit fabric you don't know what to do with as I did not have any clue what to do with, try this tutorial! Maybe even add some fun rosettes to the neckline or go with a bold color. Its fun to wear! :)

First outfit consists of the sweater, thrifted belt, thrifted flats, thrifted floral skirt( I believe its handmade!) , garland of grace headband, and beaded necklace from forever 21

Second outfit consists of the drapey cardigan, same accesories and top, but different denim skirt from New Creation Apparel and it has a embroided floral on the bottom

 And last, but not least, I call today's outfit winter meets spring. It might be hard to tell, but the polyester skirt has vine looking flowers on it. It was a gift from my friend Laura and she found it at one of my favorite thrift stores! :) She is so sweet! she knows what I like. I miss you Laura!

The headband from garlands of grace is amazing!! It goes with so many of my things I already have in my closet and it was a smart purchase I believe with some of my birthday money. :) The rest is being saved though. :) You can see their etsy shop here-http://www.etsy.com/shop/GarlandsOfGrace?ref=pr_shop_more

I was inspired by them and also made one headband so far myself. I plan to sew up some more sometime soon! Will be sharing the latest quilt I am almost done with soon!

In Christ,
Rebecca

Life update for April

 Hello everyone! I realize I have not been posting frequently at all! Life has been so full and God is so good to me and my family! My grandparents were able to come to visit us for my 20th birthday on the 6th of april! I was so excited! We got to see D.C. and stay in the Baltimore National Harbor on the water for my birthday. Below my sister and I on a lunch cruise we did on the Potomac in D.C.Above my grandmother and I strolling in Baltimore National Harbor.

My parents on the cruise as well. It was a lot of fun! We got to see everything in D.C. from the boat. :)

 My grandparents and my sister and I together. We were excited to get good old glory in the photos too!

 My birthday, they even put 20 candles on the cake. :) I was suprised we did not set off the fire alarm in the hotel! lol

Above sunset in Baltimore harbor. It was such great weather the whole time we were there! No rain at all. lovely! Below tulips I photographed in D.C. when we got to see the American history museum and DAR museum( daughters of the american revolution).

One of my favorite b-day gifts from my parents. A thrifted beaded purse! It carries as many as 6 big books and its great for over night trips as well. I believe they paid only $15.00 for this designer bag! I was excited. You can get great gifts at thrift stores and yard sales and you would never know unless the giver told you. :)

A friend of mine suprised me and met up with us at the american history museum. I was in the old glory exhibit and she suprised me! I had no idea she was going to get to come up for my birthday. We got to see the cherry blossoms and enjoy chatting and seeing D.C. together. My sister really does have a goo nack for suprising me. I am so easy to suprise! I am always clueless. :)

We got to go and see the national aquarium another day while my grandparents were here as well. I had never been before and it was great! I got these two decent photos of the critters. :)

I was really excited to get the above photo of the sea turtle I believe thats what he is. :)
My grandmother also suprised me with this lovely 1940's purse that was her mothers for my birthday! I was just so excited and could not believe she would give me her mothers purse. But she knows I love vintage things and will take care of it. Lord willing I can use it for a formal occasion someday. Its in mint condition! Its so special to have something that was my great grandmother and then my grandmothers and now its mine. I will be cherishing this family heir loom.

I am so blessed to have grandparents and parents that love the Lord our God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength! It was encouraging to hear them tell about their being called to Christ and how they have served Him through the years. I learned a lot about our family heritage as well while they were here. It was great having them even if it was only a short week.

I have been studying as well for a clep exam I will be doing on thursday the 21st. Please pray for me if you can that I would pass this exam with flying colors only because the Lord got me through it! 
Hope you all enjoyed seeing what I have been up to these past 2 weeks. More photos of another adventure coming soon! :) And I refashioned that dress I told you all about in my thrifting video. Photos coming soon.
In Christ,
Rebecca

I had to share......

these verses! they are so so encouraging to me right now! The Lord really put it on my heart last week that I was not serving others well! I read the verses in James 1 that says. "22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

My grandparents came last Tuesday from Texas to visit us for my birthday and just because we had not seen them since last December/November for my dads birthday. It was so encouraging to have them here! Therefore I did not get any blog posts in. :) I was too busy serving them and the rest of my family and having a good break with them. I took off from my studies and other projects until today. :) They left last night and I cried my eyes out, not because I won't see them again possibly, but with tears of joy because they really taught me a lot while they were here. I learned a lot while they were here to be selfless as our Savior was selfless dieing on the cross for us! 

I learned to do things even when I did not feel like it with joy so that others in my family would be filled with joy. That is my prayer for this new year of my life that I would serve others with joy! That I would do more things and be blessed by doing things for others. I have gone through a lot of depression in my life, no I don't take meds, I am not ill. :) I just go through times when I feel so discouraged that I can't do anything without grumbling or complaining. But I believe the Lord had convicted me of this sin and now I can be joyful even in times of uncertainty that this new year brings. 

I read the verses below in 2 Corinthians and I was once again convicted! Am I being a good ambassador for my Savior?! Which means am I being joyful and loving towards others because I am so joyful because I am alive and a new creation in Christ!?? I should be! But sadly I am not joyful all the time. Ladies I cannot say that this joy comes easily, you have to give up everything that you own, were, and are! You have to reconcile yourself to Christ! Give up your sins, possessions, gifts, talents, and give them all to Him! I confess that right now when I was a teen I thought I would be out of the house, have a job in in Nashville,Tennessee recording christian music with my band for the Lord! It was a selfish endeavor I dreamed about as a teen, I wanted to be in the spotlight and just add in the Lord to my music to make it seem alright. I love many christian artists, but I believe I was wanting to become one for selfish reasons. Now I am writing music almost every day! I have about 15 songs almost complete and I am in a much better place. I am where the Lord wants me! Serving my church, family, and friends and not spending all my time for myself. So ladies give it all up! The Lord may suprise you and give you your desire of your heart back! He has done this with me! I stopped writing music when I was 17 and now I am 20 and writing again! But this time with the Word of the Lord as my focus! Its so comforting and worth while and I know its only of the Lord. Praise God He turned my music writing into a way for others to hear His Word preached and not my thoughts preached. :)

Our Heavenly Dwelling

1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Have a lovely wednesday! I hope this was encouraging! More photos from my birthday week coming soon. 

Please do go over to the Thrifty 15 challenge over at http://lavieisbeautiful.blogspot.com/2011/04/winner.html
to see my winning photos. I was so suprised to be featured! Exciting! See more about my totally thrifted and homemade outfit over at La vieis beautiful blog.  

In Christ,
Rebecca 

Thrifting introduction/Haul

Hey everyone!

I had been reading Casey's Elegant Musings( http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com/)and loved her idea to do an introduction video to her experiences with thrifting clothing and other items. I wanted to do a video with a similar idea, except I wanted to show items I have found and tell you about why I thrift and how fun it can be and how inexpensive it is compared to shopping at the mall per say.
Oh and in case you all are wondering yes I am wearing bloomers, and no I don't believe its strange. :) I hope you all enjoy the video and please tell me if you all like this idea for thrifting videos. I can do more videos about items I get, or more detail about how to thrift. Just comment or email me at ra.stricker@gmail.com

I love thrifting because you can get clothing that is feminine and from the past when feminity was very much apart of women's clothing lines. I believe now its more about who can impress others, I believe the older styles of dresses/ skirts show strength in that women were glad they were women and rejoiced in that! Now most people want to be just clones of men. So I love finding vintage dresses or modern dresses that are a classic style! So much fun to wear and find. And so much cheaper than at modern stores. :)

Enjoy the video!

In Christ,
Rebecca

Tour of my room

 

I had posted some pictures a long time ago of my room when I thought it was approved. But now its much better. Its my haven when I am not in the kitchen, sewing/craft room, or living room with my family. I do most of my time in my closet with the Lord, creative thinking, and studying time in this room. So I thought it needed a much needed face lift a few months ago in january. I have been periodically adding my vintage and other antique and handmade things to have it be more homey and a place I want to be. :) Above I am so happy with my new book tower. I have seen many people do this, so I thought it would be a great way to display what I love to read and have a visual effect.

The whole room, I love the freshness of the green walls with the white down comforter, as well as the dark wood. The dresser I found on the side of the road for free! The desk is my mothers and she is letting me use it. My hope chest is on the wall at the end of the bed and is cherry wood as well. I love dark wood! Can you tell?!

My theme for my room is fresh vintage/ antique homey elegance. I wanted the room to reflect my love for all things old fashioned and vintage. Thus I have a lot of vintage floral fabrics, dried roses from my parents from graduation and my 18th birthday and doilies and hankies displayed.

I figured out the idea for the doilies and hankies tacked on my walls from just an idea in my head. Yes I am actually creative without another blogger coming up with it first! hehe Maybe someone has, but I have never seen it before. :)But the idea of the vintage lace as a earring holder was from blogger Olivia over at http://workingwitheagerhands.blogspot.com/
Her blog is lovely, so do have a glance as it. :)

Yes I am sharing my closet because its improved to me. But its not exactly picture perfect. But I do have it pretty organized. All my reenacting dresses which is 3 different eras are in the plastic bins and thats my carpet bag sitting there, it needs to find a home on the top shelf. :) My dresses that I wear for modern wear are all on the right side of the closet and then going from left to right skirts, sweaters/cardigans, and tops long and short sleeve. I am also blessed to have a hanging space on the far left for scarves and purses my dad put in a while ago. Now you can see it. :) I also put all my shoes on top of the bins with more purses. And the shelf below the clothing is more clothing that I fold as my dresser I do not store clothing in it! I store a lot of stuff for my hope chest that would not fit and exercise clothing and pj's. Not clothing that needs to be ready to access quickly each day.

I also made two new pillows for my bed. They are made from thrifted pillow forms that were 4 dollars a peice, but one of them is down. So that is a plus! :) The pink one with the pretty florettes on it was made from a skirt my sister was not using any more. I love it! The blue and brown floral one was from some sale fabric at joann's I had in my stash. So it was all pretty frugal fabric wise, free! The little embroidered, well its not embroidery I realize, but don't remember the name of that type of needle work was also thrifted for 4 dollars. Yes on the more expensive side, but I could not pass it up! It matches my room so well with the vintage needle work. :)

I was able to get all the doilies for free from a friend who owns a thrift store called Thrifty sisters! Its adorable and she is always so nice and she gave me these doilies on my walls for free! She thought since I love vintage/antique stuff I could use them for reenacting, but they were too pretty for camp life. :) So I am displaying an older ladies handy work on my walls. :) I believe she would be happy about that. All that work! :)

The vintage hankies I can not remember how much I paid, but they were probably 1 dollar to 50 cents each. I do have some I use on a regular basis, but I have so many of them I thought they would go well with the doilies on the walls. I also have some vintage scarves and more doilies above my window. I could not get a clear picture of them though. Maybe another time. Its adorable in person! Those scarves were also probably a dollar and the doilies were free. I love thrifted and free stuff! Have you been decorating your spaces latley with anything vintage or antique!? Its so much fun isn't it?! 

Have a lovely Sunday eve and I pray you Sunday was not only refreshing, but convicting as much as mine was! 
In Christ
Rebecca

New glasses and thrifting

Hey everyone!

I have been doing my blog break for a while now and I have gotten so much done! Praise the Lord! I decided that I would do an update even though I will not have time to do another post before the month is out. I have a lot of studying, sewing, and song writing to accomplish.

But here is my outfit I am wearing today. Its 100% thrifted except for my shoes and stocking, jewelry, and glasses. Yes I finally have gotten glasses, for almost 20 years I did not need them, but now I needed them to be able to drive at night and see things a long distance away. I am still not used to them and its strange wearing them. But yes my sister says I look scholarly. :) They are brown frames and I tried to get a pair that brought more attention to my face than the glasses. Hopefully I accomplished that. :) Seems most people wear the square black frames these days, but they seem to bring more attention to your glasses than your face. So I did not go for that look. :)

The black dress was only $4.10 at my local thrift store, they were having a half off day on clothing. I was so excited! My friend Ginny over at A ladies resource blog says that it resembles the 1940's style of dresses. I agree with her! The fitted look of the dress and gathers on the shoulders I believe does resemble the 40's, but this is a merino brand target dress. I love the vintage inspired look.
Yes I am wearing those turquoise stockings again. Love them to compliment my necklace that was given to me and made by a dear friend.

 I also was able to thrift this pair of sandals 2 weeks ago for only $.50!! Yes you heard right, only 50 cents! I wanted to share them because I am trying to figure out if I should paint them or not. I have always wanted black peep toe wedge sandals. These are tan, but I am not sure how to go about painting them, I am thinking not spray paint after reading that was bad for leather. I found a few blogs where they said a certain brand of paint was for leather shoes. I am not even sure if these are fake or real leather. If anyone has any ideas please do tell! ;)

Have a lovely rest of your day dear friends! I will post more about my music writing probably in April when I get a chance and more vintage dresses and other thrifted items I have bought recently for spring.
In Christ,
Rebecca