Darling Alteration: Bow Cropped Top!

I have been eying cropped tops for awhile now either through Pinterest or simply through online clothing sites. I am completely obsessed with their cuteness! With high waisted shorts in style for the summer I cannot help but to love the edginess cropped tops add to an outfit.

I took an old top I did not wear anymore because I did not like the way it fit, so I decided to cut it in half, hem the bottom and make it into a cropped top. Simple as that! The only semi-complicated thing was making the big bow to attach to the front.

I apologize the top is so wrinkled. Haha I threw it in a bag with a ton of other clothes I've been meaning to get around to altering.

1. Lay the top flat and even.

 2. Fold the top in half, or however cropped you want it to be, and then cut the top in half.

3. Hem the bottom of the top by folding in twice.

4. For the bow, which is optional, I used the bottom half of the top I cut to make it. I cut off the original bow because it was too thin and I wanted something that would make a statement. With the bow I made I had to iron the wrinkles out.

5. Align the bow however you would like on your cropped top and then sew it on. It doesn't have to be perfect because it's on the inside and nobody will ever see! :)

The finished cropped top!

I wore this lovely newly altered cropped top with my high waisted destroyed shorts I made from thrifted jeans. Here's my tutorial if you're wondering how I made them!

I rarely ever put my hair up, but the humidity is extremely horrible in the south and it destroys anything I try to attempt on my hair so I relied on a simple side bun. Definitely a look I will do all throughout summer because my hair needs a long rest from all of the heat. Haha.

Definitely my go-to outfit for this summer! For breezy nights wearing an oversized cardigan would be lovely as well. :) 

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How To: Extreme Closet Reorganization!

A messy closet stresses me out, to the max! Haha. It stresses me out so bad that I had to just stay away from cleaning out my closet for awhile because I had so many other things I had to deal with before I took on this beast of a challenge. I'm not going to lie, I am a clean freak-- the freak of all clean freaks. For serious. I get so extremely stressed and anxious when things are not clean or in order.

One of the main reasons I wanted to organize my closet is that I felt like I NEVER had anything to wear. I get so frustrated because I have an endless amount of clothes in my closet. Ladies, we all know this feeling all too well! Since I was so tired of the clutter and frustration I decided to finally do something about it. I finally had some free time to tackle this mess of a closet of mine! I have officially banned myself from clothing shopping until further notice. Ohhh the problems of a bargainoholic. Hahaha! You will soon see why.

I shall show you some before photos. Don't judge me, please. Haha.

As you can see, my side of the closet had absolutely no more space to hang clothes that I began throwing items on the floor, with bags full of clothes too. So not like me but I had no choice! Mind you that underneath my first hangbar I have a shelf which was FULL of folded clothes as well, you just can't see it very well. Then underneath my bottom hangbar that was the case as well. Ai yi yi, I knowww! I feel my adrenaline spiking just thinking about it already.

First, I decided to just throw all of the folded items and items on the floor onto my bed. This was the only way I knew how to start and that way I can pick through what I wear regularly to what I rarely ever wear. With the clothes that are hung up I left them where they were and just went through each item to decide. My poor baby CoCo was stressing with me too. Bahaha! As you can see hangers and clothes are everywhereeee!

I neatly folded and bagged up the clothes I rarely ever wear. I couldn't get myself to throw away anything really, I'm such a hoarder and with my ability to alter clothing I say to myself that I may get to altering them sometime. I don't know when that time will be, that's my problem! Haha. I only threw away three tops that were really old and ugly, but everything else I organized them into bags and labeled them so whenever the season changes-- or my style changes I can go back and take them out.

I threw away a ton of hangers too, the clear plastic ones that I would get for free from random shops. I had no need for them and I wondered why I even kept them in the first place (it just took up space), but anyway haha, I have plenty of white and wooden hangers I have purchased to hang my clothes that I regularly wear.

After about four long hours I finally finished! Phew! And the after photos:

As you can see I finally have some extra space to hang more clothes in my closet! Woot! You can finally see my shelf and floor that was lost in the before photos. Hahahaha.

These are the 6 simple essential steps on how I managed to organize my closet:

1. BREATHE. Breathe in, breathe out. I'm not even kidding, it helps. Haha.
2. Remove: If your closet is a mess like mine, take most of the folded clothes out of your closet.
3. Decide Regular Vs. Rarely: I sifted through every single clothing item.
4. Organize: Bag up and label your clothes you rarely wear.
5. Purge: Throw away unnecessary items that you don't need in your closet or donate them!
6. Reward: Treat yourself to a job well done! Seriously it's excruciating organizing a cluttered closet!

Now I can happily walk into my closet and see that I have an array of clothes to wear! I smile at myself every single time. Haha! I limited my closet to the clothes I only regularly wear and it has helped me tremendously. I get ready in half the time I did before because before it was too cluttered for me to find anything. Simple is really amazingly better!

I was very proud of myself and SO extremely relieved! I will definitely maintain my closet after all the hard work and time I spent organizing it. Hopefully one day I will finally get the courage to purge all of the clothes I never wear, but that's another case on it's own. Bahaha. For now I am content with my simple, organized and lovely closet! Yaaay. :)

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Lovely Tutorial: White Pleated Tea Party Dress

I have been in the mood to make dresses lately because in my opinion they are so much more fun, yet easy to make. This is a white pleated tea party dress I recently made.

There was a circle skirt tutorial that I stumbled upon while searching the web so I wanted to try for myself. Feel free to follow this link to get Kaysi's tutorial on how to make a circle skirt. I found it to be very helpful.

With a circle skirt I went ahead and attached a top to make a dress! It was that simple. So, let's get started.

The fabric I chose to work with a jersey knit that had cable knit patterns on it like a sweater. The fabric was very easy to work with and I did not even put a zipper on the dress because it stretched easily.


1. To make the circle skirt I traced a pattern on gift wrap paper so I can use to cut out my fabric. Use Kaysi's link I provided to get the correct measurements and to make the pattern.

2. Cut the fabric into the circle skirt. When you open it, it should look like the second photo.

 3. I added pleats because I wanted the dress to look flowy and light. I used pins to keep the pleats in place while I sewed.

4. Of course you can stop with just the skirt and then pair it with a top you already have. I went ahead and made a top to go with it. I went with a tank look, which I made free handed so I apologize for not having a tutorial on it, but I do have photos so I hope it helps. I wanted the back to plunge lower than the front to give it an edgy surprise.

5. Sew the top to the circle skirt bottom together and this is what you get!

I love the look of this dress because it's simple and elegant. I can easily dress it up or wear it plain. I wore a belt and then there's a few photos without the belt.

A perfect summer dress! I am already so in love with it. :)

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Some Sweet Moments & Inspirations...

I have so much going on right now that at least in the midst of it all I'm able to capture some of those moments through my iPhone. I've been trying to increase my posts on tutorials so I hope you all like them as I go-- I'm so sorry for not being able to post more often but bear with me because wonderful things are in store! :)

For right now I just want to take some time and share some of the sweet moments I've captured and what has inspired me.

My new accessories wall inspired by Pinterest of course! This DIY was super easy, only took about 5 minutes to put up after you find a beautiful frame while thrifting: hang it up and add some hooks to hang your necklaces! Voila!

 

My baby, CoCo. The sweetest little pup, ever! I love her big brown eyes.

Dead tired after a nice long walk on a gorgeous day.

The head tilt that let's her get away with anything and everything. Even murder. Haha.

Such a little trouble maker. Threw my shoes all over the place because I didn't take her on her walk before I went to workout, so this is what I came home to.

Next up are some pretty fashion inspirations I ran across. I'm in love with maxis, especially this ombre one because although I'm not a huge fan of ombre clothing somehow I find this pastel orange to white chiffon maxi to be beyond gorgeous. I'm tempted to make one! ;)

 

A simple white top with high waisted shorts are the go-to outfit for summer. Cute, simple, and so chic.

I've been awfully spoiled with some time to sun bathe in this beautiful summer weather. And believe me, I took full advantage of it since the Louisiana weather has been so bipolar lately. This girl needed some color to her pasty skin.

One of my most favorite dress which has a lovely vintage feel to it that I altered. You can find more about the dress here.

Some amazing quotes and a darling little happy goat. Haha. Sometimes you need to read some inspiring quotes to keep you motivated in life, to appreciate everything and to take nothing for granted.

And finally, my tutorial/design post which should be up in the next couple of days so keep a look out! Yaya! I love pleats. :)

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