Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año, y Felicidad

Whatcha Wearing?

Vintage dress from an estate sale / Tights from We Love Colors

American Airlines cardigan from Out of the Closet Thrift

AK Anne Klein boots from Beacon's Closet

This is what I wore on Christmas Day, and it's the only outfit I managed to photograph while in Cincinnati. I really had plans to take more, but when I'm sick, that's really the last thing I feel like doing! These were taken in my parents' backyard, down the hill by the woods. As you can see in the closeup photo of my boots, we had to trample through quite a few berries to get there. I'm still scraping those berries off my boots!

I can't believe 2012 is already coming to a close. So much happened this year! It's so strange to think that this time last year I was sitting in my apartment in Brooklyn with no idea I was about to move to LA in a few months. It just goes to show that if you keep an open mind and adventurous spirit, you never know where life will take you!

Instagram: Skyline Time

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Other than a few bumps along the way (cancelled flight out of LAX, me having bronchitis), we had an excellent trip to Cincinnati. It was great to be able to just hang out for a few days visiting friends and family. I didn't end up taking as many photos as I wanted to, but lets just blame that on my persistant hacking cough. You can follow me on Instagram @chrissiburn.

Sunrise at the snowy Indianapolis airport / A hometown favorite: Skyline Chili!
Matt tunes our new ukulele from my dad / Being silly on Christmas eve with our nephew
Post-Christmas pints of Guinness at Murphy's Pub / Snowy drive in Cincy
Vintage wallpaper my dad used as wrapping paper / Beatles mugs from my mom

Relisted in the Etsy Shop

Sheer Disco Bodysuit

Lightweight Polka Dot Sweatshirt

Floral Pullover Blouse

Mod Deadstock Top

Pastel Plaid Blouse

Sheer Striped Cardigan

These aren't brand new, but I reshot the photos and relisted all of these beauties last week. How awesome is that disco bodysuit at the top? It's pretty much the perfect thing to layer under dresses and jumpers! I also really love the jacket/cardigan at the bottom. The play between the stripes and flowers is so much fun!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Instagram: Tomorrow Never Knows

We're heading off to Cincinnati for the holidays tonight, so brace yourselves for photos of all the delicious Cincy food I miss so much in the coming week. If you've never been there before, you'll probably be pretty alarmed when you see the shredded cheddar cheese on top of the spaghetti! Have I piqued your interest? If so, you can follow me on Instagram @chrissiburn for all the glorious details!

Sleeves from the Prince/1999 album I bought at Goodwill / Teacup candle with macaron
We made gingerbread men! / I made my dad a blanket out of thrifted sweaters
Blue skies during an afternoon run / The end of the world looks like Alaska in autumn
Duchamp is alive and well in a bar bathroom / Matt loves his thrifted Star Trek ornament

How I'd Wear It: Sheer Floral Dress

Whatcha Wearing?

Vintage dress available here in my Etsy shop

Tights from Gap / Shoes from Payless

Bracelets from Olvera St Market / Ring from Day-Lab

This dress is so cute and breezy. A perfect transition piece that can get you through all seasons depending on how you style it. With its neutral color palette, it's perfect for combining with bright colors too! I decided to keep it a bit muted (at least by my standards) with these dark teal tights, but it would look just as cool with a bright red shoe or bold, colorful statement bracelets. How would you style it?

Don't forget, today's your last day to save 10% in my shop using coupon code HOLIDAYS10. Get your order in today so that I can ship it out before I head off to Cincinnati tomorrow night!

Altered State: Striped Muumuu

Here's the before and after for my latest vintage alteration project. I actually ended up doing a lot less than I expected on this one!

I originally planned to add elastic to the waist by using a strip of the cut off hem to fashion a casing inside. Once I started working on that, I realized it would be faster (and easier) to just make a tie belt out of the extra fabric. Presto! Same effect achieved!







I'm glad I was able to keep the pink shoulder buttons. I think they're the best little detail.






At first I styled this with my green sweater vest from this post buttoned up, but then promptly realized I looked like a German barmaid. The knee socks just put it over the edge styled that way! What do you think? Was this alteration a success?

I'm linking up with Thrifters Anonymous, #YOLO Mondays, and Real Girl Glam.

New in the Etsy Shop

Sheer Multicolored Polka Dot Dress

Mini Tent Dress

Cranberry Skirt

I've only listed a few new items in the shop, but they're all super cute! If you live somewhere warmer, that first dress would be fun for Christmas!

Don't forget that I'm running a 10% off coupon in my shop now through the end of the day this Thursday, 12/20! Use the code HOLIDAYS10 at checkout to apply the discount. Get your orders in by then and they'll ship out before I head off to Cincinnati for the holidays!

Holiday Sparkle

Whatcha Wearing?

Vintage dress from Beacon's Closet 

Tights from H&M / Shoes from Crossroads Trading Co

Headband from Day-Lab / Vintage pins from various places

Here's the outfit I wore to the holiday party I went to over the weekend! Super fun and sparkly, right? Well, here's the story of this dress and why it's covered in brooches. It started it's life as a much wider, much longer maxi dress. Even though it didn't fit, it was love at first sight when I found it at Beacon's Closet that day years ago. I knew it would be the most complicated alteration I'd ever done, but I was up to the challenge! I had plans to wear it to a 60s soul dance party in the near future, so I got to work. First I hemmed the skirt up (easy). Both the bodice and skirt were then carefully removed from the waist section. After that the bodice and waist were both taken in a bit. Finally I connected everything back together. It actually worked! I had taken this beautiful thing apart and made it fit without ruining it!

There was just one tiny problem. The collar was creased a bit funny and it was really bothering me. Looking back I want to scream to myself "It doesn't matter! It looks fine!". But alas, I don't have this ability. I heated up my iron and pressed it against the neckline only to pull away a big melted piece of metallic polyester. And that, my friends, is why you see a cluster of brooches on this dress. The deer is perfectly hiding the patched hole I made that night. Always check your iron temperature before pressing a polyester dress you just spent hours altering!

I'm linking up with Rolled Up Pretty and Transatlantic Blonde.

How I'd Wear It: 90s Houndstooth Jumper

Whatcha Wearing?

Vintage dress/jumper available here in my Etsy shop

Tights from We Love Colors / Soda boots from Shoe Carnival

Banana Republic blouse from Salvation Army

I'll call this look preppy punk. Preppy for the houndstooth and button down blouse, punk for the pink tights, combat boots, and suspender clips on the jumper. I'm not really sure why I felt the need to explain that. It's actually pretty obvious!

Anyway, I don't think I've worn my pink tights at all yet this fall. What a shame! More so than even the mustard tights, these elicit extreme reactions in people. The most common is "Well, you're not going to be hit by a bus wearing those", or something similar. Yes, they're bright. That's why I like them. They're especially effective when paired with simple black and white and allowed to shine!

I'm linking up with Real Girl Glam and The Pleated Poppy.

Recent Thrift Finds

Last Friday we went into the Goodwill up the street looking for a sweater for Matt, and walked out with this amazing red Christmas tree instead. The lights even work!

Kick-ass Christmas Tree: $9.99

My mom works at Hallmark and gives us ornaments every year, but we knew we needed some more to fill out the tree. Off to another Goodwill we went, and boy did we score big there. They had this big basket of ornaments and ribbons packaged together in plastic! Some were gross or broken and were tossed when we got home, but there were some real gems in there as well.

Basket of random ornaments: $4.99

What do you think of our paper chains? We just used printer paper and scotch tape. Super easy, but kind of time consuming.

We hot glued this spray painted leaf/pinecone/ribbon thing to this broken glittery cone thing and voila, instant awesome tree topper!

Okay, now on to some non-holiday items. These are things I've found over the past month or so.

Vintage snakeskin belts

Big comfy tank/tunic perfect for road trips/air travel

I bought this for my shop, but it has a big hole. Now it's an alteration project for myself.

Same with this here. Not sure what I'm going to do yet...

Last, but not least: Prince on vinyl

I'm linking up with Magpie Monday.

New in the Etsy shop

Silver Metallic Party Dress

Magenta Drop Waist Dress

Ivory Lace Maxi Dress (Already sold!)

Teal Print Maxi Dress

Green Christmas Caroling Dress

Beaded Cocktail Dress

There are a few great holiday party options in this week's list. How amazing is that silver metallic dress at the top? It's too small for me, so that's really the only reason it's here and not in my closet! I also personally love the black beaded Mad Men style cocktail dress at the bottom. That one does fit me, so it was a hard decision to let it go!

What are you guys wearing to your holiday parties this year? I went to one on Saturday, but didn't have a chance to take photos of my outfit before leaving. Maybe I'll put it back on sometime this week and take some pics to post here.

One more note: everything in my shop is currently 10% off if you use coupon code HOLIDAYS10 at checkout!

I'm linking up with #YOLO Mondays.