The Perfect Diva Tribute for Christmas

Hiya Blogland!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and weekend!!! Anyone go shopping on Black Friday??? I'm crazy but not THAT crazy. I'm not interested in going to the mall on a good day, much less brave all the crowds!!

I had to stop in Michael's today to pick up a couple of crafty supplies (costuming some kid angels, Herod, Wisemen and assorted village folk). I strolled through the Christmas aisle to see what was interesting. Everything was 50% off and y'all KNOW I NEED more Christmas stuff.

Well I spotted an ornament that had to come home with me. It kind of brought a bit of a tear to my eyes. What could be a more perfect tribute to our beloved Diva this Christmas but a blinged out,
dress-wearing chihuahua ornament. She's even sporting a little glittery hat for Hat Attack this week. It's even captures her expression!!

Always the International Style Icon in black lace, leopard and glitter!!

I want to start sharing some of the Christmas Decor that I've gotten up!! This is the antique pie safe (my great-grandmom's) inside the front door. I thifted the Santa's and the garland.

This is handmade. I paid $1 at a yard sale!!

This was made by Eskimo's at the North Pole. $2 at the Goodwill!!

Here is our front door on the inside. I made the Santa from just stuff I had in my stash.

Close-up of face. The tree is vintage.

We have a niche that our TV sits in . I put the shelf up over it this summer. The garland was thrifted for $1 at the Salvation Army. It's meant to go on a mantle. The little churches were made by a friend as a trade for Santa's I made. This lady taught herself to sculpt with paper mache when she was in her sixties. She made the green trees on the right. The ones on the left were thrifted. The white trees are DIY. The deer on the TV is a DIY remake I did of a thrifted gold metallic paper mache deer.

 I had planned on taking photo's of Lauren's cousin's ultra=modern house but I totally spaced it. It was nice but  rather cold and empty. Definitely I'm not a minimalist type person. I dressed to be warm as the house was rather chilly. I'm wearing all thrifted--GloriaVanderbilt  plaid trousers, DressBarn black cardigan, Unlabeled wool turtleneck, Aerosole maryjanes and vintage dragonfly pin.

I was dressed in sweats on Friday as I was decorating so y'all can just use your imagination. Saturday I took my adopted grandson to a Junk Drawer Robotics class for his 9thbirthday at the library. Judah made a really cool marshmallow catapult. We then ate at Burger King (his choice) I enjoyed spending time with him. I'm wearing a thrifted Venezia sweater, my DIY Stirrup Jeans, DIY scarf and old boots. You can see some of our porch decor in this picture!

Today was a BUSY day. I had to measure some little angels for costumes and organize and start passing out costumes for the church Christmas program. I won a $50 gift card to DressBarn over the summer and finally got around to using it last month. I decided on something festive for the holidays. What can be more FESTIVE than emerald green snake print?? I despaired finding anything I liked until a spotted this sweater. I paired it with my swirly black maxi, thrifted Nine West booties and a vintage rhinestone brooch ruching up the hem of the sweater.

Today is Style Crone's HAT ATTACK #5. I'm wearing this cute boiled wool flapper hat I got at Ross. I have a big head so I have a hard time finding anything. This hat is lightweight but warm. I'm wearing it with my thrifted Lord&Taylor red car coat and a vintage deer pin. The blur is Miss Gracie. We couldn't get her to stay still!! She kept kissing me and wiggling.

I'm linking up with the lacy Patti for Visible Monday #118!! Come by and see the best style and fashion on the internet!!

Everyone have a fabulous beginning of the week!! I'll be decorating like a crazy woman!! Be back later this week!!

TTFN
Tamera

Back in the classroom.

Hiya Blogland!!! How is everyone doing?? I'm spending the week at work in a class on Installation Public Works. My head is SWIMMING with all of this information!! This shall be bit of a quick post as I have homework yet to do. I've been trying to keep up with every one's blogs this week even if I'm not commenting (I'm checking y'all out on my phone during breaks in class-lol)

The classroom is COLD so I dressed for warmth on Monday. The cardigan is the new one I thrifted last week for $3. I exchanged it for another teal cardigan I had as this is more interesting with the ruffles. The skirt is my thrifted grey knit maxi and the top is StJohn'sBay and thrifted.  I'm wearing a pair of black boots I've worn many times before.

Here's is a closer look of my brooches. I thrifted these at the mission for fifty cents. A couple small blue rhinestones were missing on the mama turtle. I just used a bit of blue glitter glue to match to fill the spots in.

Tuesday I wore a new to me pair of LaneBryant trousers I thrifted last week for $2. The blouse is Foxcroft/thrifted and the cardigan is LaneBryant/thrifted. I'm wearing my thrifted Clarks maryjanes I dyed black. The necklace was gotten for $1.99 on the clearance rack at Burlington Coat Factory. It was broken and took all of 2 minutes to fix.

Wednesday is SpyGirl's 52 Pick-Me-Up Challenge. This week was Feline Frenzy-we had to wear an animal print. I thrifted this silver leopard Cathy Daniels sweater a couple weeks ago. I paired it with a thrifted SagHarbor tweedy skirt. I decided to add a jolt of color with orchid tights,earrings and bangle. The shoes are Michael Shannon/thrifted. The blur of Gracie is sporting a purple and grey plaid sweater

I will be glad when this week is over. I'm not used to sitting for such long periods of time. Hopefully I'll get caught up with the rest of the world this weekend!!!

Off to do my homework!!

TTFN
Tamera

Pink and Blue Violet-just because I can!

Hiya Blogland!! Has everyone had a fabulous weekend??? I will be so glad when this miserable heat leaves and it's properly Fall again!! I had to pull summer clothes out to wear the last few days!!

Yesterday we went to a picnic at a friends FABULOUS house. Their gardens have been featured in Better homes & Gardens. I'll be doing a post on it later this week! I wore my tribal maxi dress from Walmart. It's getting a bit big now!!

I hope you can see the new hair color. I added "Not so shy Violet" streaks--which came out more blue. I also added a pink streak. Next time I may mix the two for a more purple color.

Today I took Gracie to meet my mom and my sister. It was a long road-trip but she was a doll!! Everyone fell in love with her!! She sat on my mom's lap and gave her kisses.

I thrifted this skirt from Fashion Bug for $2 last week. The top is thrifted and the beads and bangles are vintage.

 

I'm linking up with Patti for Visible Monday!!  I'll be back later this week--no idea what kind of outfits as I'm furloughed right now!!

TTFN
Tamera

Pumpkin Overload

Hiya Blogland!! I've been on pumpkin overload this week!!  I've made pumpkin black bean soup earlier this week and tonite I made 4 dozen pumpkin spice cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese icing for this weekend. Pumpkin-o-rama!!!!

Yesterday I pulled a dress out to wear. I had to take it in a bit in the back.

The dress is Avenue--I got it a couple of years ago with Amazon credits. The bangles are vintage and the shoes Clark's Artisan that I dyed.

 

Today I dressed as comfortable as possible as I had to sit through several hours of mandatory training on Sexual Harassment. UGH

Everything is thrifted. The top is Cabin Creek, the skirt LaneBryant and the scarf is vintage. The pin was a gift from our circus Queen Desiree!!

 

I'm thinking of hemming this skirt to knee length. What do y'all think??

 

I'm letting the pink fade out in my hair as I want to try another color--purple or turquoise.

 

This is a short post today--I need to go ice those cupcakes!!

 

Everyone have a fantastic weekend!!

 

TTFN

Tamera

 

 

Petrified Seahorses...now with Rhinestones!!!

Gracie & my view on the Towpath today

Hiya Blogland!! The weather here is gloriously fall-like!! I'm loving it!! Work is... still insane but it will clam down later this week-FINALLY!!

My first outfit is my outfit for Sacramento's monthly Share-in-Style:Animals. I spotted the brooch and earrings in the 50 cent box at a yard sale this weekend and SQUEED with delight!!! Here's a close-up of these beauties:

What's not to love about petrified seahorse that have been painted shiny black, rhinestoned and made into the most freakin' incredible jewelry??  The earrings originally were screw-on- DIY'd them into pierced. The lady at the sale said her grandmom got them in Florida in the late 1940's/early 1950's.  I just adore them and couldn't wait to wear them!!

I'm wearing pretty much head to toe thrifted. Foxcroft blouse, SagHarbor skirt, Easy Spirit pumps, kick-ass Seahorse Jewelry!!! I got some funny looks and loads of compliments on the outfit and especially the seahorses!!

Today's outfit wasn't exactly what I planned--I had another skirt lined up that FELL OFF when I put it on. I just grabbed my Jessica London thrifted knit maxi and went with the flow. This skirt needs to be taken in soon, too. The top is Cabin Creek/thrifted, bangle is Vintage/thrifted, brooch is thrifted, the scarf is Vintage/thrifted and the shoes are Skechers/retail on deep discount.

This is my outfit for SpyGirls 52 Pick-Me-Up: International Relations-wear garments from two different countries. I'll be linking up when her post goes live tomorrow.  My top was made in Vietnam, my skirt was made in China, my bangle was made in West Germany, and my scarf is Spanish. I am totally international!!!

I received a wonderful parcel of joy from our pink-tressed aussie goddess Desiree' yesterday. It was a ray of sunshine in a bleak week!! Here are the fabulous goodies she gifted me:

This is going to be worn for Curtis's Thanksgiving in September this weekend!!

 Amazing purse, gorgeous glass bead earrings and two cool brooches!

 



Awesome Australian tea towel, little wooden bobble-head doll

and really cool postcard!

Off to make some pumpkin black bean soup to take to a couple of friends tomorrow. I hope to be back around on Thursday!! Thank you again for all of your wonderful and kind words and encouragement!!

TTFN
Tamera

The Thrifting Bonanza!!

Hiya Blogland!!! I know I've mentioned the last couple of months have been a famine at the thrifts.  I've been purging and altering like crazy but a significant portion of what I wore last Fall/Winter will not fit this year. So I've been on the hunt for "new" stuff.

 

I decided, to make things more cohesive, to limit my purchases to a "need" list and in a specific color scheme. I decided, since I've been drawn to it for months, on Black & White, Black, Grey with Jewletones such as Teal, Purple, Greens, & Hot Pink/Magenta. Having the silver hair (with pink) has moved me in a different color direction from the earth-tones I used to favor with the auburn hair. Have no fear--my closet still has loads of brightly colored cardigans and tshirts!! I did keep my taupe JJill skirt as it goes with the palette. Here's a peek of my closet:

 

I've found that his has made thrifting easier--I can focus on certain colors or items. Which for a magpie like me is a blessing!! I'm not distracted by that awesome rust print top!!

 

I really SCORED thrifting last weekend. My travels took me to 3 Goodwills I don't normally go to.

BONANZA!!! Everything cost between $2-$5 except the cowboy boot (YES) which were $10. I still have money left in my budget! I looked for items that could be easily altered smaller as needed.

 

Sag Harbor Mint Green Pullover Sweater

 

 

Avenue Teal Sweater Tunic

 

 

Liz Claiborne Black Ribbed Turtleneck

Jones New York Grey Tweedy Knit Vest

International Concepts Menswear Vest

Lane Bryant Windowpane Maxi--this as a bit of glittery sheen to it.

Amanda Smith Black Bias-Ruffle Skirt

Faded Glory Denim Shirt with tags still on it.

No label Light Grey Stripe Buttondown

Koret White Ruffle Front Blouse

Lands End Tartan Buttondown

Lane Bryant Silver Lurex Cardigan

White Stag Charcoal French Terry Cardigan

Lane Bryant Grape Colored Cardigan

Venezia Grey LongSleeve Tshirt

LLBean Magenta LongSleeve Tshirt

Chaps Black&White Stripe Tshirt

White Stag Grey Python Tshirt

Sonoma Grey & Metallic Graphic Tshirt

 

East 5th Mint Silky Tshirt

Escher-type print bird scarf

Tartan scarf

 



Grey Leopard & Zebra scarf

1988 Vintage Jeweltone scarf

Paisly Silk scarf

Nine West Leather barely worn COWBOY BOOTS!!

Guess Leather Lace-up Flat Boots

  

Here's what I wore on Wednesday. I'm linking this outfit up with ShinyT Tuesday-Something Borrowed Something Blue. This is my blue--the aqua top and bangle. Everything is thrifted except the shoes-my faithful Skecher ballet flats.

 

Thursday's outfit started out with me wearing the newly thrifted denim shirt with my thrifted JJill skirt and leopard accents. MrBill jumped too hard off the curb when we went out before I left work and hurt his knees so I had to carry him home and he muddied the shirt. I wound up changing into a simple black thrifted tshirt. He's fine--every once in a while he forgets he's old and fat!!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend-it's a holiday weekend here in the US!! Lot's to do--pressure wash the front porch, take my boys to McDonalds to celebrate back to school. Then their mom Andrea and I are going to put our heads together to plan a DIY Vintage Baseball theme makeover of their bedroom. Plus some sewing, thrifting, and walking Miss Gracie!! Chat with y'all later this weekend.

 

I'm linking up with Style Sud Est for Show Me Your Style #3 Blog hop!!

 

TTFN

Tamera