DIY Ballerina Shoes

Today I'm going to teach you guys how to make these ballet flats even more ballerina-y with a simple tutorial!

Incidentally, you can find this dress for sale in my shop.

So first of all, you need some flats. I got mine at Target. You'll also need elastic in the same color as your shoes. For this reason, I reccommend using black or white shoes, because those are the easiest colors of elastic to find! These would look super cute in pink, though.

1. Wrap the elastic around your foot in the shoe as shown, and cut it so it's the right length.

 2. Now you'll need to cut a loop to go on the heel of your shoe, so make sure the loop is the right size for your elastic to fit through it! Cut a smaller piece to the right length.

3. See? This is where you'll be putting it!

 4. Now take your short loop piece and put hot glue on one end. Glue the loop together.

 5. Glue the loop to the inside of your shoe!

 6. Take your longer piece and thread it through the heel loop.

 7. Criss cross the longer piece as shown, and glue each end to the inside of your shoe...

 8. ...like so!

 And there you have some cute ballerina shoes! These are super comfy to wear and don't slip and slide on your feet. I'd love to see the results if you guys give it a try!

Cold and Windy

 It feels like I've been doing nothing but taking outfit pictures lately! But that's not actually true. I've actually been taking etsy shop pictures and pictures for the swap blog.

 This was a coooollld day. Well it wasn't that bad, it was just very windy. We took a biology field trip. To a field. And I stopped back by the research area to photograph my pinafore by the wetlands! That's what they call the artificial lake and swamp next to the "wooded area".

And without a coat? Oh man.

 You know, though. Even though I'm whining about the cold, I really do prefer it to the heat.

everything here is thrifted but the tights and socks.

Times 3

I've finally accumulated enough outfit pictures to start showing you guys some remixes of my favorite pieces! First up is my strapless dress from Target!

Girly

TGIF, amiright? 

So the other day someone described me as "girly". I wasn't like, offended or anything, but it did get me thinking. I've definitely described myself as girly, or at least my clothes, art, and tastes. But I never really thought of my personality as girly. I think before I address that, we've got to define the term!

"Girly" is probably a pretty subjective term. I guess it refers to stereotypically female behavior, and I think anything that makes use of stereotypes is not the most proactive/feminist thing out there. But assuming we all have a similar definition of excessively feminine stuff (ie pink, unicorns, ruffles, and lace), how do we go about applying that to someone's personality? Someone who doesn't want to play kickball because she might break a nail? Someone who would rather talk about makeup than video games? Maybe someone who is sweet and delicate and pretty? I mean "girly" could really be taken in good or bad ways, but I think it's mostly used as a negative thing because its like an excuse you can use to opt out of intellectual conversation or manual labor.

So yeah, I dress super girly. I paint super girly things, and I like being a girl. But I'm not sure if I'd describe my personality as "girly"... and I think maybe there's just a problem with how we as a society have come to define the word, like it's a negative thing. I mean, here I am, shying away from being described that way.

Girly should refer to the real things that (generally speaking) separate women from mean. Like girly should mean thoughtful, intuitive, sexy, and interested in personal relationships.

Well it looks like I just got up on a soapbox or something here. I'm really trying to be more open on the blog about my life and feelings, and honestly I'm more willing to talk about controversal topics than my internal crap. I may stop if I start to annoy myself or if someone gets mad because I'm scared of confrontation haha.

But on the girly topic, this is a pretty girly outfit, huh! I was real excited about it, even if my feetsies hurt a bit by the end of the day. I for real love the skirt on this dress, it's definitely has a unique (and wonderfully twirly) place in my closet.

dress: Ruche

hat, shoes, belt: thrifted

black dress (you can see the sleeves): Everly

coat: Wet Seal

necklace: a gift from my lovely roomate!

 You guys have a good weekend!

Snow Day

 Okay I am not going to try and tell anyone that these pictures came out well. It was at 1 in the afternoon, during the harshest sunlight, and under a tree that left those little dapply lights all over the ground, so I really broke most of what I think are the right outfit-photography rules to follow. But do you see that white stuff on the ground? It snowed! And here I am standing in the last remaining patch of it.

 So I live in South Carolina. My home and school are both at the northern part of the state (one is just further west), and we normally get snow once or twice a year. But I missed it this year because I was with my boyfriend! Not that it wasn't worth it. I still got to see the leftovers!
I was driving back along the highway and I saw this white stuff on the side of the road. My first thought was that a mower had come along and shredded up a bunch of cotton plants. My second thought (forgive me) was that a washing machine had overflown and they were soap bubbles.
I figured it out.

 Now, don't let my apparent stupidity fool you! We southerners do know what snow looks like. Though we have relatively mild winters, it's hardly balmy outside, and most people think I'm crazy for not wearing pants this time of year. It just never really gets below 20 degrees.

 Anyway, I really wanted to photograph our one snow day, so here it is in all it's grainy glory! Hope you guys are having a nice week!

dress: thrifted (gift from my sister!)

shoes: modcloth (gift from Travis!)

shirt: american eagle

jacket and hat: thrifted

Lovey Dovey Extravaganza!

I don't really talk about my, um, love life here on the blog much. But I do have a boyfriend, and I thought that Valentine's Day was the perfect time to give him an official introduction! Without his permission, of course.

Now I know Valentine's Day is over. But Travis and I have been dating for two years now, and our anniversary actually is on February 16th, and his birthday is the 15th. So we have a super celebration during this time of year! We were introduced by a mutual friend who went to high school with him and college with me for a semester. He lives and goes to school in Columbia, and I live upstate and go to school in Charlotte, so we don't get to see each other every day. We usually make homework and stuff a priority so that we can see each other almost every weekend! I do wish we lived closer together, though, it would make my weekdays infinitely cheerier.

So here are ten facts about Travis!
1. He is really smart. He majors in history with a linguistics minor, and reads Wikipedia for fun. He also made a super high score on the SAT.
2. He's obsessed with Turkish culture. He loves foreign languages, but why he picked Turkey is a mystery to me! He took a class on it last year, and his teacher set him up with a language pal of sorts, a native Turk for him to practice with!
3. He's really good at video games. And believe me, he oughta be, he plays them so much! The first one I watched him play through was Portal, I think, but his Steam account has over 50 games on it. He is kind of a nerd.
4. He won "funniest" in his senior yearbook, and a good bit of our early relationship involved flirting through puns.
5. He won't wear hats, don't even try to make him.
6. He likes spicy food and puts cayenne pepper on most things. Whenever we make potatoes or pasta, I get my serving first and then he peppers up the rest!
7. He likes coffee better than tea and has become a bit of a coffee purist in recent months.
8. He can play any song by ear on the piano or guitar. I'm super jealous of that.
9. He is very level-headed. Once he was in a car accident and he freaked out less than I do over TV commercials.
10. He's my best friend!

 And we can finish off with probably the best picture of the day.

Dressing in Red

 Happy Valentines Day from a bleary-eyed jumping me!

Bleary-eyed because I am hella tired, and jumping because it's Valentines Day. Check out the crazy box of wonderful I got in the mail from my Mommy today! I dunno if you've tried Godiva chocolates, but they are the best. I've eaten like three already and I am trying my hardest to make them lassssttttt. That rose on the box is a pin, too, so I can have my candy and wear it too!

 Anyway, enough making you jealous with my spoils, here's more of my cutesy Vday outfit! I got the dress at Forever 21 and I know it's cheap, but I really couldn't resist it. It's covered in bows and matches my lipstick, sooooooo. Plus the fake garter tights have little hearts on them. Yeah I'm in the spirit.

 I hope you all are having a lovely Valentine's Day, I'd love to hear your plans! I don't get to see Travis until tomorrow, so I'll spend the night watching crappy made-for-tv movies. On tonight's playlist is one about a popular girl who dies and then haunts this nerdy chick, attempting to transform her into prom queen. Also Tim Gunn plays God.

dress and hat: forever 21

tights: charlotte russe

coat: wet seal

belt, coat: thrifted

shoes: blowfish

floral crown: diy

  So, you guys have a good weekend! Thursday is the end of the week for me this semester. I will savor that while it lasts.