"Cheri" Red Blazer

I'm not big on blazers, but I've worn my share. And red it my favorite color. So finding this at the thrift store was awesome!

 It's such a vibrant red!

 And it was literally like $2 at the thrift store. That's it! So it simply had to become part of my vintage collection.

 Personal Petites is an 80s brand specializing in career clothes for petite ladies. That's probably why the sleeves are a little short for me...haha. But they look cute rolled up :)

Blue dye fun... with HAIR

OK, OK, this isn't a clothing post. And it isn't even about thrifty finds. It's about hair dye. But... it's about DIY hair dye, and that is something that I LOVE.

So since I love to dye my hair all the time, my friends have started coming to me to dye their hair as well. I've also done some cuts, but I assure you, I always make it clear that I'm totally not a professional...although I might like to be.

My friend called me last night and asked if I could come over and do her hair today. She wanted a chunk on the side to have peacock colors.

We started with piecing out the chunk of hair that we were going to dye and separating it from the other sections of hair.

In order for the funky colors to stick, you've gotta bleach the hair first. Unless you're like already a blonde.

Soooo, I mixed up some bleach powder and peroxide (30 vol--her hair is thick and dark) at a 1:1 ratio and covered the section of hair to be dyed. Very thoroughly.

We let it sit in her hair until the hair was nice and light. Tip: never leave bleach in your hair for more than sixty minutes. It's not really accurate that bleach will make your hair fall out, but it is going to severely damage it. Like super duper fry it to death.

We rinsed out the bleach and had some lunch.

You wanna put the dye on dry hair, so we dried up the bleached portion of hair and slathered on the dye. 

When dying your hair a funky color, you want to leave the dye in your hair as long as possible. Well, that is if your doing a funky color that's sans peroxide, which is practically all of them since it's really rare to find permanent funky colors. Anyway, leave it in as long as you can; it's not going to damage your hair. It's just going to help the dye stick.

We rinsed out the dye after we couldn't stand waiting any longer, and much to our dismay, the color had not taken the way we hoped. 

It might be hard to tell from the above picture, but the dye was basically just a super thin wash of teal over the bleached blonde. My friend bought the dye, and it wasn't a brand I've ever tried before. It was Color Jamz. I won't be buying it. I was quite unimpressed. 

I didn't want her to hate her hair, so I took her to my house and slathered some more dye on it. I used Ion Color Brights in aqua for the top bit of color.

I LOVE Ion Color Brights colors. They are super sticky. We also used N Rage in purple plum for the darker part of her hair. It's also fabulously sticky color.

We let the color sit for a while and then washed it out. We dried it and took some pics of the finished product, which I think is awesome. 

$12 Fall Outfit

Are you looking for the perfect fall outfit for an affordable price? How about a dress and jacket for just $12? Well, my friends, look no further than your local thrift store!

I got this dress for $6. It didn't need any real adjustments, but I did sew between the buttons so there wouldn't be any gapping. The jacket was $8, and it's just perfect for days that are a little chilly, but not too cold. It also didn't need any alterations.

I'm so happy with these two pieces! I'm excited to get a lot of wear out of them during the coming months.

$6 Blue Dress

This little dress came from the thrift store a few days ago. It was $6. And look at the cute zipper detail!

As you can see, it was a bit large for me.

But it's nothing that some simple sewing (and I mean SIMPLE) can't fix. 

Voila! It fits fine now.

"Petunia" Top

Another beloved piece from my vintage collection:

 This beautiful top has a delicate mix of pinks and purples and an asian-inspired flower print.

 I'm not usually a fan of collars, but the collar on this top lies pretty flat and is pretty understated, so I don't have a problem with it.

This top comes from a company called Pykettes. I've seen a lot of this brand in thrift stores around here, and I'm guessing it may be because Pykettes, which was made by Pyke Manufacturing Company, was based in my local area. A lot of their shirts scream "little old lady" to me, but some are just too pretty to pass up. They do have some lovely patterns!

Here's how I'd wear it:

Petunia by princesszandra featuring black pants

DIY Denim Jacket to Vest Transformation

Hi, and welcome to another super-easy DIY transformation!

I inherited a nice denim jacket recently. I didn't want to turn it down even though I already have a denim jacket I like (and in my opinion, there is such a thing as owning too many denim jackets. Personally, my limit is, like, 1). Fortunately, I realized that I could quickly turn this jacket into a denim vest, which is something I'd been interested in getting anyway.

All this DIY needs is a good pair of scissors.

 I cut nice and close to the seam to remove the sleeves at the shoulder. If you want a frayed look, leave a little extra fabric and kind of...mess it up, or whatever.

So long, sleeves! You've served your purpose.

 Here's my new (old) vest! It's in the perfect wash, too :) A denim vest is a pretty versatile piece--you can use it to layer over a long-sleeved shirt, a tank top, a dress, or whatever.

 I like it!

It doesn't get much easier than that. Now go forth to the thrift store, find a denim jacket, and give it a new life as a vest!

Pink and White Polka Dots

Thrift find! I got this at the local thrift store for $6. I love it! I didn't take a before picture, but it had these really worn out looking pleats in the skirt. I took the thirty or so minutes to iron them out, and it was a great choice! It looks so much fresher and newer now.

I also took in the top a wee bit. It was just a tad bit large for me.

So, there you have it. Two simple fixes, and this dress is perfect for me! And for just $6. I feel great about it!