Home Tour: Our Base Housing Bedroom

Since moving to Washington I've had a significant bedroom downsize. While the husband was deployed at was living at home, sharing an over-garage, converted attic bedroom (of like 400 square feet)with one of my sisters. Walk in closet, room for 2 twin beds, a couch, 3 chairs, a desk, a table to seat 4, a keyboard, etc. It was BIG. And now I live on McChord AFB with my husband in base housing. I love our house. It is little and cute. But did I mention little. I am not sure of the actual square footage, or the specific square footage of rooms, but our bedroom is a lil' thing. However, I adore living here and actually being in the same geographic location as my husband. It's great.

When I moved out here and he returned from Qatar we had NO furniture to our names. I shipped some dishes and blankets, packed my clothes in a suitcase and that was it. We spent weeks on an air mattress with a open sleeping bag as a blanket and all our clothes in piles and suitcases (and we were plenty happy about it after 2 years of long distance and 6 months of deployment). Eventually we got a (super nice) mattress, but had to wait on our bedroom set to come back into stock. Since then it has been slowly progressing and looking more and more like a home.

Due to the temporaryness of being in military housing, we have opted not to paint or hang curtains (because we have to return it to as was upon leaving), so the challenge is finding other ways to make our house look homey. Black/red/white/tan is my favorite color combo, and it is on the approved as "not too girly" list by the husband. Slowly, our bedroom is coming together. We've been here for about 5 months; not quite there yet, but well on the way.

Here's a lil' peak:

air mattress phase

 

mattress on floor phase

 

Finally, about 2 months in, we got some furniture.

Hard to get everything in a picture, but we got a set with bed frame, chest of drawers, dresser, and one night stand (and I, to this day, remain nightstandless. Still hunting.)

 

While I greatly miss my walk in closet, I am very thankful for the closet space this house has. Our room as two decent sized closets with sliding doors. Separate closets are wonderful! Guess whose is whose?

 

I think art is a key way to turning a space into a home. However, we (I) have yet to find some reasonably priced art fitting for the bedroom. The words over the window are a decal from Urban Outfitters ($19)  that just arrived by mail last week.

 

 My plan is to take one of my own photos, probably something regarding nature or architecture (hopefully from our upcoming 1st Anniversary trip to HAWAII!- more details soon!), make it black and white, blow it up and hang it over the bed.

 

Little bits and pieces also make a home more homey.

I swapped out the red dresser runner for my vintage hand made British flag.

I picked up a unique lamp for $5 at Goodwill.

 I continue to hoard throw pillows.

 

I also recommend finding yourself a rascally furbaby to shed on your blankets to add character to your home. Our furbaby finds a freshly made bed to be most exciting (jumps, runs, spins and digs) and cameras are also pretty fun to get in the way of.

 

As time and budget allows I hope to keep adding character and personal touches to our bedroom.

The husband was content once we had furniture, but for me it is all a little too...new...I hope to find some older, used and vintage pieces to mix it up a little.

 

DIY Elbow Patch Sweater

In my last post you may have me noticed me modeling my new chair in a fantastic elbow patch sweater.  Or maybe you didn't notice at all...but now you have. Well, I am pleased to say I put those patches on that sweater and I am quite proud of myself.

I have been wanting a patched sweater for quite some time now. But all the ones I was finding online or in stores were like $50 at the least. And I, Isabella Kiss, will not pay $50 for a sweater with ovals on the elbows. Ludicrisness, really.

So, I instead decided I would just do it myself. And other than the fact that sewing onto the sleeves of an already made garment is a pain, it was easy. And cheap: total of the project? Around $10.

I started by scouting at Savers for a nice, tanish sweater in my size. It took me a while to find one in my size and without wool (I have a bit of an allergy to it). But I did! A nice, thick one made by Land's End. It is loose on me, but that is the way I wanted it. And a good price too: $6.99!

Then, I found some leather/suede scraps (like 8 by 10 inches) at Joann's for about $3.

I gathered some pins, a big, thick needle and some brown thread. I just free-handed some oval-y elbow-y shapes out of the light brown suede I had found, but I am sure somewhere online there must be some sort of pattern and template for making proper elbow pads. I am just not the chick to tell you where that is. Free-handin' is the way for me.

I pinned those elbows on there and finagled them around to get them even and on my elbows. Then I simply sewed them with a triple strand of brown thread.

Little tricky (probably could have punctured nice neat holes into the leather first and made my job easier and then adhesived them on there instead of pinning, but again...I make this up as I go). Took me a little while, but in the end I had a sweater with patches (EVENLY PLACED TOO!) on my elbows.

 And I am now happy. The end.

*sidenote: I realize my hair looks dreadfully uneven in this shot. but trust me, its just the position of my head here. hair is great. and getting realllly darned long.

BIG SWEATERS

Maybe you think they are ugly. Maybe you think they are outdated. But I think nothing quite says "I'm an artsy college student and I shop at thrift stores" like a giant, vintage sweater.

I love big sweaters. They look adorable paired with messy hair, skinny jeans and converse. They are every so cozy (I do not like tight clothes. I avoid them as much as possible). They feel like warm, comfortable fall. And there are multitudes of them @ your local thrift store, in all sorts of colors and patterns. Everything from wild Christmas sweaters (which aren't adorable) to artistic looking ones with bold patterns. Some are horrendously ugly, but others are quite charming.I find ones I like quite often. But I have one problem. I am allergic to wool. Maybe not 100% allergic, but very sensitive. Anything with more than 10% wool makes me break out in red swollen hives and that ruins the adorable outfit big time. Sigh. Woe is me.

Here's some cutesy ones that make me want to snuggle up with an afghan, a notebook/reading book and a cup of tea.

*SOURCE*

I have one just like this, minus the red and yellow. 

Vintage, bought at Savers, but originally from Gap like 30 years ago.

*SOURCE*

I like this one a lot. Black and red are my favorites!

 

*SOURCE*

*SOURCE*

 A large sweater and a walk in some beautiful woods? Mmm, yes!

 

 *SOURCE*

See? How wonderful!

Lot of people wear them with leggings, but I think Skinny Jeans are much better. Tights are a no. I've seen them with flowy skirts too, if you want go for the all around loose and comfy look. 

I need to specify one rule, though. DON'T WEAR IT AS A DRESS, no matter how big it is. That is no longer artsy, it is just trashy. Pants, please and thank you. Strong suggestion: feel free to wear shorts that cover your posterior as well. Much obliged.

Golly roy*G*biv Willikers...

 

Please. Please someone just buy me this shirt. 

It is like they made it for me. For $12. 

Incredible.

It's that time of year- CUSTOM KNITS AND CROCHETS!

Hey everyone. I generally try and avoid posts like this on my blog, but now that I am no longer trying to run an etsy and am only doing custom orders (and am a broke college student who drives a gas guzzling SUV)  I wanted to do a post about cozy knitted and crocheted items I would happily custom make for anyone who is interested!

Crocheted Animal Ear Flap Hats! 

I can do whatever sort of eared animal you desire, with or without felt/button faces. Or simply a ear flap hat, sans animal characteristics if you would prefer. Adult or child sized.

Below are a panda, fox and a sock monkey.

Knit or crocheted BEANIES and BERETS! 

Any size! Any color combo!

KNIT HAND WARMERS/FINGERLESS GLOVES

 These are great alone, or layered over fingered gloves. I have only made adult sizes, but I would be able to alter the pattern to a child's size. You pick your colors! (Perhaps to match your favorite coat. Or a fabulous above pictured custom hat!?)

And these aren't wearable really, but are equally as cozy...

 Crocheted AMIGURUMI STUFFED ANIMALS!

Pretty much any animal, in colors of your choice.

I've done bears, dogs, cats, bunnies, elephants, turtles, pigs, birds, pandas...

Usually around 8-12 inches in height.

Fun stuff, eh? Great for fall. Wonderful for winter. Also, all of these things make great gifts!

Comment, or send me an email at call(DOT)me(DOT)ardent(AT)gmail(DOT)com if you are interested in discussing a custom order or pricings! Thanks everyone!

Quest for Cowboy Boots? Complete.

My quest: Cowboy boots, brown, plain, comfortable, size seven and a half, that look good with dresses?

Mission. Accomplished.

Vintage Dress Restyle

So as you know I am in a sewing mood as of late. In the boxes and boxes of fabric in my house I found a handmade, vintage, crazygreenpattern dress. A big one. I think my mom bought it a looonnng time ago, probably at some thrift shop, in hopes of bringing it down to size, but she never got around to it.

So...I did.

Oh hey there, mama, yes, I did jack your dress and am now shamelessly posting about it. Don't worry. You can borrow it! I just did the dirty work for you.

Dress as I found it:

(hard to gauge what size it was, but clearly too big for me. Too long, too wide, and had ginormous amounts of room for my armpits.)

 *check out my awful tan. It is like some variant of a farmers tan, only my arms and shoulders are like four colors instead of two. Can you tell I haven't been to the beach all summer? Yes. Also I look abnormally SnookiOrange in these shots. Bad camera settings, I promise.




RESTYLED DRESS, after taking in the seams a couple inches, shortening the straps, putting in some darts and shorting the hem about 4 inches.

Awful photos, but the dress does look better, no? I have a friend's wedding to attend this weekend...this dress is now on the "possible things to wear" list.

Pattern: Easy Skirt WITH POCKETS!

Guys, I love pockets.

So incredibly much. I don't feel quite right without my cell phone and chapstick close to my left thigh. It is just how I am. So when I was thinking about  making skirts I wanted to be sure to include pockets. But I didn't know how to do that, so Google helped me out. Funnily enough the pattern I end up liking was from a blog I already follow- Tania, from What Would a Nerd Wear.

THIS PATTERN that she posted as the one I followed. And yes, I FOLLOWED a pattern. PRECISELY *well, I still didn't measure but...*. This is a huge deal for me. I have NEVER followed a sewing pattern of any kind on my own, but this one I did start to finish all by myself.I sat there at my sewing machine, laptop open in front of me, and step by step I followed that pattern! I feel like such a big girl.

Yesterday afternoon I made not one, but TWO cute skirts, one bright/playful, the other more dressy/classic, but both with pockets. Functional pockets!!!! I may or may not have seam ripped the first skirt 3 times, but eventually I did get the hang of it.

And then I obviously did a photoshoot.

Skirt #1 finished product:

 Outfit details: 

Tanks: Target. Belt: Gifted. Necklace: Thrifted. Shoes: Bongo, via Goodwill. Colorful bracelets: Dandelion Cottage (a local artsy gift shop).Hobo bag: I made it.

Skirt- red flowers and dots fabric $2.99 from Savers. Blue pocket lining was scrap from another project. I already had the thread and elastic, so basically the whole project cost me $3 and a little bit of time.

Skirt #2:

 *please feel free to ignore my awkward bird face and how short this skirt looks when I pull it outwards thus revealing my gym shorts underneath, and instead check out the legitimacy of those there POCKETS!

 *also feel free to ignore the awkward lint situation ...3 cats people. It's a losing battle.

Details: White Button Up: LOFT, via Savers. Jacket: H&M. Belt: Savers. Heels: Target. Earrings: Charlotte Russe. Bracelet: A Renn Faire (yes. truly.).
Skirt: once again, fabric $2.99 at Savers. All other material I already had.

Currently wearing: black polka dot skirt, skull and cross bones button up, leather jacket, black belt, black leggings, polka dotted heels, black hoop earrings. It's versatile!

I'm pretty pleased overall with how they came out. Pattern was easy to follow and the project took less than one hour. Black one got hemmed a bit too short, and the red one's waist is a little lumpy... but hey, good effort. Mistakes happen when you don't measure, but measuring is math and I am on summer break here! BUT I made pockets. That's all that really matters.

Now back to sewing. Not something I normally do for long periods of time but I am feeling inspired, particularly after the season premiere of Project Runway last night. I just gotta got make more STUFF. Potential photo documentation to come.