DIY: Simple Beaded Necklace Tutorial

Sometimes you're in a bind and need a quick gift for someone. Sometimes you have some beads and some chain. Sometimes that turns into a present and the day is saved! Like in the case of this necklace. I just couldn't find the perfect gift so I decided to make it.

You can never go wrong with a handmade gift. People will appreciate that you took the time to make it even if they don't wear it. But, hopefully, you know the person you're trying to buy a present for well enough that you know they'd love your gift (or at least fake it). So here's a quick and easy DIY gift that you can put a lot of love and personalization into. 

Easy Beaded Necklace Tutorial

What I Wore: The 60s Shift Edition

Ah, estate sale shopping. That is the life. If my day job could be hunting for gems at estate sales, I'd be one happy camper. Unfortunately, it's just a hobby for now, but when you hit a jackpot it's oh-so-satisfying! I stumbled across a gorgeous collection that belonged to a little stylish lady who travled a lot in her lifetime with her husband. The collection of souvenir plates in their home was out of this world. But, naturally, I gravitated towards the closets and I was not disappointed. This little number is definitely one of my favorites that I picked up recently. So simple, yet so eye catching with it's delicately detailed collar and sleeves.

DIY: Easy Skull Earrings Tutorial

I'm a very bad DIY blogger because I've been holding on to these gorgeous skull beads for over a month because...well, life. Anyway, the very nice people over at Auntie's Beads gave me a $25 gift certificate to go nuts (as if I could ever buy just $25 worth of beads, but it was a nice gesture) and I picked these up along with a few other awesome jewelry making pieces and I knew exactly what I was going to make with them. These DIY skull earrings are super easy to make and you can customize with any kind of beads you'd like, so I thought they might make for a fun tutorial!

What I Wore: The Flasher Edition

I'm not one of those girls that's "secretly" excited that fall is here. Fall in Chicago isn't really anything to get excited about for too long. However, I do love dressing for fall. I always have so many outfit ideas for fall. I think it's the season where I'm most capable of looking the most put together with the smallest effort. Dress, tights, and an open sweater? No problem. I do feel like I can get into a little bit of a uniform though, so this year I'm trying to break it up with a few new fall outfits. Step 1: new fall coats. 

Tutorial: DIY Hanging Necklace Organizer

Maybe you're not like me and you're ahead of the game, but winter makes me not want to do a thing. I am definitely on the new-year-lets-get-organized-bandwagon, but I suck. So, it takes me forever to get anything done. I'm working through stuff slowly. First the clothes, then the jewelry, and finally the craft supplies. I've gotten as far as the jewelry! We can call that progress, right?

Anyway, I wanted to share a tutorial with you guys today on how I got all my necklaces organized for under $15. Organization on the cheap is my middle name (you have no idea how many glass jars I have saved just for this reason). When I realized my old method of displaying my necklaces was falling apart and totally ineffective, I figured it was time to make something new. Ta-da! The Hanging Necklace Organizer Tutorial was born. (Apologies in advance for the lack of photos. I need to get better at taking pictures at night)

Thursday Tutorial: The Tiny Flowers Bracelet

I have to be honest with you guys, I have been sitting on this one for a long time. In fact, one of the outtakes from this tutorial is a shot of a severe snowstorm happening outside my window. Yea, that long. So I apologize for being a crafty but lazy blogger. Anyway, since summer is coming I thought it was still a good time to share this tutorial for my tiny flowers bracelet!

What I Wore: The Prep School Edition

It's freaking spring in Chicago and I'm busting out the florals. You better believe it was an amazing feeling to finally wear this dress that I picked up from Target months ago. What I fool I was then, thinking the warm weather was coming soon. But it's finally here and that means that I am taking a stance against leg coverings!

What I Wore: The Wishing for Spring Edition

Spring, oh spring, where art thou? It's time right? The weather gods are just messing with us? I would love to me able to walk outside in a light jacket again (or no jacket, but I'm asking for baby steps here). It's going to warm up to a sunny 50 degrees this weekend and in an effort to break away from winter, I'm busting out the light sweaters and floral prints!

What I Wore: The Vintage Dots Edition

It's been a while since I've done one of these check-what's-in-my-shop outfit posts so I thought I might be due for one. This dress is an awesome one I picked up and it's awesome for two reasons: 1. The fit is fantastic for pear shapes like myself and perfectly professional if you work in an office. 2. It's a little daring in that it's both polka dots and stripes in one dress, so if you're intimidated by mixing patterns (like I am sometimes) this dress does the hard part for you.

Vintage Finds: Fall Ready

I don't usually talk about my Etsy shop on here even though that was the entire reason I started this blog in the first place (go figure). There are just so many other fun things on the internet to talk about that my own stuff falls through the cracks. But today I just had to. Why? Because I have so much new (vintage) stuff that's been listed or marked down for fall! 

Orange floral tunic and 90s blue jean grunge dress.

Tuesday Love: Nach Jewelry

Awesome jewelry collection alert! I'm drooling over Nach Jewelry. Each piece is a handmade out of porcelain and most of them are tiny animal figures. I love animal jewelry, it's kind of sickness, so of course I was all over this pretty, colorful collection. If you've been following along, you know I'm a big fan of accessorizing and I love finding new pieces of jewelry because jewelry always fits and it can sit in a drawer for years and come out being a brand new on-trend piece. Perfect, no? The pieces are a little pricey for my budget, but they're gorgeous and on my wish list for sure. I know I'll be on the lookout for cheaper, knock off pieces in the stores this fall. Anyway, don't take my word for it, check them out and tell me what you think in the comments!

What I Wore: The Boot Edition

I love boots. Cowboy boots, ankle booties, motorcycle boots, any kind of boot. They are my favorite kind of shoe. Wearing boots again comfortably is what I'm always most excited about when the weather starts to get cooler. However, as much as I wish I could buy a new pair of boots whenever I want, financially it makes more sense for me to hold on to them until I absolutely need a new pair. Well the time has come. All my current boots are worn down at the heel to the point of being dangerous. You know what that means? I get to buy new boots and not feel bad about it it! Which is exactly what happened. 

Inspiration Tuesday: Jewel Tones

Jewel tones are my favorite year round, but fall is when they really start hitting the stores and I couldn't be more excited to go shopping this season. I'm pretty pale and usually dark haired so those rich greens, purples, and blues suit me very well. At least I like to think so. Anyway, my closet is full of it and it never feel more appropriate than in that time in late fall, just before the Christmas season starts rolling in (you know, somewhere around early October now). So I pulled together three outfits using some of my favorite shades for some outfit inspiration. The first one is a little edgy and punk rock for a night out at the bar. The second one is a complete work ensemble if I worked somewhere that prohibited the wearing of jeans. And finally a date night outfit! Er, that is, if I had any dates to go on. Whomp, whomp. At least I'm prepared! Now if only Polyvore magically transported all the items you pulled into a collection into your closet, that would be perfect.

What I Wore: The Call Me Maybe Edition

Don't lie, you've heard it. We've all heard it. For a while you couldn't escape Carly Rea Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and even though it's died down here on the radio stations in Chicago, it's meme-ing with a ferociousness on the internet. And I have to admit, it was catchy enough to get tangled up in my head sometimes. So one day I decided to watch the video and I realized something, she was wearing the same sheer maxi cardigan that I bought a while back on sale at Urban Outfitters! Weird right?

source

Thursday Tutorial: Colorful Summer DIY Agate Earrings

I've actually been holding onto this one for a little while because I wanted it to coincide with the opening of my second Etsy shop! However, life likes to get in that way a lot of times and I've been really behind on getting it all set up, so please visit it...at a later date. This one is just going to be things that I make, mostly jewelry since that's what I like making the most, and then Stranger Than Vintage can stay as solely vintage clothing, housewares, and accessories.

Anyway, I've written up a tutorial for this pair of fun dangly agate slice earrings for summer that are for sale in the shop. If you want to make your own, I'd love to see them! If you'd like to buy a pair, I'd be ecstatic! So let's get this tutorial started!

What I Wore Wednesday: The Happy Birthday Edition!

You guessed it! My birthday is coming up this weekend and this outfit post is all about what I'm going to wear to the extravaganza! I'm super excited about it and I hope it'll be a fun night. Most of my friends and I work completely opposite hours so I don't get to see them too much - should be a good time! Anyway, I also invited a lot of my co-workers out to come and party it up with me, so I didn't really want to go out skanking it up (like I normally do ;), but I wanted something light and fun since it'll probably be 90 degrees on Saturday. When I saw this dress on Ruche I knew it could be perfect so I scooped it up!

Now I'm a shop-online-aholic and I knew that there was a possibility this dress was going to look terrible once I got it in. Luckily that did not happen! I love it! It's got coverage, but is just a touch see-through to give a little something sexy. Perfect for a birthday dinner and drinks! This was actually the first time that I had ever ordered from Ruche, but I was very happy with their service. They're on top of it on Twitter and I actually say this dress as a part of a lookbook and couldn't find it on the site right away. I asked them on Twitter and they got right back to me! How's that for customer service? (Yes, I'm addicted to Twitter, let's be friends.) Also, scroll to the bottom of this post for a super special birthday surprise for YOU!

Vintage Love: Baubles and Jewels

I love jewelry. It's one aspect of my outfits that I can never omit because I think that accessories really are the topping on the cake. Jewelry, shoes, etc. can make or break an outfit, so I have an absurd collection of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. And especially since it's trendy to wear tons of these at once, it just gave me an excuse to collect even more. Most of mine is pretty cheap and costume-y, but that doesn't matter to me (as long as it doesn't turn my neck green). Long story short, I love jewelry and I feel naked if I leave the house without it.

Now, I collect a lot of vintage clothes and accessories both for myself and the shop and a lot of times things that I pick up for the shop end up living in my closet (sorry guys!). Jewelry though is something I have never been good at picking up at estate sales or thrift stores, so I really admire vintage Etsy sellers that have a large collection of vintage jewelry. Clothes is one thing, there's almost always a tag to help you figure out what era a piece is from, but with jewelry it's such a crap shoot. I'd love to expand my collection, but I hate putting things in the store that I can't date. So anyway, today I pulled together a collection of vintage jewelry pieces that I though were really awesome and definitely amazing finds. I'm jealous of every last one of these. Anyone know where to find cool vintage jewelry in Chicago?

'Retro Baubles and Jewels' by StrangerThanVintage

Vintage Natasha Stambouli Go... ATestOfTime $55.00	Vintage Necklace Purple Glas... boylerpf $35.00	Vintage Southwestern Tiger&#... antiquario $115.00	Vintage Floral Brooch - Milk... PinkAstilbe $12.00
Lily // Vintage Molded Glass... FunWithVintage $65.00	Vintage Sterling Silver and ... VisforVintageO... $175.00	Sterling Silver Enamel Pheas... Elsewind $95.00	50% SALE - KJL Frog Earrings... BentenDesign $75.00
Vintage Turquoise, Coral, an... VisforVintageO... $95.00	Rhinestone Earrings Couture ... EmbellishgirlV... $450.00	TAKAHASHI BLUEBIRD Brooch H... Cleoras $175.00	80s Dark Purple Square Earri... StrangerThanVi... $5.50
Lovely Deco Pink Star Sapphi... acrazeelady $120.00	Vintage BEAUJEWELS Rhineston... RaeOfLight $9.95	Vintage Gay Boyer 4 Strand G... CherryOrchardA... $65.00	LARGE 14kt Carved Shell Came... vintagebitsbli... $595.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Do you ever buy vintage jewelry? What's your favorite type of jewelry to wear?

Sunday Moment of Zen: Handcrafted Rings

In true me fashion, I've been on kind of a shopping frenzy lately. Well, more of a window shopping frenzy, but still. I've been looking at and lusting over lots of things. In my explorations of the internet, I found this really beautifully put together video showcasing some gorgeously crafted and original rings. The theme here is unusual engagement ring ideas, but I would wear any one of these engagement or no engagement. Anyway, since I've been kind of an absent blogger, I thought I'd share this pretty video with you.

Hope you're enjoying a wonderfully sunny weekend!

What I Wore Wednesday: The Tangerine Tango Edition

Did you really think I wouldn't put up at least one post with the Pantone color of the year? Ok so maybe this shirt is a little more orange than tangerine, but I'm not normally big on orange. This shirt definitely stands out in my closet. I always try to buy items that aren't like other clothes I already have in my closet (it's a good practice, you should definitely try it), but when it comes down to it we naturally buy things that are similar because we like them and are comfortable in them. I'm at fault for sticking to the jewel tone color scheme. This shirt is a standout, even though it is totally simple. Challenge yourself! That's what fashion is all about! So I wore an orange shirt today. What was your challenge?

Thursday Tutorial: Dainty Floral Drop Earrings

Today's tutorial is completely inspired by my friend Julia over at 2 or 3 Things! She did this super adorable outfit post with a pretty floral headband and inspiration struck! I thought, "Man that looks cute, but I'd probably never wear a whole headband full of flowers." And then.....