How to rediscover your jewelery

 I took all my jewels out yesterday to make an inventory and decide which ones I wear and which ones I could probably revamp and inject some new spirit into my otherwise same wardrobe.

What you see in the photos above is necklaces I joined together with a pair of my hoop earings. Very simple ,instant results.

 I want to up cycle many of my bracelets , as well .One thing I want to do is turn them a size or two smaller because when I shopped from them I made the mistake not to check carefully for their shape. I feel like I threw my money away since I don't enjoy to wear them if they slip all the time so I have to find a way to fix it.

The best way to do a jewllery clean up is :
take all your jewelery out and put on a large surface 
put all alike together hoops with hoops ,rings with rings etc.
 this way you will have a clear view of what you own.
make 3 piles one to keep  , the second to give away or throw or put somewhere out of sight to rediscover in the future and the third pile
to revamp or upcycle or tear apart to use in future projects.


Keep the third pile in a big box and throw a piece of paper inside and a pen. Each time you see on the net or in magazines something you like note down what materials you need in order to create new jewelery from your existing ones. 
After a while you will be able to know what you want to do exactly and what you need to shop. 

Now that you took all your jewelery out try to think of different ways to store what's left. The best way according to me is to keep somewhere you can see everything you own because that's the only way you can use it all. Try to make displays like in shops .I 'm sure we can all make a nice little corner to keep our jewels.
I'll keep you updated.

Take a different direction

It so happens in life that interests shift and at the moment my creativity forces me to put all my energy in decorating and transforming my house .

All my beautiful followers I'm sure have noticed already my falling in love with DIY projects and this time I'm not gonna walk away from what my instict  tells me to do.

I will keep my dressing style very simple and minimal involving a few basic pieces and I will be blogging about my diy and decoration adventures in my other blog angie's world.
I will be checking your wonderful blogs and occassionaly post my outfits probably on a weekly base but mostly I will dive the diy deep waters. Feel free to join me !!!

Well dressed and crafty

I'm so much into little crafty projects that I didn't manage to take the time and post what I wore during the week .
I like how I wear simple basic pieces again . I seem to gravitate between simple classic a bit tomboysh look where I repeat a few basic pieces and a different persona everyday look with lots of color . I will wait and see where this style polarisation might take me.

 Like I told you it has been a totally creative weekend . You see , I had many projects on my mind and I managed somehow put them together this weekend .
First it was this ethnic bag that I found in the local market for 2 euros. I didn't like everything about the bag but I knew I could work on it and make a few alterations . I know that ethnic bags are a trend and I wanted to give it a try without breaking the bank ( Hey ! I live in Greece and we might go bunkcrupt any day now , or so they say).
So ,  I took the ugly straps from the back as you see in the first photo and replaced with an old belt of mine as seen in photo number 3.In the middle photo you see how I replaced the fabric around the opening of the bag . It's the bag you see me carrying above .

After I tackled the bag I decided to make my house look a bit more beautiful . I had cleaned it and had decluttered my home during the whole month and it felt like the right time to decorate. Beleive me ...you can't decorate a messy , clutterd home.
So, I went out in the garden and cut  the leaves ,secured them in place to get the round shape and tied a simple garland around .
Now , my front door looks so much more nice. But that's not all.

Then I transformed  these green ugly bottles with left over fabric and glue . I have to say the jute stuff is amazing . It's cheap and easy to use . For the flags I used the the material you find around the neck of a wine bottle wrapped around a tooth pick .

I had some unfinished business with the pillows in the living room . I meant to make covers for them for a ...gasp couple of years  ...I bet you know the story.
That's how the pillows look now . The red one I made from scratch... the filling ( from old huge teddybears)  and all !

And here is how I made the covers ! It's the easiest way you can imagine and it ivolves no zippers or buttons. Beware though ...it can be addictive !!!

 1. Place the pillow on the cloth to take measurements . Take the measurements on the tight side so the pillow looks stuffed and fluffy.
2 . Put the right side of the cloth to face the table and make a seam of 1-2 cm
3-4-5- . Just to make sure every thing fits and the two ends of the cloth overlap. 
6 . (I have no clue why no6 became invisible but it's the last photo ) Now sew again at each end parallel to the measuring tape. Turn inside out and stuff your pillow into the cover .

Once you get the hang of it you can make a case in less than 5 minutes !!!
I plan to tackle a few more projects this weekend . Nice weekend to you all and get crafty it's so rewarding , creative and it saves a lot of money.

Blue shirt , white shirt

Shirts for me is an aquired taste . Until recently ,when I fell in love with tomboy style not even once in my life had I worn a shirt . How little did I know !!! Shirts are so classy and versatile and so easy to style be it for casual looks or for formal occassions.I  can wear them buttoned or unbuttoned ,with sleeves up or down tucked or not and get different but always elegant looks with just one shirt. I especially like the white  and the light blue shirt and occassionally the denim shirt.
How do you go about shirts ? Do you find them as classy as I do ? Do you think they are versatile?

p.s : There is a catch ,though . As much versatile and classy shirts are ,they are so difficult to find the perfect fit . I'm on the quest for a white one and I'm begining to despair.

Simple

This is a very simple outfit I wore in a very complicated day . The more I blog , the more I start seeing patterns in the way I dress. Like in the summer time that life is more simple I love to wear more visible clothes , weird combinations ,colors and tend to experiment more . On the contrary when the busy season starts in September ( I teach for a living ) I love to go as simple as possible in my clothes.
Have you noticed your style changing according to season, too ?
Today's outfit was inspired by this photo and was made more age appropriate but I hope it captures the look .
skirt : zara
shirt :chinese market
shoes : elite shoes ,suede carefully cleaned recently

Bracelets

You've probably noticed how many bracelets are piled up on the wrists of stylish people the world over this summer. Well , today was my turn to have a go. I made team with my daughter , we gathered material from all over the house and we followed these instructions . Much less than an hour later we had our bracelets . We made small alterations like we used rope instead of leather cord and beads instesd of brass hex nut but you can use anything that can do the job .
We are both very proud because we accessorized in no time spending no money at all . Plus ,this is a good starting project as it requires zero skills.
This actually was meant to be  my  Visible Monday post but blogger decided otherwise . Never mind I'll give it one more try . I strongly believe that accessorizing is the epitomy of personalizing an outfit . Many times accessories make the plainest outfit visible and all the more if the accessories are self made . My personal experience is that  a sense of pride is infused into the way I carry the outfit that makes me more visible. I strongly suggest that you find ways to incorporate some diy projects into your style.

DIY paradise

As you can see I'm totally in love with my new bag ,  the one I made . I'm slowly entering the DIY territory and I feel enthousiastic about it . The internet is filled with great affordable and easy to make ideas and my wardrobe collection needs accessories . I feel like I have covered the basic clothes chapter and I'm moving to the next step which is infusing personal style through accessories . And I can't think of something more personal than make things myself  that no one in the whole world has . How do you feel about DIY projects ? Have you ever tried to make accessories yourself ? How that felt ? Do you love accessorissing ? Do you also feel that many times accessories make or break an outfit?

inspiration : thebudget babe
shirt & trousers : chinese market
shoes : leather and locally handcrafted
bag : self made , instructions here

I made this

Wonder what I've been doing the last few days? ( I know you don't but it's a nice opening line ). Either way I'll tell you. I've been making my own (fake) leather bag . After seeing this post and following these simple instructions I had a bag ( I still don't beleive it!) and I'm in DIY heaven.

This is how it looks in an outfit . I challenge you to make your own as you can use any fabric. I will make a new one if I can put my hands on a nice soft black suede piece of fabric.

Husband's pants

When I went through my tomboy period ,which by the way is not over but a bit sleepy at the moment , I searched for men clothes in the nearest and most obvious place ... my husband's closet. I've cleaned and ironed and tidied and sometimes ,though rarely , I even bought his clothes but I had never thought of wearing them before.
What I realized for the first time as  soon as I opened his closet was how little clothes he owns .It's a very small amount and still he only  wears half of it most of the time.
The second thing I realized was that he owns no prints , it's only basic colors in there . He owns the exact amount of 2 belts . One black and one brown the kind that looks even better with time. He has 5 pairs of shoes worn the whole year ,one suit and a leather jacket.
I lived next to a minimalist master all this time and I hadn't known . It took me many years and lots of reading and experimenting to build a basic wardrobe and learn the tricks and he did the exact things under my nose  .
When I asked him how he managed to build this basic wardrobe he thought I was speaking chinese ...he couldn't understand what I was asking him . He build a...what ?
It took me more pondering and more reading on the web to come to the conclusion it's just the way men are conditioned to shop ( which is changing fast for obvious reasons ) very few items of good quality in basic colors that co ordinate well . Only when something is worn out  ,only then it gets replaced to something similar of good quality.
So simple but like a riddle to me. Then, after I solved the riddle did I felt entitled to borrow his pants . They produced many nice outfits and they are high waisted which I don't find so easily anymore.
To tell you the truth last night I notice a pair of chaki trousers that get minimal wear from him and I think I might try those out as well . What would you do ???

Lace & black skirt

Minus the evening bag is this visible enough to wear while doing some errrands in the morning? Cause this is what I wore in the morning and during a visit to a new born together with my children inthe evening ! And it felt so comfortable and chic .
I've got a little story for the lace top to share. I found it while on holidays last year abandoned  on the beach. I didn't pick it up because someone might go look for it later . But the next day I was on the beach ,  it was still there so I pronounced it mine . If I'm allowed a tip here, a camisole under a thin top goes a long way . I felt well covered  and warm all day.
I will dedicate today's post to my sweet fashion blogger Patti for the inspiration behind this outfit . It's her Visible Monday series that got me into something I wouldn't normally wear . Check her out for the 10th challenge already !!!

inspiration photo : madeleine
lace top : found
skirt : sewn by me

Autumn blues

It's been more than a month since I last posted and I've spent most of it in a bathing suit and a sarong around my waist.
But I'm back in town now and the transition to formal dressing has been a difficult one. It took so long to pick an inspirational photo and twice as long to get used to wearing so many items of clothing. I had a slight feeling  of being restricted by my clothes but I know it will go away.
As for my outfit , the scarf is a new addition because I love the colors and because it's a tribal/ethnic print a huge trend for the winter or so they predict . The navy blue jacket is given to me by my mom  and it's a classic item that will stay with me for many years be it a trend or not.

inspiration photo : madeleine cataloque
white t shirt & navy blue jacket : given by mom
scarf : blanco
pants : my husband's
shoes :boxer
straw hat : spriderstores

To end yet another come back post I'd love to share a photo from my holidays and wish everyone

                                                      happy autumn

Visible Monday :Take 3

Well , today I lost my inspiration ...photo . I put the look together with what I have and added this scarf as a belt to be visible fot Patti's Visible Monday series . Later , as I was writing this post I realized I don't remember where I've found the photo from.
But I think it's just as well cause today I have to be the visible one to celebrate my life , my age and my style. Thanks for the reminder , Patti!

The story of a jacket

After yesterday's throw it all on the paper post  , I 'll keep it short today. The above jacket comes with a story and it's one of the oldest and better crafted clothes in my closet as well as one of the most expensive. However , I've only worn it once in a period of 12 years.
The one and only time I've worn it was in my marriage ceremony. You see I'm one of these girls that don't feel strong about wedding gowns. I just put a nice lace dress on and for modesty reasons I put on this jacket that I bought for this purpose.
And then I had absolutely no idea what to do with it . The lapels are of weird shape but I didn't even notice it, then. The color is also difficult to use in the winter . It's also a piece of clothing that one needs what I call stylistic confidence to pull it.
Since I feel that I'm getting somewhere with my style , it's the first time I feel I've got a look for this jacket I can wear . Thank you inspiration photo . And since I was feeling very inspired I took my husband's shirt that was on the chair and pulled a second look.
Now that's an autumn look and I have to wait until then but I had to follow my inspiration for this jacket for it's special to me and has been hiding in my closet as an orphan for so long!!!
Do you have orphans like this in your closet and how do you go about?

inspiration photo :  j crew fall 2011
jeans  : Levi's
denim : shirt berska
shoes : boxer

If they do it better then I'll follow

There comes a time when a woman has to admit that others do it better and by this simple act to benefit a great deal . I will save you from my mysterious musings by saying I talk about styling clothes .
I've tried it myself with dubious results post after post because I thought I can do it . I've had some good moments but in general I felt like I don't do justice to my clothes and I don't work them as hard as I knew I should .
For reasons unknown to me ,  I love to remix my clothes and I get absolutely no thrill by wearing something once and then hop to the next new thing. I like my clothes to get used and brew slowly in my closet until they become mature enough to produce the next set of combinations that doesn't  even cross my mind right now.
Don't get me wrong I like occassionaly or more often than I care to admit to bring home little somethings but I always try to anchor them to the ones I have and use both old and new stuff.
Somehow, the longer I have  an item of clothing and the more uses I find for it the more proud I become for my skills and the more I love the item.
I'm saying all this , to point how much more use of my clothes do I make now that I finally let the professionals do the job and me just follow and learn . There is so much inspiration out there that I shouldn't be stubborn and try to invent the wheel from scratch by myself .
I found that using this format of showing the original outfit and next to it my own outfit illustrates how blant immitation actually produces good results. After all that's how we learn the first few years of our lives .
To be utterly honest I'm actually imitating J who does her imitating thing much better than I do . But I somehow feel like I discovered a whole new playground to play and there seems to be no end to my imitating whole outfits by using my own clothes.
That's where my creativity and personal act comes in because I still need to pick the right clothes to give the vibe of the outfit and change things up to stay true to  what fits me and my life style.
It's like a self taught way to learn how to better use what I have as well as learn about colors , shapes , use of accessories , shoes etc.
It's also the kick to create similar to the very expensive outfits by using my own rather  inexpensive  , often thrifted or made /altered by me clothes. My truth is that I don't really need more clothes only more ways to wear them.
inspiration net a porter
shirt &pants : my husbands
orange cardigan and oxfords zara

Husband's trousers

Despite all feminine styles out there ,  this year we raided our boyfriend's closets . Boyfriend jacket's , shirts , cardigans and trousers has been all the rage.
I though that since I don't have... a boyfriend I wouldn't be able to try the look  but then I thought I have a husband and his closet is next to mine !!!
The first vivtim were these pants . High waisted , right length and the perfect neutral color .
Today's copy cat look involves the above pants , a white shirt that was given to me by a friend she didn't know what to do with it (I was there once) and a simple t shirt (a great find considering I paid just 1 euro) .
inspiration:  jcrew