What I Wear Wednesday - Layering over Dresses

I only have 2 photos this week, and I don't even think one of them is from this week...
Good news is I got my camera today!! My friend Cat has been letting me borrow her back-up camera for a couple weeks and I've been so  thankful, but I am THRILLED to have my own camera again!
I think it's stressful borrowing someone else's things, don't you?

Anyway, I'm so bored of all my clothes and there are no new options in sight until December... so I decided to play around with layering the clothes I've already got.... when the temperatures in Grenada allow it.  (I think it's around 100degrees today and 1000%humidity. serious)

Sunday mornings I can usually wear something a little different than usual to church.
1. it's an excuse to get slightly dressed up
2. the church is usually around 70degrees with all the air conditioning.

I have this super bright Isaac Mizrahi floral dress from Target that I love.... but I'll admit, I sorta stick out in it.  I decided to tone it down a bit by layering a black tank top and belt over it & loved the result! I'll probably never wear it alone again.

please excuse the poor self-timer attempt.

In keeping with the layering theme I was playing around with a couple of my maxi dresses and trying to come up with more of a "fall" look.
I figured I could just turn my dress into a maxi skirt to keep up with the trend, right?  add some plaid and my new necklace I made and bam its fall in Grenada!
Yay for new life out of old dresses!

blurry face... and perhaps this outfit makes me look pregnant? too flowy?

As you can tell I've kinda been stuck on the side bun. and side braid too.  It contains all my hair and keeps it off my neck.  and looks slightly better than a normal bun... right? :)
In December I am getting a new dramatic hair cut. for real.

Twig Stars

I saw this image on pinterest the other day and knew they'd be super easy to make.

Source: farm6.static.flickr.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

I didn't have much going on yesterday evening so I went for a walk down my street looking for sticks to make stars out of.  a normal thing to do right??

You need 5 sticks of the same length per star.
I laid them out and decided which order I liked them in best, then hot glued them in place with just a dab of glue on the ends.
I wrapped twine around the ends of some of them, but a couple of the stars I liked the way they looked just as they were.  I think the inspiration image might have had too much string and twine for my tastes.

These will be great Christmas or patriotic holiday decorations and were practically free to make and only took about 5 minutes!!

AND on my walk I discovered this old sign!  It had more words but I just broke off the Grenada portion.
I don't know what to do with it yet, but I love it!

September 11th Remembrance

I think Alan Jackson perfectly captured the emotions of 9/11.
I relate so much to the lyrics of this song.
I was full of fear, sadness, confusion, and yet my heart was bursting with pride for America and our resolve. 
I can't listen to it without crying and all the coverage on TV is a little over-whelming... I want to make sure I never forget the emotions of that time 10 years ago, the sacrifice, and the unity that was brought up from the tragedy, but I don't want to relive it. 
I think that we were all changed a little bit that day and I pray that God continues to watch over the families of the victims, helps them to heal, and God bless America. 

Saturday Afternoon Picnik - free textures!

One of my very favorite effects on Picnik is textures, but this is a premium feature and this week I wanted to blog about one of the free features for all of you out there who haven't upgraded yet!  There are tons of cool things you can do for absolutely free too!

When I logged onto Picnik the other day I saw that they had added new "featured effects" with a pirate theme. {Picnik often has featured effects to coordinate with upcoming holidays and events like 4th of July, Back to School, and Christmas} I was disappointed because I assumed it would be super cheesy and I'm really not one for adding the stickers to my photos.  But I was intrigued by "Pirate Textures" and decided to give it a whirl... and they have some pretty cool ones! for free!

I used the picture of Lee and I's silhouettes from our recent photoshoot because I knew it would show the textures really well.

Click on Featured & choose Pirate Textures.  There are 12 different ones to chose from.  With premium you can chose from 57 different textures in addition to the new pirate textures.

love me some maps!

under the sea :)

Play around with the advanced modes and see which way you like it the best!  You can also adjust the fade so you see more or less of the texture.

Happy Picniking!

Nautical Knots

admit that title made you want to sing the Spongebob theme song please.

anywho.
I have a mason jar full of sea glass I've been collecting and while it is beautiful all on it's own.... I'm not a minimalist, more is more! So I added my favorite go-to-Grenada crafting supply - jute twine!

before

Cut a very long piece of jute, more than twice the length of the mason jar.
Tie it around the rim of the jar and allowing the strands to hang down about twice as long as the jar.
Cut 5 additional pieces of jute and tie in evenly spaced out knots to the original piece of jute around the rim allowing the strands to hang down.

Gather a strand of jute from each adjoining knot and tie together creating a triangle or diamond shape.

Continue tying knots until the entire jar is covered and secure the remaining twine on the bottom of the jar with hot glue.

If I don't get out of Grenada soon my entire house and jewelry collection is going to be covered in jute twine!!!