Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday! I got to go down to NC for a few days and spend Christmas with my family. It was such a great trip!





My favorite gift?



The Thomas Paul Kabuki tote from my wish list! I was a little more excited about it than I expected. I just love it so much!

Civil War Era Dresses

One of my favorite time periods for admiring historical costumes is the American Civil War era of the 1860's. This is of course the much romanticised days of the "Southern Belle" like Scarlett with her corset and hoop skirt. Women's (I should specify- wealthy women's) clothing of this time was by no means simple, ordinary or plain. Ladies sported voluminous skirts, large belled sleeves, tassels, ruffles, bows, ringlets and every fru- fru accoutrement imaginable. Color pallets ranged from muted floral linens to bold plaid silks. Ribbon and trimmed detail were often placed in large geometric patterns on skirts and sleeves. Ladies of this time were not afraid to make a statement.

Below are three beautiful vintage dresses from this time, in more muted colors. I have framed them with three patterns available today. Clothing was not "ready- made" at this time- so seamstresses we able to use their imaginations and mix and match pattern pieces as they pleased. Each dress shown has a little element from the other- and one bodice, sleeve or collar could easily be traded for another- to create your own unique Civil War Era dress.


Civil War Day dresses and patterns by Costume Diva

Here are four vintage dresses of the bolder variety. Two more Simplicity patterns are shown too.

Bold Civil War Day dresses and patterns by Costume Diva

My favorite movies to gather Civil War era inspiration from are:

"Little Women" 1994 Costume Design Oscar nomination for Colleen Atwood
"Angels and Insects" 1996 Costume Design Oscar nomination for Paul Brown
"Anna and the King" 1999 Costume Design Oscar nomination for Jenny Beaven

Stocking Stuffers!

Stocking Stuffers I love for (around) $5.00


$5.00 Stocking Stuffers by Costume Diva

Clockwise from left:
Lavender Hand Therapy Cream from Crabtree and Evelyn = $7.00
Lindt Lindor Truffles (dark chocolate is my fave) = about $.50 individually
Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb = $5.00
Honey Vanilla Chamomile Tea from Celestial Seasonings = $2.99
Joann Fabric Gift Card = any amount you want!
Floral Nail Buffer from The Body Shop = $4.00

It runs in the family...

P.S. My sister is the most beautiful dancer in the whole world! (and my daddy is the best photographer!)






All photos copyright Rick McCullough 2008

Shower Curtain?

So Ive promised myself that I wont do any more "nesting" for a while. I will admit that painting two rooms in two weeks was exhausting. That being said, I already have our bathroom on the mind. I'm thinking yellow. Nothing neon- a nice muted mustard perhaps. Its funny though, when I starting looking up ideas for yellow bathrooms most of the pages that came up were people complaining that they were stuck with yellow bathrooms they hated. Then I started searching for a cute shower curtain with yellow accents- but I came up so empty handed. It seams most every shower curtain with yellow in it has either rubber duckies, fru-fru flowers or looks like it belongs in a mod Swedish hotel. It also doesnt help that I detest vinyl curtains and will never ever buy one. Ever. The best I could come up with is this curtain from Pottery Barn.


(p.s. coincidence that it has the same colors as my blog?)

I really like it but I worry its to flowery for E.

Then I thought, why dont I just make my own? But most fabric is 45" wide and shower curtains are typically 72". There are a few handmade shower curtains on Etsy, but I wonder if they have a big fat seam down the middle that is cleverly hidden in the photographs. Hmmm... any suggestions?

I took the challenge presented on Creature Comforts: to make a style board for an outfit that goes from Christmas dinner to New Years Eve.

Christmas to New Years by Costume Diva
This site polyvore.com is pretty awesome to make inspiration boards on!

Rain Rain Go Away

It is ugly and cold and rainy today. I would be much more excited to go out if I had one of these cool umbrellas:

www.umbrellas.net $39

www.totes-isotoner.com $25


www.rainorshine.biz both $40

Dream Cake!

Yesterday was my birthday and my friend Hayden sent me this picture of the most awesome cake ever!

Christmas Craft!

I found this super cute and easy Christmas Tree craft project on TheSmallObject.com via the awesome blog How About Orange. I decided to try it out and.... I LOVE the result! Here are the steps if you want to make your own!

First I made patterns. 4 semi circles at 10", 8", 6" and 4". The Small Object has a pattern you can print out- http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesmallobject/2065152899/


Then I used iron-on interfacing on the underside to give the fabric some weight and reduce fraying.


Next I used a zig-zag stitch all the way around each semi-circle.


Then with a glue gun- I glued each semi-circle into a cone, overlapping about 1" on the bottom.


Finally, I stacked the cones and secured each one with a dot of glue at the point.


Voila!

New Furniture!

I love the new gossip bench! Its the perfect size and has already been put to good use. I still need to make a cushion though. I have left over fabric from the curtain and I think there's enough for it.



But the BEST is my new sewing nook! I LOVE it! We had an awful 5 hour long treck to Ikea and back in the freezing rain- and it was a real pain in the ass to assemble, but it was sooo worth it!!



I cant wait to get to work on some Clairebelle's costumes!!

Kidz theze dayz

A few days ago while exiting my local C-Town grocery store- I was stopped in my tracks by the new toy dispenser I noticed. I guess Im getting old- because in my day these contraptions dispensed the old standards of gumballs, bouncy balls, and maybe the occasional slappy hand or googly finger monster. No, no, no people. These are relics of the past my friends because todays toy dispensers provide children with these...



Bling Teeth.

I was appalled, embarrassed, disgusted. Who would buy these? Isn't it obvious? Me.



I wanted them so much I even asked a check-out girl for help when they wouldnt come out of the slot. Apparently you can "collect all 10" but I dont think I'll take it that far.

Paint and more paint...

I've been a very busy bee lately as I moved on from my sewing room to paint the kitchen. Kitchens are hard to paint 'cause there are so many nook and crannies! Im still not done with the second coat- but hopefully I'll get it done this week so I can post some pictures. Im so mad I forgot to take a "before" shot so you could see the stunning "after". Oh well. I'll just tell you it was white before and green after. I did buy this awesome little "gossip bench" for our entry. I thought it would be a cute place to set our keys/ mail- and a place to sit while putting on shoes and boots etc. Its supposed to get here today.



I also got out our stockings and this really tacky dancing Santa Eric's mom gave us. I also got some cheep-o tree ornaments from Duane Reade (our drugstore) and filled a few vases with them. No tree- but its still a little Christmas-y! Oh! Tara, my long time friend from home, was in town too!We did some shopping and I got this awesome pair of boots(Sporto brand)at DSW! They are SO soft and warm inside!



Well, I guess thats all for now folks!