DIY Thrift Store Makeover

I've been wanting to try  DIY fixes on thrift store clothing. Ever since I read a blog about this lady that would find thrift store dresses and fix them up, always resulting in something cute, I just thought I had to try it. So my first attempt turned out amazing! At least I think so!

A while back I found this ugly brown dress. Actually I didn't really think it was all that ugly until I showed it to my mom telling her I thought it would look so cute this fall with boots. She just smiled and said something nice about it, but I could tell she must have been thinking it was quite ugly. When I got home I showed it to my husband Marlin and he did not like it. He said it looked like an Amish dress. I was like what? It does not. Anyhow that really altered my opinion of the dress and so it sat up in my sewing room for a couple of months. Just today I was in a fix it mood and I decided to give this dress a makeover that it desperately needed. As you can see from the picture it was a little big, long sleeved, and unflattering. It was missing a button and the hem was all messed up.

Basically all I did to this dress was fix the hem, put all new buttons on it, turn the sleeves into some cute short (almost cap) sleeves, and add a cute belt that I also found at the thrift store!

I know I took some terribly quality photos but I didn't exactly feel like bringing my nice camera up to my sewing room, plus I was in a hurry to get back down to the house to make supper for my sweet husband!

Here is the dress after the alterations!

Then I added this cute belt!

And folded down the collar thingy.

So now I believe I have a very nice dress that fits me very nicely! It was so much fun to do this and I will be on the look out for more dresses to makeover!!!

Last Day at the Beach

For our last day on the beach we went to an island called Howard Park! It was so gorgeous with palm trees all around. There weren't as many people either!

They had some beautiful scenery on the island with some rocky beaches, bright yellow flowers, and sea shells everywhere!

Random fact: Marlin bought us two hot dogs for lunch from a near by vendor. Sadly I dropped my hot dog in the sand like a silly little girl, but Marlin was sweet enough to go and get me another one, and then we shared a root beer float!

We just had such a great time! Before we left we snapped a few pictures by a gorgeous rocky beach. We are on our way home now and I will certainly miss the beach!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! 

As crazy as it sounds we are headed out to Colorado in two weeks to do some camping and to hang out in the Rocky Mountains for a while!

I am super excited about going out there! We will be hiking, four wheeling, camping and exploring! I'm sure my blog will be flooded with tons of pictures from this trip, so if you enjoy keeping up with my jam packed, photo filled post then stay tuned for tons of awesome Colorado pictures in the near future!!!!

Beach Vacation

We have had so much fun at the beach here in Florida! It is Little Marlin's first time to the beach and he LOVES it! He is having so much fun! He loves the sand, he loves the water, he loves the sea gulls. 

We went to Clearwater Beach today! 

We played volleyball with some friends and family that were down here for a wedding!

After volleyball we set up our stuff under a cabana for the day! Then played in the water, sat in the sun, played more in the water, went for a walk down the beach and laid in the sun some more! It was such a fun day! 

We then went to Hudson Beach and ate supper at a delicious Italian Bistro then we went to the beach  for a cloudy sunset! It was very pleasant, then on the way back to the hotel we got an ice cream cone! Such simple pleasant times we are enjoying!

Tomorrow will be our last day on the beach! Then almost as soon as we get back we will be heading to Colorado for a camping trip! Such exciting times. I'll probably have tons of pictures to post of that trip as well so check back next month for updates! 

God bless!

Little Marlin's 1st Birthday!

 

 

(First of all before you read this post, I must say I am terribly sorry for the bad quality pictures. I only had my iPhone to take the pictures with so they are sort of blurry and grainy. I am totally not a fan of low quality photos so Marlin has to remind me that a lot of time people don't really care, they just like to see pictures. So that's that!)

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I can hardly believe I have a little boy that is all mine! It was sort of strange to sit and think, "wow this time a year a go I was in the hospital in lot's of pain, but my heart filled with joy, as I held my sweet baby boy in my arms".

 

We took the Chukar to The Cheesecake Factory last night for his 1st birthday celebration! Obviously he really didn't know what was going on but Marlin and I celebrated anyhow because he is such a special gift that we are both so thankful for! He has added so much to our lives! Mostly joy, and laughter, but sometimes a bit of stress because he can be quite mischievous! I'm usually laughing at is mischievousness though! He's just so darn cute.

 

Before we left for the Cheesecake Factory Grandma Rowe brought him a little birthday present! He wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first!

 

Thank you Grandma for the gifts! He loved the animal crackers, he's little air plane, and the books. He laughed when I read him the farm animal book and made all the animal noises!

 

 

 

Here we are at the restaurant. I don't think Little Marlin was too impressed at first.

 

 

 

I orders a delicious "Everything Pizza" I would definitely recommend that if you ever go! Marlin ordered Huevos Rancheros and the Chukar enjoyed sharing that with him.

 

 

Then we ordered our cheesecake!

I got Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate. It was very rich and a huge slice. No, I did not eat all of it!

 



 

So that's pretty much all we did. We enjoyed each other's company and had a simply wonderful time! My life is full of times like these and I am very thankful!

We certainly love our little guy. He is one of the greatest blessings of all!

 

 

 



Life Full of Blessings!

Events of the past weekend!

Saturday morning I got up early and went Goodwill shopping to get some 50% off deals! I found a few cute things and it was so much fun! Marlin watched the Chukar while I was gone! Then afterward I went to the car lot to hang out with my husband for a while! It's so nice that he works at a place where I can come and visit him whenever I want! 

 I went home a little later and headed to beautiful Can Creek with my family! the Chukar and I had such a wonderful time sitting in the hot sun and playing in the clear cool creek! 

Later that evening we went out to eat! I felt so spoiled this past weekend. It was so filled with great times and fun memories! I have the best time just doing the simple things in life! 

Sunday morning Marlin and I made pancakes from scratch! My mother-in-law has a wonderful fluffy pancake recipe that she shared with me. Marlin loves them so much so now we have a Sunday morning tradition of making pancakes for breakfast! It's so much fun! We also went to church on Sunday and heard so many words of encouragement! Then we went out on the river and I fished a little bit and caught nothing! Then we swam for a while and laid in the warm sunshine! Then as usual we headed back to play our Sunday afternoon volleyball! I can''t tell you how much I love playing sand volleyball! Diving into the sand to save a ball, when you set the perfect set (I know that sounds weird)... It's all so rewarding and so much fun! Then jumping in the creek afterwards to cool off is the perfect ending to a fun filled day!

I can't say enough how blessed my life is! I really have nothing worth complaining about even though sometimes I think I do! Life is full of blessings. It is our job to focus on them. Then and only then will our lives be filled with pure wonder and joy!

Stay tuned to see updates of our Florida trip coming up next weekend!