Kleenex Clean-up With a Hint of Magic

 Time for Lime Necklace

Dress: Modcloth

Shoes: Guess, DSW

Bag: Chinese Laundry, JCPenney

 Crazy Canary Necklace

Dress: XOXO, Macy's

Shoes: Alloy

Bag: Marshalls

 Watermelon Wedge Necklace

Dress: Lulus

Shoes: Guess, DSW

Bag: B Fabulous

I Scream for Ice Cream

Dress: Marshalls

Bag: Glamour Damaged, Etsy

Shoes: Guess, DSW

These are the necklaces I made with my remaining novelty Kleenex tissue box cut-outs.  More tropical than the sweetly pastel first batch (except for you, I Scream interloper), they make me miss summer.  Which is fitting because I finished them while watching that steamy (and seamy) summer blockbuster Magic Mike.  The gritty tale of a male stripper-slash-aspiring-furniture-maker-with-a-heart-of-gold starring real-life ex-stripper and "sexiest man alive" Channing Tatum was fun enough but left me wanting more.  (No, not more of that.  Believe you me, of that you see plenty.)  No, like any crafter worth her rhinestones, I wanted to find out just what inspired Mike's domestic design dreams, and if anything would ever come of them.  But then, maybe the somewhat open ending was more satisfying than a neat-and-tidy deus ex machina.  Because with themes this dark, nothing beats keeping it real.  

Parade of Pants

Red corduroys (pictured in first two shots): So, Kohl's
Shrimp jeans: Barefeet Shoes
Pink jeans (pictured in first two shots): Arizona Jeans, JCPenney
Mustard jeans: So, Kohl's
Yellow jeans: City Streets, JCPenney
Bright yellow jeans: City Streets, JCPenney
Chartreuse jeans: Marshalls
Jungle green jeans: City Streets, JCPenney
Acid wash green jeans: Macy's
Sky blue jeans: UNIONBAY, Kohl's
Turquoise acid wash jeans: City Streets, JCPenney
Purple acid wash jeans: City Streets, JCPenney
Dark purple jeans: So, Kohl's

Originally, I was planning to call this post "Stand Up for Pants."  But now that I have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the background, I thought it only fitting that I give a nod to the holiday with something more festive.

My favorite pants anecdote dates back to when I was about eight and went on a weekend camping trip with my dad and sister and the rest of the fathers and daughters in the Indian Princesses, the Girl-Scouts-type-club we were in.  I'd mistakenly (not intentionally, as some people jokingly suggested) forgotten my bag back in Jersey and had nothing to wear.  My dad had no choice but to take me to the nearest Kmart (Kmarts were big back then) for some essentials to get me through the next couple of days.  He let me pick out whatever I wanted, and I chose a pink-and-white baseball-style tee shirt emblazoned with Mickey and Minnie and a pair of shiny turquoise spandex leggings, or as they were known at the time, "dance pants."  My cousin had a pair, and I'd always wanted them.  That gorgeous sky blue!  That iridescent sheen!  The way they so perfectly accented an oversized, tied-at-the-side tee shirt!  Those pants were - and this must be said, cheesiness be darned - my blue heaven.

In the last two or three years I've begun to step up my pants collection with colorful skinny jeans.  Unlike flares or boot-cuts, they don't scrape the floor, but rather bunch up at the ankles in a (at least to this short blogger) fetchingly messy, no-hem-needed way.  Yet it's the ripe rainbow hues that really reeled me in.  I like to think that their spirit was sparked by those dance pants.  So thanks, Dad, for giving me that first taste of fashion freedom.        

Circles of the Circus

 Piece of Cake Corsage Necklace

Blouse: Merona, Target

Sweater: Mossimo, Target

Skirt: Metaphor, Sears

Shoes: MetroStyle

Bag: Nahui Ollin

Belt: B Fabulous

 Gingerbread House Corsage Necklace

Top: JCPenney

Skirt: Forever 21

Shoes: Ami Clubwear

Bag: Burlington Coat Factory embellished by The Tote Trove

Candy Shop Corsage Necklace

Top: Olsenboye, JCPenney

Skirt: Marshalls

Shoes: Not Rated, DSW

Bag: XOXO, ROSS Dress for Less

Scarves: A.C. Moore

Fruit Delight Corsage Necklace

Sweater: Delia's

Skirt: Xhilaration, Target

Shoes: Ami Clubwear

Bag: Bisou Bisou, JCPenney

Pretty Pastries Corsage Necklace

Tank: Boscov's

Sweater: Delia's

Jeans: City Streets, JCPenney

Shoes: Alloy

Bag: Candie's, Kohl's

Scarf: A.C. Moore

Like many avid collectors, I can be messy.  Not in a "Hoarders" kind of way, but in a I'm-having-too-good-a-time-making-necklaces-to-refold-that-leaning-tower-of-skinny-jeans kind of way.  Factor in my preference for a costume closet-explosion aesthetic, and I often have a real mess on my hands.  To be sure, as I sifted through my considerable (but clean!) clutter in search of clothes to complement my erstwhile creations, I couldn't help but wonder about the sartorial sanitation of other clotheshorses.  (Okay, so "sanitation" may not have been the best word choice, especially given that brazen declaration of cleanliness, but the allure of alliteration was just too much for me.)  It is, after all, human nature to wonder about other people, especially those most like ourselves.  I like to think that there are style bloggers the world over living in bedrooms decorated with bottomless crazy shoe caches and sweater-carpeted floors and scarf-strangled dressers.    

Speaking of colorful chaos, these polka dot backdrops make me think of life lived under the big top.  Just as the tie-dye swirls make me think of a sweet shop.  Notice I didn't say candy store or even ice cream parlor.  I almost did, but both seemed too banal.  Sweet shop has just the right retro ring for which I was searching.  

And now it's back to finishing batch number two of my tissue box trinkets.  Er, necklaces.  See.  Alliteration gets me every time.

A Pair With a Pansy

 Fabulous Felt Pansies Necklace

Cardigan: Candie's, Kohl's

Turtleneck: Boscov's

Jeans: City Streets, JCPenney

Shoes: Nine West, DSW

Bag: XOXO, ROSS Dress for Less

True Blue Choker

Sweater: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Skirt: Xhilaration, Target

Shoes: Rampage, Marshalls

Bag: Bisou Bisou, JCPenney

Here are a couple of necklaces I made a few weeks ago but never got around to posting.  They don't have much in common except for their felt foundations, what with the pansies being soft and flowery and the shapes being sharp and geometric.  As a side note, the silver flats (or, rather, tuxedo slippers, if the terminology in Cosmopolitan is to be believed) are very comfortable.  I bought them for the express purpose of having some comfortable, neutral-colored footwear (because silver is a neutral to me), and I wasn't disappointed.  Maybe I'll look for an even more serviceable pair in black.

Corsages Continued

 Purple People Eater Corsage Necklace

Sweater: Kohl's

Skirt: Ellen Tracy, JCPenney

Shoes: Betseyville, Macy's

Bag: Betseyville, ROSS Dress for Less

Belt: Gifted

Scarf: Wet Seal

 Bright Bohemian Corsage Necklace

Dress: Francesca's

Tee: So, Kohl's

Shoes: Charles Albert, Alloy

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's

Scarf: Marshalls

 Pretty in Pink Corsage Necklace

Sweater: Mossimo, Target

Skirt: Bubblegum, Macy's

Shoes: BCBG, Macy's

Bag: Krystala Creations, Etsy

 Green With Envy Corsage Necklace

Top: XOXO, Macy's

Skirt: Boscov's

Shoes: Guess, DSW

Bag: Candie's, Kohl's

 Blue Bird of Happiness Corsage Necklace

Top: Kohl's

Jeans: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Shoes: Dollhouse, Marshalls

Bag: Candie's, Kohl's

Red Hot Corsage Necklace

Top: JCPenney

Skirt: Steve Madden, ROSS Dress for Less

Shoes: Rocket Dog, DSW

Bag: Marshalls

Recently, I vowed not to blog about each and every photo retake as I work to more flatteringly capture my stock.  I think we can safely toss that promise out the window.  As I delve more deeply into constructing fresh outfits around old creations, it's become clear to me that I love styling my jewelry almost as much as I love making it!  Making a tired old skirt work with a winning new top or an almost-forgotten purse pop with the right pair or pumps is a game I don't want to stop playing.  Call it the collector's curse, but it's my vice of choice.