Something New and Sparkly: Kid Couture

 Crazy for Kawaii Fruit Circles Necklace

Dress: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney
Shoes: Journeys
Bag: Uniquely Different, Etsy

I've always been dazzled by kids' craft sets.  Looking at the color-drenched, glitter-coated supplies parading across the cardboard boxes makes me wish I were eight again so I could shove a whole armful in my cart without shame.  Of course, my eight-year-old self couldn't afford such a spree, but that's neither here nor there.

I was wandering around A.C. Moore (of course) about a month ago when I stumbled upon a clearance table in the kids' section.  A quick scan revealed a box emblazoned with 1960s-themed jewelry marked down to just $5.  I snatched it up, got it home - and promptly forgot about it.  At least until last week when I finally ripped it open, releasing a rainbow of plastic beads onto my living room floor.  Ignoring the "suggested projects" in the enclosed leaflet, I strung most of the beads to make a single necklace.  The result was bold, graphic, and dare I say, groovy.  Still, the oversized flat black plastic disc beads I'd used looked sort of bare.  Although the kit had come with psychedelic peace and love stickers to use to decorate them, I was having none of that.  So, I dug into one of my many supply boxes and unearthed a bunch of fruit-shaped erasers I'd bought at Five Below.  They popped against the black, adding just the right note of kitsch.  A few squirts of Gem-Tac later, and the Crazy for Kawaii Fruit Circles Necklace was born.

As a bonus, the piece looked great against my new ($12!) hot pink and navy striped "skater" (their word, not mine) dress from JCPenney.  As was the case with yesterday's tiger-print number, I ordered it the afternoon of Hurricane Irene, once again demonstrating my near-chronic dependency on retail therapy.  Sure, it's sleeveless and summery, but I think it'll work under a cardigan, most notably my yellow and gray zebra-striped version from Delia's.  This unlikely staple has served as the anchor of many an outfit, a fact made all the more sweet by its $9.99 price tag.

This has been an unusually voluble post.  Mercifully, the prattle stops here.

Something New and Sparkly: Swan on Safari

Dress: Bisou Bisou, JCPenney
Pink shoes: City Streets, JCPenney
Pink bag: Candie's, Kohl's
Bronze shoes: Candie's, Kohl's
Bronze bag: Candie's, Kohl's

I ordered this dress from JCPenney not too long ago (the afternoon of Hurricane Irene, actually), and when it arrived, I thought, I need to make a necklace for this.  And not of my usual super embellished go big or go home variety, either.  No, this time I wanted something simpler yet still different, something basic enough that I could've bought it in a store -- but didn't. 

Inspiration came in the form of this rhinestoned, gold-tone swan pendant, which I fished out of a Michaels clearance bin.  I knew I wanted to accessorize it with amber and mint beads but was itching to introduce another color to prevent it from being too matchy-matchy with the dress.  When I saw these hot pink beads, I knew they would pack the right punch. 

When it was time to take the pictures I ran with the idea, going for a hot pink sandal and bag combo.  Still, I remembered that I had bronze sandals and a bronze bag buried somewhere deep in my wardrobe and couldn't help but wonder how they would look with the dress.  So out they came for a photo all their own, becoming contestants in the first-ever Tote Trove shoe and bag competition.  Who, oh who, would win the honor of stepping out with this sassy zebra-print dress?  Ever the fan of a good color clash, I cast my vote for the pink.  What about you?

Either way, it's nice to have options :)

Something New and Sparkly: Strawberry Storm

Crazy for Kawaii I Heart Strawberries Bib Necklace

Caftan: Mudd, Kohl's
Skirt: Bisou Bisou, JCPenney
Bag: Journeys
Shoes: Madden Girl, DSW

Six necklaces, one caftan, and a boatload of toys make up my new six-part Crazy for Kawaii bib neckpiece collection. What's that you say? A six-parter? Yep. I've decided to go easy on myself (and on you) and blog about these one at a time.

So, where did I find that realistic-looking strawberry plopped in the middle of this beautiful mess? Michaels. I was there Friday afternoon stocking up on glue and wire while everyone else was scouring the superstores for water and batteries in preparation for Hurricane Irene. (Not that I'm totally frivolous. I didn't need to hunt down anything crucial because I'd been evacuated from Brigantine and was staying with my parents.) I spent Saturday afternoon and evening happily holed up in the basement making Crazy for Kawaii bibs. Well, at least until that first tornado watch came exploding onto the TV. That was enough to make me drop my glue bottle and dive under my craft table. Thankfully, the twister, and for that matter, the hurricane, were no shows. I'm not ashamed to admit that when I finally emerged from the cellar my arms were full of my creations to stow upstairs where flooding was unlikely.

But let's not dwell on the serious stuff. Let's talk about caftans! I found the one pictured here at Kohl's for a mere eleven dollars. I figured it was a good staple piece (in a trendy new shape!) and was delighted to use it as the anchor of this spread. Once I saw how striking all those colorful thing-a-ma-bobs were against the black backdrop I knew I couldn't subject my other collage-like collars to prints that'd obscure them.