capsule wardrobe - white and cream

Well I finally finished my capsule wardrobe! 

 I have been shooting parts and pieces now for weeks.

All with the same background and lighting.

In the hopes of providing some wardrobe inspiration,

as well as 

organizing my own closet options....

wishing you all a happy summer....

and

 speaking of summer....
my darling daughter

 Ellis

with her own blog and style
(she and I do share the same fabulous photographer- my son-Hunter Beardsley)

has returned home for her summer internship....

she leaves again September 2nd to study in Italy

so believe me

I will be savoring each summer day with her!

Wishing you love and joy

as you style your life

t

DIY vintage brooch necklace

The most time consuming part of this project is the collecting of pieces.

I found mine at flea markets  and filled in with 

some enamel pieces I found at Michaels, earrings and rings I took apart.

The key to this project- a purchased base

 I tried several attempts  using chain 

but using a purchased base, finally brought me the success I was looking for.

I purchased this base recently at Target 

but I have seen many inexpensive versions at the chain junior stores 

(a great tip themselves for inexpensive trend accessories).

The second big key to this project- wire.

Each piece has been wired onto the open weave necklace, in a manner similar to sewing.

Gently grab several strands of the beaded base and tie off in the back,

tuck the twisted ends into the necklace, to avoid being scratched when wearing.

I chose to line mine on the back side with a piece of fabric cut into a strip and whipstitched on.

On some of the brooch pieces with nothing on the back to attach my wires to

I simply wired them on over the entire piece. I was very happy with the look 

of the exposed 'stitches' of wire.

Repeat the wiring process until you have your desired look

and voila you now own your one of a kind vintage brooch necklace!

as always

wishing you love and joy

 as you style your life

t

easy way to lengthen any necklace...

I love layering my necklaces

and have found an easy way to do so 

with pieces that might be all the same length...

just extend them!

working in the back of the necklace

with a couple of tools and findings

you can extend any necklace to your desired length.

The work horse go to tools

for extending

two needle nose plyers...

a bit of chain

in similar weight of the necklace your extending....

it certainly doesn't have to match exactly

A couple of jump rings

 and

 lobster claw finding

or any closure finding

(all of these supplies are easily available at most craft shops)

to extend your necklace

simply open the back of the necklace

decide how much longer you want it...

open up one of the jump rings

with the two plyers

grab a piece of chain

and

 the end of the necklace

all together in the jumper ring

using both plyers

simply close the jump ring...

 repeat this process 

with the other end

this time adding in the lobster claw closure

Voila

 you now have a necklace 

that hangs just where you want it to!

it's just that easy 

to customize your own necklace!

Wishing you love and joy

as you style your life

thanks so for stopping by

Saturday quote.....