Today...

Today I am sewing while we wait for our 1:00PM scan appointment to arrive. LONGEST WAIT EVER.

P.S. - Holding off on my 20 week baby bump photo so we can do the gender reveal! YAHOO!

Floral Skirt Restyle

I love a good thrift store find that's perfect off the hanger. But that rarely ever happens for me. Instead, I find the perfect print dress in 3 sizes too big. Or I'll find a skirt that's the wrong length. Fortunately these are easy fixes!

I found this beautiful vintage floral print skirt whilst op-shopping with my dear friend, Dee. The florals in this skirt stole my breath. Beautiful bright perfection! It just needed a few tweaks here and there.

Before:


-The skirt was too big and sat too low on my hips. Because of the extra room in the waist it ended up making me look baggy and frumpy. It took away from the beauty of the florals! To fix this, I took it in a few inches so it would sit higher on my waist and create a slimmer silhouette.

-The skirt was JUST a tad too short to be a maxi skirt. Because I'm short (5'3") maxi skirts can be hit or miss. Too long and it's just not wearable. If the skirt sits just above the ankles it makes me look REALLY SHORT and STUMPY in real life. It visually cuts off the length of the skirt and makes me look quite squat. Not a good look, so I shortened this skirt just to the knees.

After:



The result is a fun and playful skirt! Easy to dress up or dress down.

Admittedly, I have a growing pile of clothes that I've bought with the intention of fixing up. But I can't seem to find the time/motivation that I need to tackle it! One piece at a time, eh? ;)

Do you ever bring the scissors to your vintage finds?

xoxo Talia Christine

It Was A Good Shopping Day

I thought of Dee as I visited my favorite thrift store today! It was a good haul.

I brought home pretty vintage sheets for my collection(such beautiful prints!!), a beautiful tapestry, a skein of natural colored lace-weight wool yarn, and a pretty vintage dress for Audrey this summer.

Audrey saw the birds and quacked like a duck at them. I laughed out loud in the store as I realized what she was doing. She's obsessed with chickens and ducks! So cute.

Feeling pretty proud of my shopping today!

xoxo
Talia Christine

This time last year: I can't believe how tiny she was.

Wellington: Thrift Finds

On our trip to Wellington, I took advantage of stopping by a few of the many incredible thrift stores there. Man oh man. I scored big time, guys! I've had a few things on my list that I've kept my eye out for awhile now and was floored to check off so many things off my list!

Someone please take me back there to do more shopping. Also I need more monies. Anybody?

First, I was given this gorgeous (and hilarious) vintage cat salt shaker and matching milk jug. Yes. Milk pours out of the cat's mouth.

Best gift ever. Thanks, Inti!!




My second find was this simple linen shirt (heart be still) and this gorgeous fluttery black skirt that fits like a glove. No alterations needed! When I tried on the linen shirt I fell in deep deep love. It's simple and light weight. Perfect for layering or for summer! The construction is pretty simple, I think I may make myself a few more of these tops in different fabrics.




Next I found these incredible orange owls. They were originally salt and pepper shakers but I think they are too pretty for that. One is destined for decoration in my house. The other to fly away.

They may be my new favorite thrift find.



These tea towels were too awesome to pass up. Cats and various herbs and spices?? Yes, please. We bought this one from a local cat store in Petone. The owner was so intense about cats. Bless him.




We found this gorgeous morepork/ruru tea towel in MadeIt, a cute little boutique we stumbled upon in the city. I've had my eye on the artist that made the tea towel for awhile. It was nice to see her work in person.




Lastly, I found these two dresses that I immediately fell in love with.

The first dress is a tent. Like.. almost an actual tent. Me and Phil and Audrey could all fit into it at once. I have big plans to restyle it for a cute summer look.



This second dress is a dream. It fits perfectly and has the most gorgeous detailing. I love love this dress!



I'm so pleased with all my finds! There's nothing like an incredibly successful thrift expedition.

What thrifting treasures have you found lately?

xoxo
Talia Christine

The Vintage Stroller

We picked up this little beauty at a garage sale for 10 bucks.
It was the find of our lives! I am sooo in love with this vintage stroller.

We plan on using it as a bassinet for our little Bean.
Convenient too, because I can wheel it from room to room! Love.

I've given it a good scrub inside and out and fitted a new mattress into it. It's gorgeous and cozy. One day I'd like to fully restore it to its original beauty, but that's a job for another day.






3 weeks and 2 days until the due date! Last night I had a dream that we had the baby and sent out an announcement email announcing Baby vdW's arrival. In the dream I kept trying to access and read the e-mail so I could finally find out whether it was a boy or a girl! SO silly. Ah well, we will find out soon enough and I can't wait!

♥
Talia Christine

Garage Sale Finds

Last weekend the Mister and I went garage saleing around Hamilton. We were pretty late to the game because we felt like sleeping in. That's pretty much bad news when it comes to garage sales, but this time we struck gold!



I found these pretty matching vintage flat sheets that are in EXCELLENT condition. I plan on using the fabric to make something pretty, but I can't decide what I'll use it for just yet.

I love using vintage sheets for making quilts and dresses. We'll just have to see what the sheet wants to be made into!

... AND THEN ...



We got these little beauties.

A little fact for you: The first thing I do when I'm at a garage sale is run to see if they have any little vintage trinkets or figurines. I'm obsessed with little owls, deer, and cats. Unfortunately, I can never find them.


When we got to this particular sale I, like always, ran to the trinkets area. There were figurines... but no deer. No owls. I sort of forgot my manners and made a sad face stating that I was looking for deer or owls. "Deer or owls you say?" the little British lady (who was having the garage sale) said, "Hold on". And then she ran inside her house! She came out a minute later, panting for breath and handed me the deer and the littler owl. She said she didn't need them. They were just sitting ona shelf collecting dust. I almost died right there! She sold us the figurines and some sort of wrench or tool for Phil (Sorry, Phil, I forgot what it is called) for 4 dollars. SO STOKED!!!


The larger owl figurine was a present from Phil while I was in the States. He found it at a market. I love it so much! It's actually a salt shaker.
Best. Salt shaker. Ever. (Best husband ever)


Sigh. Garage sale happiness.

xoxo
Talia Christine

My New Dress

Remember this dress I found at a garage sale?


I got this dress and a handful of other things for 5 bucks! It was a major score.
Upon closer inspection, the vintage dress I had found was definitely handmade! Bonus!
I love that someone chose the fabric for it and made it from scratch. I like the fact that it lives on and is still appreciated.



Because the dress was far too big and needed to be resized, I planned to take in 2-4 inches on each side. I loved the neckline though and decided to leave it alone. The dress was also a bit too long so I decided to shorten the dress and hem it to give it a more modern look.
With my plans set and scissors in hand, I jumped into action.





The dress only took about 15-20 minutes of quick measuring and sewing to make it fit the way I wanted.

I love the way it turned out!




It fits really well and looks great with a belt!
I think I found my new favorite dress--just in time for Spring.

xoxo
Talia Christine

P.S. - I'm falling in deep love with my new fringe. It has taken a bit of getting used to, but I am a huge fan now.

Garage Sale Finds

Yesterday morning we went on a garage sale run around Hamilton. There was a massive rummage sale at a local church and we decided to stop by.
Look at what we scored!



We found:
A vintage dress that I'm going to resize for myself.
A beautiful sunhat
Two gorgeous old scarves
A chalkboard
A lemonade pitcher
And a paper organizer



We got all of this for 5 bucks!! Did I tell ya we scored or what??

I'm so excited to get to work on my new dress.
I love vintage dresses and I love finding a good bargain.

xoxo
Talia Christine

Our New Vintage Record Player

(Or: How I Have The Best Husband Ever)

When we shipped my stuff over from the states we included my gorgeous record player. One of my prized possessions. Getting the record player was one of the things we were looking forward to. When we got it here we attached the adapter to be able to plug it into the wall and held our breath. It started smoking. My heart stopped. It smelled like the record player equivalent of burnt toast. Uh oh. I took it to the electricians at work to have them take a look at it. It would cost more to repair than it would to buy a new one. I was bummed, but it was only a temporary set back until we could listen to all our beautiful vinyl again.

That's when Mr. van der Wel started looking online for a new vintage record player for us. He found a great deal on Trade Me for 45 bucks and we won the auction! We opted to drive out to the seller in Thames to pick it up.

I love it so much!!! It's even better than the last one. It's such a beautiful piece of furniture.







When we plugged it in one of the speakers wasn't working it was just giving out fuzz. Phil grabbed a screw driver and dove right in and fixed it. See?
I really do have the best husband ever.

I'm listening to Greetings From Michigan by Sufjan Stevens right now.

I'm a very happy camper.

xoxo
Talia Christine

P.S. - My favorite part is that the vintage player smells soooo good!