Silver Lining of Sorts

Last week at this time (10:30 a.m.) I was sitting in a room at the courthouse waiting for my ex to show up for our third meeting with the state's attorney about his inability to pay support. He didn't show so I get to go back in two more weeks. Not happy. He has accused me of lying when I say that he won't be honest about his income and doesn't pay what he's supposed to or at all since September, but it's all true. But enough about him... after we left, Mom and I decided to check out the Goodwill in Peoria because we hadn't been there in ages. Holy crap. They barely had anything and it was all so out of our price range - I mean, $15 for shoes. Fifteen. Dollars. I can get new shoes for that! I did, however, find a couple of patterns that needed to come home with me.

The one on the left is one I've seen on a blog somewhere. I think my love of Stevie Nicks and her old stage costume of a leotard and chiffon skirt are coming to the front on this. Of course, that's a look only she can pull off, so I'll wear the leotard like I did twenty years ago - with jeans and crazy hair. I may try the pants and top, too, if I can find the right fabric. And on the right is another vintage shirtdress for my collection. This is from 1979 and looks pretty cool. It will also require just the right fabric, but I may have something to use for a first try. So I managed to get something good out of the day after all. Hopefully the next court date will be the last one, at least for a while. Today I'll be in another waiting room - both kids are home with fevers, sore throats, and headaches. Yay. A mommy's work is never done!

Button Cuff

You know I have a love for buttons. I've spent more than a little time on pinterest looking at beautiful things that people have made out of them and have seen an amazing array of cuffs. I decided to give it a try.

The large main buttons were made into a bracelet before but the string broke - these are rather heavy and I shouldn't have just threaded anything through them. I placed them first and added the rest a couple at a time. The larger red ones are the extras from a Halston III blouse, his line for J C Penney in the early 80s. I was surprised to find them in one of the jars that I got for Christmas. My original plan was to only use red but the fabric, silk from a vintage tie, is very colorful so I decided to add the white and blue.

It fastens with two loops made from a pony tail holder. They are perfect for use as a fastener since the skinny elastics don't work for my thick hair at all. I wore it today and it's really comfortable. Tomorrow I'll be going through my buttons again to start on another one (or more!) in some other colors. This first one isn't great since I didn't really know what I was doing, but it has really sparked my creativity. I should really get to work on some new dresses to go with my bracelets!