Polka Dots and Julia Roberts

I have been a hot mess lately; grumpy, sweaty, feeling claustrophobic whenever I'm at home. When I feel this way only one thing can save my mood, thrift shopping. It's a problem, and it's not something that I'm proud of, but it's a real thing. I've had a couple of lucky scores both for the shop, and personally, this dress being one of my most recent favorites. It was funny because I brought it up to the counter all hyped up on tan and polka dots when the cashier said, "Oh a Julia Roberts dress. You know like in Pretty Woman?" It hadn't even occurred to me, but she was totally right. Immediately I wanted to find a giant hat and a horse race to attend to complete the illusion. I settled for just the dress.

I have also been on a nail polish kick lately, very odd for me, and just purchased some mint green nail polish. I'm way behind the times on this, but for a girl who used to own like three colors of polish this is a huge deal. I'm patting myself on the back right now for being so "now."

Outfit Details: dress-thrifted vintage // belt- thrifted // shoes- Fossil // necklace- vintage // sunnies- UO

Is it sad that I love this dress so much I'm already plotting how to wear it this Fall? I've actually been thinking about Fall a lot lately, and I blame it on the heat. Too hot to get dressed, too hot to eat, too hot to do anything but think about cooler seasons ahead. I'm pretty sure four months ago I was begging for summer. Never pleased, shame on me. But summer is drawing ever so much closer to it's end, tomorrow is August! big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget  today is the last day to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

I Learned A Lot About You

Thank you to the 86 wonderful readers who participated in my recent survey for the blog! I learned a lot about you from the little survey a couple of weeks ago, and it looks like I'm pretty much doing what I should be doing in this space. Woot Woot. I had a lot of really good feedback about a lot of different aspects of Secondhand Sundays and this is what I found:

1. A large majority of you, 77.7% in fact, are between the ages of 20-29. I suspected this, but now I know it's fact.

2. 97% of you are female, which means there are boys reading this blog. Hey-o to the boys reading this, way to represent.

3. Of all the features "you'd like to see more of," DIYs were far above the rest. 76% of of you want more projects to try. DIYs were also the highest ranked feature. And...you're in luck because I have a lot of great DIYs planned for the future. Including more accessory and home decor posts.

4. One statistic that surprised me was how many of you use Facebook the most, I guess I just assumed all bloggers were twitter addicts. Wrong. I'll definitely have to examine expanding my Facebook presence to include you more on that space.

5. I was extremely flattered by your sweet comments, and response on why you follow Secondhand Sundays. It was a shock how many of you follow just because you like me. Blushing

6. I also really appreciate your honesty about paying, or not paying, for advertising. The response on that question alone made it very obvious to me that I shouldn't start charging for advertising just yet. Though it is something I'm looking at, DIYs get expensive folks!

7. Also the questions & comments section proved to be very useful as well. I'll be working on cleaning up my sidebar in the next couple of weeks; and answering a couple of questions you had in posts.

I want Secondhand Sundays to be a place where we can all share in the joys, and sorrows of a creative life. From the screw-ups, to the glorious finish you should see it all. Moving forward you'll definitely see more creative projects, peeks into my daily life, fashion, and adventures in small business owning. Pretty much nothing will change, except that I know you better now, and know where to put a majority of my energy. Focus is a good thing. big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

From Farm to Table Dinner: Beet Sandwiches & Zucchini Fries

I love simple meals, made from fresh ingredients, and time. I just discovered beets for the first time this year and I am loving trying out new recipes with them, and exploring their culinary options. My new favorite way to eat beets is on a sandwich. I was inspired by Lisa of La La Faux Bois who posted a recipe for a roasted beet salad a couple weeks back and I decided to take the core ingredients from the salad to make a sandwich instead. It all paired really nicely with some parmesan crusted zucchini fries. Today you can learn how to make all of this for yourself.

Beet & Goat Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients: 2-3 beets (rinsed off), goat cheese, handful of fresh basil, salt&pepper, 2 cloves garlic, olive oil, crusty bread

Directions: Preheat your oven to 400F degrees. In a large piece of aluminum foil, place the beets and 1 clove of garlic in the center, and drizzle with olive oil. Turn them so that they get completely coated and add salt&pepper to taste. Close up the foil, creating a pack and place in the oven. Cook for 1 hour.

While the beets are cooking finely chop the basil, and one clove of garlic to mix in with the goat cheese. Salt&pepper to taste. I like to leave the cheese out so that it's extra soft and easy to spread when the sandwiches are ready to serve.

After your beets are finished cooking open the foil, place the beets in a bowl, and put them in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Once they're cool enough to handle, the skin should easily peel off. Peel them, and then slice them thinly to serve. Cut the bread, spread some of the goat cheese on both pieces and fill with a couple of slices of beets.

Now if you're a good multi-tasker you can make both this recipe and the zucchini fries at once creating a delicious vegetarian meal with minimal ingredients.

Parmesan Crusted Zucchini Fries

Ingredients: 1 large zucchini, salt&pepper, olive oil, herbs de provence, 1 clove garlic, grated parmesan

Directions: Cut your zucchini into "fries," Try to cut them into as even of pieces as possible for easy cooking. Chop your cloves of garlic roughly. Grab a cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil onto it, then toss the zucchini fries and garlic so that they're coated in oil. Next you'll make your parmesan crust topping.

Mix about 1/2 tbsp herbs de provence, with 3 tbsp parmesan and sprinkle all over the fries, turning them to get everything coated. Salt&pepper to taste. With your oven already set at 400F degrees from the beets, place the zucchini fries in the oven and cook for about 25 minutes. Turn them once.

Your farm to table dinner of beet and goat cheese sandwiches, served with parmesan crusted zucchini fries is ready to serve. It's simple, it's delicious, and it's ultra addictive. Enjoy! big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

Weekly Obsessions: Because I Like This

I took a break last week from my Weekly Obsessions for a little venting time and I'm glad I did. I love writing these posts but every once in awhile they feel more like a chore than a pleasure. I hate when things you love get that way! So I'm back this week, feeling refreshed and inspired. Look at all the pretty things I've found recently.

1. Pretty red lace that melts my will not to buy

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I have been in love with this dress since Choix first posted it on their instagram, and I would kill for the money to buy it and wear it everyday. Okay, maybe not kill because that's cruel, but maime possibly. It's just amazing and perfectly suited for my shape. It's called the Field of Poppies dress, could it be anymore perfect? I don't think so.

2. Release the Kraken

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So you probably don't know this about me, or really want to, but I kind of have this thing for octopuses. And by octopus, I mean kraken. I keep trying to convince Ryan to get one of these guys tattooed on his forearm but he won't do it.  

3. Pretty Illustrations

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The pretty embroidery you see above, as well as the octopus illustration before it, comes from the mind and hands of Megan. Megan is the artist behind Studio MME a recent discovery and I'm smitten. I love her whimsical style, and the artist in me is super impressed with her cross hatching skills. I think you'll love her too, you should definitely take a peek at her shop.

4. Good enough to eat

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Stela of Stelabird recently shared this tutorial on making your own donut keychain and I about died. I love the little sprinkles and mini food is just too darn cute.

5. Snoopy & Lucy

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I may or may not have owned multiple Lucy t-shirts as a kid. My mom used to go to Minnesota every year on business and she would always visit the Mall of America, where she would stock up on Snoopy gear for all of us kids at Camp Snoopy. I'm kind of nostalgic over this bag, and I hope someone awesome buys this and gives it lots of love. I wish it were me.

6. Hoo's your owl?

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Another Etsy find, a pretty vintage owl necklace. Oh the accessories I'd own if I wasn't so cheap. I really love this little guy, and can imagine myself wearing this with a maxi dress and Swedish clogs. Oh  the happiness day dreams bring me.

7. Pretty Lena

My sweet bloggy friend Lena emailed me to share her recent thrift store find, and say she'd used some of my thrifting tips to do so. Isn't her polka-dot high waisted skirt just the most precious thing ever!? I think she looks fabulous and I'm uber jealous of her score. You can read my thrifting tips here. Thanks Lena for sharing and for being all around awesome.

There you have it, the glamorous, the kitschy, the tattoos. You've really seen all of my dark side in one post haha. Happy Sunday friends. big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

Sponsor Spotlight: Small Ads with Big Personality

I'm back again this Saturday with the second set of lovely sponsors for you to meet. I am continually blown away by how awesome all of my sponsors are. Watching each of them write and do amazing things on their blogs makes me so happy to be a part of the blog world, and to share in it with sponsorship. Read about each of these lovely ladies below.

BLOG// SHOP// PINTEREST

I'm Julia, I blog about many things as my hobbies are varied: I paint, take pictures, sew, plant and press flowers. I grew up close to nature playing in the forest. My obsession for delicacy and nature is visible on my blog. Recently I've opened a shop called "Live natural' where you can find useful things inspired by the beauty of nature.

BLOG / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

Hello Secondhand Sundays readers, my name is J and I blog over at My Life in Lavender. I’m a student, blogger, and fashion enthusiast with a passion for coffee, funky jewelry, and adventures. My Life in Lavender is my corner of the internet where I like to share my experiences, and my daily outfit choices. Stop on by and say ‘hello’!

BLOG// PINTEREST// TWITTER

My name is Bridgette and you’ll find me blogging at The Headless Mannequin. I love fashion, all things vintage, films and books, and you’ll find me blogging about all of these things and more in my little corner of the Internet. So since you’re in the neighbourhood why don’t you pop on over and say hello!

BLOG// ETSY

Hello, my name is Arrin and my blog is for sharing my life, art, thrifting, and inspiration. I am currently on a mission to sell my art and handmade items. I am also starting school in the fall to become an art teacher! Please join me on my journey!

BLOG// SHOP// TWITTER// INSTAGRAM: @pamwithredhair

hi everyone! i'm pamela marlene & my blog is about fashion, thrifting, art, cooking, and celebrating things that make people smile! i'm a fairly new blogger and am so thankful for all the support and views my readers have given me already and am so excited to keep writing and getting to know each other :]

BLOG// FACEBOOK// TWITTER

The Go Fish Style blog is a social media extension of Go Fish Clothing and Jewelry co. I’m the website coordinator & photographer for the company. Our desire and focus of Go Fish Clothing & Jewelry Company has been to bring opportunity and hope to the poor of the world by purchasing handmade goods from the people who actually make them. We are confident that the lasting, decades-long relationships we have with some of the world's poorest have fostered a spirit of hope, love and dignity to many whom we now call friends.

BLOG// TWITTER// INSTAGRAM: @princess_corner

Hi, I am Ruzu ,a happy girl that lives with my mother, Rory (a dachshund girl) and 4 turtles in a tropical country, El Salvador. My blog is my corner to show my passion of art, adventures, fashion, my photography and others, so if you want to know more go and visit my blog, let´s be friends.

BLOG// BLOG DESIGN//TWITTER

Hey sweet friends, I'm Lauren from The Perfect Pear I love vintage cameras, strawberries, big hair, cowboy boots and sweet treats! :) I loooove doing blog design and I'd love to have you check out my blog and meet you! much love. 

BLOG// TWITTER// PINTEREST

Hello there, I’m Amanda, writer behind our family’s blog about this fantastic little thing called life! Our tiny corner of the internet is your glimpse into our endless giggles, yummy meals, park excursions, bebe letters, colorful crafts, and heaps of love, with bits and pieces of what inspires us along the way. Something parenthood has taught us so far, is that the little things in life aren't so little after all; they are, in fact, quite big and beautifully important. We invite you to our neck of the woods to enjoy a peek at some of the treasured moments in our lives as a itty-bitty family of four.

BLOG// FACEBOOK// INSTAGRAM: @brookejanette

Hi there! I'm Brooke, and I blog over at Silver Lining. I blog about being a newlywed, poor, crazy in love college girl. You can also find tidbits about running, photography, and my love for bell peppers on my blog. (Also I'm kind of obsessed with Bekuh, but aren't we all?) I'm always looking for cute new blogs to follow, so come say hi!

BLOG// TWITTER/ INSTAGRAM: @jackiekorey

Hi, I'm Jackie and I write the blog Purple Monkey. I'm a nineteen year old college student who is originally from New Jersey and is now discovering life in Pennsylvania. I write about my life as a division one college swimmer, my love of fashion, my addiction to baking, and my interests in traveling. I would love it you would stop by and say hello!! xo

BLOG// TWITTER// INSTAGRAM: @seafoameyes

I'm Amy. I live in the Arizona desert. I like going thrifting on the weekends, and reading comic books. Seafoam Eyes is where I share my adventures and musings.


If you'd like to read my past sponsor highlight posts, so you can meet even more awesome bloggers, you can do so here. Happy Saturday everybody! big kiss, bekuh

10 Random Facts About Me

I always love reading posts from bloggers I admire who write facts about themselves in a heartfelt and ridiculously entertaining ways. Recently, Ariel from A Dreamer's Daze did just that and I found myself really getting into all the factoids she shared. So I figured why not share a little random with you in this space too? Add this post to the many ways you can get to know me through Secondhand Sundays.

10 random facts you probably didn't know about me:

1. I'm left handed, very left handed. Ryan is also left handed.

2. I pick all of the toppings off my pizza and eat them first before eating the crust.

3. I wear glasses, but mostly contacts.

4. I played field hockey my sophomore year of college.

5. I didn't own a digital camera until 2006 (gasp), and a DSLR until 2010 (double gasp).

6. I meditated regularly and refused to sit in a desk for most of 3rd grade.

7. I have three biological siblings, and 4 step-siblings; making me one of eight.

8. I still bite my nails sometimes.

9. The first rated R movie I ever watched was Last of the Mohicans with my parents at age 7.

10. I attended 3 colleges before getting my bachelor's in Studio Art in 2010. I never once changed my major. How's that for bizarre and random?

I think that's probably enough about me for today. I'll be sharing how to make the leather headdress in the picture above next week! big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

My Closet: a tour

I'm getting so close to finishing my home goals for 2012, which is crazy! So far the biggest accomplishment has been reorganizing and decorating my closet. Today I want to show you around my semi walk-in which highlights my obsession with color and shelving, you've been warned.

Because we live in an apartment the closet space in the bedrooms is a little more than limited, so I took over the big closet in our dining room as my personal wardrobe, and it has been the best decision. 

To organize my growing love of shoes I purchased an expandable shoe rack for the back wall, which comfortably fits behind my skirts and dresses. I have to kind of crawl to get the shoes out, but they're organized and still visible. To the left there are built in shelves that are kind of hidden, but I keep all of my boots on the bottom shelf to the side because they're special.

I used an old tension rod to create a shorter, narrow, bar for all of my short skirts off to the right of my closet, and it's really freed up a lot of room on top bar for my vintage dress obsession. I obviously couldn't fit the maxi skirts on the bottom rod, so they love with the dresses up top.

Even with the built-in shelves, I still found myself needing a little extra storage for my purses, and sunnies. We had some scrap wood that I painted black and nailed one board above the top clothing rod, and one right over my shoe rack on the back wall. I love having the extra space to show off some of my favorite bags. You see that giant tropical bag below, I scored that beauty for just $5.

On the top shelf of the built-ins I purchased another tension rod to drape all of my scarves over, so I could see them all and quickly grab them in my frantic morning rush. The shelf below that houses a tray with all of my belts, and plastic shoe boxes full of tights, and berets. I also keep all of my pants and shorts in stacks on the shelves, but that's more out of necessity than beauty.

All in all I spent less than $40 on shelves, paint, lighting, and storage to create the super organized space you see above. I love having a place for everything, and everything in its place. big kiss, bekuh


PS- Don't forget to enter the Go Fish Giveaway!

{CLOSED} Go Fish Giveaway!

Aren't you guys just the luckiest readers in the world, I have a SECOND giveaway for you today!? 

One of this month's sponsors, Go Fish, has kindly offered to giveaway a piece of jewelry from their summer collection to one lucky reader! They kindly let me do the picking and I decided on the Brigit Bracelet in Orange, both for it's beautiful craftsmanship and because the colors were just too perfectly summer to pass up. Before I go into all the details about how to enter this wonderful giveaway let me share a little about Go Fish, and their company.

Go Fish was founded in 1987 with a mission to bring opportunity and hope to the poor of the world by buying handmade goods from the people who actually make them. They've formed lasting friendships with these groups of artisans and feel that they are living out their mission through these efforts. Today Go Fish has 12 different US locations and a website offering goods from around the world. To read more about Go Fish I recommend their "Who We Are," page found here.

I really love what Go Fish stands for and their products are beautiful, well made, and unique. I'm so happy to have them as a July sponsor, and I'm honored that they are offering this giveaway to you on Secondhand Sundays. Here's how to enter:

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and remember to put your email in the comment

1. Leave a comment with your name and email address.

2. Follow Go Fish on Twitter and leave a comment with your twitter username stating you've done so.

3. Like Go Fish on Facebook and leave a comment stating you've done so.

You will have until August 1st to enter and the winner will be picked and announced on that day.  Good Luck! big kiss, bekuh

DIY Fabric Chain Garland

I love hosting a good party, but party decorations can be kind of expensive and a little too disposable for my budget. Which is why in college I developed a fabric chain garland that could be used over and over again for all my decoration needs. Today I'm going to share how you can make this awesome, and sustainable, party decoration for yourself. Using just a few simple ingredients and a little time. This is part two of the products I used to sell in my old etsy shop, you can see part one here.

Gather your supplies, you'll need: Liquid Starch, Fabric (I used old sheets), Fabric Glue, Card-stock, a Pen, Scissors, Ruler, an Iron, a clean sink or tub.

Your first step is to create your chain template. I like dainty, small rings so I kept my template to .75"x5.5" but really you can make them any size you want as long as they're a long rectangle. Once you've cut your template out set it aside for later.

Next, you'll want to grab your fabric and the liquid starch. You'll want to stiffen the fabric so that it will hold the link shape no matter how you hang your garland. Pour the starch into your tub or sink and soak the fabric thoroughly. Wring out any excess starch and hang the fabric out to dry. The fabric will need to be completely dry before you start the next step of the process.

Once the fabric is dry iron it flat, this should make the fabric extra stiff. Depending on the size of the fabric you're using this step could take awhile.

After your fabric is ironed flat use the template to outline your link shape. It takes about 60 links to make 10 feet of chain garland if you use my suggested size template. Once you've cut out your rectangles, you're ready to start making the links.

Using the fabric glue, draw a line of glue on the short end of the strip and create a loop so that the pattern is on the outside, and press together. You've now created your first loop. Next you'll link the chain together by threading the next fabric strip through the first loop and gluing it into a ring as well (see below). Continue this process until your chain is the desired length.

I highly recommend letting the glue set before lifting the chain garland or hanging it, as it can be a little fragile at first. Once the fabric glue is set your garland should be as strong as an ox and hang beautifully. Depending on the fabric you choose to use this garland would be perfect for a bridal shower, a fiesta, as birthday celebration, or just about any occasion. big kiss, bekuh