Its ALive- farmers market surprise

You would not believe what Gavin picked up at the market yesterday. It was indeed a tomato imitating a human. It had an entire finger! Very creepy, we hid it under the other tomatoes and quickly left with our bag of delicious oranges. Oh check out Gavin's tee-shirt, he snagged it at the thrift last week. Priceless.

DIY- Upcycled Tie Necklace

Good Morning! I am still sick, so I have more free time to spend on crafts. Today I will show how super simple it is to take your dad's, boyfriend's, or brother's outdated ties, and turn them into a super funky necklace. It really easy and only take about 25 minutes tops!

Who says girls can't wear ties??

Here’s what you’ll need:
* One stylish tie (the more outdated the better)
* Sewing Pins
* Scissors
* Sewing Machine
* Thread (multiple colors)
* Button of your choice

1. Lay tie out flat, with the fat side starting on the left.

2. Fold accordion style so that you overlap the tie forming it into a rounded frame.

3. Be sure to pin each layer together as you work so they do not come apart.

4. Keep in mind, the more angled the fold is the more of a curve the necklace will have. I have made them several different ways, and I will show you what I mean.

5. Fold between 8-13 folds depending on how long or short you want the necklace to be. Be sure to remember to leave enough unfolded tie to fit around your neck.

6. Start sewing the end of the tie necklace at the skinny side.

7. Sew (zig zag) over the curves of the tie. If you prefer for the stitches to be hidden, pick a less vibrant stitch and match the thread color to the tones in the tie. I LOVE the vibrant stitches, which is why I usually put about three different colors.

8. Attach the small end of the tie to the fat with desired button. (I can never decide)

9. Your finished! Now go show off your spunky creation to its previous owner. These necklaces look best with a simple white tank top or low neck shirt.

Graffiti Friday, and the teal stove.

So, I have a super huge to do list this weekend. But first I will share with you the thrift store find I left behind this past week. If only I had a trailer on the back of my car, and a spare kitchen to put this first find in. Oh and about three other people to help lift. It was great!!

Ok, I wasn't sure if it actually worked, but it was only $35.00 how could you beat that. A stove for $35.00 if anything it would be a funky decoration piece but where would I put it? For now, I will keep on dreaming. Maybe one day.

Recently I have had a little obsession with graffiti. There is not much graffiti in the state of Alabama that I really know of, besides the funky tags on trains that pass you buy. I know graffiti is a little destructive, but it can be so beautiful, truly a work of art. When I was in Australia a couple of years ago there was graffiti everywhere! Large buildings and department stores would commission artists to graffiti the entire side of a building.

It was flippin breathtaking. So everywhere I went I would be taking pictures of the graffiti. Well, I wont dig up those pictures, but here are a few I found in Birmingham. I took a couple shots of the lil sis for her graduation. They turned out really nice.
Also some favorites i snatched on wehearit.

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Anybody else have an obsession with graffiti? Or am I the only one. Have a super weekend everyone!

Sneak Peak - Nectar Vintage

Here is a little sneak peak at this week's updates. This week, my friend Rachael Roberts photographed clothing for Nectar Vintage. Erin Brooks was the new model. It was so much fun, and sweating hott! Everything pictured below (except for the model of course!) will be available for purchase at Nectar Vintage by the end of this week. You can check out some more of Rachael Robert's photography (portfolio) here, also at her blog Rachaelnroberts Photography. Can't wait to do it again! Thanks Erin and Rach.

Sick Day- Blog Button Tutorial

I woke up this morning with a very sharp sensation in my throat, throbbing head, and yucky sweats. What the POO is up with my immune system? It seems I am the guinea pig of bacteria, testing out their new diseases. Humph. Any who, luckily I don't have school today so I get to relax. Of course, my relaxation means twiddling with my blog.

I always see other blogs and ETSY stores and find bursts of creativity. I am constantly trying to figure out how to twiddle with HTML, new photography and design ideas. Today, I might be tweaking my blog header. I just never seem satisfied with the one I have. I have probably designed around ten or fifteen, I just have not had the time to change them out.

OK, all of this being said, I would like to share with anyone who is interested how to create an advertisement for yourself! You know when you sometimes see Funky blogs with their little different sized buttons on the right side, with the source code below. Well it took me hours of searching the web (failure), and attempts to read other peoples source code (semi failure) until I finally just thought to ask a friend how she did it! Jennifer Birdge from Jennfunique The Blog was a friend I met through ETSY. I worked with her at an event in Birmingham. She has lovely style and a very funky blog. She also sells super cute headbands at her ETSY shop.

Jennifer gave me these directions, and now I pass them on to you.

Here is an example of Jennifer's Buttons

And My Buttons!



If you have any questions about design,
or HTML junk just shoot me an email!
cfmontgomery23@gmail.com

Sizzlin Summer- A few of my favorites.

It is getting super hot here in Tuscaloosa. Fashion is quickly thrown out of the window for the best way to keep cool. Yeah, it would be nice to wear one of my hundreds of floral scarfs around my neck to look extra pretty, or those ankle boots that lace up, but its just not practical. So, I have been searching all over the place for some new summer outfits and swimsuits. I am usually a very loyal thrift shopper and find it hard to spend over $5 for a shirt or skirt. I guess you could say the thrift store has spoiled me in a way. Its pretty funny, I actually can not remember the last time I went into a large shopping center, unless of course I needed new bras and undies. My friends are always amazed that almost everything I own comes from the thrift store. Anyway, long story short there are a few items I have been eying, I am just waiting for the perfect occasion to purchase them. Graduation present for myself maybe?

1. Lovely Swimsuit found on ETSY
(pretty sure this one is my favorite)

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2. Retro dress from UrbanOutfitters

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3. Super funky acid wash mini from EBAY


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4. Sexy slim hot pink suit from Victoria's Secret


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5. Barbie swimsuit from ETSY


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6. Polka dot skirt Weheartit



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7. Floral zip-up mini Urban Outfitters


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8. Stylish suit from the Fashion Police


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9. vintage FLORAL fabric JUMPER ETSY

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10. Knit floral mini -Bleubird Vintage

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Hope you enjoy! Oh and April won the owl family!! I will contact you to get your address.

Owl Family Giveaway

Today, instead of a regular blog post, I've decided to do a quickie giveaway. I grabbed this cute wooden owl family wall display yesterday at an estate sale.


So, here's how it will go....

Giveaway is open from now until Monday!

This giveaway is open to those in Canada and the US only.

There are two ways to enter.

1. Follow my blog and comment here. (If you already follow my blog then you can let me know in the comment)

2. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. (Please make sure you mention @carriefagan in the tweet so I can see it!)

Also make sure you come back here and leave a comment letting me know that you've tweeted - this is the only way to make that entry count!

Also check out my new HOOT Owl themed treasury on ETSY.
You can find it here.




Thanks for looking! I am headed out of town this weekend. So I will be back to Monday to announce the winner.

Birdies- my latest sculpture

Here are a few photos from my most recent sculpture piece. You have no idea how many birdies I have made out of records! I got a little tired of it for a while but I'm glad that I stuck with it. The final installation is currently being displayed in the student center at the University of Alabama. As always, Gavin helped out any way he could, which meant in this case handling the power tools. He drilled one too many holes at first, but it eventually worked out.

I just have no idea where I am going to put these birds once they come out of the gallery. Anyone want to purchase an installation? If you live close enough I will even come install them! Otherwise my floor is going to be filled with birds haha.




Here is the final photo.



As always my friends took the opportunity to play around and snatch some pretty awesome photos! School was out so there were only a handful of people who came to the opening reception.




Hope you enjoy. There are plenty more sculpture pieces to come.
Also, be sure to check out the shop tonight (AppleSeed Vintage), I am uploading the rest of the dresses from last weeks photo shoot. As seen here on a previous post.