Twelfth Outfit of Christmas

I said I would blog about my 12 outfits of Christmas, and I actually did it! Hooray! This is my twelfth outfit, which I actually wore on Boxing Day to tackle the sales. But if that isn't included as part of Christmas, then I don't know what is!

It was quite hot on Boxing Day and the sales are always revoltingly packed, so I opted for my new cotton skirt, white cotton shirt and flat sandals to see me happily through the mayhem. I bought this skirt on Christmas eve at the new Salvos store in Myaree. It cost $7 and I am in love with the print and the colours. Black, white and a dash of yellow? It's like it was made specifically for me! 

Did you notice my gorgeous new photo prop? My wonderful boyfriend got me the most amazing watermelon pink bike for Christmas! I may have pointed him in the right direction, but he did a good job at leading me off the scent and I was completely surprised and thrilled when he wheeled it out on Christmas morning. We are going to Rottnest Island for New Years Eve, so I can't wait to ride this baby around the island. 

My Karen Walker Betsy sunglasses were a Christmas present to myself. As much as I love the cats eye shape for glasses, this over sized square style is so glamorous. I love them! My yellow brooch is hand made fimo and my white brooch is vintage from Berlin. My trusty Melissa jelly sandals have been getting a work out this Summer. They are just so easy to wear and were perfect for shoe shopping in the sales (I may or may not have picked up 3 new pairs of shoes).

I hope you have a wonderful New Years Eve celebration tonight! I am off on an island getaway for a few days. See you next year! 

Christmas Day - Part Two

The second part of my Christmas day went by in such a flurry that I hardly remembered to take any pictures. I love getting swept up in the moment and I don't want to be stuck behind the lens for the whole day, but I really wish I had captured a few more moments with my Nikon. Not the least because I only got two measly photos that kind of show my Christmas afternoon outfit!

I wore my halter neck floral dress. I op-shopped this beauty in Queensland a few years ago, it's vintage Katies. I often wear a crinoline underneath it to give the skirt some more shape, but I didn't bother on Christmas day. I honestly think this is one of my top 5 favourite dresses. I LOVE IT! It's cotton, it's colourful, it's floral and it has a collar. It ticks all of my boxes! 

Worn with my trusty black belt (which I took off later in the day after my 3rd helping of pavlova) and my lovely Christmas tree brooch, I was feeling decidedly festive all afternoon.

I finally popped my magnum of Mumm champagne that I won on Melbourne Cup day. I had been saving it for a special occasion and Christmas seemed fitting. My cousins and I were all very excited about it, so of course we needed photos with the giant bottle, it's only right! Sadly even a giant bottle like this split between several thirsty relatives doesn't last that long, but it sure was delicious! 

Christmas Morning

I forgot to ask in my post yesterday, how was your Christmas?? After such a big lead up to it, mine was suitably subdued but wonderful. I spent the day with my favourite people, being spoilt, eating too much, swimming, laughing, sleeping. It was awesome! How many days until next Christmas?! 

This is my outfit from Christmas morning. We went to have morning tea with some family friends. I was very excited to wear this outfit as I had been planning it and saving it for this special day. I picked up this skirt at the Salvos store in Fremantle a few weeks ago for $14. A bit pricey for me, but I couldn't walk away from the little bobbles on the hem. So cute! 

The red and white stripe are perfect for a Christmas themed outfit. I was tempted to go totally red and white and wear my little white shirt, but decided to break it up with my op-shopped DKNY tie up top instead. A good move I think! This outfit looks a little bit country bumpkin/line dancing-esk to me and I like it! I just need some cow boy boots!

My brooch has featured quite a bit in the last week, it's hand made fimo. My shoes were gifts that morning! Spotty Havianas with red straps! I don't wear thongs off the beach very often, but these are the perfect colour/pattern combo for me! Santa knows me well! 

Fifteen minutes after I took these photos I proceeded to stuff my face with caramel slice and fruit mince pies. I hope your Christmas morning was a blissful as mine!

PS. Excuse my rather uninspiring hair. I bought my brother an amazing pool toy for Christmas so I didn't bother washing it for Christmas morning because I knew I'd be jumping in the chlorine all afternoon.

Home-Made Gifts Challenge

Earlier this year I made a few small goals for myself to achieve before 2014. Well 2014 is mighty close and I still have one thing on that list to complete. Oh dear! I guess that's what setting goals is for though, pushing yourself to try something different or do something a bit better. There is no point setting a goal that you can easily achieve, you need to give yourself a little challenge!

One of my four goals was to make at least half of my Christmas gifts. Ha Ha Ha. I think I was a bit too ambitious with that one. My weeks before Christmas were steadily filled with parties and gatherings and work and sport. I just didn't have enough time set aside to think of homemade gifts and then actually make them. That being said I did manage to make some things, so I'm giving myself a B on this goal. 

These images are probably the least glamorous on my blog so far. This is 'hanging around the house and making stuff' Hannah at her finest. Hair jammed in to a clip, no make-up (possibly no bra) and a cotton dress, that pretty much sums it up! 

A few days before Christmas I whipped up two aprons to give as gifts. I used some vintage fabric I've had sitting in my sewing pile for a few years and some yellow gingham I got on sale for $4. I didn't follow a pattern, I just made it up as I went along. I'm very happy with the outcome of my aprons, and my Mum and beautiful friend where both grateful for something hand made (I think!). 

I also made some brownies and blondies to give to my work mates as holiday treats. So that's 5 gifts out of about 15 that were hand made. Not a bad start! Next year I'm definitely going to have to start much earlier in the year if I want to actually achieve this goal!

Novelty Brooch Friday

Apparently Novelty Brooch Friday is a thing! How awesome! I discovered it thanks to the marvellous blog Tuna Bake and promptly jumped on that band wagon last Friday. I wore my perspex red poodle brooch from Erst Wild designs. Because I decided not to wear one of my Christmas brooches, I went with a red and white colour scheme, just to make sure no one forgets what time of year it is. 

Novelty Brooch Friday is such a great idea! I actually like having a little direction in my dressing, which is why I loved doing the Perth Fashion Festival Restyle challenge so much. It’s nice to have some parameters that you can be creative within. Having such a vast wardrobe means things can get lost and forgotten for a while, so being told that you MUST wear a brooch on Fridays or stripes on Tuesday or whatever, forces me to think a little harder about what I own that fits within those lines.

 

This grey and white stripy dress is an op shop beauty that I picked up a few months ago. I have only worn it one other time because the drop waist confuses me a bit. I’m so used to wearing everything on my waist, that having something sit around my hips is weird. In almost all of the pictures I took of this outfit I have my hands on my waist, subconsciously trying to create the same hourglass silhouette of my other outfits. 

That being said, I do love the shape of this dress, the neck line is very flattering and the huge frills in the skirt are excellent for twirling. Grey and white stripes are also a great canvas for adding other colours. On this day I went with red, but you could really wear it with any colour in the rainbow and the grey and white would still work. My scarf is doing  a poor job of disguising my desperately-in-need-of-a-wash hair . My sandals were $5 from the markets and my sunglasses are Prada. 

P.S Happy Christmas Eve!

December Babies

I love December! There are so many things to celebrate! Aside from the obvious Christmas and New Years festivities, my Mum, Aunt and Uncle are all born within a week of Christmas, so there is always a party to attend and cake to eat. Mum’s birthday was Sunday and I had such a great time celebrating with her. 

It was kind of nice to forget about Christmas just for one day and focus all my celebratory energy on my lovely (well-deserving!) Mum. So my outfit from Sunday was decidedly non-Christmasy in her birthday honour. We went out for breakfast in Fremantle so start with, and it was seriously delicious. Like the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. If you are a Freo person, or feel like making the trek, I would definitely recommend Moore & Moore on Henry street.

I wore this white and green A-line skirt which I bought a few years back at an op-shop in Queensland. It’s the most fabulous fabric and colour. I have a green top that matches it perfectly, but I went with my little white tie up shirt on Sunday. Another tie up shirt and skirt combo… I think I’m a bit obsessed.

My scarf is the newest in my scarf collection, it cost $3 from my favourite Mosman Park op shop, it’s silk and has a really great pattern on it. I love adding new colours and patterns to my scarf collection! This one has bits of yellow in it, but I really want (need) a super bright yellow one (a green one would also be good!). My eyes are peeled every time I walk in to an op shop. 

To finish off my non-Christmasy outfit I wore my new vintage-look brooch. I bought this brooch in Bali of all places. Who would have thought that Bali would be such a haven for amazing brooches? It really took me by surprise, but I saw them everywhere when I was out shopping a few weeks ago. This one cost me about $5 and it’s really lovely. My brooch collection is definitely growing larger, I put ‘vintage brooches’ on my Christmas list so I hope Santa stops by the Salvos to pick one up for me! 

P.S You can see my dog's bum in one of the photos above, she wouldn't leave me alone when I was taking these pictures, she's clearly dying to be featured on the blog!