Heart Shaped Elbow Patches

Summer is swiftly fading into the shadows of fall. Some days hold an overcast hue and others end with a chill. I cannot even believe the idea that I am moving back onto campus two weeks from today and I am doing my best to make the most of summer while it lasts. I just want to hold onto this feeling of calm for as long as possible because once the year begins again I know I will be thrown back into the stress of nursing school and that thought overwhelms me. Lately I've been trying my best to make plans for swimming, bonfires, and bike rides. I've noticed that every summer that goes by the spontaneity of the summer before is lost bit by bit. I no longer can drive over to pick up my girl friends for a quick dip in the lake. We have all gone our separate ways and now plans must be made for summer fun. I'm sorry to be so somber this morning. I really intended this to be a fun entry about the cute heart shaped elbow patches I sewed onto my oldest, most loved piece of clothing, but the slow death of summer has gotten to me.   

But back to the cardigan. I bought this simple black knit cardigan six years ago and every time I wear it I feel as if I'm wearing a blanket, I'm enveloped by warmth and love. I love the feelings we associate to clothing sometimes, because an emotion gives cloth life. Over the years of wearing this cardigan I've worn holes into the elbows, lost several buttons, and repaired tears. I fixed them all but the elbow holes had gotten to the point where they couldn't be fixed with just thread and fabric from a beloved friends old tshirt (black fabric she selflessly gave me one afternoon when I was upset over yet another hole). I decided to try out the heart shaped elbow patches I saw over at A Beautiful Mess months ago. I feel like they truly gave it new life and the thought of being able to wear it when the chill finally comes gives me a bit of comfort.

I hope your day is filled with sun & summer fun,

xoxo Sarah

Guest Post // Lovely Chaos // Why You Should Buy Vintage

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that for my regularly scheduled post today I actually have a link to my first ever guest post! I wrote a piece over at Lovely Chaos called "Why You Should Buy Vintage." If you enjoyed my previous posts about vintage clothing I highly recommend you check it out here.

Have a lovely day everyone,

xoxo Sarah

Pastel Keyboard

So a while back I alluded to the fact that I recently made a big purchase. If you follow me on instagram you're probably going "yeah Sarah, you bought a laptop duh" if not, well there you go. The old junker I used to have was barely functional but served me well for 5 years. I decided it would probably be best to replace it before it fell apart completely (which it was pretty close to doing). So after about a week or so of research and a ton of instagram questions I settled on a pretty pink Sony Vaoi and I couldn't be happier! I look forward to writing many posts on my pretty pink keypad.

Have a pretty pastel day,

xoxo Sarah

Wish List // Egg Yolk

soft leather ballet flats // mid century yellow crown mug

Nothing is better than when your mug matches your flats.

xoxo Sarah

My Favorite iPhone Apps - iphoneography

I love my iPhone. Without it I would not be able to run my shop or have any good photos for this blog. Because I'm unable to afford Photoshop for my computer I do all of my photo editing right on my phone. Although the quality isn't always spectacular I still feel that I am able to produce some pretty good pictures with what I have. So today I'm going to share with you my eight favorite iPhone apps for photography.

1. VSCO CAM

Price: $0.99

What I use it for: VSCO is my favorite editing tool. They have a wide range of high quality filters & editing tools. My favorite filters are 4 & 5 because they give a photo a muted calm quality. The editing tools I use the most are fade, contrast, temperature, & saturation.

2. Instagram
 Price: FREE
What I use it for: If you have an iPhone and you don't have instagram you are missing out! It's a photo sharing app with a social media twist. Essentially it's twitter + photo's. I love the sense of community it builds and I love sharing photos of day to day life.

3. PS Express
 Price: FREE (But you are really unable to do anything unless you buy the $4.99 add on)
What I use it for: I usually run my photos through VSCO first and then PS Express for these two editing tools; reduce noise & sharpen. Reduce noise is perfect for photos taken in low light that have a grainy look to them. It softens up the grains of the photos to give it a smoother look. I usually run every photo through the sharpen tool for a crisper image that looks closer (but never the same) to a DSLR image than a iPhone shot.

4. Whitagram
Price: FREE
What I use it for: In applications like instagram with a square only feed I use whitagram to show a full photo and it adds white in the blank space.

5. Phonto

Price: FREE
What I use it for: I use phonto for photos I am using for ads, DIY posts, or any photo that needs text.

6. PicFrame

Price: $0.99
What I use it for: PicFrame allows you to combine multiple photos into one and display them with different frame and border options.

7. LensLight

Price: $0.99
What I use it for: Bokeh, light leaks, light burst and other fun light effects.

I hope you all found this post helpful for you photo editing needs. Do you have a favorite app for photo editing? Share it below!

xoxo Sarah

Playing Dress Up

The other day I decided to take a pit stop at my favorite antique store The Creamery. I looked around for a bit and right before I was about to leave empty handed I found, underneath a pile of hats, a pair of 1930s cream satin shoes. In a Cinderella moment they fit me perfectly, which is rare for someone who wears a size 5. As soon as I got home I decided to put on an outfit deserving of satin heels so with my 1960s cupcake dress & a Giant Dwarf sparkler I enacted a age old ritual that most girl's stop doing by the time they hit their teenage years. I played dress up. I seriously think this is something I should do more often because it was fun!

My shoes are lovely but they are 80+ years old and have a bit of dirt on them. Does anyone have any good tips for how to clean satin?

Hope your day is bright,

xoxo Sarah

p.s. sorry about the quality of the photos, there was not much light to work with.

Bits + Pieces - Noon

Today I'm very seriously considering staying in bed all day. It's gloomy, it's noon, and I am going on a bit of an adventure tomorrow so for today it just sounds like a good idea...

the truest quote // sophia playing house // my new favorite shoes // a snack

I hope your day is relaxing,

xoxo Sarah

p.s. Like The Antique Pearl on Facebook!

Pyrex + Pretty Dresses

Me & Jordan went antiquing for hours today and it was so much fun! I went back to a pyrex display I discovered last year just to stare at the pink & blue pretties for a while while silently sobbing over their hefty price tag. Plus I found a 40s dress that I made some quick alterations to! The only thing left to finish is the blind hem but such a huge task frightens me a bit. Any advice?

xoxo Sarah

p.s. I post dated this post because when I was going through my archives I noticed a couple posts that were meant to go up a while ago that didn't! For the sake of keeping my journal entries in order I wanted it on the right date :)

Bits & Pieces - Kitty

Jordan's sister came to visit for a couple days and she brought with her the cutest little kitty I've ever seen. They left today and now I have to go back to a kitty-less life. It's kind of a bummer. Right now I'm just dreaming of the day me and Jordan can have a place of our own. A place with wood floors and white walls that we can fill with color and life. I know we should cherish the here and now but it gets hard moving from tiny room to tiny room with no place to really call your own.

I hope your day is sweet and cuddly

xoxo Sarah

p.s. I just started a facebook page for The Antique Pearl. Feel free to like me for little blurbs about websites I like, links to pretty dresses from etsy, and random instagram photos ♥

How I Reinvented Myself

If you've been following my blog for a while now you may have noticed the transition from an inspiration focused viewpoint to a more original content/lifestyle blog. But I haven't really divulged what the reasoning behind that was because I didn't realize at the time the transformation I was going through. I realize now that over the course of the last year I have changed drastically in both my fashion sense and my sense of self.

Anyone who has suffered from low self esteem will know where I'm coming from when I tell you how self- conscious I was growing up. I had that feeling that everyone was watching me and judging me and so the pressure to fit in was overwhelming. In high school I dressed weird, but it was still normal enough to be deemed acceptable. Though once I began college, I stumbled into this little internet dimension and discovered my passion for vintage clothing. At first it was daunting; where to shop, what to buy, how to pull it off. There were so many different factors in completely changing my style that I became so overwhelmed I didn't try at all. I remember being extremely unhappy with the way I dressed. I felt that jeans and a shirt every day stifled my ability to show other people who I was as an individual. Daily I would scour over eBay and Etsy, dreaming of the day I could own vintage and finally be happy with my style.

This went on until after my sophomore year of college when I decided to take initiative with my own wardrobe. Jordan and I went thrifting a couple times a week that summer, and by the time I arrived at school the fall semester of my junior year (one year ago), I had already amassed a large collection of thrifted dresses with a couple vintage ones thrown in.

Buying the dresses was easy, but wearing them....that was a different story. Any one who has struggled with their own confidence can sympathize when I tell you how terrified I was about how others would react to my new clothes and what they would think of me. I had worn my dresses the entire summer, but only in front of Jordan, my family, and friends. But since it was the beginning of a new school year, I decided to just jump into it head first. So I wore a new dress everyday. And while at first the looks people gave were scary and unsettling, I gradually got used to it; and one day realized that the feeling I got when I wore a vintage dress was so much better than the apathetic feeling I had towards my old clothes. And once I came to that conclusion, the looks went away. Whether I had imagined them in the first place, or I simply stopped noticing, I will never know. All I do know is the moment you become confident nothing else matters. Looks don't bother you (real or fictional), all comments are compliments, and pretty soon people see you as fashionable because you believe you are. 

Now a year has passed since my first days of truly being myself, and I can confidentially say it has affected me for the better. I now have a online vintage store, wear dresses daily, feel like my own person, and the best part is...I am more confident than I have ever been!

So today I challenge you. If there is something that you feel is holding you back from expressing yourself fully, please don't deny yourself the awesome reward of being uniquely you.

xoxo Sarah

Favorite Posts of the Week - XVIII

Hello all! For the first time in a couple weeks I'm actually posting this post on a Sunday! *Happy dance* It seems I have fallen back in love with blogging and I feel like I'm just beginning to hit my stride. I love the feeling of writing a new post and every time I read a comment I feel as if my heart may burst! You guys are the best readers a blogger could ever ask for. Thank you for sticking around through the bad grammar moments, the random weeks without posting, and the crappy layout! I feel as if this is going to be a great school year for The Antique Pearl and I'm so glad you're here to experience it with me

 Ester shows us how to make a pencil case

Else + Emma show us how to make a braided rug

 Annette gives us a tour of her apartment

Other things I loved this week...

♥ Katie gives us a room tour

 ♥ Rebecca talks about the adjustment period

♥ Hannah talks on baking and friends

♥ Natalie interviews Scout LaRue Willis

♥ Rebekka spills the beans on her bee wall DIY

♥ Kate on "It's Paper, Dear"

♥ Elsie talks to us about how to get inspired

♥ Lauren divulges her favorite beauty buys

♥ James gives us a little peek into her week

I hope your day is inspired,

xoxo Sarah

Wish List // Mint

As you can tell from my blog's background, my profile photo, and my current choice in nail color, mint is my favorite color. Now that the obvious has been stated we can get onto the good stuff! I was perusing through Etsy the other day and came across two beautiful mint pieces that I just had to share with you! It's times like these I mourn my low finances because I would buy both of these in a heartbeat if I could!


1940s Cotton Sky Blue Dress

1920s Burlesque Dance Costume

Hope your day is filled with minty goodness,

Sarah

Shop update

Hey all! I forgot to tell you all that I added more things to the shop! Here are a couple of my favorites but there is plenty more to see. Also don't forget to check out the new sale section!

1940s striped dress

1970s suit - jacket, shirt, pants

1960s child swing coat

1970s boys plaid pants

1950s green shirt waist dress

Have a lovely Saturday!

Sarah

Bit's + Pieces - Loud

My mother's house is not quiet. And although I don't live there full time I'm still there a lot. I both love & hate the noise. While I am there it's hard to concentrate but in the quiet serenity of my dorm room, sometimes I wish for the sounds of an elmo toy singing, my brother's catch prases, and the yip of my dog.

1// My brother in some rad pants 2// Welcome mat 3// Sign 4// A loud outfit

♥Sarah♥

New Traditions

There's nothing I love more than old traditions. Decorating the christmas tree, carving pumpkins, a goodnight call, and daily emails. But there is one thing that comes close and that's newly born traditions. My sister moved out of the house recently and it's the first time my family has truly all lived in different places. In an attempt to see each other regularly we decided to meet up for breakfast on a non regular basis (schedules are hard) and do thing's together as the older ladies of the family. About a week ago we went to a pancake house where we ate fruit studded pancakes, ordered coffee, used way too much sugar in our coffee, and planned a trip for the three of us. I look forward to more breakfasts in the future.

Hope your day is bright & your coffee is sweet.

♥Sarah♥

Lavender + Mint

As a nursing student, painting my nails is a pretty big deal. Months out of the year my nails are short and boring because chipping polish is both unsanitary and unprofessional. But today I got to paint them and I used the only two colors I own, lavender and mint. And yes, I only own two nail polishes.

♥Today♥

♥ Went for a bike ride with Jordan (exercise is hard)

♥ Sang off key with my mom to Fun.

♥ Olive Garden for my sisters 18th birthday

♥ Meeting Jordan's sisters kitty (awww)

♥ Finally found "The Wiz" record Jam gave to me

You should totally paint your nails too! Just don't try to put a bobby pin right after doing it. You will mess them up!

♥Sarah♥

Yesterday morning when I woke up I just had to stop and marvel at the brightness of life. I began my day by going outside, sat on the big orange easy chair (random I know) and enjoyed a good book with peppermint tea. I think it was the stillness of the morning that really got me. The roosters were crowing in the background and I just sat there on my chair reading my book as the twilight shifted into day. These beautiful moments in life are so fleeting and need to be cherished. 

After a while Jordan came outside to join me and we decided that it felt like a good day to go antiquing. I love that we found something we both enjoy doing. That I can go look for clothes while he hunts for books. Sometimes, when I think about our future home, all I can imagine is a room filled with beautiful vintage dresses and a giant library stuffed to the ceiling with books. And in my old imaginary home I can always picture him leaning over some dusty tome as I measure and inspect my frocks.

I digress, we went to a antique store we discovered recently and I found so many beautiful things that were, unfortunately, out of my price range. One thing I was absolutely gobsmacked by was a gorgeous 60s glass cup set in a carrying tray. I wanted to buy it so badly but ultimately I couldn't justify the price tag. The other thing I found is the cute orange paisley print dress you can see in the photo above. At first I thought it was too large for me but I bought it for the shop anyways, and I'm so thankful I did! When I got home I tried it on to see what kind of fit it was and I realized the waist was so large because it was actually a child's dress and it fit me perfectly.

I ended up wearing the dress I bought for the rest of the day. We stopped by my mom's house and then came home for a late night bike ride. Overall it really was a lovely day.

Hope your day is bright,

Xoxo Sarah