Outfit of the Day: French Quarter and Halloween Harlequin

Hello there Kittens!

This past weekend was a good mix of seeing friends, staying at home catching up with good ol' netflix and some horror themed flix, and partaking in Halloween activities!

On Friday Tim and I met up with some friends at a German bar in nearby Alameda to celebrate a friend's birthday. We got to hang with the gang, gorge ourselves on German food, and drink beer while enjoying the live band the bar had going.

On Saturday, in contrast, it was a very relaxing day. I got to watch the first disc of the first season of Ash Vs. Evil Dead and catch up on a few episodes of American Horror Story Hotel.

Then on Sunday, Tim and I went out to the Candle Lighter's Ghost House in Fremont! I had a craving for caramel apples and I knew this was just the place to get them-- and get to go through a fun spooky house while we were at it. ;) While I haven't been to the Fremont Ghost House in a while and definitely can't say that I go every year, it is a bit of a tradition, especially for the locals. In fact, this year they are celebrating their 48th year running! Some things that I absolutely love about the Fremont ghost house: 1) the ghost house is set up in an actual historic 19th century Carriage house, 2) admission is only $3 though that doesn't mean it's not a whole lot of fun! These people really put on a great show and you can tell they really put a lot of time and thought into what they put together. 3) I love that they have booths set up for games, face painting, photo booths, and caramel apples! While my primary stop is at the caramel apple booth I do love seeing all the kids and grown up kids having so much at all the different booths. 4) I love that the people that put together this event are a non-profit group who use the funds they raise for community-based projects in the area and use it to give to other non-profit groups. And last but not least, 5) while I mentioned previously that the Fremont Ghost House is not something I can say I go to every year, it is a place that runs deep in my bones. As a kid and all through the present I've always loved driving past this historic carriage house interestingly located on the edge of a large town shopping center right off of a busy main street. I love how it makes me really think of the past and what the area might have looked like when this historic house was first built. It adds such an air of mystery both in this questioning of the historic past of this area and also in wondering what this house might have looked like inside during its heyday and also during the present. It's such a wonderful treat to get to walk in through the doors when they open it the to the public for their annual Halloween Ghost House!

Candle Lighter's Ghost House, Fremont, CA

Historic 19th Century Carriage House, home of the Candle Lighter's Ghost House

Caramel apple booth!

After a good day with my caramel apple after seeing the Candle Lighter's Ghost house!

Outfit of the Day (Friday):

As I mentioned before, on Friday after work Tim and I went out to meet up with some friends at a German bar to celebrate a friend's birthday. For the occasion I decided to get out one of my favorite dresses, my Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter print. I paired this with a black mohair cardigan I got several years ago in an Australian boutique shop and a pair of basic black flats. For a finishing touch I wore a pair of faux cameo earrings I got from a plantation in Louisiana during our trip there last October, a skull bracelet Tim bought for me a couple weeks ago from Spirit, the Halloween store, and I also wore a faux cameo cat sweater clip I made a couple years ago. You can see the tutorial here.

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Front View

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Front View

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Side View

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Front View

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Front View

Trashy Diva Annette dress in French Quarter- Side View

Faux cameo earrings and cat sweater clip- Close Up

Outfit of the Day (Sunday):

On Sunday, to visit the Fremont Ghost House, I decided to wear my new Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin. I paired this with my black mohair cardigan, a Trashy Diva black obi belt, and a pair of basic black flats. For a finishing touch I wore this with a pair of Rosita Bonita Halloween cat earrings which I bought last year from Trashy Diva and a lime skull brooch which I bought recently from Luxulite on Etsy.

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Side View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin- Side View

Rosita Bonita Halloween cat earrings and Luxulite lime skulls brooch- Close Up

Bonus Pics!
(mini) Dress Review:

Since I have this dress out for the blog, let me just say a few words by way of a mini dress review.

I was super lucky one day and snagged this Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin print when a single dress in my size popped up in their final sale section. It was being offered at a great price because it has a snag in the fabric at the front side of the dress-- something that isn't noticeable at all when worn with a cardigan or shrug, and also not too noticeable when worn alone because of the location of the snag. With it being offered at such a great price and seeing that this dress at the time was completely out of stock anywhere near my size, I jumped at the chance to get this. Add a 15% discount code I had sitting around and this dress was truly mine for a great price! I got this dress in an XL which according to the website should have been my perfect size for this style. However, I do feel it is a touch too big and just a bit too long for my short torso. Nothing I can't overlook for such a cute dress but it is a bit of a bugger when things don't fit exactly as you hope they would. I do think though that if I sized down it would probably be too tight (for what it's worth). It is back in stock here.

Like other Jennies this dress is boned and lined in silky soft black fabric at the bodice, is made from a wonderfully heavy material, and comes with a delightfully full gathered skirt. The dress also features a back zip for the ultimate in convenience, adjustable shoulder straps to help with the fit, and also has pockets!

And because I adore matching sets so much, I couldn't resist also getting the matching shrug in black with Halloween harlequin trim. I got this shrug in my usual PUG size, large and it fits just right. I really love the finished look this shrug adds when paired with the matching dress. I did however opt not to wear them together on Sunday for the ghost house as I felt just a little too awesomely Queen of Halloween for the short and somewhat informal jaunt that day.

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin with matching shrug in black with Halloween harlequin trim- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin with matching shrug in black with Halloween harlequin trim- Front View

Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in Halloween Harlequin with matching shrug in black with Halloween harlequin trim- Side View

The Chicago, the Ft. Lauderdale, and the NOLA

I had so much fun making my first cat sweater clip a couple weeks ago that this last week I made a couple more. 

These sweater clips are relatively easy to make and just require a few supplies from Etsy, Joann's, and a hot glue gun and they take only a few minutes to make.

Because each of these sweater clips seem to have their own personalities it got me thinking of what I would name them if I were to name them after a particular city they feel like they should have been born in.


The Chicago is a pink and white cat cameo or cabonchon with pink pearls. I think of Chicago in the 1950s when I see this sweater clip
 

The Ft. Lauderdale is a super colorful green, blue and pink cameo with flamingos and palm trees with shiney pink transparent beads... who wouldn't think of Ft. Lauderdale in the 1950s when they see this fun sweater clip!

The NOLA is a black and ivory cat cameo with a dark silver chain. This sweater clip is much darker than the other two and makes me think of the New Orleans of Anne Rice's books. It is just like my previous sweater clip from Cat Got Your Chain except the cameo is smaller and darker having an ivory colored cat rather than a white cat... even though the chain and style of cameo are exactly the same, this slight color difference in cat makes such a big difference in feel to me... if Cat Got Your Chain had a location name I would name it the San Francisco but this one is definitely the NOLA.

Cat Got Your Chain

Making sweater clips from earrings

As mentioned in other blogs Tim and I took a trip to Joann's where I picked up a few supplies for this project.

- a suitable chain

Oh wait, that's all that I needed. Yay!

What I had around the house:

-two extra small 1 inch alligator clips which I had left over from a past project
-a pair of large round cat earrings I bought in Alameda from Modern Mouse, a store which features Etsy sellers

I got together my supplies, chain, alligator clips, earrings, tacky glue, glue gun, and tweezers.

Comparing the chain length to other sweater clips I own I determined the length where I wanted to cut the chain in half. I did this manually by pulling apart the chain and twisting it, working it around where the chain links. Having the chain link open, I was trying to wind it through the hole in the alligator clip but the open chain link was too small so I simply placed it over the edge of alligator clip and glued it with tacky glue then waited a day for that to set.


While I was waiting, I attempted to take the backs off the earrings. This is where I ran into problems. Do I really want to destroy these earrings for the sake of a sweater clip. As a sweater clip I would probably get more use out of them... I've had these earrings for over a year and have never worn them. They are heavy on my ears and are so big... but they are cat earrings... maybe one day I would want to wear them... Ah! So I got the idea that maybe I can find the same round cat piece minus the earring backing from Etsy especially considering that the store I bought them from features sellers from Etsy. I was happy to find this guess to be true. So I waited a week for my cat cameos to come in the mail.

Now with the arrival of my cat cameos I am ready to complete this project.

I hot glued the chain attached to the alligator clip previously tacky glued on. In hindsight I should have just super glued it on in that beginning step and foregone the two glues. Also because the chain link which attaches to the alligator clip was so small it was kind of overkill to use the hot glue.

Last, I used the hot glue gun to glue the cat cameo to the alligator clip. I think here hot glue was probably the best thing to use since the alligator clip does not fit flat against the cameo.

 

Here is the finished project. Pretty spiffy if I do say so myself!