Author: Making it Lovely

Dressing in Dresses Again
Not that I ever left them completely. I always have loved a good dress. It’s just that there weren’t many on the market that I was excited about for a good stretch there, and I’ve been wearing a lot of my dresses from years ago. But now? So many new ones out there that I love!

^{Red Midi Dress, H&M (old) • Briggs Glasses, Warby Parker • Sam Edelman Michaela Mary Jane Shoes, Nordstrom • Julien Leather Tote Bag, Anthropologie • Compost Nail Polish, J. Hannah • Kyoto Tango Bracelets, Hay • Huggie Earrings with Charm, Nordstrom • Tiny Trinity Nap Earrings, Maison Miru}

Do you want to know what the best dress is that I’ve had on in a long time? Anthropologie’s Somerset Maxi Dress. I have been sleeping on this dress because the reviews all rave about it and it is apparently Anthro’s best-selling dress of all time. I believe it. “Our bestselling, best-reviewed dress, ever.” It really is that good. And machine washable in the cotton version!

^{Left to right: Ruched Puff Sleeve Poplin Midi Dress, Abercrombie & Fitch • Somerset Maxi Cotton Dress, Anthropolgie • Linen-Blend Ruffle-Sleeve Wrap Midi Dress, Madewell • Ruffle-Sleeve Maxi Dress, Anthropologie • Puff Short Sleeve Dress, A New Day (Target)}

I am also here for this milkmaid/peasant/medieval/Renaissance mashup we’re seeing everywhere. Goes well with my weighted practice sword in style, if not historical accuracy.
I know these are a trend, but it’s one I like. And when what you like is trending, it is so much easier to find pieces that work for you! Speaking of, we all know that low rise pants are on the way back, yes? Make sure you’re well stocked on high rise everything if you love it like I do. Your options: they are a’changin.’
September 12, 2022
Harping On

I recently became obsessed with harps. Did you know that there are essentially two types: lever and pedal harps? And that those mechanisms affect the repertoire you can play? And that if you want to play classical music compositions (or just have the ability to change keys and play different sharps and flats mid-song), you’ll want a pedal harp and that those harps start at about $12,000? And also that some of the very best harps in the world are made right here in Chicago (Lyon & Healy harps), less than 10 miles from my house?

I know all of these things now. And so do you!

I have never actually played a harp. I have never touched the strings. (Gut strings! Another thing you and I now know! They break often and can cost $50 for a single string.) But I do assume I would be a natural. And I know exactly where a harp would go in my house. Right in front of the built-in bookshelves in “the library,” which would also now be known as “the music room.” Pretentious.

Harpists don’t use their pinkies while playing. Another fun fact for you!

We do already have a decent collection of instruments in the double parlor. A banjolele, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and banjo hang on one wall in the library. Beneath the red console in the living room, we have an electric guitar, amp, accordion, autoharp, and clarinet, along with a small keyboard and a basket of kid-friendly instruments.

I like to think I can play all of them, but I’m a dabbler. I’m best with the ukulele. (But not as good as I would be with a harp, am I right?)

I know logically that $12K for an instrument I’ve never played is not a wise impulse purchase. Lyon & Healy has a harp rental program, a rent to own option, and a generous trade-in/upgrade policy. They’re beautiful instruments, some consisting of more than 1500 parts, that take skill and craftsmanship to make. I understand the pricing, but it does give reason for pause.

So in my research and FB Marketplace browsing, I ended up with a used digital piano instead.

It sounds amazing. It’s a Roland FP-30 with weighted touch-sensitive keys and “SuperNATURAL sound” that really does feel and sound like an acoustic piano, complete with slightly off notes at either far end. But it is not beautiful, and it is especially unattractive on its stand.

I had an idea — several ideas, really — to jazz up the base. They came to me as I was falling asleep and I made sure to write them down in my Notes app so that I would not forget come morning.

Solid ideas. I was thinking paper mache, or perhaps the foam core collage technique I used to make my 6-foot insects? I think there’s something there. ↓

Like so!

Actually, the ideal aesthetic upgrade would be to convert an upright acoustic piano. It would be a ton of work. I don’t really have room for a piano though! Only a lovely freestanding harp. (Or unsightly keyboard.)

I don’t know how to play piano properly, but the person we bought it from included the book he had been using to learn. I’ve been teaching myself how to play from it and getting used to reading music again. Maybe I’ll revisit this whole harp idea some day after I’ve gone and gotten really good at the piano. I hear the skills are somewhat transferrable.

August 3, 2022
That’s Number 8

I went and got a sparkly new piercing in the flat of my left ear! That brings my total number of piercings up to 8.

I begged to get my earlobes pierced when I was a kid, and I got them done at Claire’s for my eighth birthday. Some time in my early teens I got the seconds done, again at Claire’s. At 15 or so, I did the helix myself with an ice cube, an earring, and determination. It took a long time. I could *hear* the progress I was making, and at a certain point, I just figured I had to be almost done and should just keep going. First thing I said to my mom when she got home was “I did something and if you don’t like it, I can take it out.” She let me keep it.

When did I do the thirds? Maybe late teens or early twenties? It’s a little fuzzy. Somewhere with a piercing gun like Claire’s again, I’m sure. I was young, didn’t have much money, and I don’t think people were as aware of the ills of the piercing gun as they are now. I definitely wasn’t. My newest piercing was done with a needle at a proper place (Luxe Piercing for those of you nearby).

I was more nervous than I remember being before, only because it had been so long and I knew I’d be doing something in the cartilage, but it was fine! A few seconds and it was over. It’s been almost a week and it’s healing nicely so far.

Every day, I choose what to wear from my collection of hoops, huggies, studs, and cuffs. I’m having so much fun.

March 7, 2022
Accessories for Aging Former Goth/Witchy Types
Hey, that’s me! I want these things! Perhaps you do too. And anyway, I’m just having some fun with the title. Let’s look at some pretty things for all of us.

First off, #1 on this list is clearly gray hair. Let those sparklies grow in! I realize I missed the whole silver sisters grow-out culture that has been taking place by not photographing myself constantly but here I am, fully dye-free. (That hasn’t happened since I was 13!) I’ve had just about every color, and this one’s my favorite.

Next up, embrace those piercings! The 90s are back, and thankfully I put plenty of holes in my ears back then that are still able to be put to use. I have three lobe piercings in each ear, and one helix in my upper left. My thirties were my STATEMENT EARRINGS decade, but lately I’ve returned to an ear full of delicate studs and tiny hoops. Do I find myself wanting little earrings that look like eyeballs and lightning bolts and snakes and feeling it might be a little too gimmicky? Yes. Except for these Snake Huggies. They are beautiful and I still wish I had a pair.

These are the ones I’m wearing in the photo above:
- Studio ’37 Hoop Earrings, Jenny Bird
- .50ct Faux-Diamond Studs, Nordstrom
- Tiny Crystal Studs, Maison Miru
- Forever Seamless Hoop in 14k Gold, Maison Miru (in my helix)
- Eternity Echo Ear Cuff, Maison Miru (faux conch/orbital)
Should I get another piercing? The faux conch is making me want a real one. I suppose I can just continue to wear it though.

Nail polish and rings? Oh yes. I’m hard on my hands, doing projects like scraping wallpaper or other things around the house, but my polish has been holding up. I have been enjoying all three colors that I recently bought from J. Hannah (Compost, which I told you about before, along with Fauna and Ghost Ranch). I also very badly want their onyx and mother of pearl Form Inlay Ring II in gold. It is perfect and I’ve not seen anything else quite like it. Also, I’ve been wearing this Double Groove Ring ring a lot lately, and I pair it with a few fun rings I have similar to this Gumball Pearl Ring and Atom Ring.

Pink lipstick. Suddenly I don’t have pale skin against dark hair! The complexion remains the same, but the gray has made my hair look so much lighter and the stark contrast (that I liked) is gone. I’ve been playing with makeup, and I look amazing in pink lipstick now. Cool pink though, brighter than the nudes and muddy roses that are so easily found. I’m wearing Blush Pink from Laura Mercier in the photo above, but I also love Givenchy’s Rose Boudoir.

Barrettes! I’m growing out bangs. This barrette looks like a baguette and that makes me smile. I’m very into all four colors of these Tortoiseshell Pearlized Barrettes and this swirly Jumbo Box Barrette. And then these Teardrop Barrettes look like cheap plastic blobs on their own, but like shiny precious stones in the hair. These all look like entirely too much when presented together like this, but I only ever wear one at a time, and I do wear one everyday.

There we go, some fashion frivolity on this first day of November.

I go through cycles in which I want very little and then I want everything new and all at once. I assume this is common? I would like some Mary Janes and a new pair of lace-up boots, cozy sweaters and midi dresses. And so many perfumes! (I will let myself have a little perfume. As a treat.)
November 1, 2021
Reupholstering My Floral Chair with Calico

Sponsored by Calico

I loved my loud floral armchair. It was a floor model, and there was a small rip in the linen fabric when I bought it. I experimented with ways to fix it, ultimately landing on a patch that blended pretty well! I was proud of my handiwork, and the chair was really cute in our last home and in this one.

Ten years on though, the fabric on the seat had started to look a bit threadbare. It went from noticeably “hmmm” to “oh no” pretty quickly and it was beyond my abilities to repair any further. But I still loved the chair! No need to replace and treat it as disposable — it was time to reupholster.

I visited Calico in Hinsdale and worked with Linda (she was so helpful!) to pull fabric options. Calico’s design services are free, and you can make an appointment for your local store. There’s a whole before and after gallery to get you inspired, and you can request a reupholstery quote too. Calico reupholsters more than 10,000 furniture pieces every year!

At our appointment, Linda had pointed me toward a floral very similar in feel to what the chair had. It would have been sort of a floral 2.0 update, and it was definitely in the running, but we looked at options for changing it up too.

Calico lets you borrow their fabric samples so you can be sure they look right on the piece you want to reupholster, and so that you can make sure they work with the rest of your home. I rethought a couple of my top choices after seeing them with the rest of my furniture. I like the armchair being in our bedroom (a pretty neutral backdrop), but wanted to keep the option to use it downstairs if I feel like rearranging at some point.

I felt like I was close to choosing, but on a follow-up visit, I noticed a print I hadn’t seen before. Like little granny squares? I had to borrow the sample to see. I did a Photoshop mockup for both too.

Floral 2.0 (Cassaro Luxe Collection Passion Fruit) or little granny squares (Scalamandré Kirov)? I went back and forth, but the little granny squares charmed me. I returned my fabric samples and placed my order with Linda. Calico handled everything from getting the fabric in, picking up the chair, having it reupholstered (including some freshening up of the foam padding), and then having it delivered again.

My chair! She’s so cute! It looks perfect.

Having a piece reupholstered is so fun. You get to fall in love with a piece all over again. It was cute and quirky for ten years, and now it can be cute and quirky in a different way for the next ten years! And in better shape, too.

October 12, 2021
I Want to Smell Like a Marshmallow

But not like marshmallows. You know? More like the “ooh, you smell so good, what are you wearing” kind of way.

Let’s look at some gourmand fragrances that give off that vibe. Fall is here, let’s celebrate! Smell like a marshmallow! (Fun fact, I do not like eating marshmallows. But all of these, save one, have something more to them and that lets me forgive the fact that they remind me of the worst of confections.)

Let’s just smell delicious.

Eau Duelle, Diptyque

To be fair, I don’t get marshmallow from this, but a lot of people do. What I do get is vanilla, and that is what gets us there. But there’s also a greenness and some spice, making this my favorite of the bunch.

_{MARSHMALLOW LEVEL: 1/5}

By the Fireplace, Maison Margella Replica

Were you making s’mores? Because I get campfire vibes more than fireplace vibes. Either way, this one is a lot at first, coming on strong, but it fades into a gentle warmth that reminds me of the softer Whispers in the Library.

_{MARSHMALLOW LEVEL: 2/5}

Marshmallow, Demeter

Leave it to Demeter to make something that smells exactly as you would expect. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, or in this case a scent by its name.

_{MARSHMALLOW LEVEL: 5/5}

Baccarat Rouge 540, Maison Francis Kurkdjian

This is beautiful. This is popular. People absolutely love it! I was talking about it on Instagram and I said it smells like burnt sugar, so there you go. It’s just not what I prefer, but it could very well be the one for you.

Or try Ariana Grande’s Cloud for 1/6 the price. Very similar.

_{MARSHMALLOW LEVEL: 3/5}

Yes I Do, Etat Libre D’Orange

Wear this to a spring wedding, bride or guest. (Wait, now that I type that, am I being led because of the name? Because the copy on the site is very Lolita, not bridal.)

Soft, lily of the valley with an underlying sweetness.

_{MARSHMALLOW LEVEL: 1/5}

This was a very fun post to make. Honorable mention to Bath & Body Works’ Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte which is far too sweet for me, but something I would have loved when I was younger.

p.s. If you’re going to smell like a marshmallow, might as well be sitting in something equally fluffy. I suggest the Bacio Cream Boucle Lounge Chair from CB2, or perhaps Jonathan Adler’s Ether Cloud Settee.

_{marshmallow icon: marshmallow by Milky – Digital innovation from the Noun Project}

September 21, 2021