Fairy Wings!!

Ellie is a fairy for Halloween this year. She's all pink and tulle with pink sparkly wings!! Thanks to some inspiration from Martha I made the little fairy wings you see above. I made mine a little differently than the ones Martha did, but they work pretty well, especially for Ellie! They are made from 18 gauge wire and an old pair of tights Ellie ripped the toe out of. I'm sure I could have fixed the toe, but this was way better! The best part is that the waistband of the tights is what secures the wings to Ellie's shoulders. No sewing or cutting involved! Add a little glitter paint design and *voila!* you have a cheap pair of fairy wings perfect for Halloween!

Clutch

One of the things I taught the girls for Protocol was that you shouldn't carry a full-blown purse to a fancy event. The proper place for your purse at the dinner table is on your lap, under your napkin. Most purses are too bulky for that. Thus, the evening bag, or clutch. I realized sometime during my research for Protocol that I didn't own a clutch. I borrowed one from my mom to use as an example in class, but it didn't match my black dress. So... I dug around in my fabric scraps and found some stiff-back velvet, satin, and cording I had been given. I did a little playing on my sewing machine and... voila! A clutch. Since the material was given to me, it was basically free. It took about 30 min to make, start to finish (I probably would have spent more time than that shopping for one) and it matched my dress nicely. It's a trifold design, so it essentially has two compartments, which was sort of nice. I promised Robert I'd put up a picture, so here it is. My one-of-a-kind masterpiece.