New MissStefanie Necklaces: Vintage, Upcycled, Valentines

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I've added upcycled and vintage necklaces to my MissStefanie Etsy shop.

Some are vintage, featuring brooches, clip-on earrings, pendants, or charms hanging from the necklace. Others are upcycled, with single or multiple pieces from thrift store jewelry on the necklace. Sometimes the necklace has a chain from a thrift store necklace, and other I make the necklace using recycled material from black T-shirts (softer than a leather necklace; other colors available upon request). The necklaces made with the T-shirt material are 22-24 inches in length, but can be adjusted to be shorter or longer. You can wear one or layer two or more. I photographed the necklaces with a white button-down shirt, to show how they look styled with a shirt; I usually wear mine with my usual uniform of a tank or T-shirt under a cardigan or jacket.

So, Valentine's Day. A few necklaces have hearts, flowers, or bows. One has a heart and skull and another is a locket with flowers and a unicorn (a unicorn!). And here's the thing about Valentine's Day: it's a Hallmark holiday, sure. But I've always loved little trinkets and started a tradition years ago of treating myself to something for Valentine's Day. You can have someone special in your life or you can fly solo--but treating yourself is always a fine idea. Chocolate, check. A one-of-a-kind necklace in the $20 range? Check 'em out.

Crafty: Book and T-Shirt Holiday Wreath

After crafting a recycled Christmas tree using pages from "Vogue" magazine, I decided to make a paper wreath for the front door. I used pages from an old paperback that was falling apart ("Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh), and simply taped the cut leaves to a cardboard base. The idea for this was borrowed (and I cannot locate the blog I landed on that showed a wreath like this); my own personal detail was to add a bow made from a cut up old T-shirt (from the bin of tees and scraps I use for my Miss Stefanie Etsy shop). Voila.

Shirt Mannequin

I've been looking for a better dress form or mannequin to use for photographing the shirts I remake and sell for my Etsy shop. Walking in Venice, I spotted this. Look at those feet!

Miss Stefanie Etsy Shirts Modeled

My sweet friend Madelyn modeled some of the upcycled shirts I made for my Miss Stefanie Etsy shop, to show how the shirts look layered over a long sleeve shirt. Shirts in a woman's size small or extra-small are shown here to fit her frame (various sizes are in the shop); I get the shirts from thrift stores, so what I get is what I remake and they're all one-of-a-kind. She's also wearing the denim nautical-style bracelets for sale in the shop, made from denim scraps from rescues pairs of jeans. (The Mickey Mouse shirt is the one she kept.) Note: Holiday sale going on now! Save 15% through December 5 by entering HOHOHO as the coupon code. MissStefanie.etsy.com.

Denim: Recycled and Recreated

I see an old pair of jeans and think the possibilities are endless. Here are some of my recreations; items available for sale online at my Etsy shop: MissStefanie.etsy.com.

Here Comes the Sun: Beatles, Apple, Etsy

Upcyled shirt from MissStefanie.etsy.com 

I've had "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles stuck in my head since the news that Apple finally got the Beatles collection for iTunes and it inspired me to create a sun-themed Etsy treasury. The song is one of my favorites and the one I chose to learn when I took a singing class (brilliantly called "Singing for People Who Think They Can't") in New York several years ago, which makes it one of the few songs I feel confident singing around a camp fire (or in the living room when my musically gifted friends pull out the guitars). Not in the Etsy treasury (because I save self-promotion for here) is the pictured Coppertone upcycled shirt, remade by me with scissors and some needle and thread.

I couldn't find a video online of the Beatles performing the song live, but here's George Harrison singing it at the concert for Bangladesh.

Miss Stefanie: Halloween Shirts

Shirts in the Etsy shop for Halloween: A vampire, a monster, a woman who is always in costume.

Miss Stefanie Giants Shirts: Baseball, Football

This is a tale of two upcycled Giants shirt: one baseball, one football. Above, my lovely and amazing friend Rebecca is wearing the SF Giants shirt she bought from my Etsy shop. I'm demurely modeling my own NY Giants shirt and hat (go Giants!). Her SF Giants shirt was given a v-neck with a ruffle made using scraps of fabric from the cut sleeves; my NY Giants shirt has the neckline embellished with denim and fabric scraps.

Rebecca has encouraged me to make add more sports shirts to the Miss Stefanie Etsy shop, pointing out that many girls don't like to wear square and boxy T-shirts when showing their team support. It's the very reason I started cutting up my own T-shirts and re-making them a pair of scissors and needle and thread. For the shop, I remake shirts found in thrift shops or other secondhand sources, so inventory is limited to what I find. Upcycled sports shirts currently stocked in the shop: "Fight On" USC shirt, Seattle Seahawks football shirt, Oakland A's baseball shirt, Los Angeles Lakers basketball shirt, and NY Yankees Derek Jeter baseball shirt. More added when I find 'em and fancy 'em up.

MissStefanie Shop: Happy Customer Leah

Here's another happy customer modeling one of my MissStefanie upcycled shirts, available from my Etsy shop. Lovely Leah purchased a Red Hot Chili Peppers T-shirt I recycled and remade by hand; I cut off the sleeves and used the fabric scraps for a ruffle neckline.

Miss Stefanie Etsy Shop: Denim Necklaces

This just in at the Miss Stefanie Etsy shop: new necklaces made from jeans I've rescued from thrift stores. I've reused scraps of the denim to braid lariat-style necklaces that are finished with a vintage button (silver, brass, or black plastic).

Earth Day Shop Launch: MissStefanie on Etsy

Earth Day was the official launch of my Etsy shop: Miss Stefanie's House of Crafts and Collectibles (easy-to-remember web address: MissStefanie.etsy.com). Everything in the shop is eco-friendly: vintage clothing and accessories I find during my shopping adventures; thrift shop T-shirts I recover and remake into more flattering styles; and other accessories I make using fabric scraps. My lovely and amazing friend Kristine is pictured, modeling her purchase: a Wonder Woman tee I remade with a pair of scissors, needle, and thread (all my work is done by hand). Reuse, recycle, recreate--rock on. . . I'll post more photos of happy customers as they come in.