Hello Plumbing

so the fellas were figuring out all the plumbing stuff. there were a few leaks but they got it all fixed and now we have plumbing to and from both sinks and the tub, and of course, from the toilet.

to access the exsisting plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, they pulled a few peices of the siding off, much of the plumbing was done on that super tall ladder.

deck updates!

does this door just say "welcome home" or what?

ok so maybe not yet, but eventually it will

the southeast corner of the deck!

the deck from the ground this is where the stairs will eventually be, its a long way down!

Molly M. Awbsterr and S. Treighton Harrow

It is September 1928 in Chicago. Notorious gangster Harold "Hal" Coppone's return is expected to trigger a wave of violence. Instead, Coppone has disappeared, mystifying police and the criminal underworld. To the small group gathered in a speakeasy near Coppone's headquarters, the crimelord's whereabouts become only part of the mystery when murder is discovered. There's no shortage of suspects, motives, speakeasy glamor or gorgeous flappers in this crime tale.

Meet MOLLY M. AWBSTERR, A society dame from New York, where the Awbsterrs are a prominent and respected family, Molly came to Chicago for the action and because, in her own words, "Chicago is a fun town." Molly is a flapper from the top of the feather in her hat to the tip of her satin shoes and she maintains an apartment on the top floor of Chicago's most exclusive apartment-hotel. She is a consummate shopper, driving herself about town in an elegant Packard DeLuxe Eight Sport Phaeton automobile. Friends and acquaintances call her "The Moll."

and

S. TREIGHTON HARROW, U.S. District Attorney and chief opponent to the criminal element in Chicago, Harrow is single-handedly responsible for bringing to justice several of crime's most despicable practitioners. Foremost among those convicted through Harrow's efforts are mob hit man Charlie "Golf Bag" Marconi (who carried a machine gun in his golf bag) and Maximillian Buccher, alias Max the Butcher, alias Max the Knife. Amidst the corruption and complacency that characterize Chicago law enforcement, Harrow stands out as a shining example. Harrow carries on a tradition set by his renowned trial attorney father, Clarence D. Harrow. Nobody knows his first name.

we had a great time, neither of us ended up being the murderer, but both of us wanted to to kill the mob boss... oh well as long as someone got it done! Thanks Sytha and Derek for showing us a great time!

Flapper Dress Sequinized

From Wikipedia:
The term flippers in the 1920s referred to a "new breed" of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms.
Flappers had their origins in the period of liberalism, social and political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end of the First World War, as well as the export of American jazz culture to Europe.
The first appearance of the word and image in the United States came from the popular 1920 Frances Marion movie, The Flapper, starring Olive Thomas.[1] Thomas had starred in a similar role in 1917, though it was not until The Flapper that the term was used. In her final movies she was seen in the flapper image.[2] Other actresses, such as Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore and Joan Crawford would soon build their careers on the same image, achieving great popularity.[1]
In the United States, popular contempt for Prohibition was a factor in the rise of the flapper. With legal saloons and cabarets closed, back alley speakeasies became prolific and popular. This discrepancy between the law-abiding, religion-based temperance movement and the actual ubiquitous consumption of alcohol led to widespread disdain for authority. Flapper independence may also have its origins in the Gibson girls of the 1890s. Although that pre-war look does not resemble the flapper identity, their independence and feminism may have led to the flapper wise-cracking tenacity 30 years later.



So after an evening of sewing fringe onto my thrift store dress,

I felt it was nessesary to add some sequins...

thanks mom for loaning me your hot glue gun!

next I dressed up a 3/$1 rubber headband I found at Burlington Coat Factory hot glued some sequin ribbon and sequins on it.

I like it, in fact, I could see wearing it out without the costume, I just dont usually wear gold... but it needs a feather... We didnt get one when we were shopping for the dress and fringe... have to go back shopping...

Another thing we didnt buy, long tieable beads. none seemed just right and none were what i would call affordable... Then, at moms house the other night, I saw something when I went to see Lenna in her bedroom. I carefully took down the red and white ones.

Thanks Len, I'll get those back to you

We do have to take a moment here and take in the awesomeness that is my sisters bead door curtain...

So there it is, my 1920s Flapper dress

1920s Flapper dress...

So Mikey and I were invited to a murder mystery dinner party this weekend. I am supposed to play a Flapper Girl.
My first thought that was that it was going to be kinda lame and corney, but the more i think about it, this should be fun. Mikey reminded me, I get to play dress up!

After googling, "how to make a flapper costume" I thought, "hey, I can do that!" so off to thrift stores we go!
I found this straight tank dress at Value Village for $9.99 (it fit perfectly, but I forgot to take a picture of it on me)
then got some fringe and sequins at Hancock Fabrics and called my mommy. She's pretty crafty and, has an, albeit somewhat messy, sewing room and her machine isn't buried behind lord knows how much stuff and junk in storage as mine is. Gosh I cannot wait for my own hobby room to be ready... but that's another blog...

The dress was too long, so my mom hemmed it.

(see the macramé bunny? told you my mom is crafty)

We knew we wanted some of the fringe on the bottom, so a-pinning and a-sewing she went.

(my mom could totally be a hand model for Nancy Zieman)

Sewing the fringe on, we found pinning wasn't really

working because the dress was kinda stretchy...

I decided I wanted another row of fringe along the bottom. so I made a measuring card and Len got me a sharpie I marked where the next row should go...

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...and sewed it on.

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Ta Da!

Next, I put the dress on and had my dad chime in on his opinion where the next row of fringe should go, you know, because he remembers the 20s fashion... jk my dad isn't that old...

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Apparently we didn't take pictures of the middle row of fringe!

Sorry Lenna, but your boobs aren't quite big enough for you to be my mannequin yet...

After the middle was done, I had less fringe left than I thought, so we changed the plan a bit. Instead of going around the neckline, I decided on across the front, but had to scrunch the straps a bit to make it fit. I think it looks neat scrunched

And the fringe is done... next step, sequins!,

because it really wouldn't be dress-up without sequins!