bizarre bazaar and DIY

My apologies for the extended hiatus but I've been really feeling (and by feeling, I mean desperately seeking) A JOB. A job with a real person salary and benefits that will keep me from being indefinitely in debt to my dentist. In the meantime, I'll settle with handing out newspapers on the red line and shopping at my good ol' local thrift stores. Therefore, keeping you my dear reader, entertained with my shoddy wardrobe of used clothing!

And boy do I have some super thrifty finds for you my friends. It all started a few weeks ago when Jack and I ventured to a small church in Takoma Park for their annual crafts/book/clothing bazaar. Avoiding the $5 all you can eat pancake option, I came across a small corner of haphazard items. Little did I know, instead of endless pancakes I was offered a trash bag to stuff for a set price of $5. Five dollars. A volunteer explained that most people weren't filling an entire bag, and if I didn't find anything I would be returned some of my money (I'm going to compare this situation to my first experience in an all-you-can-eat dining hall).

While I did not fill my entire medium-sized kitchen trash bag, I collected a sizeable amount of random clothing items. For five dollars. Which means, the five items I found along with two pairs of brand new nike soccer socks cost me less than a dollar apiece.
Item 1: a little large/boxy black dress
I picked up this dress because I loved the stretchy cotton fabric (and it's organic cotton!). Negatives: too big in the chest area, extra material in mid-section, all around an unflattering dress on my already manly-figure.That's right, thumbs down. Sad that my first item was not going to be useful addition, I grabbed some scissors and snip, snip! New (very) crop top for future (gypsy/belly dancer?) outfits like below.I think we can agree this "top" may be a tad more practical come summer. Question remains: will it be worn more than the baggy-I'm a man!-dress? Yes.

Cardigan: Club Monaco (second hand), $4. Bag: Lancome aka makeup/perfume giveaway (second hand), $4. Eureka! The perfect travel/gym bag! Skirt: no tag (second hand), $6.

See, you too can be a preppy gypsy with a gym bag for only $14! All you need is a pair of scissors and a decent thrift store that supplies cardigans and plaid.This plaid skirt is just fabulous. Not only will I wear it as a skirt with blouse/cropped top/blazer/leather jacket, BUT also as... a dress! Could not be bothered to grab a belt or change up the  sweater, but just imagine the possibilities.

If you have learned one thing today, it is DO NOT underestimate the power of the church bazaar. Thus far you've witnessed my least favorite item, which ended up to be a fairly useful piece of clothing after all. Check back Friday/Saturday for another Bazaar bag find.

Any guesses to what I did with the rest of the black dress?

-J