What the Art Teacher Wore #32

Red Monday: Please pardon the completely distracting and slightly messy background. Because, according to the background, if you do not there will be consequences. And I don't think you want to experience A Long Time Out. dress: picked up at one of the lovely vintage shops in Amsterdam this summer; shoes: Dolls by Nina; belt and bow: made by me.

 Holy Moly Me-O-My, thank goodness for a long weekend. I am currently doing my favorite things: chillin' with the hubs, catching up on sewing projects, celebrating with friends (check out my friend Zach's big accomplishment!)and day dreaming about what the little artists will be creating next week. I couldn't ask for a more perfect end to a very colorful week. Why so colorful, you ask? Well, to help the lil kindergarteners learn their colors, my school wore different colors for each day of the week. In addition to my monochromatic duds, I've added some of my most pinteresting pins.

All of this color got me thinking about my favorite colors. I never really thought about what color I was drawn to until I started my attempts at decorating. It seems I love a very specific slightly-greenish sky blue. Surely there's a better name for the color. I've got it everywhere: in the painting I created in our front room (seen in the background of this post), in the rug I'm hooking, in the countless pillows. And now that I think about it, that was the color of my bedroom growing up. Surprisingly, that color is not very present in my wardrobe. There I have a lot of reds and pinks.

How about you? What color do you find yourself most drawn to? Do you know why you have such a connection to the color? I'd love to hear your colorful comments!

Woman in red Christian Dior dress, courtesy of pinterest.

Yellow Tuesday: I have to say, colors really do evoke emotion. Seeing all my kindergarten friends in their bright sunny yellows really made me quite happy. dress: Buffalo Exchange; shoes: vintage, thrifted; hair flower: made by me

Do you know the artist Raphael Soyer? I love his work. He's considered something called a Social Realist which is just fancy talk that means he liked to paint people living their lives. Doing what they do. Raphael had two brothers, Issac and Moses, who were also artists.

Blue Wednesday: I've really taken to wearing these waist aprons during art class. I have a small mountain of vintage ones that I wear in rotation. This one's pretty groovy because it's just translucent enough that you can see the floral pattern. dress and apron: vintage; shoes: Anthro, coupla years ago

Abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler in her studio.

Green Thursday: On this day, one of my new students said, "You are like a wacky work of art everyday." dress: vintage, thrifted; shoes: thrifted and DIY'ed by me here.

I am currently fascinated with the idea of creating my own fabric. I've had my nose stuck in my favorite fabric design books like Marimekko. I need to jump on this idea because that little voice that likes to convince me that my ideas are foolish is starting to get to me. Do you have little voices that try to talk you down from ledges? So annoying, I just wanna jump head first!

Orange Friday: More like Sherbert Friday but whatever. Turns out I don't have a lot of orange in my closet. So sad, I love the color! dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pinky Otto, NYC; shoes: Anthro

And I'll leave you with this orangie goodness. Enjoy your long weekend!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #23

Beautiful Bamberg Monday: That is, once we found the place. Our GPS was giving us fits (switching from German to English to mute when important decisions like "Do I take the autobahn now?!" needed to be made) and our gas station attendant friend could only point down the road and say "go straight on". But we made it! sweater: vintage, thrifted; dress: vintage, The Hip Zipper; belt: Pinky Otto; sandals: Chacos

 Well, we're back! What a fun week and a half we spent in Germany and the Netherlands. I think I may be cured of my jet lag (a bedtime of 7:30pm last night and a 10 hour sleep just may have done the trick) and I'm now ready to tackle unpacking.

 But first things first, what I wore around town and country. This week I decided to include some photos of the towns we visited as well. If you live in these cities or have visited them, I'd love to hear your stories about these incredible places...especially shopping recommendations! Thanks for stopping by.

This town celebrated it's 1000th birthday back in '73, can you imagine? There were witch trials here back during the 17th century. It's full of so many rolling hills and beautiful churches it's reminiscent of Rome, which the locals refer to as the "Italian Bamberg." They so silly.

An Amsterdam Evening: Hubs drove a caravan of us from Bavaria to the Netherlands. It was a beautiful day for a drive...until we hit Frankfurt and sat in traffic for a bit. But we made it! sweater: Mini-Boden, thrifted; dress: Ann Taylor, thrifted; belt and flower: H & M; sandals: Chacos...again. My only preferred footwear during this trip

Such a fun city to walk around and explore...given you don't get run over by the one bah-jillion people on bicycles.

Gettin' Cheesy: We decided to take a day trip to the sweet town of Alkmaar. It's most famous for it's incredibly amazing, mouth-watering cheese. And adorable kalliopes, like this biggin'. At least we think that's what this large music box thing was. sweater and dress: vintage, thrifted; scarf: picked up at some little shop in Germany; belt and flower: made by me

Alkmaar is also home to a Beatles museum. Apparently John Lennon's first guitar was made there.

We decked in and out of several cheese shops but this one was the best. They had samples of every cheese in the shop which we helped ourselves to. My favorites were the blue cheese (which was so strong I literally pounded the counter a couple of times as if I was downing tequila) and the wasabi and pesto infused cheeses. I tried to ask if they had any Cheese Whiz but I guess they just aren't that advanced yet.

Hubs and I took an evening trip to the town of Haarlem which is the historical center of the tulip bulb-growing district and has the nickname 'Bloemenstad' (flower city), for this reason. We didn't spot a single tulip though as they are now out of season.

Nowhere like Amsterdam: Seriously, it's amazing. I now want to buy myself a salmon pink Schwinn with a basket on the front and a bell on the handlebars and cruise everywhere. dress: Viva, picked up in Germany

I hadn't been to Amsterdam since I was there in college. I did some student teaching in Ireland and made my way over to the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium afterwords. It was so fun to walk through the train station and find the hostel and little Italian place I once ate at again.

A rare photo of hubs. He's was so nice to take all of my outfit photos. Usually it's just me and my tripod. This background is amazing as it looks totally phony baloney.

Leaving on a Jet Plane Friday: Time to head home. We were missing our kitty. Little did we know it would be one million degrees when we got home, ugh! dress: Mango, picked up in Alkmaar; tights: Target; scarf: Germany

Hubs and I had separate seats on the plane. No worries, I had Jes to hang out with. The poor guy sitting next to me immediately caught on to my crazy ways and pretended to sleep all eight hours. I got some great photos of Jes resting with him! (gah, just kidding, silly man kept waking up)

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What the Art Teacher Wore #16

Monday, Seriously??: The last time I wore this dress one of my students asked, "Are you dressed like the Cleaning Lady today?" So this time I decided to jazz it up with a too-big flower and too-many necklaces. flower hair pin: flower from Joann's, hair pin made by me; necklaces: dunno, Target?; dress: Paul and Joe purchased for cheap a million years ago at Urban Outfitters; shoes: Blowfish picked up at TJMaxx

Hello there! Just a little peak at what I decided was appropriate to wear this week. And by "appropriate" I mean "what's clean and not on the floor of my closet". While scooting around on the internet (okay, let's just say it, there is no more "surfing the net" for us ladies, it's just pinteresting. Am I right?), I came upon these amazing works of art. And because I've been shoveling sugary sweets all week in an attempt to stay upright and perky, I thought I'd share with you some drool-worthy delectables that I have decided would complete me. Hope you enjoy!

Isn't this stunning? I love it. Frida Kalho by Alexey Kurbatov.

Flowery sugar cookies? Can I wear them in my hair and grab -n- eat when the mood strikes? Me thinks yes. Bakin' ideas found here.

Too Pink Tuesday: I am in love with this dress. Mostly because a dear friend who used to wear it gifted it to me. I think the color combination is divine. dress: gift from a friend; sweater: Ann Taylor, thrifted; flowers: H & M; shoes: Anthro couple years ago

Is that a key lime pie I spy? Mmmm, my favorite. Cakes and Pies by Wayne Thiebaud

Vintage wedding cakes, so cute! My fave is mini on the jadeite cake stand.

Wild Hair Wednesday: I swear the ends of my hair isn't really that bad. All my photos this week were taken at the end of some very long days at which point my hair was the least of my worries. sweater: thrifted: dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: made by me; shoes: BC

No where near the wonder of this woman, but I thought her color scheme kinda-sorta worked with mine. Wonder Woman by Nicole Charbonnet You should really check out her stuff, it's awesome.

Wait, what? Is this the grown-up version of candy necklaces? Why am I just now hearing about this?!

Thursday, I'd like you better if you had an FRI at the beginning of your name: Don't ask me what I am doing with my mouth in this picture. Possibly talking to myself. That's what too much sugar will do to ya. sweater: ebay; dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pinky Otto; necklace: vintage, thrifted; flowers: H & M; amazing owl sandals: Anthro, last year

I thought this wild -n- wacky Hollywood painting completed my look. A giant hovering In -n- Out Burger cup? With frolicking elephant underneath? Sure, why not? Found here.

The only thing that would make this better would be a wig of cotton candiness.

Friday, I've been waiting for you since Wednesday: Seriously, this week was a long one. That way for anyone else? dress: vintage, picked up for 25 pennies at the by-the-pound Goodwill; belt and flower hair clips: made by me; shoes: Frye picked up at Marti and Liz

The dress had the worlds smallest waist. Seriously, it was 10" wide. And I was determined to wear it. So I added this panel of lace in the back which not only extended the too-small waist but also the too-small bust.

The bold colors at the top of this painting reminded me of the bold flower at the top of my head. Bloom by Meredith Pardue.

Mmmm, nothing says delish like jell-o mold desserts, my favorite! (Ha, I kid, I have a fear of all things jell-o-y). Thanks for stopping by!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #15

Monday, Nobody Likes You: A coworker told me she had recently purchased these same Target sandals...and contemplated taking them back after seeing that the "crazy art teacher" also had them -- humph! cardigan, flower pins: H&M; dress: gift from a friend; belt: Pinkyotto; sandals: Target

Well, I dunno about you, but in my little part of the world, this week was like a sucker punch to the gut. My poor students and their teachers had to endure our state's standardized testing. For at least two hours every morning, my students had to take these tests that were most definitely written by trolls who live a kid-free life in their underground dungeon. By the time the kids came to art class, they were like zombies straight out of a horror movie.

Speaking of movies...I decided to take a different direction on this week's What I Wore. Instead of pairing my ensemble with a masterpiece, I decided to track down vintage movie posters that I found complimented my look. My search also lead me to a couple of goodies that would make my look complete, if only. You'll have to tell me what you think. Now go enjoy yourself a good movie and your weekend!

So while hubs and I were outside taking a photo of Monday's outfit, the neighbor's cat Rhett Butler (no, not kidding, I do live in The South) decided to join the fun. He's quite the character, loving one minute and attacking the next. So this book cover illustrates his craziness nicely. I know, I said I'd show movie posters, but this was just too perfect: From "Wiplala" written by Annie M.G. Schmidt, illustrated by Jenny Dalenoord, Holland, 1958

My feet say "no" but the crazy cat lady says "yesssss!" Pixie Lott in Mui Mui.

Tuesday: sweater: ebay; dress: The Hip Zipper, the best vintage joint in Nashville; owl sandals: Anthopologie

I love this poster...and would love to see the movie. I think I would fall under the "spoiled" category. My dear hubs lets me buy anything I want...at the thrift store. Image found here.

Can I please lounge on this in my pink gingham dress and be a bad sistah? Oh, summer vacation, you can't come soon enough! I found this lovely couch here.

Guess-who's-excited-she-finished-her-embroidery Wednesday: This is the dress that I embroidered and shared a DIY over at this lovely blog. dress: The Gap; shoes: Borne...these are the worst shoes ever, don't buy them. They absolutely will not stay on your feet, ugh!

Oh, Doris Day, you so stinkin' cute! Send Me No Flowers, found here.

I have needed a floral fix almost daily. Is it spring or a new trend? Don't care, just gimme some more flowers! Tights found here.

Thursday, You're such a Wild Cat: dress and sweater: thrifted; belt and sandals: made by me. The sandal base is from Sseko; headband: Peachy Tuesday

Boxers, briefs or...jungle panties? Image found here.

Can you believe the awesomeness that is my headband? No extra accessories needed, this is just perfect. Thank you, Jen at Peachy Tuesday!

Friiiidaaaaaay!: sweater: thrifted; dress: super cute vintage shop in Knoxville called Four Seasons Vintage; sandals: Frye; hairclip: made by me

Honestly, I struggled to find a poster for this outfit. It's a stretch but I'm thinking the stripes and the kinda-sorta similar palette makes it work...right? Found here.

Wanna know what I just did? I just got the Pink Panther theme song stuck in your head. You're welcome!

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