Life imitates the internet
When I was working on my rope necklace I started thinking about nautical style. It seems to come around every year, or maybe every other year since I don’t remember it being a trend for last spring. Did I just miss it? It wouldn’t surprise me. Anyway, since I am easily distracted by the internet, I decided to do a round-up of nautical-inspired outfits on polyvore. You might say, however, that I got a little carried away. It’s just that there were so many good items that I wanted to share and I just kept finding more.
(All of the product information is available if you click the collages.)
While I was working on the above I started thinking about all of the nautical-inspired pieces that I own. I realized that I actually have a lot, and the collection has grown with the addition of the rope necklace and belt I made. Actually, I added to it even further when I was looking for a chain for the necklace at Goodwill and happened upon a great anchor necklace that you can see below. I didn’t have a magical gravity-defying wall to make my real-life collage but I managed to rig something up.
This happy whale necklace is one of my favorite thrift finds.
Not too surprisingly, almost everything is from a thrift store. The exceptions are the whale rainboots and the dangly earrings, which I put together. When I took them out to make this set I realized that I hadn’t worn them in so long that they were practically black with tarnish. I looked up online how to remove tarnish from chains and found a great solution. All you have to do is put some aluminum foil in a dish, shiny side up. Place your tarnished silver on the foil and cover it with baking soda. Dump boiling water on top and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Repeat if necessary, then rub your silver with a bit of toothpaste and rinse off. It works so well that I went on a bit of a silver cleaning binge and now a lot of my jewelry is shiny again. Of course I had to know the scientific reason behind this magic so I found an explanation of how/why it works.
Transient Expression 
I love all these finds! Lots of time nautical can just look too preppy, but this is def they way to do it- with a twist!
Erin: Ya know, it’s funny, but I didn’t even realize until you said it that I’d done nautical with a twist. But you’re totally right! By the way, all of the recipes on your site look sooooo good. I can’t wait to try more!