Making a brooch/headdress

Hello my dears,

Yesterday I met up with two lovely friends and did some crafting.

With some delicious christmas cookies (yes, it's already November and christmas items are totally ok now!) and coffee we poured all our supplies onto the table to get a hold of what we have and what we can do with it.
Lace, fake flowers, fake leaves and ivy, fabrics, pearls.

I gathered a lot of lace to fullfill one of my desired projects. A lace-shabby-chich brooch.
In my opinion Shabby Chic and Mori Girl have a lot of things in common especially aesthetic wise, so I gave it a try.
If you search for 'Shabby Chic Lace Brooch' on Youtbe you'll find tons of great tutorials. I got a lot of inspirations from this one:

Aren't they lovely? Very talented.

Unfortunatly I forgot a lot of leftover lace at home, because I stored them in my desk instead of my crafting box. Whoops. But my friend had a huge bag full of cotton lace and she gave me some of hers.

Well, I'm not very crafty or creative but let's share the final product.

It was very easy, except gathering the lace. Why did nobody told me that you need fine motor skills?
But all you need is a hot-melt gun, a little piece of felt/fabric for the back, lace, lace and more lace, maybe some decoration like flowers or pearls and patience. Perfect for people who can't sew, like me.

In the end I like it. That's what matters, right? Right.

It still need a brooch pin, right now it only has a clip glued on. So practically it's a headdress.

I will definitily do more of these, they are fun to do and a good way to use leftover lace.
Let me know if you made some yourself, I would love to see your's.


See you!
Blushing Rabbit.

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Mori Girl Summer Swap

Hello my deers,

Some of you might already know that I organize Mori Girl Swaps through Facebook.

The theme for this round was Notebooks, Tea and Recipes.

I was matched with wonderful Rosette and Aime.

It was a lot of fun to go shopping for Aime, there were too many cute things to choose from.

The swap I received from Rosette was very adventurous.

Luckily she sent it with tracking. After one to two weeks it arrived in my city, but not at my doorstep. The tracking told us, that it was delivered to the original recipient (me) but that wasn't the case. So I started to ask several neighbors if they received my parcel, but none did. I even walked to the street which is often mistaken because of the similarity of the names and asked there is they know where my parcel is. Yes, you guess right, no luck either.
So I called customer service but they told me as it was delivered to the original recipient they are not allowed to tell me where it is and who signate for it.
All we could do was claiming a file and wait.
Two weeks after that the person who lives in #19 rang my bell and brought me the parcel! The mailman must have confused the numbers as I live in #10!

Time to open the swap!
Opening the envelope a delicious fruity smell greeted me.

She completly made the notebook by hand!
I think Rosette has the most beautiful handwriting ever, I'm really envy this. I'm very happy that she's my partner. The letter was a good and enjoyable read and the recipe is easy to understand, definitly going to try to make the Polish Moldy Cake.

 

Beside the Summer Swap we also did a Polaroid Swap.

Here's what I received from Australia

I really like the wide one, my partner took it in Buderim Forest Park. I get really fond of wide instax pictures, as the cameras tend to have a way better photo quality than the mini version whithout being that much more expensive.

Now I'm very excited for the next swap, which will be held in autumn.

Mori Girl Swap
If you like to join the group on Facebook, please read the rules and how to join the group first, we're very strict!

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Mori Girl - How to start?

Hello my deers,

yes, pun intended. Today I will talk a little bit about Mori Girl (森ガール) and how to start your wardrobe.

First of all, what is a Mori Girl or what is Mori Girl fashion?

Mori Girl is a Japanese subculture which bases on Choco's checklist for Mori Girls.
'Mori (森)' means 'forest' in Japanese, so you can say it translates to forest girl, which is exactly the look a Mori Girl aims for. With their lose dresses, airy layers, covered in lace and quirky appearance, a Mori Girl looks like she's right from the (fairytale)forest.
They appreciate the small things like a good cup of tea or a simple walk through nature and live by their own pace.

Mori Girl explained it very well and more detailed in their blog, so give them a visit.

To start your Mori Girl wardrobe seems like a very difficult mission in the beginning. But I would like to give you some tips on how to create simple and yet interesting Mori Girl outfits with basic pieces, which you can find on Taobao.

One important thing: It's all about the layers.
It's always the easiest to start in one color scheme like white, beige, ivory, brown or black, but I will focus this post on lighter Mori Girl styles.
To keep it simple start with 3-4 layers, consisting at least of an underskirt/underdress, a dress and a top.

source: www.alicegrimoire.wordpress.com

The Underskirt/Underdress

You want to get a skirt which is versatile, one you can wear on your waist and on your hips, but there are also skirts which you can wear as a dress. This is important to create different looks and levels of layering later without buying additional pieces.

I recommend this skirt as a beginner basic:

With it's different fabrics and star-shaped hem it already creates the look of multi-layers, which is great in summer when you can't wear multiple layers. And as it's cream colored you can add it to any outfit.

If you're looking for something more playful take a look at this one:

Like the skirt above it can be also worn as a dress. And again, different fabrics and not a straight hem. This will make your outfit look more fairylike and airy. But because of it's color I would recommend this to a more advanced Mori Girl.


If you aren't that much into super girly-fairy-like clothing you may want to take a look into underdresses. They tend to be less poofy and more straight than most underskirts. Although you might find it difficult to find an underdress that's long enough and they aren't as versatile as a skirt.

The Dress

First of all, even I called this category "The Dress" it doesn't always have to be a dress, there are many many clothes you can wear on top, but for this guide I will talk about dresses.

You have your skirt and now it's time to cover your upper body.

Choose something that can be worn in different ways later.
To a cute sundress a blouse can be added underneath or a nice crop top as an overlayer.

Remember the most important rule - it's all about the layers - so this dress is perfect for beginners as it adds another layer with it's fake underskirt. On hot summer days it also works without an underskirt and still keeps its Mori Girl vibe.

You can also add something more lacey and flowing to emphasize your cute look.

The Top

To give your outfit the final touch we're going to add another layer.

You can see it already in the pictures. With a frilly cardigan or bolero you can complete your Mori Girl outfit without much effort.
Of yourse you can wear a shawl or cape instead of a cardigan it has the same effect.

Some tips for Mori Girl beginners:

• Start from the bottom and go to the top when layering. Start with the skirt/underdress and layer something that works with it. Then choose a top-layer. I had major problems with getting the trick how to layer right when I started and find this the easiest to build an outfit.
• Don't start too short. If you start over your knee you don't have enough space to layer enough for the Mori Girl look. I recommend to start right under your knee the shortest.
• Don't combinate more than 2 colors, it's difficult to balance the colors in the beginning. Choose a colored skirt or dress and balance with accessoires but stay in your maine color for everything else.
• While shopping ask yourself 'Will this work with the other pieces I want to buy?'. With this methode you make sure to buy pieces you can put together in different outfits.
• Don't be shy and ask the Mori Girl Community if you need help with your outfit.

Already a more advanced Mori Girl?

• Try to wear an short underdress over your skirt but under your main dress/tunic for some extra layers and an interesting look.

I hope you got a little idea of how to build a Mori Girl outfit.
Of course you can experiment and find your own way, but this is how I build my outfits and what would have helped me in the past.
If you like to read more about this topic, please visit also my friend's blog: I don't know much but I'm learning

I know that the beginnig is difficult, also because the borders to other substyles like Natural Kei are very blurry, which is even more confusing, but with confidence you can build beautiful outfits.

It would make me happy if this guide helped you at least a little bit.

See you next time

Blushing Rabbit

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