Tag Archives: Being Zhenya

DIY Friday: Denim Rug

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I saw an idea for a DIY denim rug a couple weeks ago! And I knew it was going to be perfect for me, because I had so many freecycled pairs of jeans, that I knew were waiting for their moment! And it finally came! Unfortunately it didn’t use up as many pairs, as I was hoping (only 1 1/2 or 3 pant legs :) )

Here is what you are going to need:

- Old jeans

- Scissors

- Fabric

- Sewing Machine

Then simply follow my easy instructions and enjoy!

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I hope this was nice and easy, let me know how your rug turns out!

Xo,

Z

Have a great weekend everyone ;)

PS. Linking up with Domestic Superhero

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Oversize Me OOTD

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Everyone knows that these days it’s the baggier the better, to a certain extent of course! When I put something oversized on top, I make sure to go skinny on the bottom, and this is how it usually turns out:

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Top – Old Navy size M (it’s HUGE!) but since it was bought on sale for a ridiculously small amount of money, and they didn’t have size S anywhere, I got it. It’s comfy and soft, almost at the point where I want to wear it around the house with a pair of sweats, but am fighting this urge!

Jeans – X2 Denim by Express, thrifted at Savers, $8

Scarf – Christmas gift from a few years ago

Floral necklace – Gofavor.com, that necklace was ordered for about $4 back in the day when I went through – Let’s order as much cheap crap costume jewelry from China as I can. If I could, I would return every single product I ordered there, because… well you see the crossed out word above! The metal is so cheap it fades away after 2 or 3 uses. This necklace has been kind of okay, but I don’t want to jinx it here! So I’ll keep wearing it out and about, and maybe later you’ll see it in one of my DIY projects!

Boots – Christmas gift from Sam :) <3

And of course my Marc Jacobs Watch! I have to wear it, everyday, yes, that’s how much I like that watch!

On the other note, winter isn’t going anywhere here in Minneapolis. After a snow thunderstorm last Thursday I am hopeless, on the verge of depression, someone please help! At least this blog is becoming more bright and colorful, I’ve finally figured out how to create a row of social media icons on my blog, yay me :)

In other news, I have a lot of DIY projects coming up for you dear readers, so stay tuned!

Love,

Z

PS. Did you notice I am not wearing any make-up in this picture?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Husband’s Shirt into Tunic Refashion/Перешиваем мужскую рубашку в тунику

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I am going to be honest with you, this was supposed to be a dress. But then my proportions were really off, so I had to turn it into a tunic. But I have a couple more shirts that my husband has gladly (yeah, right!) donated, and maybe one of them will eventually turn into a dress!

Here is how:

1. Take a shirt and lay it out flat:

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2. Find a dress or shirt that fits you well, and lay it on top of the shirt, trace it:

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3. Cut along the lines:

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4. Hem the neckline and the sleeves, add personal touches (I went for a vintage lace collar and lace fabric), and you are done!

Have a great weekend everyone, and don’t forget to stop back tomorrow, I am having a SALE on my blog!

Xo,

Z

Всем привет! Сегодня я покажу как можно перешить мужскую рубашку в нечто носибельное для себя! Изначально это задумывалось как платье, но что-то не пошло! В общем мой муж пожертвовал (добровольно! хотите верьте, хотите нет) еше несколько рубашек, и одной из них суждено стать платьем!

Итак,

1. Берем рубашку и раскладываем ее.

2. Сверху на рубашку кладем платье или футболку, которые более-менее сидят по фигуре, и обводим.

3. Обрезаем рубашку по линиям.

4. Обрабатываем горловину и проймы, добавляем что-то свое (я выбрала винтажный воротник и кружево для нижней части) и готово!

Всем отличных выходных, и не забудьте заглянуть сюда завтра! Я устраиваю первую РАСПРОДАЖУ на своем блоге!

Женя

Top 5 Refashions of 2012

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Let’s face it, I did a lot of refashions, some wearable, some… not so much, but all in all it’s been a great year refashion wise! Let me present you with my favorite refashions! In all honesty, it wasn’t that hard to choose ;)

5. Dress to skirt refashion:

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4. White Keds go Golden:

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3. Tote Bag Goes Botanical:

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2. You Can Never Go Wrong With Crochet Lace:

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And the 1st place goes to,

of course,

The Vintage Coat

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I hope you enjoyed refashions on BeingZhenya.com in 2012, 2013 will bring even more refashions, DIYs and fun outfit posts! Don’t forget to subscribe, follow, and like to stay in the loop!

Xo,

Z

OOTD: I Can’t get enough of you… coat

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It’s been less than a day since I finished refashioning my vintage coat, and I already had to wear it! I kept finding excuses to leave the house, and go for a walk, or to the local thrift store (which Sam and I went to and I can’t can’t wait to show you my finds, one of which has already been transformed into something AMAZING!)

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I also couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to wear my $1.50 vintage Christian Dior skirt!

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My boots are Mexx (bought them ages ago in Russia! I wonder whether that brand still exists?!)

The scarf was thrifted as well, cost me only $3, and came from a small store I used to basically “live in” when I was an Au Pair on the UWS in Manhattan!

And the bag is COACH, thrifted, of course!

It’s going to be an awesome week on my blog, with a sewing project, thrift haul and some refashions coming up!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

I know I did!

Zhenya

PS. I am wearing this coat to work tomorrow :)

“I miss New York” post

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Sometimes Minneapolis just gets to me, all these women who wear see through pants and bright colored underwear, men who look like they came from a conveyor belt, patches of colored hair on dogs and people…

That’s when I look back at my life in NYC, sigh and promise myself that I am going to move back there someday.

And to help you understand what I miss, here are the photos and the outfits:

1. I miss the bull on Broadway, miss watching tourists take craziest pictures with it, and it’s balls, miss looking at it from the 8th floor of the building where I took my math class…

2. Miss hanging out with my girlfriend in Central Park, miss asking random (Russian) strangers to please take our picture, miss wearing my Converse, miss that pair of jeans…

 

3. Miss the fact that I could go into an H&M, buy a dress, change into it at the Grand Central Station, and rock it for the rest of the day exploring Columbia University and the UWS… My husband misses my blond hair (that’s for sure)

 

4. Miss going out, borrowing my friend’s clothes, miss Marquee, the best place to go dancing…

 

5. Miss going to Brighton Beach in the freezing cold weather, miss that Brooklyn Library with all the homeless people…

 

6. Miss Brooklyn Bridge, and not wearing make up in the winter…

7. Miss my Slovakian girls, miss this place, where some guy came up to me and said I looked too intelligent for this club…

8. Miss dressing up for a walk in the park, miss Alice, miss Twinkle Twinkle little bat…

9. Miss the reservoir, and all laps I walked/ran around it…

10. Miss “reading magazines” on a Sunday night in Central park… Look closer and you’ll see what kind of magazines I am talking about ;)

11. Miss going out – AGAIN – that you can never get enough of! Miss walking home all by myself through the meat packing district and not getting mugged or raped, miss taking Subway at 4 am, miss being the only person walking from 79th and Broadway to 82 and Central Park West

 

There are oh so many more things I miss about being in NYC, I can’t wait to go back, and one day I will, and everyone is going to know that I am back!

What do you miss in your life right now?

Xo,

Z

Quick Nail Polish Fix for a Top

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WHAAAAT? Yes, well here is the story:

This top came from Goodwill outlet and I guess some of the metal decoration pieces fell off in the washer, or maybe were missing from the beginning, I can’t remember:

See, right there?

But hey that’s why I keep a whole box of nail polish handy (well that, and too paint my nails too). So I picked out these 3 colors, which I felt matched this shirt the most:

And started painting:

Once I was all finished, I just let it sit out there and dry:

And I can wear this shirt again. I am sure that I’ll have to do touch ups every once in a while, but hey, that means I can experiment with other colors, as long as there is nail polish!

xo,

Z

 

Crochet of the Day and $1 Books!

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I am working on another crochet project, that is connected with yesterday’s post about Wednesday’s thrift finds. Are you confused yet? Hehe, anyways, stay tuned for next weeks posts, I have at least 3 DIYs planned for this weekend!

So here is what I’ve been working on today:

I figured I might as well attach the crochet patterns for those of you who share my addiction :)

And here is this one:

I got these patterns off of some Russian crochet web sites, simply because I find them better than the american ones. I love patterns vs description, if you know what I mean!

So I hope you are all excited for next week’s posts now! Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t yet!

I also wanted to share some of the books I got today. I love going to the central library on Nicolette Mall here in downtown Minneapolis, there is a little store between a Dunn Brothers and the restrooms, where they sell “officially withdrawn” books. And I got some pretty shabby chic ones today ;) I also got one on vintage sewing! That’s right up my ally!

I am really excited about those books, especially because all of them cost $1 each, much cheaper than that Shabby Chic book that I saw at Target for $20! Talk about savings!

I hope I intrigued you enough to come check out my posts next week (as you know I don’t blog on weekends anymore, I hope you understand!) I do take pictures for the future posts and actually write posts on the weekends!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

xo,

Z

Goodwill Outlet Crazy Experience and Finds!

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After having read blog posts and seen numerous pictures from Goodwill Outlet from one of my favorite vintage style bloggers Sammy Davis, I finally found some time to make it to a Goodwill Outlet here in Minnesota, in St. Paul to be more precise. The store is located right off of 280 and University Ave. And I was by no means prepared to what I saw. It’s basically a giant wear house, with tons and tons of stuff. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is one for you:

In case you didn’t know here is how Goodwill Outlet works:

1. Your cart is always supposed to be against the wall.

2. Every now and then the staff does cart checks, and if you are not by your cart, they’ll dump it all out!

3. You are not allowed to touch anything while the staff is unloading boxes.

4. Bring your own bags.

5. All items are priced based on weight.

6. Have FUN!

So I grabbed a cart, put some tobramycin in my eyes and went digging :) I spent about 2 hours at the outlet, going through it all, and in the end, after having paid a little under $11, I came home with all this:

1. Some accessories:

2 Pairs of Shoes

3. A couple items to refashion – the ideas are brewing in my head as I type :)

4. Some vintage tops:

5. And some every day clothes :)

Let me know which of the pieces you liked the most! And follow my blog to see how I style these finds in the nearest couple of weeks!

Xo,

Z

DIY Crochet Color Block Tote: Part 1

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Why a 2 parter? Well, I just can’t crochet fast enough.

Why a color block tote? Because it’s perfect for people like me who get their yarn off of freecycle.org or at thrift store (YES ALL YARN/FABRIC I USE IN MY PROJECTS IS RECYCLED – THATS HOW I KEEP MY HOBBIES AT A LOW PRICE)  and there is never enough of it to make something a solid one color. So since color blocking is a huge hit this year, I thought why not make a tote. Plus I had the handles for it too (bought them back in February ;) – I know it takes me a while)

So when color blocking when crocheting it’s important to decide on your colors first. I went with some that coordinated with my sweaters from Old Navy. Remember this post? Yup, those sweaters :) Also ignore the fact that it looks like I’ve already made something out of red yarn, I didn’t, that all was going to become undone. Back in December I crocheted some Christmas stockings and this was a trial one, turned out to be too big, and is now being turned into a bag :)

Once you’ve decided on your colors, you are going to decide on the pattern. I simply drew mine, and since both sides were going to have a different pattern, it ended up looking like this:

You can also tell I totally misspelt SIDE :) hehe – English is not my first language after all :) But no worries, I corrected it later. So I hope my drawing is pretty self explanatory, the numbers on the sides are the numbers of rows, and the colors are written in each section.

Now this is how far I’ve got. I really hope to be done this week, so I don’t have to make you wait to see the finished product until next week.

 

I promis that very very soon this baby will be completed with it’s own lining, an inside pocket or two and handles. Stay tuned for Part 2, especially if you want to see what the other side looks like ;)

xo,

Z