Fashionably Friday

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to."-Jim Jarmusch

I was inspired by this cut-out shirt & this cut-out dress. 

Using my scissors, thread, fabric scraps & sewing machine, 

I crafted this beautiful blouse from an old Forever21 shirt. 

Paired with some of my current go-to pieces,

it is already a wardrobe favorite.

cut-out shoulders

messy curls

a scrap of ivory lace created the bow

neon pink nail polish 

Owl ring from Aeropostale

a scrunched sleeve reveals my "Love & Long Life" wrist tattoo 

This outfit & I are ready for a weekend on the coast.

If you would like your own DIY project featured on 

Life & Words, send me a note at mrsb.sellai at gmail.com. 

I would love to hear from you!

Wild Thing

The night [Oliver] wore his wolf suit, & made mischief of one kind and another...

His mother called him, "Wild thing!" And [Oliver] said, "I'll eat you up!" 

-Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

For Halloween, I decided to get creative and make Oliver's costume.

As a child, one of my favorite books was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It's adorable and the pictures are priceless. (A movie was made recently but it doesn't hold a candle to the book, in my opinion)

So I dressed Oliver as Max.

"...& made him king of all wild things."

We enjoyed handing out candy and spending time with our family that night. 

Nicholas & my brother Reuben caused quite a "wild rumpus" scaring little candy seeking children, and some not-so-little candy seekers too. :) Altogether it was a memorable night for Oliver's very first Halloween. 

Fall Wardrobe Preview: The Fringe

My sister, Vanessa, recently brought fringe shirts to my attention. I instantly loved them and even created my own version out of one of Nick's old faded tee shirts. 

Vanessa never actually got around to buying or making a fringe shirt so I decided to create one for her. However, she is a tiny person and I worried that a fringe tee would look very bag-like on her small frame. Instead of a shirt, I decided to create a fringed vest for her. 

I cropped a black Mossimo tank top, cut fringe around the bottom, and attached some sky blue beads to a few random fringe pieces to give it a little dimension. The result was stylishly amazing and perfect for fall. To illustrate my vision for the vest, I assembled an outfit that encompasses my vision for fall fashion. Nick was nice enough to take a break from the Oklahoma/Florida State football game and snap a few pictures of me playing dress up. 

Gap shirt, 7 for all Mankind Skinny bootcut jeans, Re-purposed fringed vest, Cathy
Jean boots, Rose Gold Michael Kors watch, Piero Guidi cross body purse


This fringed awesomeness will soon be making its way across the country to Vanessa via the United States Postal Service. For everyone else, use this as inspiration to re-purpose your own fringed clothing and then email photos of your creations to me at mrsb.sellai@gmail.com. 


I am excited to see all of your amazing ideas!

This image is the essence of my fall style.


Stay crafty my friends...


~Bethany

a little l-o-v-e.

I saw a super cute penant on a blog the other day and I tried to create my own version of it today with some burlap, ribbon, buttons, paint and stencils I made from a paper bag.

It's not perfect but I love how it turned out...

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” ~Rumi

a few of baby's things...

Some of my little guy's adorable things. I become obsessed with owls for his nursery theme. However, most of the owl stuff I came across was either too feminine, overpriced or just boring. So I got creative and mixed and matched some homemade pieces with solid colors. Now, I can't wait for him to get here...

The latest project for the nursery. My sister, Vanessa, discovered this image on Bower Power for me. I printed it on Vicki's kodak printer and framed it with a few extra details.

Super cute mobile (from Alysha), and a framed maternity picture.

I found this free owl pattern on Toad's Treasures blog and decided to give it a try. I think it came out really great!

I first used orange string to hang this but I felt like the twine looked so much cuter. :)

"O is for Owl" throw pillow, and owl crib blanket.

How cute is this? It was a gift from my manager, Amanda.

Now all we need is our baby :) Hurry up little guy. We can't wait to meet you.

~Mrs. B