That's a pretty boring mannequin lady if I don't say so myself.  Mind you, the clothing we carry tends to be fun and funky, but with a base like this one, it just doesn't do the clothing justice!

We had the idea to change her up a bit to make her fit Northern Brights!  What better way than fabric? Some hot glue and strips of fabric wrapped around the metal took just a bit of time, but it turned out so amazing!  We left some of the torn threads for some extra texture.

Top to bottom, she was covered in pink, green, blue, purple fabric.  Really cool looking compared to the black metal, right?

It still wasn't quite funky enough for us though... We added a fuzzy multicolored yarn too to add some more texture! And it's perfect!  We can't wait to put our fun Spring/Summer clothing on these girls!

Thanks for reading! 

Oh, man!  It was a crazy fun holiday season...  That should just about sum up why we haven't blogged in a while! 

Just wanted to share a quick little story about one of our items we made in the store...  Sometimes, as an artist, you get this vision to create something and it comes out a little off from what you expected.  And, if you put enough time into this one item, it's just not feasible to rip apart and redo...  and you do think in the back of you head "someone is going to love this!"... 

Well, this awesome, colorful vest was made from circles of felted wool.  We used one of our wool felt pins as a closure.  Fun and funky, right?! 

I'm totally drawing a blank on this lovely lady's name since she visited in December, but she loved the vest!  She was such a fun customer!  She has purchased several purses from us and made them her own by adding pins and buttons and whatever she can think of.  We love when you take our art and add on to it.  It's inspiring for us to be inspiring.  That sounds corny, but it's true!

Well, the vest was no different... She wanted to add her own flair.  The sides were a little low for her, so we gave her some extra circles to change it to suit her!  We pinned the smaller red and green circles so she could take it home and sew it.  I have no doubt she added more pins and sass to the vest and can't wait to see it if she wears it in!

We love making things and when our customers can just add their creative touch to an item, it just makes us feel even better.

Thanks so much for reading and being a fan of Northern Brights.  You really do inspire us to create unique, fun things.

I was asked to participate in the Spirit Girls Night Out at the Holiday Inn on Thursday, October 25th.  The St. Cloud Hospital, part of the CentraCare Health System, is one of the many healthcare providers across the country that participates. 

The Spirit of Women's goal is to help change the perception of healthcare from "apprehension to accessibility through positive interactions with hospitals and healthcare providers. They provide "education, awareness initiatives, and navigation to appropriate physicians, diagnostic and clinical services."  Sounds like a wonderful goal, correct?!

My purpose, as a local boutique, was to contribute six outfits for their fashion show and also have a booth set up with items featured in our shop!  The fashion show was fun and really showcased all the cool things from some local shops!

I had an excellent time chatting with all the ladies that joined in for the Girls Night Out!  It was such a success with over double the attendance they were expecting!  I hope they took in all the info and guidance they could from the different speakers!

If you missed the fun night, you can see what we had on display below!

We decided to do a few different looks, starting with this fall inspired section.  We went with pretty deep tones.  We included not only Northern Brights items, but lots of stuff from our local artisans, including Jenny Bunny Creations and Barefoot Bath and Body!

Here is a bunch of fun things that are more eclectic.  Big bold jewelry from Vita In Tensione and a beautiful purple upcycled wool hat are featured here along with other expressive pieces for a more funky look!

Bright and fun was the name of this section.  Check out that beautiful teal hat from Hats by Victoria!  It's amazing the bold colors that you can mix and match, even in the more muted fall and winter months!

The pictures were taken with my phone, so they aren't the best, but you get the point!

We loved putting the outfits together and really wish we had taken pics of those, but any time you have trouble creating a whole outfit, you know where to go!  :D

Oh, custom orders are so fun to do! 

Sylvia asked us to make her daughter, who is marrying a Marine soon, a clutch, using his old (and well-used) uniform... Then add in a little pink to make it girly! 

ON the left is the uniform top, dogtag and buttons that Sylvia wanted used.  We took the patches off and used them in the purse design along with pretty pink floral appliques.

Here you can see where we randomly sewed everything down and added the zipper!

The dingle-dangly things we make usually just have beads, but we added on the dogtag!

Here is the complete front and back of the purse!  Isn't it just so sweet!?  We may just have to make more for our Military wives and girlfriends!  :D

If you've been in the store, you know we have cute and funky displays. Well, we've added some and they are for sale!  Our two furniture ladies, Natalie and Jena, bring us some amazing pieces... and this isn't even all of them!

The first lovely cabinet was painted light pink, then white and distressed.  Dainty floral fabric was used as a backing.  Jena made this country-cute piece!

The red drawered table was one side of an art-deco vanity.... Alas, the other half was beyond repair, but Natalie saved this side and created a little table!

Jena made this cabinet too. It has the same pink, white and floral detailing of the tall cabinet!  They would each be a nice stand alone piece or cute as a set!

Natalie hit a homerun with this piece! A trunk with legs is the perfect side table or maybe coffee table?!  Extra storage is always welcome, right? 

The vanity was painted by Natalie then embellished with the words Hope, Love, Dream, and Faith. It would make a sweet addition to a bedroom as a true vanity or as a table in the entryway.... I'm sure you could find many uses for it.

Here is one of my own pieces.  The footstool has a funky patterned fabric with nice storage space inside!

I love repurposed and refurbished pieces of furniture and this blog post only shows a few!  We'll post a new blog soon with more pics!

Which is your fave?