HAPPY NEW YEAR!

happy new year from Joao!

Lola Dee Giveaway WINNER!

Hello lovelies! I'd like to recap this giveaway by my amazing sponsor Lola Dee. The winner is Emma Rozeveld of Eben Lemon! She followed both of us on bloglovin, added my button, followed through google reader, and also tweeted the post!

Lola will crochet one of these barrettes in heather grey for Emma..

She is also sending her the red circular ring (Emma, that is what you were referring to, right?)

Dear Emma, would you also please add Lola Dee's button to your blogs you love? I'd really appreciate it, and I am sure she would, too!  Congrats!

Thank you to EVERYONE who participated and commented. I am currently working out the details with three more sponsors who are hosting giveaways very soon so check back for more! :) Please don't forget to visit Lola Dee handmade and have a look at her creative shop! Emma, please email your shipping info to Lola at her blog, here. If you have any questions or want more information about sponsoring please email me here!

love, polly

Keep me searchin' for a heart of gold..

My Grandma Kutch let me use her car today for these photos. It was raining and COLD. I had fun, though. When I saw those pictures of Rebecca in the snow blizzard I gasped! They look so brutal for her! I am glad it wasn't like that for me today! I was thinking that these photos are a little unrealistic because OBVIOUSLY I don't walk around in this kind of environment with this outfit. I put my coat on the ground and then suffered through it. I kind of like that idea, though.. suffering for fashion! haha.

I'm sure everyone else knows what I mean.. I think coats are boring and I don't really wear that many different ones, so..

Here's how the suitcase opens!

The dress was found at Salvation Army Thursday when Jake and I went. 

It really is an amazing dress with amazing detail.. it really reminds me of Mod.. I know it's definitely that style... and from looking at the inside and seeing the hand sewing and the label.. it's definitely vintage. 

I got the suitcase at Rebecca's Antiques and added the Vintage Vinyl sticker myself after seeing a Blitzen Trapper show for free there (you can see the video I took here). I really adore that record store.. I get a lot of my records there for 99 cents. I have the sticker all around my room, too!

My mother let me borrow her red leather belt, and she bought me the blue hand made bracelet from North Carolina this year.

The boots were a gift from my Aunt Kate and the tights and hat are from Forever 21. Hope you have a lovely Wednesday!

I want to personally thank everyone for the interest in my blog and the support.. you're all special and good luck to you accomplishing your new goals in the new year to come!

love, polly :D

promote your blog in 2011!

As usual, I am still accepting sponsors with giveaways only. That's right, it's as simple as that! Host a giveaway- get advertisement! If you host a giveaway that I approve (the pictures need to be semi-professional looking with item(s) that project your personal style/business) I will design a button for you however you'd like. It will be displayed for one month with an option to redesign mid month. The Littlest Polly Blog is about three years old now and I am really hoping for a positive future! I am receiving about 600 views daily, and I'd love to share the traffic with you! Also, I just did my first DIY and it was featured on A Beautiful Mess. Elsie was even so kind as to send me a care package from which she is hosting a giveaway on my blog (which is STILL OPEN by the way!) I know 300 followers doesn't seem like a lot, but it was blood, sweat, and a lot of commenting to get thus far! I love making new friends :) I am planning a new feature and more DIY's in the future.. so even if you can't sponsor, stay tuned!

love, polly

This is the woman I was named after.

This is my Great Grandma Pauline Lindsey. She is 95 years old. She has a sewing room, she paints EVERYTHING, and she smokes like a fiend. She is one of the biggest inspirations in my life. She is currently suffering through dementia and hallucinations of a handsome old man with a sparkly silver headband.. she says she swears to god that she sees him. She thinks she is over 100. She never remembers me anymore because I am away at school.. this fact makes me very sad. 

Proving that she loves to paint! haha!

I visited her on December 23rd with my mother. She is really an amazing person, and i know these pictures are going to be some of the last ones taken of her. After a while she starts to remember me.. it's sad, really. I used to visit her house every week last year. She gave me so many of her clothes and necklaces to wear.. I am proud to be named after her. 

Here are some pictures of her earlier in her life:

Here she is with her late husband, PJ, who I am also named after.

Here she is (on the right) in June of 1956 with my Grandma Kutch (her daughter).

Here she is in Key Largo on September of 1964. This is one of my favorite pictures of her :)

love, polly :)

new years resolutions

It's not even 2011 and I am already thinking of new ways to improve my life. Why? Well, I just feel like the past year has taught me a lot.. but it's not enough. I want to actually DO more things. I want to make more things. I want to be someone who does what she says she will with full force.

So, (much to my relief) I am moving next semester. I thought I'd snap some last pictures of my room this semester to remember. Sorry, it's quite messy! I think it will be a nice way to start over again.. and my room is SO big with hardwood floors! Can't wait to show you! Here is a look at what my apartment looked like when I first moved in!

What are you doing this year to make your life feel new?

love, polly

hair piece remix

I bought this hand made feather hair piece last summer at a Native American Pow Wow in Taylorville (at our fair grounds). The name of the woman's company is His Majesty's Creations. I was so thrilled that I actually bought two pieces! The lady simply finds deceased birds on the road and takes them. She conjures up an idea to beautifully place the feathers into a hair piece, and makes it! Click here to see the whole story!

mountains beyond mountains outfit

I found this very enlightening and interesting that the birds live on through this person that wears their feathers. Supporting independent artists is very important to me.. so I bought almost forty dollars worth of her feathers that day.. and they have definitely been part of my essential wardrobe accessories ever since.

the ghost who walks outfit

in a cornfield outfit

roadkill hairclip outfit

This is my first wardrobe remix! enjoy!

love, polly ;D

inspirational artist: Carl Kleiner

I'm really enjoying these creations on Carl Kleiner's blog! The color tones and the clothes tell such a story. I love them so much! What a creative idea and execution, no?

P.S. this is what I'd REALLY love to be doing right now. :)

p.p.s. I've really been using twitter a lot lately! If you'd like to chat, feel free to follow me!

love, polly

red & yellow ochre

And so I left Urbana. I packed everything up in my car and headed for Edwardsville to see Jake. FORTUNATELY when I was ALMOST there... my car literally DIED. Yeah, it started making a rattling noise and it sounded like something was getting ready to fall out of the engine area. After a while, the lights started dying and my steering wheel started becoming harder and harder to turn. It was literally the scariest feeling especially with cars passing me at 70- 80 mph. So now I am stuck without a car. 

haha.. these pictures were obviously taken before my car died.. thank god.

I got the boots as a present from my Aunt Kate. Apparently they were just lying in the back of her closet? They are my first pair of cowboy boots and I have been wanting cowboy boots for a couple years! I always joke that I was just never meant to have them. Then they just appear! 

hat: forever 21 (it's like 3 years old!)

dress: thrifted h&m from Salvation Army

tights: UO (so worth $12!)

green socks: vintage, my mother's

coat: vintage, Salvation Army

clutch: vintage, University of Illinois costume & props sale

1905 penny necklace: gift

(p.s.- what you're seeing under the dress is a pair of cut offs ;D)

So, without a working car, I am forging on. AND Jake and I are going to see a lunar eclipse tonight! Are you going to see it? 

love, polly :)

Red Velvet Art Giveaway! (closed!)

Hello! I was very happy when I checked the mail a couple hours ago! I received a package from the very generous Elsie Flannigan!

She gave me a very sweet card and some cute items from her shop, Red Velvet. I can't wait to incorporate them into my outfits!

I really never thought that my favorite blogger would ever be so sweet and generous. She really is a doll! I can't wait to visit her shop with my boyfriend, Jake, over xmas break! :)

So, I am sharing the wealth, yes, It's a giveaway!

We decided giving away one item would be fun! (and according to my terms.... she is now officially my sponsor!)

Just leave a comment below telling me your favorite creative activity for an entry to win this Red Velvet promo card and vintage skeleton key necklace!

For extra entries:

1. add my button (10 entries)

2. follow me on bloglovin (5 entries)

3. follow Elsie on bloglovin (5 entries)

4. add Elsie's button (10 entries)

love, polly :)