Amy contacted us from North Carolina and wanted to REDO her pink bridesmaid dress into a pillow for her friends, Emily and Hudson. We suggested our “Andy” pillow, using Amy’s dress as the front and back side of the pillow. Once we received Amy’s dress, we saw the beautiful subtle pleats and knew we had to re-create it for her pillow. So we created vertical pleats staying true to the form of the dress. We then embroidered “Emily & Hudson” in a light green font to match the green pashmina that Amy also wore in the wedding.

We must say that we are a little obsessed with this pillow and hope that Amy, Emily and Hudson love it as much as we do.  We hope you agree that this pillow is definitely pretty in pink!

Happy REDOing,

Jennifer & Lindsey

Nicole and her husband, Kevin, are avid concert-goers. When they got pregnant with their first child (now beautifully named Autumn), they exposed their soon-to-be daughter to as many concerts as they could – all while Nicole was pregnant! After collecting t-shirts from each concert, Nicole soon accumulated over a dozen.

Nicole looked for a way to display those t-shirts and create a memorable keepsake for their daughter. She knew she wanted to make a custom t-shirt quilt. Her family surprised her for Christmas with an ONBR custom t-shirt quilt ready for Nicole and ONBR to design. Unlike our previous t-shirt REDOs, we played with the various sizes of the logos (some logos were large, while some were small, and Nicole also gave us two infant onesies) to create a patchwork quilt without creating any borders in between the shirts. This provided balance to the blanket and allowed us to showcase the true sizes of the logos, all the while blending Nicole’s t-shirts nicely together.

The quilt needed a rock fabric to tie together the Rock ‘n’ Roll theme of the blanket, which included t-shirts from Pearl Jam, Radiohead and The Black Keys concerts. Nicole’s love for traditional zebra-print fabric worked perfectly and was used as the border and the backside of the blanket.

We loved working with Nicole to create her Rock ‘n’ Roll blanket. Not only has she re-purposed her concert t-shirts, but she has created a sentimental blanket for Autumn as a reminder of the first days she was introduced to concerts!

Happy REDOing,

Lindsey & Jennifer

 Five years ago, Leslie wore a beautiful, strapless, long white wedding gown to say “I Do” to her husband, Eric. 

Now five years and two little boys later, Leslie wanted to surprise Eric for their anniversary by REDOing her long wedding gown into a fun party dress – perfect for a night out in downtown San Diego. 

We had a blast transforming her wedding gown.  Leslie’s first request was to remove the gathered pleats down the center of her wedding gown, and create a more fitted dress.  She also wanted it short!    What started out as a long gown was now transformed into a stylish, and of course beautiful, dress – fit perfectly for her body.

We had the opportunity of seeing Leslie in her new dress and she looked beautiful.  Leslie’s REDO made the perfect dress to celebrate her 5th wedding anniversary with her husband and we were honored to play a small part in their big celebration.  {And we heard that Eric loved the dress!}

Happy REDOing,

Jennifer & Lindsey  

Just like the adage “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue,” Old New Borrowed Redo is always up for the challenge of creating something new. So when Diana asked us to create a shadow box using only the corset from her wedding gown and photos from their big day, we immediately became excited for this new REDO.

A simple white framed box was the perfect start. To accentuate the beautiful silver and pink jewels on her corset, we chose rose-colored lining to mount the corset – which provided a beautiful yet subtle background to the box. Of course, the shadow box would not be complete without photographs from their wedding day.

Overall, the shadow box is a perfect way to salvage small mementos and blend them together to create a long-lasting keepsake of your big day.

Happy REDOing,

Lindsey & Jennifer

We are excited to announce that Old New Borrowed Redo will be participating in The NotWedding on March 5, 2013 in downtown San Diego, California!  This is a fake wedding to inspire real brides and the event is complete with a sit-down dinner, ceremony and dance-party reception.   Come see talented, local vendors as their craft is displayed throughout the event.

Old New Borrowed Redo has the honor to create the ring bearer pillow that will be used in the wedding ceremony! During the reception, all of our keepsakes, including many new keepsakes, will be on display.

We hope to inspire brides and friends and family of the bride to turn those dresses into beautiful keepsakes.  If you are engaged and would like to attend this event, email us at info@oldnewborrowedredo.com.  We are so excited for this incredible event!

You don’t have to use your entire dress to create a memorable keepsake.  In fact, we still gather inspiration from our Makayla blanket, appropriately named after this beautiful redo.  With so much creativity, would you believe it was created with just leftover fabric from a bridesmaid dress?!

When we met bridesmaid Kelly, she wanted to create a special Christmas gift for her brother and sister-in-law upon the arrival of their baby (and Kelly’s niece) Makayla.  Kelly told us that she only had the leftover fabric from her bridesmaid dress that she wore in their wedding.  Although Kelly wanted to make a baby blanket for her niece, Kelly’s concern was that she didn’t have enough fabric leftover from her bridesmaid dress.  Up for the challenge, we told Kelly to mail us her fabric and we will create the perfect keepsake. 

Kelly’s leftover fabric from her bridesmaid dress lent itself perfectly for Makayla’s name plate!  We embroidered Makayla’s full name and date of birth on the name plate.  The front side of the blanket was a baby pink and tan polka dot fabric with the name plate placed perfectly in the front.  The back side of the blanket was a soft and fluffy pink fabric.  Kelly’s leftover fabric also lent itself well for the piping along the perimeter of the blanket.  Kelly’s blanket was a special present to welcome her new niece into the world.

No matter if you have your bridesmaid dress fully in tact or just have leftover fabric like Kelly, send us your fabric and we will be sure to create your perfect, custom keepsake.

Happy REDOing,

Lindsey & Jennifer

We are thrilled and honored to be featured in Eco-Beautiful Wedding’s Winter/Spring 2013 Issue!  Eco-beautiful Weddings is a gorgeous online magazine, devoted to all things that are wedding and eco-friendly.    Our 4-page feature includes gorgeous photos of our keepsakes, which our amazing customers were kind enough to let us share.   We also chatted with the team at Eco-Beautiful Weddings about what’s “old and new, along with a few other things.” 

A full copy of our feature is available on our Press page.

. . . .

Creative Holiday Gifts Made From Dresses In Your Closet

Why Turning a Dress Into a Keepsake Makes the Perfect Holiday Present

Whether you light the menorah or decorate the Christmas tree, the goal is to find that perfect, one-of-a-kind present to gift to those special people in your life.  With the holidays quickly approaching, finding that perfect present can be a tedious chore.  If you want to give a unique and sentimental present, here are some ideas that begin by looking in your closet!

If you are looking for a gift for your friend (a former bride) and her new hubby, you can take the bridesmaid dress you wore in her wedding and turn it into a pillow, baby blanket, throw blanket or picture frame.  You can incorporate fabrics and prints that she loves, or stick with the holiday spirit by adding red, green or blue fabric.

If you want a unique gift for your Mom, creating a keepsake from her Mother-of-the-Bride dress is a special gift she will love.  Embroidering names, initials or dates to the keepsake makes a great finishing touch.

The holidays are also a perfect time to treat your self to something special.  You can take your own wedding gown out of the closet and turn it into a keepsake you can display in your home.

For those in need of a great stocking stuffer, Old New Borrowed Redo also has you covered- from small pillows and picture frames to sachet bags and gift certificates are perfect to add to any stocking.

Don’t let the holiday time and gift giving stress you out.  Just think outside the box and look no further than your closet.

. . . . 

Why A Bridesmaid Dress Makes A Great Baby Shower Present

By Lindsey Radoff and Jennifer Manroel, Old New Borrowed Redo

It’s the day after your best friend’s wedding.  As you revel over last night’s festivities, you glance down at the bridesmaid dress that you wore, now on your bedroom floor.  While you ponder where to hang your dress the choice soon becomes obvious – the bedroom closet will suffice, knowing that you probably will never wear it again.

Twelve months later, the former bride announces she is pregnant and the date for the baby shower is set.  You could always play it safe and get her a pre-selected present off her baby registry.  But, what better gift to give than a custom keepsake made from the very same bridesmaid dress you wore to her wedding?

There are a number of uses for a bridesmaid dress after the big day. A cute way to re-use your old bridesmaid dress is transform it into a variety of custom keepsakes- such as a baby blanket, pillow, or picture frame the mommy-to-be will love.  If you want to get creative and incorporate additional fabrics, choose colors that match the baby’s nursery, the colors of the home, or even the former bride’s wedding colors, Old New Borrowed Redo has you covered! We can even add finishing touches like ruffles, piping and bows, or embroider the baby’s name.

Instead of letting the bridesmaid dress take up space in the closet, you can create a gift for the mommy-to-be that captures memories from her wedding day.  The bridesmaid dress actually gets used again, and you can be certain that no other guest will arrive at the baby shower with the same gift.

We wanted to help any way we could and were thrilled to be the “personal shoppers” for the brides.  Searching for the perfect wedding gown for the bride was no easy task.  The racks displayed hundreds of dresses, all types of styles mixed within.  Often times, the bride would show us a picture of a wedding gown from a magazine or from Pinterest that was her dream dress.  Other brides searched endlessly through the racks hoping to find that perfect dress.  We had so much fun helping several different brides search for their gown. And at the end of the day, two of our brides said “Yes to the Dress,” and the room erupted in cheer.  This was such a memorable day not only for us but of course for the bride and her family.

Happy REDOing,

Lindsey & Jennifer