Make a Statement...

Happy Friday! I have been looking forward to this weekend all week. I need that extra day to work on a little project that I will tell you about next week. I am one to speak my mind, but actually this post is on statement necklaces. Over at Marionberry Style, Marion has made her link up for this month based on the trend of statement necklaces. I looked up "statement" in dictionary and one definition that stuck out to me was its meaning of a nonverbal message. I think that is exactly what a statement necklace does, it is a form of your style you want to portray. Most of the time, statement necklaces tend to be on the bigger side. I guess because this makes them more noticable. In this photo, is one of my newest statement necklaces. It is actually a thrifted necklace and I love it because it has a "J.Crew" feel. I paired this plum colored necklace with my past season mustard flowered dress from Madewell. A statement necklace can enhance any outfit. My favorite way is wearing mine with a simple t-shirt and jeans.

Not all statement necklaces have to be big. One of my favorite statement necklaces is this simple monogram necklace. My husband got this for me three Christmases ago.

Here's a few statement necklaces that I fancy. Which is your favorite?

Anthropologie- Kuychi Necklace

ASOS Statement Pharoah Necklace

ModCloth- Statement Art Necklace

Forever 21- Pearlescent Peter Pan Collar

Forever 21- Angular Gemstone Necklace

Check out this chain bracelet DIY if you have time over the weekend from Swellmayde.

Have a great weekend!!!

Shedding Skin- Getting the Skinny

Happy Wednesday, on a recent trip to Target I was happily surprised by the selection of animal print skinny jeans. I especially loved these Mossimo snakeskin skinnies.  I love the neutral tones that can pretty much go with any shirt. Another detail I love is these skinny jeans are not skin tight, which is great because it seems like they are making jeans tighter and tighter! I paired them with this silk shirt I thrifted. So, if you have been eyeing a pair of animal print skinnies, definitely head to Target at $23.00, these are a steal!!

Target: Mossimo Snakeskin Skinny Jeans

A couple of other pairs of Snakeskin skinnies I found are below, if you are not near a Target or prefer something with some color!!

Madewell:Textile Elizabeth and James - Low Rise Skinny Python

notnotnot7 For All Mankind The Skinny Jean Snakeskin

ASOS- Denimocracy Skinny Jeans

Do you have a favorite?
Linking up at What I Wore Wednesday at the Pleated Poppy and she has a great Giveaway going on, so make sure to check her out!

When shopping....

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I was out and about getting last minute school stuff and I noticed the stores are obviously very busy. Most of us will be doing some fall shopping to add a few pieces to our current wardrobe. If you are not sure what looks good on your body style, stores offer a personal shopper. If that is not for you, but you plan on going shopping with a friend. Here are a couple of tips:

1. Make sure to take a friend that will give you an honest opinion, you don't need to hear "yeah that looks good on you" when it really doesn't match your style or body type.
2.Have a list of the items you definitely need.  For example, everyone should get a new white collared shirt every Fall.
3.If you have a small budget for Fall invest in some new accessories to add to your current wardrobe.
4. If you like to shop by yourself, research on the Internet or magazines to gauge what looks good on your body type. When you go into a store, sometimes what happens to be on the mannequin may not be right for you.
5. Last, but not least, make sure to look at yourself from the front and behind in a mirror. Something may look okay in the front, but not so good on the back. 

These tips are straight forward, but I think that is why many of my friends ask for my opinion, because I am going to tell you if it looks good and I truly believe you should always go with what makes you feel good, not others!

I am posting today one of the last of my favorite vintage dresses. Now, this style is reminiscent of the 70's, but I love the details on the sleeves and neckline.  The dress really seems to flow. I added a new wide belt that I recently purchased.

Linking up at Visible Monday and Thrifters Anonymous, check out these fabulous ladies.

DIY- Embellished Cropped Coat

 Well, DIY Wednesday is back! While I was New York, I noticed a huge trend is embellishing pretty much everything from denim to leather with studs, bullets, diamonds, or sequins. So, I have been a busy girl embellishing a few items. One is this cropped blazer that I purchased at the thrift store. I wanted to add some pyramid studs and I thought they would look awesome on the collar and shoulder.

Cropped Trousers- Forever 21

 For this DIY, you will need to find a blazer or coat that could use some embellishment. Also, pyramids studs and they are sold at many craft stores. I purchased the kind that I could push threw material. They sell many kinds even iron ones. If you can not find them at your local craft store check out M&J Trimming.


Some examples of a few things I saw in the New York Zara Store to get this inspiration are:

Studded Denim Jacket

Jacket with Zips and Studded Lapel

Leather Jacket with Studs

 For the project:

Step 1: Start with the shoulder, then spread studs 1 inch apart. You will need to push them threw and then fold over to fasten.

 Step 2: Choose what part of the lapel you want to embellish. Make sure to start from the outside and go in. Make sure you have a pattern planned before you start and that the studs are seperated equally.

Step 3: Continue the pattern, until you get to the bottom of the lapel. Lastly, make sure you go back and checked that each stud has been fasten securely.

I think the jacket turned out smashingly. You should definitely give it a try! It can bring that old jacket to have some new life!

Have you purchased anything lately with embellishments?

Making Vintage Modern

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Let's just say mine could have been better. Lately, I have been wearing more vintage items than I ever can remember. I am not sure why the increase. I guess it's because I am doing more thrifting. With the start of the school year, I decided to wear my another vintage dress that was a find for $5.00. Now, I didn't buy this dress for the price, that was just a bonus, but it has great lines, a full skirt, and great neckline. It is tad see-through, so I actually had a black full length slip that worked great underneath.

  A few ways to make a vintage dress have a modern feel:

1. Add a trendy or more modern belt.

2. Use accessories to modernize the outfit. In this outfit, I accessorized with gold and large pieces of jewelry.

3. Your shoe style can also help modernize.

4. Finally, pick a vintage item that can be incorporated into a current wardrobe. Not everything vintage should be worn- I have seen some U-G-L-Y vintage apparel that has seen better days. So, be selective!!!

How do you select a vintage item for your wardrobe? Have you thrifted anything lately?

Make sure to check out some fabulous ladies at Monday Mingle, Visible Monday, and Thrifters Anonymous.

Happy Birthday to my bestie, Cap, I wish I could spend the day with you!!

The "Short" of it !

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. This post is dedicated to my love of wearing denim cut offs. I wear them dressed them up and dressed down. Many celebrities can be spotted wearing cut offs. I love how Kristin Cavallari, for a day look, pairs her denim shorts with a basic gray shirt and neutral sandals. Rachel Bilson, one of my favorites, paired her denim shorts with a cute black blazer for a night look. Every girl has her favorite pair of denim jeans that has seen better days and what better way to give them new life by making them into shorts. For me, I prefer my cut offs in the middle of my thigh, that way they are not too long or too short. Denim shorts are great to incorporate into your fall wardrobe.

I love to wear my denim shorts with a pair of boots.  I snagged these Unionbay Western boots at Marshalls for $29.99. I have definitely got my money's worth already. Throw a t-shirt and maybe a sweater(if your always cold like me) and you are good to go.

I found these similar Unionbay boots for also great prices if you are interested in getting a pair.

Unionbay Marilyn Western Boot

UnionBay

Do you wear cut offs? Have you bought or own a pair of western boots yet for fall?

Mad Men

I am excited to finally be back from vacation. I enjoyed every minute and I am a little sad, because I must go back to work. My official summer has ended. I will still be visiting the pool a few more weekends with the rug rats.
 I have done previous posts about the 1960's Mod era because I love it so much. This style of clothing can be seen on AMC's Mad Men T.V show. A great website for this type of style is ModCloth. Actually, when I was in New York and visited a couple of vintage shops I was surprised at how expensive vintage clothing was. For a dress from the 1960's era in NYC, you would pay from $100 to $150 and up, so I restrained from buying one. When I came back to Ohio I went to the local thrift store to my surprise they had a few dresses on a rack from the 60's, but the rack stated priced as marked. Well, there was no price and when I went up I was pretty sure they had to be expensive because they were in excellent condition- not a stain or a rip. When, she rang my dressed up, the clerk charged me $5.00 for each dress.
One of the dresses is the one in these photos. It fit me perfectly except under the arms had to be taken in a little, so my mother to the rescue. I paired this dress with a pearl and gold necklace also thrifted. This jewelry helped accent my sandals gold accent from Target. I did not wear earrings because when I wore a large necklace. I tend not to wear large earrings with a large necklace, usually if I do they are studs. Personally, I feel that wearing large earrings and large necklace is too much and would have taken away from the dress.

Do you wear large earrings with a large necklace or do you tone down one or the other? Do you have a favorite era you like to wear?

I was a lucky girl and received these 3 awards from Chris Ed. Her blog is great, so definitely check it out. She is so sweet to give me these awards. I think we all need a little pick me up every now and then and this was just what I needed. I will be giving a few blogs these awards later this week.

DIY: Jewelry Organizer

Hello everyone, a few weekends ago I did some thrifting and came across this fabulous frame. For some great tips on how to prepare to go thrift store shopping check this out, Adrienne gives some excellent tips. I usually hang my necklaces on 3 hooks, but they were all clustered and I really couldn't see what I had. So, I knew I wanted to make something that would work more efficiently, so  I came up with this jewelry organizer. I always like tv shows that show celebrities houses. My favorite part of their house is the closet, not because of the large space(yeah right), but the organization. This is something I am always trying to achieve. Also, I think showcasing jewelry can be a form of artwork.

Materials for this project are a frame. Mine was $2.99, you could use a vintage or clean line frame. Also, silver spray paint, 1/2 yard burlap fabric, 3 drawer knob, 3 silver hooks,  1 large drawer pull, get a board cut to fit your frame, scissors, staple gun, drill, screw driver, tape measure, and sandpaper.

If you have a Hobby Lobby near you, they have great prices on their hardware. I got these for 1/2 off.

Step 1: Paint your frame silver with spray paint. When it dries then use sandpaper along the frame. This lets the paint underneath show though. Make sure to always paint outside or a well ventilated area.

Step 2: Lay your cut board on top of burlap. Make sure to pull material tight before stapling.

Step 3: This is what your board should look like after the material has been stapled to the board.

Step 4:  Using the tape measure, mark the middle of the board. Then, mark the other two spots for the knobs. My knobs were 4 inches apart.

Step 5: Drill the holes that you have marked for your knobs.

Step 6: Using the tape measure, them mark for your hooks. I spread  mine a little farther apart, so the necklaces have more room to hang down. Lastly, apply the draw pull to the bottom. I got this drawer pull at Lowes.

Final product! My jewelry is more organized and is a great piece of artwork.

Are you a person who likes to be organized?

High and Low Floral Tank

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I am still at the beach, so this is a quick post. This is my first high and low purchase. I have tried many different types of apparel in this style and none have worked until now. So, I was so happy when I found this tunic. I  think what attracted me to this tunic was the floral print. I plan on wearing this tunic in the fall and winter with a sweater over it. This is my last photo from my trip to NYC.  In almost all of my photos, I a large gold purse. I like having a large bag on vacation, so I can put an extra pair of shoes, sweater, and umbrella. Also, I have room if I happen to make a purchase.

Lily White Print Sheer Chiffon Tunic
Excuse the weird eyes in this picture.

What kind of purse or bag do you use on vacation?
I promise when I get back I will be visiting all my favorite blogs to catch up with what you have been up to.

Linking up at  Monday Mingle Watch What I'm Wearing,and Visible Monday.