She's So Crafty, Scarf Hanging DIY Organization

If you are a scarf girl like me, you may have found yourself drowning in baskets of scarfs.  Every day, pouring through the baskets looking for one to go with your outfit or the perfect pashmina to go with your evening dress.  I was given a scarf organizer from my sister in-law from IKEA but because of how many scarfs I have, it wasn't cutting the mustard.   I used (2) command hooks and a pressure rod that I already had on hand and measured out on my wall where I wanted the scarfs to hang.

As you can see I then organized the scarfs by color and have them draped over the rod.  This is only about 1/3 of my scarfs but they are the ones I use most often.  Also, this doesn't work as well with Infinity scarf's and regular scarfs mixed in because they end at different lengths.  That being said, you can hang 2 rods up one above the other on your wall if you have the room.  

What do you do to keep yourself organized? 

Friday OOTD, Layering on color for Spring

Today's outfit consists of my husbands button up blue dress shirt, layered over it is my light weight teal sweater.  I am wearing my black skinny dress pants and silver flats. I have layered over top my 3/4 sleeve spring jacket and a blue coordinating scarf.

With the Jacket and Scarf

Without the Jacket and Scarf

Check out my nail color from my #ipsy Glam Bag from March

These colors are forcing spring even though its snowing out, again.  Happy Spring my beautiful friends!

What to Wear Now, What to wear Later : a Jumpsuit

I recently purchased a jumpsuit from forever21 and am in love!!!.  The fit is perfect and came via mail fairly quickly but its made for warmer weather and I wanted to wear it today!.  To make it cold weather friendly I styled it with a red turtleneck and heavy weight Jones New York Sweater.  I balanced the top with heavy fleece socks and booties.

I added silver Jewelry and a black scarf and was off to work.  

Summer/warmer weather I plan to swap out the heavy sweater and boots and changed up the jewelry to Gold tones.  My red flats and belt also have gold accents and to the outfit.  I also plan to accent the black/white patterned jumpsuit with other colors instead of Red throughout.  You can really pump up the outfit wearing heels and larger jewelry accents for a night out on the town.

What are you wearing now that will continue to be a staple in your wardrobe through summer? 

Booties, Fleece leggings and Denim ~ what a combo

Today's weather was pretty iffy, expecting rain, black ice, snow later in the day and then back to rain.  What to wear on days like this?  To add to the mix of the day, I was going to be all over campus today for meetings, lunch etc and wanted to wear something comfortable but still professional and if it could also be a bit stylish ~ awesome.

I am wearing a denim shirt by Levi stolen from my husbands closet under a grey pull over vest from Jones New York.  My skirt is from Dress Barn and my tights are actually fleece lined leggings from Label shopper. peeking out of my booties you can see wool socks.  The scarf which is my favorite infinity scarf was a gift from my sister from Calvin Klein.

  

Black and Tan OOTD with Animal Print

Today's outfit consists of High price / Low price items, layered together for a sharp office look.


Not shown is a cream turtle neck purchased from Dress Barn, layered under a black long sleeve sweater with waist detail and matching knit belt from JCPenney.  The tan skirt is from the Gap and tights are from spanks.  My shoes are Anne Klein and scarf is from Wal-Mart.  Jewelry is a mix of Lia Sophia and heirloom pieces from my Aunt Janice.  This is my first time wearing this combination and have received loads of compliments so will be using this outfit as a go too for rushed days. 


Do you have any outfits that you have planned ahead of time that you usually revert to on hectic days?

Mixing Patterns: The Good, The Bad and the UGLY!

Mixing patterns can be tough to get the feel for.  Typically the best way to mix patterns is to have complimentary colors.  Also using similar sized patterns can be more tricky than a contrasting pattern (larger pattern with a smaller similar colored pattern).  I’ve used my tweed pink jacket with an animal print scarf.  The smaller pattern in the jacket works nicely with the animal print scarf because of the colors match as well as the balance of the smaller more neutral pattern against the larger animal print.   

While traveling I had the opportunity to snap a picture of a bad attempt at mixing pattern

 

While the young lady was using the Larger pattern with a smaller pattern she failed to "match" in color combination nor in Genre.  You should never mix fictional representations with patterns found in nature.  Had she used a large black tunic with a Large Batman sign on the front, this would be a do (for a comicon convention).

 

Best of luck in your pattern combos and before you leave your house ~ best to take a glance in a full length mirror :)

 

What I packed for my business conference

It seems to me, the most frequent talks amongst travelers for work is what to pack.  The question comes up time and time again.  The rule of Thumb is to pack as little as possible depending on weather with a mix-match wardrobe that can give you multiple looks throughout the week (s).  I recently went on a work trip to Las Vegas.  I left on a Monday morning and arrived home on Friday.  I wore on the plane a white button up blouse with grey pants.  Because the weather was very cold where I was leaving from and even colder in Las Vegas I also paired a thin white long sleeve T-shirt under my blouse with a Black sweater over the blouse.  I kept in my carry-on bag a pair of light weight gloves and wore a brightly colored pashmina as a scarf with my black wool coat.  

I packed one pair of black skinny pants, the matching blazer and coordinating black dress.  I also packed both a black and gray turtleneck and a pair of pajamas.  I wore a dark gray pair of flat shoes and packed a wedge heeled black shoes.   I packed undergarments and several pairs of tights in blacks and greys as well as trouser socks and pashminas of varying colors and an animal print belt.  I never wore the same outfit and used accessories like my pashminas as extra layering pieces and pops of color.   

A great option when traveling is to opt for a wardrobe that has the dress, dress pants and blazer and then add in extra pieces to complete the capsule wardrobe  I found several options on-line fairly quickly but you may have really good look at department stores in your area.  You want to ask for mix-match work pieces.

What do you pack for your business travel?

Holiday Gifts on the cheap! ways to save

As we gear up for the holiday season, tis the time to shop till we drop.  For some of us who's budgets are tight, we are always on the lookout for good deals.  I recently purchased some Pashmina scarfs through an on-line buying company called Nomorerack  They were 3 for $20.00 and no shipping.

 They came packaged in plastic sheets (Pink, Blue and Black).  I have to admit that the quality is good and while my intent was to give them as gifts I've already worn the blue one :).  I've found a few small items for stocking stuffers for my husband and son on this site as well and can say that what I've ordered/received so far has been true and accurate as depicted on the site. 

For handmade gifts this year I've been looking at YouTube video's from how to make bathbombs to re-using sweaters to make beanies.  All of these ideas are just great and I'll be using many of these ideas for friends and family this year.  What are you doing to keep your budget in-line this holiday season? Happy Holidays!