Ugly Christmas attire: Why the sudden Interest?

I've seen recent posts, video's and even been invited to a few Ugly Christmas sweater parties.  Why the sudden urge to don ugly things and prance around...I've been doing it for years and it certainly cannot be a trend I created. 

Whether you do have an arsenal of ugly attire for the holidays or have maintained a classic style through the holidays you can appreciate that we all dress for ourselves first and impression, while important should also be second on the importance list.

Today is casual day in the office and I took the liberty to wear one of my many ugly sweaters -this one just happens to be a festive vest - don't be jealous you can pick up your own at Wal-Mart

Happy Holidays to you all and wishing you a wonderful new year!

DIY Bath Bombs for Holiday gifts

I’ve been seeing recipes; you tube videos and blogs about making your own bath bombs.  Since funds are pretty tight lately, I decided to do a little research on the costs and level of difficulty in making said bombs.   I found several helpful sites to assist:

Cool site 1

Cool Site 2

 

You Tube Videos:

Watch a Youtube Video 1

 

Watch another video here

Watch a bomb in action

We are expecting some pretty hefty snow flurries over this weekend and guess what I am planning on doing instead of going outside? you guessed it.  I had planned on posting what I've made so far and realized that by doing that would ruin my Christmas surprise to my friends and family that will be receiving homemade bombs this year.

What crafts do you put together for the holiday season, post pic's and share stories below. Happy Holidays!

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!

Shopping your Closet, Restyle old favorites!

Today I used pieces already showcased on my blog to re-imagine a look. 

I used the Red turtle neck dress from last week and the floral print dress from last month and combined them for a bit more coverage.

 

I added a brown leather belt purchased in Mexico in my teen years, brown tights and brown suade shoes from Mudd, layered on the jewelry and called it good.

 

Baby, its cold outside so took the look to a new level by adding a smart looking suade Jacket in a yummy green shade that matches to thedress and an animal print scarf that goes with everything.

 

Want someone else to pay for College? Here are some ways to find the Dough to Go!

Your student is preparing to go off to college in the Fall, has the school picked out and acceptance in hand. Now the questions looms, how to pay for it??

The first thing you need to do is complete the Free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.ed.gov The application for the 2014-2015 year will be available starting January 1st. The application is the Department of Education's site and has a nifty tool to pull your IRS tax information into the application. You need to have already filed your taxes for it to work, but you can use estimates based on last year and once you file your taxes go back onto the site and update.

The next thing you need to do it find out what additional steps need to be completed at the school your student is going to. Check with the aid office, they typically have a website dedicated to spelling out the steps or you can always call.

Once you know what additional forms need to be completed, DO IT. Don't wait on submitting, you could miss out on some opportunities if your student isn't "complete".

Check with your local librarian, guidance counselor or State website (I suggest all 3) to find private scholarship sources to apply for. If your student writes a really strong essay, they can use it again and again to apply for scholarships if it fits what they are asking for.

Check a search engine for scholarships like www.fastweb.com cast your net wide to find obscure little scholarships that your student would be eligible for. I received in my undergraduate program a scholarship for Brown Eyed girls ~ legitimate scholarship that provided $500 a year that added up to a whole lot of books by the end of my degree!

Make sure that your student applied for any scholarship available through the school of choice and look over all paperwork that comes in for deadlines.

Once you have your award offer in hand, remember ~ it's not a bill, it's an award and not all awards are equal.

If your student is applying to more than 1 school and you are deciding which school offered the "best" $$ you have to look at total cost for the year and then scholarship offered. What looks like a huge scholarship may only cover 10% while a small offer and a low cost school could be covering 75%. You also have to take into consideration Fit. If the school is not right for your student and is not going to offer the degree they want, services they need or climate they are used too (climate can be cultural, size of school and Temperature) then sending them off because they offered more scholarship funds is spending good money after bad. You want your students’ college experience to be a positive one. If you pay out of pocket even $500 a semester to find out after a year it's not a good fit and your student is going to transfer you have just wasted your money.

All things to keep in mind when navigating the financial aid waters ~