High Heels and Training Wheels

DIY Floors: Vinyl to Tile for Only $50

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 20 May 2015 17:48:00 +0000

Hidey Ho neighborinos! Today I'm continuing on in my "no money, no problem kitchen reno". After successfully painting my countertop I just knew I wanted to give the floor a try and our ugly vinyl was the perfect candidate.

Although the idea of painting my floors was exciting and intriguing, I'd be lying if I said it didn't also scare me quite a bit. I don't know why it was so scary. Maybe because it's so unconventional? Not like painting your counter isn't, but this floor was a really intimidating project for me. At the time I had no idea this wasn't a new thing and other people had already done it. I thought my idea to paint it was venturing into uncharted waters and it worried me to attempt something that had never been tried before. Turns out this has been done many times before and I'm just late to the party. Whomp whomp.

So why am I still bothering to share it then? Because it's all about the inspiration! Maybe someone else who has also been living under a rock (like I apparently have) will see this post and get inspired to create something of their own. And I really want to reiterate that even if you don't have a lot of money to work with, you can still find a way to love your space. So here I am, hoping to share even more inspiration with my painted floor. My hideously ugly, gross vinyl floor...

Ugh, that's embarrassing! I feel like I'm sharing my dirty, little secret or something. But I promise, those floors are clean enough to eat off of, they're just terribly beaten and old. No really, I had just mopped. No amount of cleaning could improve their appearance because, what looked like dirt and grime, was actually scuffs and stains that were never ever going to budge. I really didn't think I could make them any worse than they already were. They were baaaaaad. So I figured what the hey, you can't break what's already broken, right?

Total cost: $45
Time to complete: one week (including drying time)
Difficulty: easy

Kilz primer- oil based
Chalkboard paint- I used Rustoleum
Polyurethane Floor Sealer- I used Rustoleum Park's Water-Based
Lambskin Stain Applicator- for poly
Rough grit sandpaper and/or electric sander
Caulk- any kind of latex will do
Paint roller- any cheap roller for primer
High-density foam roller- for chalkboard paint
Paint brush- any cheap brush for primer
Small artist's brush- small flat brush works best
Stencil (get to that in a second)

The Prep

First I started by mopping my floors. You don't need a description of that, you know how to mop floors. Then, I used my sander to remove the glossy finish. Nothing real crazy or anything, once the sheen is gone, you're good. Then, I got all of the dust cleaned up with just a vacuum and some regular ol Dawn dishsoap and water. I did not use any fancy cleaner like others have. Just so's ya know.

Next I patched the rips and tears that I may or may not have caused when I was moving the refrigerator. But, I'm not pointing any fingers. I just used a standard caulk and smoothed it out.

Next it was time to get to priming. I first cut around the trim with my brush. I wanted to be able to really slop the primer on there with my roller and I didn't want to have to worry about trim and clean lines. So I did that first just to get it out of the way.

Cool little tip: did you know that the handle of a traditional broom will fit into the handle of any standard roller? Yeah, buddy it does! I unscrewed the handle off my broom and attached it to the roller and I had an instant roller extender. I knew rolling the floor would be murder on my back if I had to stay hunched over for a long time, but I wasn't willing to buy one of these things. Luckily, I didn't have to and if you have a similar broom, you won't have to either! *The more you know*

I wasn't fancy cleaning my floor or anything, so I just went ahead and did 2 coats of primer straight on the floor. Cause here's the thing; I'm messy. When I was painting the counters I spilled some primer on the (very) dirty floor and that shiz wasn't going nowhere. It hung around for weeks with no signs of stopping. And that was without even cleaning or sanding ahead of time. So I don't really think it needs anything special aside from a light sanding and mopping, especially if you're going to seal it in the end anyway. It's your choice on whether you buy special floor paint or fancy cleaners, but I didn't and it's all good in the hood. I did one coat, let it dry overnight, then did the second coat the next day. No muss, no fuss.

After the floors were completely primed, I went around the perimeter of the room with my painter's tape to seal off the baseboards.

The Stencil

The next step was to begin on my stencil. This is a whole little "how to make a stencil" side track so if you're not using one, or you're just purchasing one, feel free to skip on.

First, was to decide how I wanted the end design of the floor to look. My vinyl is in square "tiles" and I really wanted to work with that shape rather than try to fight against it. I have seen other people do patterns over their floors with the existing texture of another design showing through. They turned out awesome, don't get me wrong, but I wanted to make my floors look as "they came like this" as possible, so I decided to use a pattern that worked with a square shape so the existing square indentions wouldn't detract from my chosen design. Just personal choice. Do it however you want, I'm not judging you.

If you saw my last post on my countertops, then you know where I was heading. I was absolutely smitten with the floors in this kitchen and I wanted something similar.

Since I was creating my own stencil, I could make this whatever custom size I needed it to be. I measured my squares to find out what size they were to determine how large I needed to make my stencil. That way when I was stenciling on the floor, I could just plop it down and line it up with the existing squares and save myself the time and effort of having to measure and map out rows.

After I found the shape I liked and the size it needed it to be, I tried to somewhat freehand the best I could onto a sheet of regular printer paper. This was a really rough rough draft, but it gave me a good idea of where I was going. I then used my ruler to tweak it and actually measure and line things up properly. I even lucked out and found a bowl that was the perfect size to get a good curve. (Always, always cheat like this whenever you can!) After I had a shape I was happy with, I cut it out and traced it onto a heavier cardboard. Actually it's the backing of those window clings you get at the Dollar Store. Whatever, judge me if you must, but it worked and I didn't have to go buy any fancy stencil stuff.

After the design was transferred, I used my utility knife to cut it out. Just a word of advice, be careful with this. And make sure you have something you don't mind getting cut up underneath it.

Boom. Custom stencil.

The Design

Now that I had my stencil, time to transfer it to the floor. Since this was just cardboard and not a durable, thick plastic, I used a double sided tape on the underside of the stencil so it would lay flat to the ground without any bending or warping. I really wanted to cut back on touch ups on paint that bled under the edges as much as I could and using the tape helped prevent some of that.

But I will advise you not to stick this straight to the ground if you're using a paper material like I did. This tape was extremely sticky and if I had stuck that straight to the ground as-is, I would have ripped my stencil trying to pull it back up. I stepped on the tape several times with my super fuzzy socks to get some of the adhesive off. No joke. And even still, I had to take extra care when pulling my stencil up for the first half of the floor. Even by the end of the floor, after being stuck down and pulled up 50 times, it was still super sticky. So watch out for that.

Now, a lot of people use a roller over their stencils, but I had just used up my foam rollers on the counter and I sit firmly in the "use what you already have" camp. Rollers aren't expensive or anything, but I didn't need one. That said, I tried a foam brush and a cheap bristle brush to see which would be best. Neither one was best. So, I went and got a foam roller and I'm glad I did because it worked beautifully. As you can see, the foam roller gave the even, more consistent finish of the 3 and it moved a lot quicker too. So my advice is don't skimp on this, pay the 3 bucks and get a foam roller.

I chose to use chalkboard paint for this job. Why? Is there some specific reason? Is there something about chalkboard paint that you don't know? Nope. It was the color I needed and I already had it leftover from the kid's room. Like I said, I'm a champion of "use what you already have". You can use whatever color/type of paint you want.

When you're painting with a stencil you have to keep your roller and your touch very light. You want very little paint on the roller. Very, very little. You're going to be tempted to put pressure on the roller as well. Don't. If you've got too much paint or if you push on the roller, it's going to bleed through no matter how many precautions you've taken. Just go over as many passes as you need and keep it light. It also helps to roll parallel to the edge instead of up to it. If that makes sense. In the picture above, my roller is not running along side the edge, it's rolling over it. As you can see, there is obvious bleeding when you do it this way. I had much better results rolling alongside. Just keep changing directions to go with the shape of the stencil.

I didn't do this in any particular fashion or in rows, I just backed my way out of the room. I kind of bounced around a little so I could tape the edges of my stencil down without disturbing the wet paint on the square next to me. I went every other square and then went back through and filled the rest in, working my way out of the room. This portion took me 6 days. Out of my 7 day total, 6 of them were spent individually stenciling each square. Granted, it wasn't sun up to sun down work, but it was still the bulk of my efforts. It's time consuming, but it's not hard though. You just need some patience, knee pads (no joke), and a good roller. Streaming Mad Men on your laptop while you work doesn't hurt either.

To get around the edges of the room, I just bent the stencil right up against the wall and used my brush to touch up where the roller couldn't reach.

Once you've repeated a hundred times and completed the entire floor, you can go back through with your artist's brush and cut around the edges to get any spots where the paint bled under the stencil. Once I figured the best way to use the roller, the boo boos became less and less so this portion took me only like an hour at most to do the entire floor.

Yes, one is inside out. Nope, no particular reason why.

Here's another little tip from me to you: wear socks throughout this project! Clean socks. The primer is a matte, rough surface and just like it grips to paint, it gripped dirt like a magnet. Every bit of dirt from our (seemingly clean) shoes left a mark and barefoot wasn't any better because even just the oils from our bare skin left a mark. Primer's just like that. And because it's such a rough surface, it ain't easy to clean. Nor do you want to go scrubbing on the fresh paint before you can seal it. I had a designated pair of clean "kitchen socks" that I left at the entryway and changed into those every time I took a step into the kitchen. Sounds weird but its better than having to get on my hands and knees to clean the floor every time I entered.

Sealing
Now a lot of people opted to use a specific floor paint and completely forgo any type of sealer on top. I obviously did not use any specialty paint. It was more economical for me to use what paint/primer I had on hand so I could just purchase a single material. So that's what I did.

I chose to use Rustoleum Park's sealer because it is the same maker of the epoxy I used on the counter and I had such great results with that. A lot of sealers say they go on clear, but they still have a yellow tinge. The Park's epoxy went on clear and stayed clear, so I thought their floor product would probably be the same and would be the best candidate for this job. It was.

The floor sealer is a much easier process than the epoxy product I used on the counter. There is no mixing or crazy steps to follow, just stir and pour. You do need to use a special lambskin applicator pad in order to get a smooth finish, but it's only like 3 bucks and it screwed right onto my broom handle like the roller did.

I applied this the same way I did my stencil, by backing my way out of the room. You do this just like you would mop your floor; just a light back and forth motion to evenly coat it. It has a white, milky sheen when it first goes on but it dries completely clear so don't panic, you didn't do anything wrong.

After the first coat had sat for about 2 hours, I went back with a thin second coat. The directions say after you've done your final coat not to walk on it for 8 hours. I gave it about 6 before I had to tip toe in for coffee filters, but it was fine.

I absolutely love the result! They turned out exactly like I hoped they would. I love how it pairs nicely with my newly painted counters and I love how the design ties in with the existing square pattern of the floor. I also like the modern look of the stencil. It's such a fun, punch in my otherwise neutral space. Black and white can be boring, but these floors are definitely anything but boring!

I know that my chosen design and high contrast are very taste specific, so in case you were curious about how others have done their floors in comparison to mine, here are a few of my favs to check out...

My Old Country House

View Along the Way

Designer Trapped in a Lawyers Body

A Warm Conversation

Shelterness

So was it worth all the time and effort spent? Would I do it again in another room? Absolutely! This is the only room in my house that has vinyl sheet flooring so I don't know that I will be able to do it again, but I absolutely would if given the chance. It's a great update for very little money so if you're on a budget, this DIY is definitely for you! Until next time...

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

DIY Counters: Laminate to Marble for Only $25

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 17:36:00 +0000

Howdy ladies and gentlemen! Even though I'm quite positive there are no "gentlemen" reading this blog. Including my husband. (passive aggressive much?) But I digress. ;) Anyway, today is about the beginning of our kitchen reno on a budget and how it's totally possible to revamp your space with virtually no money in the bank. Starting with....

My faux marble counter tops! Boom! "Lindsey, what are you doing? You have a fashion blog." Yeah but this monkey can do a couple of tricks so roll with it.

I wish I could post this picture without the context that they're "faux" to see what people honestly think about them. I feel like if you know they aren't real, the opinion is no longer objective. I don't want your pity compliments, I want the truth! (You can't handle the truth!) However, whether they're wholly convincing or not is actually irrelevant to me because they're still such a far cry better than their original state. Which brings us to what they used to look like...

Vom! Now I know that you've seen these counters before. Every single person, at some point in their life, has either had these exact countertops, or knows someone who has had them. I've personally been so fortunate as to have a version of these twice in my life. #blessed

While these gross counters are hideous and I can't stand them, we have lived with them for about a year now. Why? Our house was built in 1940 (celebrating her 75th birthday this year! Mazle!) so a lot of other things required our immediate attention and unsightly counter tops were pushed down low on the totem pole of priorities. (Lost all of the 'before' pictures in the laptop crash of '14 so no one will ever know how much we've done...I'm still crying about it)

Recently I got around to painting and resurfacing our cabinets but they turned out to be less than I expected. I've been wanting a "tuxedo" kitchen and was so excited about painting it, but after finishing, I was pretty underwhelmed with the results. Was it my paint job? Was it the colors? I realized the countertops were the culprit and I couldn't put them off any longer, they were finally up to bat. Replacing the counters absolutely wasn't in the budget for us though. What to do, what to do....well my gorgeous friend Pinterest put forth the idea of painting them!

Most painted countertop pins I found led me to this Giani granite kit thing. And while the kit gave some undeniably beautiful and realistic results, that sucker is $70 and was more than I was willing to spend. Yes, it's way less than what real granite and marble would cost, but still too much for me. I mean, $70? It's just paint! The problem with that was it was all I could find! "Pinterest, stop trying to make Giani happen. It's not going to happen!" How did I do it then? A little ingenuity and creativity!

To start, you obviously need the right materials. I already had most of mine. In fact, I had everything aside from the poly to seal them so my grand total was $25 for both of my counters. Chances are if you're a DIYer, you have most of them too, but even if you didn't, you could still keep this project under $50 easily. Still cheaper than Giani!

Total cost: $25
Time to complete: 3 weeks (including A LOT of procrastination and drying time)
Difficulty: easy

white primer- I used Kilz oil based (messy, messy stuff!)
foam roller- high density like this one
black acrylic paint (additional shades of gray optional)
rubbing alcohol (optional)
wood filler- I used this kind
rough grit sandpaper- an electric sander would be even better
fine grit sandpaper- I prefer the sanding block, I use this one for everything
painter's tape- nothing fancy, cheap stuff will do
"veining" tools- pictured above
polyurethane/epoxy- I used this kind
putty knife or foam brushes- get inexpensive like these because you will have to throw them away

(none of those are affiliate links, just trying to help a brutha out by steering you in the right direction)

First, before any painting, I needed to start by prepping the countertops. For me, that was by filling all of the nicks and scrapes that had accumulated over the years. If your counters aren't damaged (whoo hoo!) you could cut out even more of the needed materials just by skipping this step.

I used a plain ol wood filler to do this. If I weren't painting over it and using poly, I might have used something stronger, but for these purposes it's fine.

I chose a wood filler that specifically said "paintable and sandable" and "resists shrinking". Don't know if it would really matter but I wanted to play it safe.

This is why you use a cutting board people!

I just used a putty knife to spread the filler over all the holes and nicks. After they were all filled, I used my fine grit sandpaper to level the filler out.

I also gave the entire counter a rough sanding to get rid of the glossy finish so the primer would have something to grip onto. If you have an electric sander (don't ask me why I didn't use mine; brain lapse) that'd be great for this to save your arms and time. After sanding, I made sure to wipe away any sanding dust and gave it a good clean with a degreaser. I didn't want any debris or oils on the counter to prevent the primer from getting a good grip.

I mean, if you're using an oil based primer like I was, that stuff means BUSINESS, so you may be able to get around the sanding and skip that step entirely. But since I was already saving on materials I figured I should probably make up for it in effort. Ya know, even things out in the universe.

Next, I taped off the sink and appliances. I didn't bother taping off the wall because the backsplash is my next project and any "boo boos" would all be covered eventually. It's not like that fake brick paneling is precious to me anyway. Another mark of the times. You can definitely tell what era they were in the last time this house was updated!

Now to begin priming. I just skipped the middle man and poured directly onto the counters. I definitely recommend using a high-density foam roller for this job. If you use a roller with a thick nap, you're going to get a texture. We're trying to imitate marble so we don't want any texture here.

I ended up doing 3 coats to completely cover the design underneath. If you don't have a pattern to worry about covering, I would still recommend at least 2 coats. I'm going to be sealing it and protecting it with the poly in the end, but I just wouldn't want to tempt fate by being stingy with the paint. Just my 2 cents.

After it was completely primed and dry, I added one thin coat of semi-gloss white just because it was truer to color than the primer, and I already had it. Not necessary, just me adding extra unnecessary work for myself.

To further rid the counters of any texture, I used a fine grit sanding block in between my coats of primer and once after my coat of paint. It doesn't really do anything in terms of how well the primer/paint adheres, but it does affect the finished look. I didn't want to see any brush marks or roller texture in my end result. You don't even really have to do this step either, I was just feeling especially thorough that day I guess.

via

Now comes the creative, "fun" portion. I recommend finding a picture of real marble to use as reference. I used the 2 images of Calcutta marble above because I liked the veining and coloring in these particular slabs. They're actually faux too, but I really loved the look of them. If you could get your hands on a sample piece of real marble, that'd be even better.

The tools you use to get your veining is up to you. I've seen people use a large array of various tools for the job so the possibilities are endless. I chose to use a feather, a toothbrush, an old makeup brush, a small paint brush, and some foam makeup sponges just because they're what I already had on hand. But I definitely recommend using a feather for your veining, if you can. I was lucky because my daughter has a huge feather collection and she was willing to sacrifice one for me; they can be any ol' feather you find outside like that or you can purchase some from a craft store.

If you're unsure of which tools to choose, I would recommend trying this out on a piece of poster board or cardboard to get a feel for it before moving to the counter. I didn't do any practice first, but it would have been helpful to get a better idea of how I wanted it to look and might have saved me some time!

The colors you choose to use are up to you. You could buy several colors of gray if you felt like it. I just chose a black acrylic and mixed it with varying amounts of white to make 3 different shades. It's up to you. Whatever paint you choose to use, you want to add water to it. You do not want full opacity, you want it diluted and really runny. The runnier it is, the easier it is to work with. To achieve this, I mixed 1 part paint to 3 parts water. The consistency will be closer to water than paint, but it's much easier to work with and get good results for what we're trying to achieve.

Now we have our tools and our paint sorted, onto the technique.....except there isn't one. This project is a very right brain project. If you are a left brainer who loves symmetry, this might be more difficult for you. But the real key to getting a realistic look is layers. Say it with me, layers. As long as you keep layering, it will turn out alright whatever your skills may be. Applying the colors on top of each other over and over and over (and over) again, is what's going to get you that realistic look. Think about it, granite and marble are so beautiful because there is so much depth and dimension. Also, natural stone is completely unique and perfectly imperfect. There is no pattern, there is no repetition, it's just random and natural. So should your painting be.

With that said, there are still some tips you can use to get particular results with each one of your tools. A loose guide is to start with your biggest tool and work your way down to the smallest and to start with your lightest color and work your way up to the darkest. BUT you don't have to stick to that exclusively, you can play around with the different tools in whatever way that feels natural to you. It also helps to sometimes step away and come back. If it feels like you're working too hard or it's just not looking right, sometimes walking away and coming back with a fresh perspective can help. I had to do that at least 5 different times and one of those times was spanned over 3 days. It drive my husband nuts not to be able to use the kitchen during that time, but you gotta do what ya gotta do, man. If you're not happy with it, don't give up. Just take a break and come back to it later.

So to begin, I started by adding some "shading" as my base. I took my lightest color of gray and glopped it on (technical term) in large irregular lines, going diagonally. You don't want to see any defined brush strokes so I used a wavy stippling motion. I also found I got the best results by working in small increments. I want to feather this out before it has a chance to dry so I did small areas and alternated between this step and the next step; back and forth, back and forth.

Next, I used my sponge to feather it out as much as I could and soak up the access by using a stippling motion again. I just really wanted this to look kind of like a shadow; a base to add some dimension, so I didn't want any real definition or lines in this step. You need to follow the brush immediately with the sponge so the paint doesn't dry before you can blend it out. Diluting your paint with water will help with this though, by giving you a little more time to play around with.

If there are parts you don't like or you think are too dark, sponge some white back on top of it. I did a thin layer of white over all of the shadowing anyway, just to add some more depth, but I used an even heavier hand in places I thought were too dark.

After adding my white, I used the sponge again to further blend it and get rid of any brush strokes. You can always add more gray too. I just started in one place and worked my way outward, switching between the 2 colors and switching between the tools.

This is what it looks like after these first steps. It's a nice soft base to add the veining on top of. I had to really enhance the contrast and shadows in order to show the definition in these pictures so it's not near this dark in person, but it's got a lot of dimension and color variations. The "marbling" effect (for lack of a better word) comes from heavily diluting the paint. It keeps it wet and thin and allows you to work with it more and makes blending easier.

Once I was happy with my shading, I began the veining. I wanted my veining to vary in size so to start, I used a thin paint brush. I dipped this in my medium shade and began dragging and pushing the brush. I then went back in the opposite direction and allowed the "veins" to meet in places. To get a realistic look you might have to push, pull, shake, drag, whatever with that brush. These lines should be jagged and harsh; not too pronounced like a lightning bolt or anything but not loose like a shoe string either. It's kind of a fine line (pun intended) but you can always go over this as many times as you need. I even used my dry fan brush here and there to get a softer effect in places.

Next I dry brushed back over with another thin layer of white. Then I went behind it with my sponge to kind of sop it up. I didn't put any pressure on the sponge, I just kind of let the weight of the sponge tap the surface. I did this to add another layer of depth. Like I said, layers are key!

Next was to do the intricate veining. If you notice in the pictures of marble I used there are a ton of thin veins running all throughout. I used a feather for this. With a brush, it's really easy to get too controlled and heavy with your strokes, but the feather helps to keep it light and to get those really intricate lines. I used my darkest color and did this much like I did with the brush, just thinner and lighter handed. These lines are very thin and wispy and imitate the "cracks" of real marble.

Last but not least, I went back over all of it with a very thin coat of white one last time. This was more like white washing than painting; very diluted and very thin. Before that was dry, I dipped my toothbrush into plain ol' rubbing alcohol and ran my thumb over the bristles to flick specks over top. You want to be careful when doing this, don't load it up too much because you want flicked specks not big drips.

And although seemingly small, this step made a huge, huge, huge difference. But this only works if you've been diluting your paint with water. On the white areas I had painted with just the plain, semi-gloss paint, this had no effect; it only works on paint that has been mixed with water. It basically reactivates the water/paint and the specks help the colors sort of melt together and tends to sort of leave "voided" space where the specks hit. If that makes any sense. It just adds another imperfect, natural element to make your work look a touch more realistic. Any veining that looked too controlled or too much like brush strokes was instantly made more natural and realistic.

try to ignore the sponge, the camera absolutely refused to focus without it

After everything was dry I used my fine grit sand paper very lightly just to make sure there weren't any heavy specks or anything from all the building and stippling.

Now the painting is done, time to seal that puppy. You need this to seal your work, obviously, but this is really the cherry on top. This is what takes your work from "sponge painting circa 1991" to "marble"

You need to mix and apply this by following the instructions on the can/box/bottle. Depending on the type and brand, instructions can vary. The instructions on this product were very specific about how you do everything, so you will want to follow these closely. I would recommend looking up reviews before choosing which sealer to buy. You want to get one that is going to go on clear and isn't going to yellow over time. This Parks Super Glaze works amazing, and if you're looking for a high gloss finish, I'd definitely recommend it.

Before applying the poly, I made sure to seal off the rest of the kitchen in its entirety. This stuff is sticky and messy and will permanently adhere to anything it touches. The product starts the curing process as soon as it hits the container you mix it in so if you get it on anything, it will be there for life. I made sure to tape off the cabinets and cover the floor to protect them.

I used foam sponges to spread the poly over the counter. It's self-leveling, but you still need to move it around and make sure the entire counter is covered. That's including the lip over the edge, so this is going to have to run over the side. Every so often you have to scrape the drips so the edge will be smooth.

This dries to the touch in about 8 hours or so but it doesn't fully cure until it's set for a full 72 hours. That means keeping your kids (and husband) off for 3 days. I only did one of our counters at a time so we could still use the kitchen through the curing, I just really didn't think we could sacrifice all of our counters at once and trying to do so would just tempt fate and someone would end up spilling Koolaid or leaving a big handprint or something. So I still have the other side of the kitchen to do. But after it's cured it's completely sturdy and ready to rock and roll!

The pictures really just don't do them justice! The epoxy gives this thick, glass-like appearance that really makes them look much more authentic. And no, you aren't crazy, the things sitting on the counter changed. I ended up moving things around before I got through taking all of the pictures.

The upkeep of the counter is not really any different than any other counter surface. Obviously don't set hot pans directly on it, always use a cutting board, wipe it down with a mild soap and sponge and all that. Like I said before, whether it's entirely convincing as marble or not is really irrelevant to me because it is still such an improvement from the yellow 70s laminate. (Can I get an Amen?) And it made this drastic difference for a mere $25! Twenty-five dollars! Long story short, I love them! I love them so much, I'm going to try to give our appliances the stainless steel treatment and to paint our laminate floors! Not marble, but something even better...

via

Stay tuned for that! Until next time, shoot me any questions you might have in the comments!

UPDATE: I found this fabulous post at Batchelors Way where she painted the counters in her laundry room in a faux marble finish. I so wish I had come across her post before doing this project! She did things a little differently which gave a somewhat different look, and (smartly) added glitter to get the authentic look of mineral deposits. Such a cool idea! I definitely recommend checking her out, her counters turned out beautifully!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Great Idea @ A Handful of Everything Fluster's Creative Muster @ Fluster Buster // Handmade Hangout @ A Glimpse Inside // Cook It! Craft It! Share It! @ Juggling Act Mama // Great Idea @ A Handful of Everything // This is How We Roll @ Wonder Mom Wannabe // Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest // Kitchen Fun and Crafty // Foodie Friday and Everything Else // Awesome Life Friday // Fridays Unfolded // The Pin Junkie // I'm Lovin' It @ Tidy Mom // / Home Sweet Home // Creative Collective @ Classy Clutter Show and Tell @ Sugar Bee Crafts // Tutorials and Tips @ Home Stories A-Z // Anti-Proscrastination @ New Nostalgia // Create Link Inspire @ Nap-Time Creations // Tutorial Tuesday @ Hope Studios Too Cute Tuesday @ Funky Polka-Dot Giraffe //

The 'Out of Hibernation' Celebration- Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 03:44:00 +0000

That's right. It's spriiiiing! No one is more excited about this than me, I can promise you that! So to celebrate, I'm sporting the open toes and offering party gifts. How's a $50 gift card sound? Yeah, sounds good doesn't it?

Blazer- ROMWE / Tee- Oasap / Coated Skinnies- Target / Bag- Oasap / Heels c/o Pink Basis / Bracelet- Thrifted

One of you lucky ducks can be shopping Pink Basis fo free. And I highly recommend you check out their bangin heel selection. Took me quuuuuiiiite a while to narrow down my choices before I ended it up landing on this classic pair. You've been warned!

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Giveaway is open to US residents only and will close this Sunday.

\a Rafflecopter giveaway

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // Reasons to Dress // Confident Twosday // Style Swap Tuesdays

DIY Couch Reupholster With a Painter's Drop Cloth Part 2: The Cushions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 21:03:00 +0000

Hello again! Have you reupholstered your couch frame yet? What, you haven't?! I gave you a week! I kid. Anyway, welcome to part 2! Even if you're not reupholstering your cushions completely, this is still a great way to beef up your dated cushions and make them like-new again. So if your couch is suffering from limp, sad, saggy cushions stay tuned...

If you haven't already, you can check out part 1 on how to reupholster your couch frame. Today we're tackling our cushions. This is what I assumed to be the "easy" part going into this project, but because I don't have a whole lot of experience with the sewing machine and absolutely no experience sewing box cushions, this part ended up being somewhat more difficult for me. Don't let that scare you though! It wasn't necessarily "hard" per say, it just takes some patience and finesse. I got better and better with each cushion and by the third, I was whizzing through it. If you have more sewing experience than I do, this should be easy sailing.

So let's start with materials.

9 ft x 12 ft drop cloth- $22.54
upholstery thread- $5.39
upholstery needle- $2.49
sewing machine
scissors
seam ripper
pins

(optional)

quilt batting (I used 3 bags, one per cushion)- $5.99 x 3
spray adhesive- $9.97
Sew-On Velcro- $3.99
Double Sided Basting Tape- $2.74

We're going to be using our old cushion covers as our pattern for the new ones. I just always try to avoid measuring anytime I can because it majorly shrinks the margin for error....plus, I hate measuring.

Step 1: Use your seam ripper and go to town on those old cushion seams. We're going to start by disassembling our old cushion covers. Using a seam ripper can be time consuming, but we're not reusing this fabric for anything other than a pattern. Just get a hole going and then pull the seam apart like the Hulk. This will fray your edges but the fabric will still be good enough to make a pattern out of it. *If you're planning on adding a zipper to your new cushions, you can save and reuse the old ones off of your existing cushions. If you do this, take care to keep these in tact as you're removing them.

Step 2: Pin down the cushion panels to the new fabric, trace, and cut. Once your cushions are separated, lay the panels out on your fabric. Pin the panels in place, then cut them out of the new fabric. Make sure when you're doing this that you're leaving enough for seam allowance.

Step 3: Spend 7 hours sewing the new panels with your sewing machine. Ok, you probably won't need 7 hours, but it is somewhat time consuming. These aren't just cushion covers as you would do on a throw pillow or something, these are box cushions. That means these have a top, a bottom, and a boxing plate. These involve more than just lining up 4 corners because you have to line up your boxing plate with your panels, make corners where they don't exist, as well as figure a zipper and/or buttons in there. It can get tricky for those of us less sewing inclined. At least it did for me anyway. My corners kept puckering, it was ugly. All I can say is, have your seam ripper handy.

So since I was obviously struggling just to do this correctly, that didn't leave a lot of my cognitive abilities left over to document the process as I went. I know, how am I going to instruct you if there aren't even any instructions to follow? Well, I'll do ya one better and give you a video. No, it's not mine, but it's better than anything I could have made anyway. Is that cheating? I don't know, but if you want some actual information, it's just the better way to get it.

I feel that for something like this, seeing it on video is much more helpful than seeing it in pictures anyway. This particular video is really in depth and shows you absolutely everything. No "Next, we do X, so I'm going to go do that and be back in a second" Every single step is present and accounted for so you can see it start to finish. It even includes how to do piping, how to match up stripes in case you have a pattern on your fabric you need to match up, and how you can add a zipper if you want your cushions removable. Basically everything you could possibly need, it's here.

Cushion covers? Check. Perky cushions to put the covers on? Uhhh...

So now that we have our cushion covers we can just throw them on the cushions and call it a day, right? Well, maybe. If you're lucky enough to have perky, lovely cushions, you are done. (Congratulations! I bet it looks awesome!) But if your poor, droopy, sad cushions have seen better days like mine....well, we ain't done yet.

Step 4: Use utility knife to remove old batting from cushions. First, we'll start by stripping off all the old batting. Now, if you're cushions are just a little flat, you could skip this step and just add some new batting to beef them up. My batting, however, was sagging and drooping and making the cushion look misshapen. I wanted a crisp, clean line on my cushions so I completely removed all of the old batting. This is also a good idea if you're recovering a couch you got from a thrift store or Craig's List or something because any odors and/or bugs (ew) would be living here.

We're just going to toss this batting; we're not reusing it, so we don't have to worry about being gentle with it. Just use your knife to shred it and keep pulling layer after layer. Just keep working with it until you get as much as you can off. If you leave any of the old batting on, just make sure it's a flat, even layer so your cushions don't turn out lumpy.

Step 5: Unwrap your batting, lay it out flat, then flip it to double it over. Now we're going to start working with the new batting. I just used a standard polyester quilt batting. Joann's had this on sale for 40% off and then I was emailed an extra 20% off coupon, so I got this for a steal. Joann's is awesome with coupons, aren't they? Never pay full price! Anyway, roll it all out flat, then fold it in half so it's double layered.

Step 6: Trace cushion on the batting, then cut. Lay your cushion out on your batting and trace around it. You could measure your cushion instead and then mark your fabric but I'd rather just trace it. Whatever floats your boat. Anyway, after you get your shape marked, cut it out. You need to do this for the top and the bottom. Mine originally had batting around all four sides, so I measured that too. You may also want to do this more than once. The more layers you use on your cushions, the bigger and fluffier they will be. Obviously. I personally ended up doing 4 layers on my cushions.

Step 7: Attach batting to cushion with spray adhesive. There should be instructions on your can and I would recommend following them for best adhesion, but the gist is basically spraying the cushion, spraying the batting and then sticking them together after the spray is tacky. We folded the batting to save on cuts, but you will have to separate all of the layers to spray in between them. Remember, we're going to be pulling and tugging to get those cushions into their covers so the batting needs to be adhered really well to hold up to the beating.

Step 8: Slip cushion covers over the cushions and close them up. After you've got your batting on, you can start putting the new covers on. Depending on how you've chosen to do your cushions, you'll put them in and just zip em up, or you'll put them in and sew up the open seam. I wanted my cushions to be removable so I could wash them (I have kids after all!), so I didn't want to sew the cushions in. But I didn't feel like messing with a zipper either, so I took the short cut by making them envelope style and used Velcro to close them up. You could use Velcro, buttons or a zipper. The choice is yours. I will say though, the Velcro is a super easy route. I got the "sew-on" Velcro but you could make it even easier by getting the iron on or self-adhesive versions.

Then, once you get your cushions slipped into their covers, you're done! Ta da! One piece of advice I will give you though, iron your fabric on the cushions. My fabric was wrinkly and needed ironing anyway, but ironing the fabric on the cushions helped to shape the new batting. I tried to adhere my batting in as "square" a shape as I could, but using the heat will reactivate the spray adhesive somewhat and help to shape the batting even further. *the more you know * Now my edges are much more square and less rounded.

Now you may be thinking "Whoa, wait a minute! You aren't finished, there are no cushions on the back of your couch!". But I did this on purpose. The back cushions cut the seat cushion depth in half and caused the bottom cushions to constantly slip forward. I was always pulling the back cushions up to slide the seat cushions back and it was frustrating. Plus, we were constantly pulling them off and tossing them on the floor to have room to lay out on it anyway. Basically, they were just annoying. The couch is much more comfortable and roomy without them.

Also, as I mentioned in my first post, I wanted a more modern couch with clean, crisp lines. The existing cushions were rounded and too "soft" looking for my taste. They would have been really easy to re-cover because they aren't box cushions but I just didn't want them. It's just personal choice. I do intend to line the back with more throw pillows though. 5 down, 3-4 more to go!

Here is a kind of crude mock-up of what it will look like after I've finished my pillows and finished making the rug. Yes, I said making the rug. (post on how to do that soon!).

After ironing. Made a huge difference!

So that's it! Stand back and admire your very own custom reupholstery job! You just reupholstered a couch, homie! That's definitely something to be proud of! If you choose to give it a go, I would love, love, love to see how it turns out! You can share it to my Facebook page or Instagram me (lblinc_hhatw). Good luck and may the upholstery Gods be smiling down upon you!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy // Craftastic @ Sew Can Do // Mad Skills @ Mad in Crafts // Motivate Me @ Keeping it Simple Crafts // Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy // Show and Tell @ Sugar Bee Crafts // Tutorials and Tips @ Home Stories A-Z // Anti-Proscrastination @ New Nostalgia // Create Link Inspire @ Nap-Time Creations // Tutorial Tuesday @ Hope Studios Too Cute Tuesday @ Funky Polka-Dot Giraffe

DIY Couch Reupholster With a Painter's Drop Cloth | Part 1: The Frame

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 04:38:00 +0000

Pre-post warning: This post is picture heavy and it is quite lengthy. That's not an indication of this project's difficulty at all! In fact, this entire project can be tackled by a single person in just one weekend. I just wanted to be very thorough and include every single detail so anyone, no matter your skill set or prior knowledge, can follow this without any problems or confusion. I could've skimmed for sake of time, but I personally had a lot of questions while following other tutorials and I would have appreciated a more in-depth post. So while it's a much longer post, it's a thorough step-by-step guide; kind of a reupholstering for dummies.

Let me start out by saying that I have been wanting a new couch for years. Every single couch I have ever owned, since I moved out on my own 10 years ago, has been a hand-me-down that someone has gifted me. And since these were given out of my necessity, I had to settle on whatever couch was graciously bestowed upon me. Beggars can't be choosers, right? I mean, I was grateful someone was thoughtful enough to give us a couch and that we had one at all, don't get me wrong! But that didn't keep me from lusting after my dream couch.

It's not a bad little couch. Especially from afar. It's a good shape, it's a good size, it's comfortable. The integrity of the frame is good; it's nice and sturdy. But the fabric? Oh lawd, the fabric. If you look up close, you can definitely tell we have cats and kids. The fabric has been shredded by sharp cat claws, it's pilling in places from being washed, and the piping has burst free from it's fabric confines.

Our living room has been coming along nicely but this couch was holding me back! Since we moved into this house, life has been one giant DIY project. We have been working on every inch of every room; working tirelessly to turn this house into a home. The living room especially has been a big focus of my efforts and it's starting to look really nice....except that darn couch!

It's not that I was unsure of what I wanted. I had a very specific idea in my head of what I wanted, in fact. I wanted a neutral grey couch with clean, sleek, modern lines. Think: Mad Men. Nothing about our home decor is traditional so, even without it's worn and ragged condition, our couch was majorly out of place. But couches like this little beauty above, though perfect and exactly what I'm looking for, would run me $1,900. Yikes! Yeeeeaaaah, not happening.

Ok, so what other options do I have? Well, I've always considered from afar that maybe I would try reupholstering. But I kept scaring myself out of it every time I thought about it. I mean, how much would this project cost me? Fabric prices alone make my head spin! What if I broke the bank to get this upholstery fabric and I ruined it and it all ended up going to waste? I just couldn't even stomach the thought. Years of living frugal has taught me to shudder at any waste. I just didn't even want to try to attempt it....until I saw this pin...

It looks pretty dang amazing, doesn't it? If I had seen this outside of context, I would have no idea that this was a DIY job. And guess what? She used drop cloths! Yeah, just plain old painter's drop cloths from Home Depot! And since drop cloths are so cheap....hmmm....maybe I could give it a shot. So, I did. I shoved my anxiety way down and armed myself with some drop cloths.

Now if you've read my last post, you know I was set on a grey couch. Her hardware store conveniently sold grey drop cloths, mine did not. So I had to dye them before I could upholster with them. They're huge, it wasn't easy. But you can see exactly how to dye drop cloths in my last post, if you need direction.

So, materials. What do you need? Well, your drop cloths obviously. Our couch is quite large (100 in long) so I got 2. I got one 12ft x 15ft cloth and one 9 ft x 12 ft cloth. One for the frame and one for the cushions. But past that, everything else is pretty easy and pretty cheap. We'll divide the project in half and start with what you need for the frame first...

12 ft x 15 ft canvas drop cloth- $27.25
staple gun- $8.97 (though I ended up just borrowing one)
staples (I got 5/16" 1000 count)- $2.97
needle nose pliers- had it
flat head screwdriver- had it
scissors- had it
upholstery thread- $5.39
upholstery needle- $2.49

optional (we'll get there and you can see what I mean)

upholstery tacks- $2.49
hot glue gun- had it
double sided tape- had it
cardboard- free

It looks like a large list, but it's really not. It's really just small things and most things you probably already have, like scissors and a screwdriver and stuff. The bulk of your cost are the drop cloths themselves; everything else is roughly $25. So don't get intimidated yet!

You need to start by prepping your fabric. If you choose to dye it and you followed my last post, you're already good to go. If you aren't planning on dying it, you still need to wash and dry it to get the sizing chemicals out and to shrink it before you work with it. You don't want a stiff, scratchy couch. I did my washing in the bathtub because it was too large to fit in my washer, but it doesn't require anything special; just some good old Tide.

Now to get started on the couch. I originally wanted to leave as much of my original fabric on the couch as I could, just for a safety net. I just thought maybe if this lofty endeavor didn't end up working out, I could preserve the couch's existing condition and it'd be no harm, no foul. I could just peel off the new fabric attempt and the old would still be waiting underneath.

However, I didn't want to have to do any measuring and run the risk my measurements somehow being off, so I ended up stripping it down so I could use the original pieces as a pattern. There would be no measuring, I could just trace and cut and know everything would be the right size. I definitely recommend you it this way too. Angles get weird, cuts get wonky; it's just safer. So you need to start removing staples. You also need to pay attention to the order in which you take things off, you will start putting the new fabric on in the reverse order.

Step 1: Remove couch skirt. If you have a skirt on your couch, you will start there. I used the needle nose pliers to pull out the staples and most of them pulled right out, no problem. You will, however, come across a few that are really in there and in order to get a grip on them with your pliers, you need to use your screwdriver to get behind it and get it started. Also, you see that cardboard strip? You're going to see those all over the couch; anywhere a panel is flipped downward, one of these strips will run under the staples. You will need these strips when you put on your new fabric so you can either take care so you can reuse these, or you can buy new ones. I chose to reuse mine and had no problems with it, but the choice is yours.

This phase is the most labor intensive part of the entire job; removing staples is work. The "deupholstering" is much harder than the "reupholstering". After you get through this though, it's smooth sailing from here on out.

Step 2: Flip the couch. Once you get the skirt done (assuming you have one, count yourself lucky if you don't), then we can start on the back of the couch. To do this, we need to tip the couch onto it's front so we can start on the staples underneath.

Step 3: Remove staples from underneath the frame. Now we remove 1,000 staples on the underside of the frame so we can lift up the back panel and get to the "innards" of the couch. (There will also be metal spike strips running down the sides of the back panel that you will need to remove to get the back panel off. More about this in step 5) After I remove the panel off of the back, I could get to where everything is attached on the inside. The back of the seat (the portion you'd be leaning back on when you sit) tucks down beneath the seat and wraps around to the inside. The arm panels are tucked in and attached to the inside as well. Removing the back gets you access to all that.

Step 4: Remove side panels. Next I took off the bottom side panels. This works exactly like the back does. It's stapled along underneath and also has the metal spike strip running along the front side (more about it in the next step), then you can flip the panel up over the arm and remove the staples that run along the top. When you remove this side panel, the bottom of the arm panel is exposed. It's stapled to the same wood piece as the bottom panel and you can start removing these staples too.

Step 5: Label fabric pieces, set aside metal "spike strips". You see what looks like foam covered road spikes? This piece runs along the front of the side panels (that we just took off), as well as down the sides of the back panel (that we did in step 2). The fabric edges gets wrapped around this, the spikes are poked through the fabric, and then it's flipped and hammered into the frame to attach the fabric without any staples being visible. It also creates a clean line. You want to save this for when we put the couch back together. I don't know how much one of these contraptions would run ya, but there's no sense to buy one when we can just reuse what we've got; and it's already cut to size too! So be careful not to mangle this too bad. I used my screwdriver to get underneath one edge and started prying it up. It somewhat bent some of the spikes but if you're careful, you'll be able to straighten them and it'll be good as new.

Step 6: Peel back the arm panels. After you remove that bottom row of staples from the arm panel, and where it tucks down into the seat, you can remove where it wraps around back. But first, my advice before you remove anything with pleats and folds (like the back of my arms pictured above) though, is to take a picture to use for reference when you're putting on the new fabric. Curved arms are hard to wrap and get just right, so it will be much easier if you have a guide to work off of. After that you can start peeling the panel back. The arm panel will still not come completely off though because, aside from the back and the bottom, it is attached on the inside as well. Which brings us to...

Step 7: Remove fabric from arm and seat back, from inside the frame. Now the way my couch is made, the fabric was not directly stapled to the frame on the inside, as it has been underneath. It was sewed to this batting type fabric and then the batting was stapled down to the frame. In order to save my fingers from having to pull out even more staples, I just used my utility knife to cut along the seam where the fabric met the batting. But if your couch isn't constructed like this, and your fabric is directly stapled to the frame, that's ok. You would just remove the staples exactly as we have been doing.

After you get it separated, the entire arm panel should be off and you should be able to stick your hand through from the back to the front on both the arms, as well as along the bottom of the seat. If you can't access the front of your couch through the back in all of these places, there's more fabric you need to separate somewhere. Make sure all of your creases are open and accessible because we're going to start tucking the new fabric in....

Step 8: Drape the couch with the new fabric. You may notice I didn't remove the seat back before moving to the new fabric. I did that on purpose. There was no sense to remove it because I could cover it just fine. No sense in doing more work if we don't have to right? Right. I made sure to separate it from the frame so I would have access to pull my new fabric through to the back, but I didn't remove it. So next step is to drape the drop cloth (or whatever fabric you're using) over the couch and start tucking it into the creases enough that you can grab them from around back. That is where they will be tucked under and stapled so you need to make sure you're tucking deep enough into those creases. You also need to make sure that the fabric in the back is long enough to cover the back of the couch as well. I draped it so that the back was long enough to just brush the ground.

Step 9: Pull fabric through to back, cut, and begin stapling. Once you've got your fabric all tucked into your creases, go around to the back of the couch to pull it through. You need to pull the fabric through enough that when you cut it, you have enough length to staple to the frame; better to have too much than not enough. Cut along the bottom of the seat, as well as the crease where the back meets the arms, and where the arms meet the seat (all of those dotted lines from step 8). Do not staple your arm panels yet! We want to go ahead and cut the fabric in that crease to separate the back from the sides, but we still need to lay the fabric out and trace the old panel on it for the arms. So start stapling along the inside of the back panel, but that's all we're stapling in this step; leave the arms free. Also, leave the back open. Staple along the inside creases, but don't close it up and staple it up underneath the couch yet; we still need in there! Closing that up will be our very last step. Remember, we're replacing in the reverse order we removed it.

(fyi: my fingernails are not dirty, I promise you! They got stained while dying the fabric. I just though that was necessary to make clear cause, yuck!)

Step 10: Mark and cut fabric for the front of the couch. Now that we have the biggest portion (the back) cut and separated, we can move to the next largest piece. The front of the couch isn't exactly "big", but it is long. We don't want to cut up our fabric into arm pieces and stuff and end up without a piece long enough to cover the front. So that's why I do the back and front first. I draped the fabric to where the edge just brushed the ground. Then I used my chalk pencil to mark how far back the fabric needed to go and then I cut along this line. You may have noticed I removed the skirt way back when but I didn't remove the fabric underneath it. It was just another piece that was unnecessary to remove so I just left it and went over it.

Step 11: Staple front piece to frame. The original fabric in the front wasn't stapled to the frame, it was sewed to that striped fabric on the seat. Since I wasn't removing this panel, I couldn't get under it. I thought about just sewing the front piece onto the seat fabric the way they had but I would have to hand sew it and it would've taken forever. So I just pulled the fabric around to the back of this beam and stapled right through my fabric and the old fabric.

Step 12: Trace old fabric and cut your new pieces. I laid my fabric out flat on the floor and positioned all my pieces on top. Once I had them arranged, I pinned them and started cutting. Until you start actually putting the pieces on the couch, it's a good idea to keep them paired with the old pieces so you know what's what. I threw all my old fabric in a pile after cutting and then I'd hold up a new piece like "Ok, what the heck is this piece?" So it's a good idea to keep the labeled old piece paired with its mate.

Step 13: Attach arm panels. You'll notice in the picture above, there is no front to my arm. My couch originally had a solid piece in front that met up with this arm panel with piping. I don't like piping and I didn't want to use it. I could have very well cut each piece and sewn them together with the piping, but I just didn't want to. Plain and simple. So I looked through various other couches to see other options and the most appealing was essentially like a "cap" on the front. So what I did was attach my arm panel exactly as it had been but up front I left it open. I just pulled it as tight as I could and stapled it down. You can do it this way or you can break out your sewing machine and piping. Your call. If you do it this way you need to start stapling at the middle of the top and work your way down on each side. It's really easy.

Step 14: Cut fabric, cardboard and batting to fit your scroll. Ok, this probably seems somewhat weird and maybe even a little second rate to you but I promise you it's not. Now, using a UPS box specifically may be somewhat unconventional but the method itself is quite standard, I assure you.

See? Totally a normal thing. And, if you notice, there was already tons of cardboard all over the couch. In every seam the fabric is wrapped around a cardboard strip before it is stapled in. So, cardboard is totally acceptable. Capishe? You can go out and buy cardboard specifically targeted to upholstery for this step.....or you can just use the UPS box your new laptop monitor came in. I chose the latter. Whatever cardboard you choose, cut it to the exact size of your existing scroll because this is going to be your "cap" on the front. You need to also cut out a piece of batting to fit this as well. Just trace and cut.

Step 15 (option 1): Attach batting and fabric to the cardboard with upholstery tacks. There is another way to do this, but this is the first. It didn't work out for me and I'll show you why in a second, but this is the standard method that most people use. So I'm going to go ahead and share it anyway and you can decide for yourself how you want to do it. With this method you insert tacks through the front of the batting and cardboard to where they're all sticking out of the back. Then you lay the fabric over top and wrap it around the edges and keep it in place with the tacks. Then you position it on your couch arm and use a mallet to hammer the tacks through all these layers.

It worked but the problem was that where the tacks were, it damaged the fabric. I re-cut my fabric and tried this again but this time putting the tacks under the batting so I could have some cushion between the tack heads and my fabric. But, unfortunately, I ended up with the same results. So onto plan B.

Step 15 (option 2): Attach cardboard, batting and fabric with hot glue gun. Ok, this time I layered everything the exact same as option 1, minus the tacks. Then I positioned my scroll where I wanted it and used my hot glue gun to add small dots all around the edge. This will hold it in place for part B...

Step 15 continued: Using the curved upholstery needle and thread, sew the scroll directly to the arm by following all the way around the edge. This was somewhat time consuming because we're stitching by hand, but it wasn't at all hard to do. The hot glue holds it in place for you so you really just have to throw your stitches in. You will have to have the curved upholstery needle for this. Because you're sewing to the arm, you can't get behind the fabric to pull your needle through. The curved needle pushes through the front and out the back all at once. So if, like me, you saw this weird needle and wondered what the hell it was for, now you know.

The line is crisp and clean and you can't even see the seam. The thread and glue hold it secure and there's no damaged fabric. Win, win.

Step 16: Attach the back of the arm panel. Now if you took a picture of your arm panel before you removed it, like I did, you should have no problems replicating the folds and pleats. It's somewhat hard to get it to lay smooth at first, but just keep playing around with it and add your staples strategically. Once you get a shape you like, throw in some extra staples to hold it secure.

Step 17: Attaching the side panels. Ok, still moving in reverse order, we've finished the arms, time to move down to the side panels. You're going to attach this backwards to how you took it off, starting at the top. Flip it upside down over the arm, leaving enough overhang to staple it to the frame and leaving enough in front to wrap around the metal strip we saved. Line up your cardboard strip and begin stapling across. Make sure to keep your strip and staples straight so your seam will be straight.

Step 18: Attach front edge with metal strip, then staple fabric around back. Remember our road spikes? Time to put those back on. Wrap the front edge of your fabric around the strip, flip it and hammer it in with your mallet. Since it was already hammered in once before, the holes are pre-made and hammering should be easy. Then pull the fabric tight and staple around the back. Leave the bottom of the panel open, we'll staple it down after we flip the couch back onto it's front. (fyi: the "cap" piece in this picture is before I sewed around the perimeter; that's just after the hot glue step. So don't worry, that's not what your finished product will look like!)

Step 19: Close up the back panel. Now we should have everything done on the inside, we can start to close up the back. If you have any access fabric along the width, now is the time to trim it off. But keep in mind when you do this, that we need our fabric to be wide enough that it can be wrapped around our metal strips on each side. We want this panel to be pulled tight though too. So wrap one side around the strip and hammer it in. On the other side, pull the fabric as tight as you can, then wrap the strip and hammer it in.

Step 20: Flip the couch onto it's front and staple all along the bottom. Now is the time to anchor everything down. This is the last of our staples. We are going to go around the entire perimeter of the couch, making sure to pull as tight as we can as we go.

Now, how you finish up the back is up to you. I, personally, never intended on replacing the couch skirt. I want a more modern looking couch and the skirt made it too traditional. But that leaves the issue of this open space along the bottom in the back. Well, my couch is up against our wall and no one sees the back so I just left my back panel a little longer so it would hang over this open space on its own and I wouldn't have to do anything. You can do it like this or, if your couch isn't against a wall like mine, you could add a skirt here. Like I said, no one is going to see this on mine anyway so I just saved myself the work by leaving it.

And that's where I'm going to leave ya. Don't panic! I'm going to show you the cushions and how I did everything from here on out, but this post is long enough, don't you think? So you take these 20 steps and let that digest and next time I'll hit you with some cushions! (figuratively not literally)

Please feel free to leave me any questions you might have in the comments. I know all couches aren't made equal, so if you're having any sort of differences or issues with yours, let me know and I'll be happy to help you as much as I can. Until next week....

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

DIY: Transforming a Drop Cloth With RIT Fabric Dye

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:42:00 +0000

So with me being gone for quite some time this might seem an odd post to come back with. Quite random, I know. But there is a method to my madness, I promise. I've just completed the biggest project I've ever done, that I will be sharing soon, but it all began with dying a ginormous canvas drop cloth. Yep, a good ol painters drop cloth from Home Depot....

Problem was, I couldn't find anything on how to dye fabric this big anywhere! You can't use a washing machine or stove top to dye a 12ft x 15ft piece of cloth. There's just no way I'm fitting 9 lbs of fabric in a pot on my stove. And I couldn't find anything on custom colors or color mixing anywhere either. So I was between a rock and a hard place. But I just knew that there had to be a way to achieve this! Where there's a will, there's always a way. So today I'm going to fill that tutorial void and help you along your way so you aren't hinging your project solely on crossed fingers like I was.

Now I was dying my drop cloth to do some reupholstering, (upholstery fabric is so expensive it makes my head spin) but there are so many other DIY projects you can do with a drop cloth too. It's such a great alternative to pricey fabrics because it's incredibly durable and kind to your wallet. It's a genius DIY hack to get around high costs. That said, the color of a drop cloth isn't exactly jazzy. It's not ugly per say, but we can definitely do better.

So whether you're reupholstering, making a rug, a headboard, curtains, throw pillows, whatever, you probably want to dye your drop cloth too. No problem. Just throw some fabric dye on it, right? Easy peasy. But how do we cover so much fabric, and what if you want a specific color? RIT offers a nice selection of colors, but I am very stubborn and I wanted a very specific color for my couch. I have been working exclusively off of my inspiration since the conception of this living room and I'll be damned if a let something as small as fabric color throw a wrench in it!

So as you can see, light or dark, grey seems to be the winning color for me. Wait, says you, RIT has a grey! Yeah, says I, but it's a "pearl grey" and it's a little too silver for my taste. As I said, stubborn. Luckily, RIT has a huge color library with over 500 custom colors you can mix up. Problem solved! But wait, their recipes are for a single ounce of fabric (what?!) and this drop cloth is roughly 9 pounds. Damnit! I have to do math now! Conversions and stuff too! GAAAHH! "Hey, honey, you wanna help me with something real quick?"

Ok, so here is where I'm going to be super helpful and I'm going to share the conversions and math with you. I do the math so you don't have toooooo... (little Joe Dirt to make the numbers go down a little smoother). First you need to find your recipe by choosing your color from the RIT custom color library.

Keep in mind that the colors will vary based on your monitor settings. For instance, on my laptop this color appears slightly blue, while on my phone it looks a deep slate grey. Just something to consider. Anyway, my recipe says I need 1/4 tsp Kelly Green and 1/4 tsp Black. This made it a little easier for me because I just needed equal portions of each color. That way if my math was slightly off, as long as I kept my ratios the same for each color, there was a good chance it'd still turn out alright. And it also meant my math could be cut in half because if I found the measurement for one, I had the measurement for the other. As you can tell, I really didn't have high hopes for my exceptional math skills. So let's just start the dreaded business....

Since this recipe is in ounces and my fabric was measured in pounds, the first step is to convert the fabric's weight from pounds to ounces. For me, 9lbs = 144oz. No, I don't know that off the top of my head. What am I? Crazy? Google is a handy friend. If you're not using 9 lbs, just Google "(insert your weight here)lbs to ounces".

Then, once I have my fabric as 144 ounces, it's in the form of measurement equivalent to the recipe and I can start figuring out how much I need. Now I want to look at my first color in the recipe and check it's measurement. For mine that's 1/4tsp. So now convert the weight (144oz) into the color's form of measurement (tsp) so you can multiply them.

So after converting, my fabric is equivalent to 864tsp (yikes!) and I can now multiply it by 1/4. Why 1/4? Because remember, that's what my recipe called for. Still with me?

So for this recipe, and my 9 lbs of fabric, I'm going to need 216 tsp of each color. BUT it doesn't end there. Oh, no. Because RIT is sold in ounces, not teaspoons. So I now need to convert 216 tsp back to ounces so I know how many bottles to buy.

So I need 36 oz of the Kelly Green and 36 oz of Black. Since the dye comes in 8 oz bottles, I need to divide this number by 8.

So I need 4 and a half bottles of each color. Yep, 9 bottles of dye for this drop cloth. And that makes sense because, if you're doing a single color straight out of the bottle, they say to do 1 bottle per pound of fabric. For my 9 lbs of fabric, that would've been 9 bottles of dye. So, I must've done at least some of this math right at the very least!

And let me say, if you're in the southern Indiana area and you're looking for Kelly Green dye, Joann's has been cleared out. ;)

So now all that math is all done and our dye is purchased, we can actually start the process of dying the fabric. Whew! But there's another issue. (isn't there always?) The other half of my problem was not knowing how to cover so much fabric, because my fabric wouldn't fit in my washer. So how do we do it then? Well, I used my bath tub.

**IMPORTANT: The RIT instructions caution that the dye could stain your tub. So, that's something you need to consider if you choose to do it the way I did. I'm not certain what material my tub is made of, but it's one of those solid, glossy pieces that go all the way up the shower wall. I know, that's really technical and helpful isn't it? (you can see pictures of it below to see what I mean) You're just going to have to go with your instinct and decide whether you think your tub will stain or if it's something you want to risk. I honestly didn't care either way; I just wanted my fabric dyed. Of course I might have felt different if it actually had stained my tub, but I had no staining whatsoever anyway and my tub looks as white now as it ever did.**

Starting with the drop cloth right out of the package, you will have to wash it. Fabrics like this have what's called "sizing". This is that gross chemical you smell when you open up the package. It's almost like a sealer of sorts and you need to get rid of it so the fabric can absorb the dye. Getting rid of it will also soften your fabric and make it more comfortable for projects like reupholstering. So, it definitely needs to go. But as we've established, washing the drop cloth cannot be accomplished in the washer (or not mine anyway) because of it's large size, so we're going to do this in the tub too. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Seriously, look at what came out in this water....

Yeah, gross. It's like a cesspool of chemicals.

So I started by filling my tub with the hottest water I could get and added a cap of laundry detergent (plain old Tide, nothing fancy). I submerged the fabric and swished it around a little before letting it sit in the water for about an hour. After the hour, it's time to rinse the detergent out. I drained the tub, refilled it with clean water, and moved the fabric around a little with my hands. I did this rinse twice, letting it soak for an additional 20 minutes on the final rinse. Then I drained the tub and manually squeezed as much water out of the fabric as I could and set it aside while I prepared the dye. (Don't dry the fabric, you need it wet)

Next, I started mixing up my dye. I just measured it all out in my glass measuring cups. I also measured a cup of salt to add as well. The salt helps the dye absorb into your fabric so you will get a darker, more even color. And that's for everything; even if you're not dying a drop cloth and even if you're not mixing a custom color, you should always add salt to your dye bath any time you use a fabric dye.....unless you're dying wool or something, and then you use vinegar. But that's a whole other post for another day.

Then I started filling up my tub again; making sure to get the water as hot as possible. The hotter, the better. You could even boil some water on the stove to add to the tub, but my water heater gets pretty hot so I just went with water straight out of the tap. As the tub was filling I added my dye and salt, using my (gloved) hand to sort of swish it around and make sure it was evenly mixed. Once I had the tub filled I added my wet fabric slowly to the tub. Now, here is where you need to give your full attention. Do not put your fabric into the tub unless you can dedicate a full 20 minutes to staying with it. You have to keep your fabric constantly moving. If the fabric sits idle, you will have streaks where the fabric was folded or creased, even if it's all submerged. A washing machine agitates the fabric for you but since we're using the tub, we have to do it manually. So clear your schedule and set a timer for 20 minutes.

Because the water was so hot at first, I couldn't use my hands to move the fabric around. So to start out with I just used a mop. If I had thought ahead I might have planned for something better to use, but I didn't have time to be picky and I needed a new mop anyway. So I just stirred it around like a soup. Once the fabric cooled down enough I could stand it, I used my hands to kind of knead it like bread. I just kept flipping and squeezing, just making sure to keep it moving.

Once my 20 minutes were up, I drained the tub and I rinsed the fabric as much as I could with our removable shower head but it was a difficult feat, I promise you. This was honestly the hardest part; even harder than the math! 9 pounds of dry fabric turns into like 100 pounds of wet fabric. But you need to rinse this the best you can to get as much of the dye out as possible. You're still going to have to wash it though. Like with an honest-to-God washing machine. I had no doubts I could get the sizing out in the tub, but I was doubtful I could remove all the dye and since this was going on our couch where we will all sit on it, I couldn't risk it. I bit the bullet and took it to the laundromat.

After that, dry that baby and you are done! I absolutely loved the way it turned out. The drop cloth fabric has great texture and color variations to begin with, so when you dye it, you get a rich dynamic color with natural lights and darks. A flat grey could have been boring, but it really looks like an expensive upholstery fabric. I am already planning on upholstering a headboard and making some throw pillow covers. Drop cloths are a great fabric for cheap and, even if you don't plan on dying it, I definitely recommend trying them out!

Check out my couch reupholstering post to see how I used the fabric!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

Verdict: Not Dead!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 09:01:00 +0000

Sooo, hey, I'm not dead! Yaay! That's quite an accomplishment, right? You may well be surprised since I literally just vanished for several weeks without so much as a "I didn't die", but surprisingly I'm still kickin'! Just barely as a result of this brutal winter, but still kickin' nonetheless. So, hooray! *mini blogger party ensues*

via

Now originally I was going to start this post all nonchalant and normal-like and just try to glaze over the fact that I've been gone for an eon. Like maybe if I just pretended the absence didn't exist, maybe no one would notice? You know, just kind of slip it right on past you. Like when you see someone you went to high school with at the grocery and you slip by all ninja like, hoping they won't notice you. Yeeeah, you've done it. But I have to give you more credit; I couldn't pull one over on you like that. And anyways we didn't go to high school together so I don't need to avoid you in the store anyway......unless it's Target. Cause if it's Target, I'm lingering in the euphoric 'Target zone' trying desperately to remind myself what it was I came in for in the first place, while giving those boots over there the side eye. Targets a dangerous place, you don't wanna meet me there.

BUT, even still, being honest and addressing the situation isn't really any nicer either. Why? Because I have no particular good reason to offer for my lengthy absence. Do I ever? Other than my loathe for cold and the fact that this happens every. single. winter, I don't have much else in the way of excuses. I pretty much only have a blog 50% of the year and that's just the way it's been. Cold weather comes out to play, and I go in to hermit (yes, I did just turn hermit into a verb because at least then I'm doing something). It's just a fact of life.

I mean, I tried to do a post, I really did. I even got dressed and everything. I charged the camera and pretended like I was actually going to go out. But in the end, I just couldn't do it. I like you guys a lot, but I hate 9 degree weather (with -12 wind chill) more. (You blogger chicks out in the snow in your dresses and skirts?? You're awesome! You're crazy, but you're awesome! Mad props to you, my friend!) Sorry I couldn't give you a reason with something more traumatic and legitimate to sink your teeth into, but who could lie to a face like that??

So now that I've got that bit of honesty off my chest (I feel much better, don't you?) let's just agree to put it in the past and we can just act like it didn't happen, the way real friends do. Because I would totally overlook some stuff for you. You need something overlooked? I'm there for you girl. But, (yeah, another "but") because of mother nature's continued relentlessness and my continued inability to make peace with said relentlessness, unfortunately being back still does not technically mean I'm "back". I know, why did I bother? But, wait, wait, wait I haven't been entirely useless all this time! I've done quite a few home projects! I thought I would share those with you.....and brag just a little bit. Let's be honest, every home blogger out there is bragging juuust little bit.

Ok Lindsey, where is this supposed "post" you keep talking bout? Well, it's coming this week. *pinky swears* I just wanted a declaration of my continued existence before a random post from the supposed deceased put someone in cardiac arrest from sheer shock. No? Too dramatic? Yeah, I know. I keep writing like someone's actually reading anymore. I'm just so charming and endearing like that, aren't I? :P

Until later this week, here's a video of cats knocking shit over.....

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

Style Favorite: The Ankle Boots

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:32:00 +0000

So just this last week, I did a 2014 recap of all my favorite outfits from the last year. As I was looking through them all and seeing them all in one place, I noticed there were definitely some pieces making frequent reappearances. This makes sense, of course, if you've read my guide to an easy closet overhaul. But for those of you who haven't read it (for shame!) this really showcases how I choose the pieces I purchase and how I use those pieces to maximum versatility. So to branch out from my guide, I'm going to try to wrangle up a little mini series of "Ways to wear: blah, blah, blah". It sounds really classy, doesn't it? No but seriously, my goal is to share how much life one small purchase can have in it, when you shop smart.

Suspect No. 1- The Ankle Boots. I was actually quite wary when I made this purchase. In my mind, at the time, I viewed these boots more as a fun splurge than a practical staple. I didn't expect to get much wear out of them; just a touch here and there. However, as usual, I turned out to be wrong. These boots have taken me across the seasons and back again. So after noticing there were repeats, I rounded the rest of the booties up and slapped them down here for a "How to wear: ankle boots" shin dig.

Leopard and Leather- Full Post
This is when the boots were brand new and I was completely enamored with them. I honestly can't think of a better pair of shoes to complete this outfit. The outfit itself isn't the favorite of all I've worn, but for what it is, the boots look great with it.

Distressed Flannel- Full Post
This outfit, however, was my first time wearing a plaid. I loved this shirt, but I knew it could become very "lumberjack" in a hot minute and I needed to be careful how I styled it. The boots keep it chic and stylish and away from country bumpkin.

Aztec- Full Post
This is another one that I couldn't picture a better pair to complete this outfit. Riding boots could have worked, but these give it a little more "oomph" and makes it look more put together.

Lace- Full Post
This was my first time wearing boots with a dress. Ordinarily I would only ever pair a dress with sandals or wedges. And while that would have looked nice too, it was nearing fall and the boots kept this dress relevant and brought it into the new season.

Military- Full Post

Ah, the military jacket. I wanted one of these for so long before I finally got this one. I ordered it online so I wasn't able to try it on; I was surprised at how big it was when it arrived. With this style and roomy size, the look ran the risk of looking like I was headed for combat. Once again, the boots saved this look and immediately made it chic instead of frumpy.

Now these aren't all my "favorite outfits" or anything, just a mash-up of all the ankle boots in one place. Hit or miss, win or lose, there's no denying the old girls have some life in them. Unfortunately the original pair are sold out. whomp whomp #sadface but I did find some other great similar options.

1.Michael Antonio 2.Zigi 3.Michael Antonio 4.Isaac Mizrahi 5.Kelsi Dagger 6.Sam Edleman 7.LuLus 8.Saks Fifth Avenue 9.Charlotte Russe

I love all of these options; some even more than the pair I have (#2 and 3 are rocking my world!)! But either way, the ankle booties have been a great, versatile addition to my humble closet. Its always great to be able to wear something over and over again, and staples are a must have for a wardrobe on a budget! So I have to ask...

What is one of your favorite staple pieces?

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // How I Fall // Monday Must-Haves //Manic Monday // Visible Monday // Personal Style // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // Reasons to Dress // Confident Twosday // Style Swap Tuesdays // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Tucker Up // Mid Week Muse // Get Your Pretty On // Oh, Hey Girl // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // Life & Style Spotlight Weekly // Let Your Light Shine // Look What I Got // Casual Friday // Favorite Fashion Friday // Fab Five Friday // Who's Wearing What // Fab Favorites // BYOP // Passion for Fashion // Stylish Saturday

2014: The Year In Style Review

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:42:00 +0000

So if you've kept up with my blog for any length of time, or if you've happened to have read my 'About Me' page, then you know I began this blog as a way to document my own journey into the unknown realm of "personal style". That makes it sound so much bigger than it really is, but when I made the choice to stop dressing exclusively in sweats, I was staring into this dark unknown territory and it was terrifying. I had spent years as a sheltered stay-at-home mom and my biggest excursions in those days consisted of grocery store shopping and preschool drop offs; I had completely forgotten what it was even like to "get dressed" or to "pick out clothes". I had no wardrobe, no closet, just drawers and drawers of yoga pants and t-shirts. So this being my second year blogging, I figured one of the greatest ways to take a look at how my personal style journey has evolved is to....well....see how it's evolved!

Now I'm not going to go all the way back through 2 years of outfit posts (yes, you may take a big sigh of relief) for 2 reasons. A.) that's 2 years worth of posts and this would be the world's longest post ever and B.) those first posts from the beginning are suuuuper embarrassing. It was like watching a toddler trying to figure out how to put their shoes on the right feet. It's that bad. If you really want to know where I began, you'll have to go back through the archives on your own because I really just cannot bring myself to post them a second time. Once was bad enough!

So this is just the 2014 recap. And even the outfits throughout this last year, I only chose my favorites for today because, hey, they can't all be winners. Amirite? So without further ado, here are my fashion favorites from 2014...

2.04.2014

Aztec

2.09.2014

Polka Dots

3.23.2014

Maxi and Denim

6.01.2014

Chambray

5.21.2014

Pink Skirt

5.25.2014

Neon

6.10.2014

Leather Shorts

6.18.2014

Green Dress

7.22.2014

Stripes and Leopard

7.27.2014

Lace on Lace

8.24.2014

Lace and Booties

9.14.2014

Neutrals

9.21.2014

Leather Leggings

9.23.2014

Blazer and Booties

9.28.2014

Emerald and Houndstooth

12.01.2014

Military Jacket

12.10.2014

A Vision in Grey

Looking at the whole year at a glance, I realize it's just getting better and better over time. The reason my earlier posts don't appeal to me anymore is because this has been a learning experience and we all have to start somewhere. I've learned that the more I step out of my comfort zone and the more I try to push myself, the happier I am with the final look. In the beginning I would have never worn leather shorts and I didn't even own a pair of heels (it's criminal, I know!) but those turn out to be my favorite looks!

I also learned that I should have cut my hair a loooooong time ago! It's hard to look at those older posts and not have my eyes immediately drawn to my horrible, stringy hair. Yuck! And the one last thing learned; there always seems to be something very interesting off to the right! Seriously, did you notice that?? 2015 resolution: look at the camera! Ha! We live and we learn! That's what I've really learned this year; live and learn! ;) All in all, it has been a good year for my personal style and I look forward to sharing more of my journey in 2015!

Which 2014 look is your favorite?

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

Closet Building 101: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide to a Wardrobe Overhaul

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Dec 2014 18:31:00 +0000

One year ago, when I made the decision to drag myself out of my "mom wear" of sweats and yoga pants and to start consciously dressing myself, I had to build an entire wardrobe from the ground up. Having literally nothing as a starting point and having to completely break down my closet it to rebuild it back up again was extremely intimidating. Not only could I not afford a wardrobe overhaul, I had no idea where to start. How could I get the most bang out of my buck? How do I know what pieces to buy? Where do I begin??

The big, bad, scary beginning

In the beginning, the task of starting completely fresh seemed to be so big and scary. And, although it took me a while, eventually I learned the whole process could be made easy just by breaking it down and following a few simple steps. The tips and steps themselves are so simplistic and really common sense, but when you're diving headfirst into the unknown and starting something new like this, "simple" can sometimes be elusive. It was for me anyway! I was over-thinking the whole thing and making it so much bigger and complicated than it needed to be. I mean, it's not science, it's just clothes! But I was incredibly disorganized and went about it all in a very haphazard way that left me with a closet that I couldn't do anything with. No bueno!

So the tips I'm sharing today are very basic and really just about how you can simplify this whole process and make it easier on yourself. They may not seem all that insightful to some of you seasoned veterans, but I'm targeting the rest. Yes, you! I wish I had something like this to act as my guide when I began, it would have taken so much intimidation out of, what seemed like, a huge task. So if you've built a wardrobe solely for functionality and now you want to turn it into a wardrobe for function and style, this one's for you. Hopefully I can help take a little bit of the fear out of starting all over again for you because I promise it's not as scary (or expensive) as it seems!

How can this work for you?

If it still sounds like this is more complicated than you're willing to take on, don't worry! This "guide" is for absolutely anyone; any size, any age, any style. I am not breaking down specific items or wardrobe staples that "everyone" should have in their closet or anything like that. Those posts can be really helpful, but we're thinking in broad strokes right now. This is more like a method for determining what you want in your closet. You need a direction, you need to figure out your style and tastes, and you want to stay on budget.

Step 1: Find your Inspiration

First and foremost, you need a direction. The only way to begin is to find out what you like. That might sound unnecessary; you might think you already know what you like. But chances are you don't! If you've spent years without a sense of personal style, or without thinking about what you're wearing, you might surprise yourself at what appeals to you now. And when was the last time you dressed for style anyway? I can guarantee your taste and needs have changed since college; what you liked 10 years ago probably isn't going to work for you now. I mean, I know my flare jeans and platform sandals ain't cuttin' it anymore. Naw mean?

So how's the best way to do this? Go to the mattresses! No, wait, that's the Godfather. I mean, go to Pinterest! Seriously, Pinterest has been my sole source of style inspiration. That might sound silly or over-simple; what's so secret about Pinterest? Nothing. Everyone and their cousin is on Pinterest. Heck, you probably got here from Pinterest! But it's the easiest way to get a sense of your own personal style with what's already mapped out right in front of you. So step 1: spend a day going through Pinterest and pin every single thing you like. And I mean every single thing. Don't worry about "I could never pull that off" or "That would never look good on me". We're going to get to that. Plain and simple, if there is something that appeals to you in any way, maybe it's just the color combination or maybe it's just the shoes; pin it anyway! Don't worry about "trendy" or popular, pin what you like.

This step doesn't necessarily have to be Pinterest specifically, they're not paying me to send you to them or anything, I just like the ease of having everything digital and in one place. If you felt up to it, you could even do a style board and use looks out of magazines or something like that. Whatever floats your boat. The general idea is just to find as much inspiration as you can. But, however you choose to do it, you really don't want to skimp on this step. It is honestly of vital importance if you don't want to be overwhelmed in a store. It's essential for organizing our tastes and likes so we don't find ourselves walking into a packed Old Navy and buying everything we see (because it's 60% off!), only to end up coming home and thinking "Why did I buy this?" or "What the heck am I going to wear this with?". I like to think in terms of "outfits" first and then break them down. It's just the easiest and most efficient way to not end up with a bunch of random "trendy" pieces we can never wear.

Step 2: Divide and Conquer

Now that we have a good base of inspiration to work with, we want to create our Vhen diagram. Nah, I'm kidding. But we are going to start grouping together similarities. Basically we're going to divide all of these pins by grouping like-items onto more specific boards. I have 3 boards; "Fall and Winter Style", "Spring and Summer Style", and a general "Style" board. But it can be really helpful in organizing by getting even more specific and I recommend that you do. It's definitely on my "to-do" list. I can get lost in all my pins every now and again so it'll be easier down the road if you're very specific. Like a whole board filled with just outfits that have skirts in them, or outfits with just stripes, or just muted colors, etc. You want to group your pins in a similar way so you can figure out the common thread between them. What is it that appealed to you out of these looks? Why did you select these particular outfits?

Breaking your inspiration down and grouping it will help you find all that out and get a more specific idea of what your taste and style is. Maybe you notice that you have a lot of pins with stripes, maybe you like a lot of black, maybe you like a certain shape or silhouette, these are all things we want to know because it is going to help steer us in the right direction when we begin rebuilding. We're going to figure out, with our Sherlock-ish deductive reasoning, what styles appeal to you most so we can piece together a cohesive closet that is going to be functional and versatile.

Step 3: The Overhaul

Now's when we're going to start to go through our closet. Is there anything in there that fits into any of your Pinterest outfits? Maybe one of your inspiration groupings were pins that had red coats in them and you just happen to have a red coat stuffed in the back of your closet. Maybe you never wore that red coat because it didn't "go" with anything or you didn't know how to style it. Or maybe it's not necessarily the same exact color, but it's the same shape and style. Well this is perfect! This step is when you're going to find out what pieces you already own that can come into play in your new wardrobe. "Overhaul" does not necessarily mean you have to overhaul everything. In fact, ideally, we want to build off of our existing wardrobe as much as possible. For instance, I had a denim jacket I was given as a gift and I had never worn it. Not even once. But once I went through my pins, I realized a lot of looks I liked had a similar jacket. So instead of tossing it, I kept it to build "copy cat" looks around it from my inspiration outfits.

Step 5: Rebuilding

Ok, now we're getting to the fun part. Now that we know what we can recycle and reuse from our existing closet, we can determine what we still need to add. Back up there a couple steps ago, we categorized our outfit pins by similar looks/items. This is what is going to save you gobs of money. For example, let's say I really loved an outfit that had green jeans. Yes, green jeans. Roll with it. But let's say it was the only look I found with green jeans and I can't recreate any more of my inspiration looks with them. Obviously it's not going to be very economical for me to purchase that particular item because I can't build off of it for anything else. Make sense? Maybe further down the line, once I have a good base built up, I might want to get adventurous and get a pair, but right now I want to know what I can get the most use out of. That's why dividing and being specific before is going to really help out now. We want to take those common threads we found when we were categorizing outfits by similar pieces, and see which ones we came up the most with. A lot of looks with a leopard print scarf in them? Put it on the shopping list. Lots of chambray shirt looks? Add it to the list. And so on, and so on.

When you're starting at the beginning, your list might seem long but don't let that intimidate or discourage you. It has been a year and I am still rebuilding! But that's not to say that I don't already have plenty of combinations I can make out of just the few pieces I added in the beginning. You don't need to run right out and buy it all up at once, just to be able to make something out of your wardrobe. That'd be suuuuuper costly. And unnecessary. So don't think because your list is large, you need to spend a lot to make a difference. You'd be surprised at how many combinations you can create with just a few pieces. Seriously, check out the 30x30 remix and you can see where it's totally doable to make a month of (different) outfits with only 30 basic pieces. My advice is to start with a practical base of classic items and then each season, choose a few more pieces you want to add.

Winter Additions

I just did my winter closet additions so I'm going to share it with you as an example of how I think about what I add to my closet and how I use this system. You can see how I categorized and used my inspiration, how I built off of it, and how I can recreate these looks mixing the old with the new. This can give you an idea of the whole process and how easy it can be.

1. Gingham Button-Up- $18.48

Out of all of my winter pins, I noticed I had quite a few looks with a gingham button up shirt. Obviously that's a bright red "buy me" flag. It makes sense for me to add this, as I know I will get a lot of use out of it. Gingham has long since been on my "to buy" list but it is a perfect example of how you don't need to rush right out and buy everything all at once. For example, I already have the black leggings, the mustard scarf, the black pumps, the green pants, etc. that are in these looks and those staples are obviously necessary to have before I can recreate these. So these were things I started out adding in the beginning of my overhaul; the neutral classic pieces. Now, when I choose to add this gingham shirt further down the line, I can recreate all of these new looks with this single $18 addition.

2. Camel Sweater- $25.62

Now this sweater is a very neutral basic that can be worn many different ways. But as you can see, I had a lot of inspiration pinned with similar sweaters, which also influenced me to get it. I can already see 4 potential ways it can be worn. I already have the riding boots, leggings, a leopard scarf, a chambray shirt, leather shorts, distressed jeans, etc. So this one sweater opened up at least 4 more looks that I can create with just the addition of a single piece. Never mind all the combinations I can put together on my own! A good fitting, neutral sweater is great for any wardrobe and can be worn over and over in completely new ways. Plus, it's a classic piece, not a scary "trendy" piece that you would feel uncomfortable in. And it still serves a warm, functional purpose too; it's not just for style.

3. Wool Shorts- $20.16

Now this item isn't necessarily a staple. In fact, it was somewhat of a splurge. Not in terms of it's cost, but just in that it can't be worn in as many different ways as the others; shorts in winter is definitely more for style than functionality. Especially as I am cold-natured and loathe being cold...we'll see how much use these actually get. But it's an example of adding something adventuresome after you've built a strong base. I want to stick to the method of adding things that are versatile, but I'm reaching the stage in my journey of wanting to play around a bit and push myself. After you've got a good base, you can start branching out and trying new things. I'm finally starting to shop more for fun than just necessity and I gotta say, it's a great stage! :)

4. Plaid Scarf- $7.56

Plaid screams "winter" to me so I knew I wanted to bring some into my closet. And scarves are a great way for you to introduce new prints in a small, subtle way. A lot of people are afraid of prints, but with something small like a scarf or a belt, it doesn't have to feel overpowering. We want to expand our comfort zone but we don't want to feel uncomfortable when we try something new either. My first run-in with a neon I opted for a bold dress and it made me feel like I wanted to hide myself all day. Trying something new should not make you feel like that! Scarves with prints are a great addition to a new closet for this reason. We can dip our toes into a new print, without diving straight in and feeling like we're sticking out like a sore thumb. It's also a easy and inexpensive way to add interest to something simple you already own.

5. Grey Knit Infinity Scarf- $13.00

Like the last scarf, this item adds visual interest and appeal to just about any outfit. Two things I did already have in my "mom" wardrobe were sweaters and jeans. But they always looked boring. Adding a scarf or an accessory like this is an inexpensive way to help stretch what you already own. And adding one in a neutral color like this makes for better versatility and allows it to be worn with many different things. Any boring outfit can be made better with a scarf!

6. Stripe Sweater- $26.88

Now this sweater is something I really should not have waited so long to add to my closet; it should have been in that first run a year ago. I am a huge fan of stripes and a basic stripe sweater/tee/blouse can be the equivalent of, say, a pair of jeans. It's just that versatile and that neutral. My advice is to start somewhere in this realm. It's also another great "non-scary" way of adding a print into your wardrobe. Prints can seem intimidating but a stripe is not. You're still wearing something simple and functional with a sweater/tee/blouse, but it adds a nice pop that turns an outfit from boring to fun and well thought out.

So with the addition of only 6 items for just over $100, I am now able to recreate at least 24 new looks this winter. That is the most important lesson when overhauling your closet; it doesn't necessarily mean overhaul and binge shopping. 24 new looks from only 6 items! Yes, I've already built a good base but I've been operating on this same principle and using these same steps since the beginning. In the beginning you think you need to throw it all out and begin anew, but beginning anew does not mean going out and buying out the entire store. It's just about shopping smart! Find out what you like, what existing pieces you can build on and what multipurpose items you can add. Once you break it down and figure these simple things out, all of the complication melts right out of it. You will still have hits and misses but don't get caught up on them; they're just another way to figure out what works and what doesn't!

All of these inspiration looks were pulled from my Fall/Winter Style board, feel free to browse and pin away!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

All winter additions c/o Oasap

linking with: Funday Mondays // How I Fall // Monday Must-Haves //Manic Monday // Visible Monday // Personal Style // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // Reasons to Dress // Confident Twosday // Style Swap Tuesdays // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Tucker Up // Mid Week Muse // Get Your Pretty On // Oh, Hey Girl // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // Life & Style Spotlight Weekly // Let Your Light Shine // Look What I Got Casual Friday // Favorite Fashion Friday // Fab Five Friday // Who's Wearing What // Fab Favorites // BYOP // Passion for Fashion // Stylish Saturday

A Vision in Grey

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:55:00 +0000

I don't know where this look even came from. I didn't see it anywhere, no "pinspiration" of any kind to guide me. Though I'm sure I'm not the first to go all grey....and I don't just mean my hair! Ba Dum Pssh! Thems jokes people! But I unearthed this sweater from the bottom of my winter box and decided to give it a whirl and these jeans are my clear favorite....and let's be honest, they were the only pair that were clean. And so, coupled together, my vision of grey was created.

Sweater- Goodwill // Button Up- Old Navy // Jeans- Old Navy // Heels c/o Payless // Bag- Kohls // Glasses c/o Firmoo // Necklace c/o Oasap //

I feel like this look is very "mom on the go" or "PTO meeting". In fact, I wore this on a field trip to the history museum. Cliche much? But even though I am a mom, I don't want to dress like one; that's what I'm trying to stay away from. But I don't want that sad look of trying to appear younger than I am either. You've seen both ends of the spectrum; you know what I'm talking about. It's a delicate balance, really. I've struggled with it ever since I brought home my oldest son. I had made this huge change and I was someone's mom now, but I was still only 20. The look of a mom and the look of a 20 year old are very different things. I had this idea in my head that I need to look "responsible" and "mature" but at the same time, I don't want to look old. You know what mom jeans are! There is a middle ground, you just have to find it. And even though I am most definitely not 20 anymore, it's still a balancing act. Honestly, it's probably just an imaginary line I drew in my own head, but nevertheless, I still try to walk that fine line. But I ain't mad at it. This was cozy and comfortable. Even the heels!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

This week I'm linking with:
WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Tucker Up // Mid Week Muse // Get Your Pretty On // Oh, Hey Girl // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // Life & Style // Spotlight Weekly // Let Your Light Shine // Look What I Got // Favorite Fashion Friday // Fab Five Friday // Who's Wearing What // Fab Favorites // BYOP // Casual Friday // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties //

Beauty From the Inside Out: The 5 Best Protein Packed Recipes for Skin and Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:00:00 +0000

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Aloha, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #myAloha and #AlohaMoment http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

Protein! You hear about it all the time. You want shiny, healthy hair? Protein. You want long, strengthened nails? Protein. You want glowing skin? Say it with me: protein. Protein is essential for that youthful, glowing look we all covet.

You see all these DIY beauty recipes floating around and they usually include some form of protein. But why protein? Because it's the stuff we're made from, people! Skin, hair, nails, all of it. I hate to admit it, because I hated it so much, but anatomy class did teach me at least one thing. So it's no surprise to see it listed as one of the ingredients in these recipes. However, not all of these recipes work just because you threw in a protein. So how do you know which ones do? And how do you get the most benefits from your protein?

From the inside out, of course! Yes, slapping that stuff on externally will get you some results. But think about it, we need to start at the source; from the inside. Too many people forget that it's not just what we put on our bodies. Let's get that protein inside and outside! From masks to smoothies, here are some ways you can maximize your protein results and get that healthy, glowing look.

Hair

Egg and Yogurt Mask:

Eggs and yogurt are both rich in protein. This helps strengthen your hair. The lactic acid in yogurt also strips away dirt without stripping your natural oils. If you have normal hair, you want to use whole egg to condition. If you have dry hair, use just yolks. If you have oily hair, just the whites. See? Eggs can be tailor made for everyone!

Ingredients:
1 egg

6 tablespoons of plain yogurt.

Directions:

Coat hair with mixture, cover with shower cap, leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse with cool water and then wash hair as usual. Always rinse the egg mask out with cool water and be sure to rinse thoroughly before your wash.

Avocado, Egg, Coconut Oil:

Avocado is great for your hair because it is rich in fatty acids. This makes it extremely moisturizing for your hair. The eggs? There's your protein! Mixing the two together gives you strong, shiny, moisturized locks. And just like the previous mask, if you have normal hair, you want to use whole egg. If you have dry hair, use just yolks. If you have oily hair, just the whites.

Ingredients:
2 eggs

2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 half of a ripe avocado.

Directions:

Mash avocado thoroughly, then mix in eggs. You don't need to beat them, just mix evenly with the avocado. Coat hair from root to tip, then cover with a shower cap and leave to sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with cool water and then wash as usual. Voila!

Coconut Milk, Avocado, Olive Oil Hair Mask:
Coconut milk is rich in, you guessed it, protein! It is also very high in fats which makes it great for moisturizing and strengthening. This means that this mask will prevent your hair from shedding and breaking and it is also great for scalp issues like dandruff.

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado mashed

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients. Then coat your hair and scalp completely, cover with shower cap, and leave on for 20 minutes. Wash out thoroughly to make sure no oil is left behind and follow with conditioner.

Skin

Avocado Face Mask
Avocado in itself is great for skin. Avocado contains vitamins and protein to give your skin maximum moisture so it's especially good for dry winter months. And if you're familiar with the properties of an egg, as mentioned above, you know that is double the protein goodness! The lemon juice acts like an astringent so this mask is double duty.

Ingredients:

1 Avocado

1 Egg White

1 Tsp Lemon Juice

Directions:

Peel and mash your avocado until smooth. Mix together your avocado, eggs, and lemon juice until blended. Apply to face and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Rinse with warm water. Voila! Soft skin!

Oatmeal Face Mask
Like avocado, oatmeal is really great for your skin. Ever heard of an oatmeal bath? This one ingredient can sure acne, eczema, and dry skin. Again, great for the brutal winter months. The oatmeal will gently exfoliate to get rid of all that gunky build-up and give you a glowing complexion. And the yogurt in this mask? Yep, there's the protein to feed the skin!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup instant oatmeal

1/2 cup hot water

1 tbsp honey

1-2 tbsp plain yogurt

Directions:

Add water to oatmeal and stir. Mix honey, yogurt and softened oatmeal in a blender. If you don't have a blender, you can crunch up your oatmeal prior to mixing with water, and then just mix the other ingredients by hand. Then cover your entire face with mixture, rubbing in gentle circles to help maximize exfoliation then let sit for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with water.

Everything in Between

Of now you've taken care of the outside, how do we get that protein inside? Or maybe slapping all this food on your hair and face just doesn't appeal to you at all? All is not lost! Aloha protein powders are a great way to introduce an added boost of protein. Maybe protein laden foods aren't your favorite and fitting added protein into your diet is hard for you. Aloha protein powders come in tons of yummy flavors and can be added into just about anything. Here are a few of my favorite yummy protein packed recipes...

Sweet Potato Apple Bake Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup fingerling yams

1 empire apple - chopped

1/4 cup pecans

2 dates

1/4 tsp allspice

1 tsp baobab powder

1 cup water

1 cup ice

1 packet ALOHA Daily Good Greens

Directions:

Add ingredients to blender and shake it up! Done!

Spiced Chocolate Chai Tea Latte

Ingredients:

Chai tea leaves

One packet ALOHA Daily Good Chocolate

Milk of choice (We used unsweetened almond milk)

Cinnamon and cardamom, optional

Directions:

Brew the chai tea leaves for four to five minutes. Heat the milk until steaming, then add it and the remaining ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Top with cinnamon and cardamom, if using.

Mocha Madness

(Serves Two)

Ingredients:

1/2 avocado

1/2 cup raw spinach

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups milk of choice (We used unsweetened almond milk)

1 shot espresso or 1/4 cup strong brewed coffee

1 packet ALOHA Premium Protein Chocolate

1 packet ALOHA Daily Good Chocolate

Directions:

Add ingredients to blender and shake it up!

Aloha products are made with whole foods naturally rich in nutrients. They are made with superfood ingredients with no “natural” or artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or fillers. Ever. Aloha makes it super easy to sneak that protein boost into any one of your favorite smoothies and meals without any added gunk or yucky taste.

You can start your Aloha journey to a healthier, glowing you by claiming a free 14 day trial at Aloha* and easily get your monthly pack with a subscription you can tailor to your needs. Protein made easy!

*while supplies last

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // Random Wednesday // BYOP

Black Friday Steals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 00:37:00 +0000

I am going to rant for a minute. You've been to my blog before, nothing new here. I have always hated Black Friday. Loathed it in fact. I once worked in retail during a Black Friday and seeing that craziness first hand absolutely terrified me. There were clothes strewn all over the place, people were climbing the employee ladders; it was pandemonium! Then you hear stories of people getting in fights over pillows. Pillows! A physical altercation over pillows. I can't. What has Black Friday reduced us to when we're fighting over getting the better deal on a pillow? I have always loved a good deal and I frequently rave about how cheap I am able to get something, but Black Friday? I have always avoided that black pit of craziness like the plague.

via

But I have to admit, when Black Friday deals were extended to online shopping, it peaked my interest. Getting good deals from the comfort of my own cozy home, dressed in my PJs, coffee in hand? Ok, I'll bite. You've got my attention. Payless is one of these stores who's Black Friday sales ran online and since this is one of my favorite stores....Yipee!! It drug me out of my Black Friday hatred just a little. Especially since I've been admiring the York riding boots at Payless Shoesource for months now. And this Friday they were on sale for....wait for it...$16.99. Boom. I immediately threw my Black Friday reservations out the window and those sweet boots in my cart. And since I was feeling generous, I picked up a schnazzy pair of kicks for the hubs too. Feeling generous or just really hating his current shoes? Eh, tomato, tomahto. But even still, with my boots, his tennies, and free shipping, our total came to $41. AND they arrived in 2 days. That never happens. Ok. I think I might actually love Black Friday.

Peacoat- Old Navy / Sweater (similar)- Forever 21 / Leggings- Target / Scarf (similar)- Walmart / Bag- Kohls / Beanie (cute option)- Target / Glasses c/o Firmoo / York Riding Boots c/o Payless

The deals didn't end at Payless yet though! On Monday "Cyber Monday" sales offered 25% off of everything. Everything. AND all women's holiday shoes are 50% off too. PLUS, orders over $35 get free shipping! Oh, the deals just keep coming! And I still don't have to get out of my PJs! Online shopping is like, the best thing ever for a cold-hating, crowd-fearing, chaos-avoiding hermit like me. Assuming you are, in fact, a cold-hating, crowd-fearing, chaos-avoiding hermit like me. Seriously, help me out, am I of the minority here? Do the rest of you feel this way about Black Friday too? Or am I just a weird introvert who is avoiding the norms of life? Is Black Friday the norm of life now? I feel like there are so many people who really look forward to this. Do some people just love the long lines and chaos? Does it make it more adventurous and I'm missing the point? What are your thoughts on Black Friday?

SHOP THE LOOK

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Payless via Burst Media. The opinions and text are all mine.

linking with: Real Mom Style // Funday Mondays // How I Fall // Monday Must-Haves //Manic Monday // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Tucker Up // Mid Week Muse // Get Your Pretty On //Oh, Hey Girl Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // Fab Five Friday // Who's Wearing What // Trendy Wednesday // BYOP // Life & Style

Holiday Style

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 18:02:00 +0000

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. I love the holidays. I truly do. It is the single thing that gets me through the brutal winter season. Each year the days start to get a little colder, a little shorter, and a little gloomier. It's seriously depressing. I think I've made that fact clear several times. But the bright spot in this dreary time of year, is the festive holiday season..... and the cookies. Let us not underestimate the power of a good chocolate chip cookie!

So since Christmas is the only thing I anticipate amidst this 6 month stretch of "blah", I go all out. Thanksgiving night? Bam, that tree is up and twinkling! And in addition to the tree, our yearly gingerbread house and tons of handmade paper snowflakes (yes, each year countless hours are spent constructing 50+ snowflakes made by yours truly; you may let your admiration flow freely), I get each of the kids a Christmas shirt and jammies. It's a yearly tradition that began when I was a kid. My mom always made us our Christmas shirts.....

So what do you love more, the hair, the brows or the acid wash jeans?

And while I forgo the impressive craft of making them myself, I still always deck the kids out out holiday style. This year, we went one step further and got personalized holiday shirts. How's that for fancy? Everything is better with your name on it, right? Assuming you don't have a unique name like my sister (Kendall) that's almost always impossible to find in souvenirs and other random knick knacks, then it's a pain. But Bright Star Kids allows you to customize them yourself, with any name or phrase you choose.

I chose this really cute reindeer design and customized Izzy's shirt with her name. Then I found this wall decal to match. And since I'm a very "matchy-matchy" kind of person, this was perfect.

Reindeer Tee c/o Bright Star Kids / Cardigan- Children's Place // Leggings- Target // Tennies- Converse / Bow- Hand-made / Wall Decal c/o Bright Star Kids

Bright Star Kids has so many other great Christmas gift ideas for kids. From personalized clothes, wall decals and prints, there is so much to choose from. And a personalized gift is so much more....well, personal! Here are a few of my favs...

1. Be Merry Wooden Framed Art 2. First Christmas Tee 3. Chalkboard Stocking Decal 4. Christmas Bird Tee 5. Christmas Tree Wall Decal 6. Kids Christmas Labels

Bright Star kids has more than just Christmas too. It a "personalization" freaks dream! I had never been to this site before, but now that I have, there is so much I want!! If you find gift giving difficult and you can never figure out what to get the "kid who has everything", Bright Star Kids has some great unique options!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Bright Star Kids. The opinions and text are all mine.

A Two Day Reprieve

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 19:07:00 +0000

That's what mother nature gave us this weekend. We had two super warm (but windy) days. And since I knew this was a fluke and would be short lived, I snatched my opportunity for an outfit post!

Jacket c/o Oasap // Button up c/o Oasap // Jeans- Old navy // Boots c/o Oasap // Scarf- Harry Potter Studios // Bag- Kohls // Glasses c/o Firmoo

This is definitely not a look I've worn before. Everything, excluding the jeans and boots, is brand spanking new. I love new stuff, don't you? I start feeling all adventurous and stuff. The military jacket is something I've been wanting for about a year and I finally found (an affordable) one I liked. The purse and scarf were both gifts from my mama. This bag came from Kohls. Mom had some Kohls cash she threw my way so I went out and found myself a new bag. I love it and have been carrying it ever since. I will say though, it was not an easy decision. Kohls has a million awesome bags! Me and the kids were in the purse section for-ev-er, but they didn't seem to mind. In fact, they were quite helpful. It was so cute how Alex was really into it and suggesting purses and pointing out how each one could be worn. He will make a fine husband some day. You're welcome for that, future wife!

Now to the glasses. Oh, the glasses. I have always wanted a pair of trendy frames as opposed to, what my mom calls, "cheap readers" from the drugstore. But, I have a really hard time finding a pair that doesn't take over my face. These frames were purchased online, which made me a little nervous, but with all of the info on Firmoo's products, I was able to find the right pair for me. And they are so right! I love them! I'm going to go ahead and apologize ahead of time because you will be seeing them a lot!

Until the next warm weather fluke....

Shop the Look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

Disclaimer: I was given these glasses free c/o Firmoo for review purposes, but as always, all opinions are my own.

linking with: Funday Mondays // How I Fall // Monday Must-Haves //Manic Monday // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Tucker Up // Mid Week Muse // Get Your Pretty On //Oh, Hey Girl Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // Fab Five Friday // Who's Wearing What // Trendy Wednesday // BYOP //

Holiday DIY: Snow Globes From Glass Jars

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 23:45:00 +0000

I say it all the time, it's like my personal preface to every post, but I love "inexpensive" and I love "easy". They're my two favorites. And when you put them together, well, that's just an all around win isn't it? My favorite kind of decorations, holiday included, are DIY projects because they are usually both of these things. I also love the unique quality of making something for yourself; you personalize it and make it your own. And alright, alright, I love the bragging power you get out of making something yourself too! Don't act like you're not just a little bit proud when your project turns out awesome too!

I'm sure you've seen these DIY snow globes all over Pinterest. Or on Anthropologie. I've been eyeing them for a couple years and admired them immensely, I just never got around to trying it myself. So boo hoo for not being on point with the innovation skills. But I'm still going to share it anyway because I just love how easy and incredibly cheap they are to make!

I'm a frugal person, you already know this. But why? Honestly, I take a really sick pleasure out of "under spending" on things. Some people like to "out spend" others, I like to under spend. And I'd be lying if I said I was blameless when it comes to rubbing someone's nose in just how cheap I got something either. Hey, we all have our vices. But I'm also frugal out of necessity. And the holidays can get a little hairy in the gift giving department. So these globes are a great, last minute, inexpensive gift you can give to just about anyone. Just how inexpensive depends on what you already have on hand. We literally already had everything so for me, it was $0. But even if you're starting from scratch, everything could easily be found for less than $10.

We (and by we, I mean me) have all kinds of glass jars already saved away. If your a compulsive "Pinner" as I am, you know the golden rule of never throwing anything away because you never know what Pinterest project you might need it for. My husband accidentally threw out a jelly jar and I seriously made him go retrieve it. So I have a garage full of what some people might consider garbage. But for the average Pinterest junkie, you know it's really treasure! So for this project, hack into your Pinterest treasure trove for your jars. You will also need

various ornaments or wire trees
glue gun or craft glue
Styrofoam or other fake "snow"
ribbon or paint
scissors

Now I'm no stranger to DIY projects, but I am a newbie when it comes to turning those projects into tutorials and documenting every step. So there are a couple pictures missing. You'll have cut me some slack and use your imagination, but it's pretty self explanatory anyway. If you find it lacking, there are literally a million others on Pinterest who did this way better than me.

First, if you haven't already, clean out your jars. This is assuming you're using food jars as opposed to decorative jars or something like that. I used both. They were easy to clean but getting those labels off are a beast! I need to stock up on some Goo Gone. If you don't have any either, AJAX, a scouring pad and some elbow grease will do the trick....after about an hour. Seriously, go get some Goo Gone.

Next, if you're using Styrofoam like I did, start breaking it up into a million bajillion pieces. This is where you enlist the kids. Every time, every time, those kids come across Styrofoam, they want to crumble it up. So needless to say, they loved this job...and it was a win-win for me because Styrofoam gives me the willies. But if you want a traditional snow globe with water, Styrofoam won't do ya. It floats. So filling your jar won't give you that softly fallen snow that drifts slowly to the ground, it will just give you floaters. Styrofoam wasn't like a personal choice I made for aesthetic purposes, it was just what I happened to have on hand that would work as our "snow". They sell fake snow for these that you could use. Or there's a pin floating around on Pinterest that tells you how to make some. Hindsight.

After you've prepared your snow, start choosing and arranging your "doodads" on the lid of the jar. Test your lid by screwing it back on your jar before gluing your ornament down. See how I put that in bold? I had this adorable gingerbread girl glued down on a lid she fit perfectly on. I was starting to congratulate myself and pat myself on the back for how cute it was looking when reality snacked me in the face and the jar wouldn't fit back onto the lid....and then her peppermint was ripped off of her in the process. Poor gal. You have to be careful not to interfere with the threads on the lid and consider the diameter of the jar may be smaller than the lid. So even if it looks like it fits, test it out and screw it onto your jar before gluing. Word to the wise.

Glue that puppy down! Assuming you've tested it first, of course. If you are doing a "dry" snow globe like I've done, a craft glue or super glue will work just fine. If you are choosing to add water or glycerin or any liquid to your globe, use a hot glue gun. Said gingerbread girl was adhered perfectly to her (new) lid with craft glue until I added water and she came sliiiiiding right off. More words to the wise.

Now here's where the pictures are missing. Shame. You want to funnel your snow into your jar and, if you're using a glitter or liquid, add that as well. Then, turning your fabulously decorated lid upside down, dunk your poor little gingerbread girl into the snow-filled jar and screw it down tight. If you've added water, slowly turn it right side up over the sink to make sure your seal is tight. If it is not, remove the lid and add a ring of hot glue into your threads and screw the lid back on. The glue acts like a seal and keeps any water from leaking. It's not ideal if you ever planned on changing anything out, but I only needed to do this on one, so test it, you might not need the glue.

This is an optional step that you can choose to do however you want. I've seen some leave the lids plain and it had a really cute rustic look. Some have painted or spray painted the lids different colors or metallics. Super cute as well. But I was too impatient to wait on paint to dry and leaving my Vlasic Pickle lid as-is was nonnegotiable, so I hot glued some ribbon around the edge.

Ta-da!

This little guy is really nontraditional and not really a "globe", but I think he might be my favorite. I did it the exact same as the others, I just glued the tree to the bottom rather than the lid.

So I hoped you enjoyed today's little DIY and it got your creative juices flowing! Until next time...

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Busy Monday // Marvelous Monday // Make the Scene // Craftastic // Mad Skills // Motivate Me // Monday Funday // Inspire Me Monday // Make-It-Yourself // Manic Monday // Funday Mondays

DIY: Cheap and Easy Accent Wall for Under a Dollar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 23:29:00 +0000

Winter is upon us. Well not per the calendar exactly, but mother nature seems to think it is. November 16 and we're salting the roads already. And cold weather for me = no bueno. I huddle down like a hermit in my house. I'm fully considering acquiring a Snuggie. Don't judge me. But my "fashion" blog ends up really only being a fashion blog for about 8 months of the year. The other 4, I'm wrapped in a blanket.....or soon too be a Snuggie.

So, since I'm like an animal and I pretty much hibernate, I usually start some indoor DIY projects to keep myself busy.

And since this is a relatively new home for us, there are plenty of blank slates waiting to be DIY'd upon. And when I say blank, I mean completely stark, bare, nothingness type blank. There ain't nothin' goin on on these here walls....except for maybe the seam between drywall panels because the previous owner was hasty in his renovations. Hey, what do you expect from a house built in the 1940s?

And while I want a minimal, monochromatic look for this room, this was just a little tooooo minimal. I wanted the walls to stay white; in fact, I purposely painted them white. But it needed something. And just like all other aspects of my life, I always stay true to my frugal nature. So I've created an entire focal wall for....wait for it....88¢! Yep! Less than a dollar! Of course, I can't take full credit for the idea. I originally found it on, you guessed it, Pinterest. The original blog post I found used washi tape but it was black....and so is electrical tape. So in my money saving endeavors, with a dollar and some willpower in my pocket, I headed to the hardware store and thus my accent wall began.

All you need is

electrical or washi tape
scissors or a utility knife- I preferred cutting with scissors, my husband preferred the utility knife
a ruler or a tape measure
a pencil- with an eraser

I started by mapping out a grid on the wall. I wanted my "+" to be 10" apart but to keep my lines more uniform and to make sure things lined up properly and I didn't end up with crooked lines, I went ahead and marked every 5" down the wall. I started from the floor up and I ended with some awkward space up top, so I recommend starting at the ceiling and working your way down instead. I just wrote with pencil directly on my wall because you couldn't see any marks once I erased it. You might want to test this to make sure it can be erased on your wall. I have a fairly glossy paint so I had no problems but if pencil marks won't come off your wall finish, you could try using chalk. A chalk line would be great for this project, but I didn't have one and was trying to keep this project as cheap as possible. If you felt like opting for one though, this job could go much quicker.

Then I flipped and marked every 5" going across the wall. I just noted where my vertical marks met up with my horizontal marks to know where the tape would go. Then I went back through and erased every other mark, so my tape would go on the 10" marks instead of the 5" marks.

I really had to zoom and enhance for the pencil marks to show up so excuse the photo quality on this one!

This probably sounds more complicated than it needs to; you can see in the picture above which marks I'm referring to. You could really just mark every 10 inches instead of messing with the extra marks but the first time I tried that, things didn't line up properly and my measurements were off.

Once I had all of my marks mapped out, I started cutting my tape pieces. I cut mine to 2 inches. It seemed a good size but you could really make these as big or small as you like. I didn't count, but it seemed like a billion pieces. It's easy, mindless work but it is time consuming. The husband and I just cut them while watching TV.....Ripper Street in case you were curious. My pieces aren't perfect; some are too long, some too short, some crooked. My daughter wanted to help too and who am I to deny her fun? They still turned out though, so don't worry too much about perfect pieces.

Once you have your pieces cut, you'll start adding them to the wall by placing your first piece vertically over your mark.

Then place the horizontal piece in the center of your vertical piece. Continue a thousand times until.... Ta da! Accent wall for under a dollar!

What a difference a dollar makes, huh? You probably didn't need a blow-by-blow on how to do this; you cut some tape and stick it to your wall. Not exactly rocket science. But....well....I had already taken all the pictures. Might as well use them, right? :)

This is really great for a big impact on a small budget, but it would also be great for renters. I had to move and remove some of these pieces a couple of times and the tape comes off easily and leaves no marks on the wall. You can easily take them off, change them out, whatever. You might initially think it's a little janky to have electrical tape on your wall, but how different from those vinyl decals is it really? I looked up an identical vinyl design online and it was $30 for 90 decals. I didn't count exactly, but this is way cheaper, for sure!

I hope I inspired you to do a little frugal DIY while you're holed up this winter! Until next time....

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // Tremendous Tuesday // Random Wednesday //My Whims Wednesday // That Friday Blog Hop // Let's Get Social // Sunday FUNday // Weekend Snapshots

The Season Favorite

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 19:07:00 +0000

That'd be the the denim jacket; it's my seasonal favorite. It's just about a neutral as you can get and when you think about classic wardrobe staple, the denim jacket is at the top of the list.

Denim Jacket // Stripe Tee c/o // Olive Skinnies save splurge // Scarf // Flats // Bag

I got a denim jacket about 5 years ago for Christmas in a secret Santa and, at the time, they weren't exactly "on trend". The thing hung in the back of my closet, collecting dust, for about 2 years before I eventually chucked it. Of course, as we all know, denim jackets made their come back. So then I was cursing myself for tossing mine. That's just my luck. Had I not gotten rid of it, they probably wouldn't have come back and it's probably only because I did get rid of it that they did. Ok, maybe that's just my pessimism talking. But either way, I had to go out and get another. And thus my hoarding began. I'm afraid to get rid of anything now! Thank you denim jacket.

Another season favorite is this pair of cargo skinnies. And I'm not alone. I get asked about these every. single. time. I wear them. They came from American Eagle several years ago, so of course they no longer carry them. However, I've hunted you down some similar options. This pair from Piperlime is almost exact but they're somewhat pricey. This pair from Forever 21 isn't quite as close but they're still very similar and a whooooole lot easier on your wallet. The choice is yours my friends. Until next time....

Shop the look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

A Disheartening Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:33:00 +0000

I got my hair cut last week and, if you haven't seen it, I debuted it in this exciting post. It was this huge reveal (and surprise) and I've gotten so many compliments on it. Admittedly, short hair suits me much better than the unruly long hair ever did and everyone has agreed and admired my new look. But, eventually the time comes and that "fresh haircut glow" fades. So let's discuss the finer points of that disheartening reality shall we....

Sweater // Chambray / Skater Skirt c/o *ON SALE FOR ONLY $9.98!!* // Heels c/o *ON SALE FOR ONLY $14.99!!* // Backpack- Thrifted // Necklace c/o // Sunnies- Target // Bracelet- Thrifted

You start out on the day of your appointment looking forward to your new fabulous style, probably counting down the hours until you head to the salon. You've probably already saved every haircut you could find on Pinterest so you go in with 700 pictures, all of them just different angles of the same exact cut but, you want to make sure she understands exactly what you want. You anxiously sit in the chair during your cut, anticipating your new look. You hope the 700 pictures were enough and she understood what "slight fringe" meant. When it's all done and she turns your chair around, you hold your breath and cautiously peek in the mirror. You then stare into the mirror checking out this stranger. You've never looked so good! You thank her profusely and force her to name every product she used. Then you walk out of the salon a whole new woman. You are fierce and fabulous and ready to take on the world! You will probably make plans that night so you can show it off. It doesn't matter where you go or if you see anyone you actually know or if it's a Monday night and The Voice is on; cause guuurl, you've got DVR and you've got a bitchin new haircut that deserves to be seen! You flaunt and strut and keep running your hands through your hair because, man, you're sexy and you know it!

Day 2 rolls around. You've slept on it as gingerly as possible but even still, it's a little flatter and might have a crease or two. But you pay no never mind because you can fluff it up and refresh it. You tease and spray and try to breathe new life. It's not quite the impact of yesterday's look but you're still rockin it. The compliments are still rolling in so you think "Hey, I don't really need anything at the grocery but maybe I should take a trip anyway.....you know, just in case." It's an unnecessary trip but it's worth it just to take your hair for another spin. You end the day, still riding that high.

Day 3 rolls in and you could seriously use a shower. You do the awkward "don't get my hair wet" bird bath because, damn it, you're going to work this style for all its worth. You bust out the dry shampoo and despite your best effort, it's still a little too greasy for your liking but you're determined to live this out as long as you can. (These pictures were during my day 3 hair fyi) You don't make any unnecessary trips today but you sneak in a few selfies; if you turn in just the right angle and catch the light juuuust right, it almost looks like Day 2! Score!

Day 4 and the first hair wash of the new cut is now imminent. The dreaded wash is upon you and you can put it off no longer. You get out of the shower with your optimistic, high hopes and you are determined to mimic everything your hair stylist did; for God's sake, you might even take the time to blow dry with that torture device known as the round brush! That horrible, bristly, mean contraption you're sure was invented just to taunt you. You fumble and juggle it, refusing to let your frustrations hinder your fierce determination. You might have even purchased the should-be-illegal-are-you-sure-this-isn't-a-typo priced products your hair stylist used to give yourself the best chances at achieving the same look. So you slap on all those products until you smell like a fruity daiquiri. Once you've done all you can and you swear you did just as she did, you'll stand there in a state of paranoia; repeatedly asking your husband if he's sure it doesn't look too close to the horrendous "mom hair". He'll tell you no and tell you it looks "fine", but he's a man and you know you can't trust him. So you'll continue to stand there in front of the mirror and continue your tweaking, but try as you might, you will finally be forced to concede that no matter how much time you spend, it just ain't happening. And thus the disheartening reality sets it. Your inflated, fabulous hair bubble has just been popped, your thrilling 3 day run has now concluded and you must admit that sad truth to yourself; your hair will never look that good again. Depression. Overwhelming, "I'm a failure at hair" depression.

Let's all take a moment of silence for day 1 hair, may she rest in peace.

shop the look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // Monday Must-Haves //Manic Monday // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On //Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday //

Frugal Fall Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:00:00 +0000

Have you all ever known me to spend a lot of money on what I wear? Or anything really? No, you haven't. If my blog had a motto it'd be "If it ain't broke, don't spend it". Ok, maybe I need to work on that motto. But the point is, I've been screaming from the rooftops (or my blog, tomato/tomahto) how I never ever "splurge" on anything because it's excessive, unnecessary and, in my case, simply unobtainable. We're a one income household full of kids. It just ain't happenin'. But what are you paying for really? A label? Yeah, I can do without that. I'm not a materialistic person. I just can't understand spending nearly double on an identical item just because of a brand name. Price is not always equal to quality. I think a lot of women are misguided and think the higher the price tag, the higher the quality. That age old saying "You get what you pay for" is really ingrained in us but it's an antiquated, archaic notion. Trust me on this, I have a lot of experience behind me!

Blazer (sold out- similar) / Graphic Tee (old- cute option) / Skinnies (exact- on sale!) / Bag (old- similar) / Sonya Ankle Boot (exact) / Aviator Glasses (exact) / Bracelet (thrifted- similar)

Case in point: Have you guys ever seen my riding boots before? Well if you've ever been to my blog at any time during the fall/winter season, the answer is yes, yes you have. They're my favorite pair of boots and quite honestly, my favorite part of fall is wearing those boots. Yeah, my boots make me excited enough to anticipate an entire season. But do you know what comments I hear every time when I wear them? "You got those boots at Payless?? But they're so cute!" People are astounded that I got these awesome boots at Payless ShoeSource. Like what, you didn't know Payless had cute shoes? They're my favorite spot for shoes actually. Those boots everyone loves so much, cost a mere 30 bucks, 4 years ago, and they are still in impeccable shape. Quality shoes at a steal. Bet you feel stupid for spending $100+ on yours now don't you?? Nah, nah, nah, nah, boo, boo! Sorry, saving money apparently brings out the child in me. But seriously, childishness aside, my irrefutable point is that cost is not equivalent to quality and Payless proves my point effortlessly.

So naturally when I started fall shopping this year, Payless was the first place I hit up. I needed cute, quality shoes and Payless has never let me down before. And they still haven't. I luuurrrvv these booties I found! I have a brown pair of ankle boots but I've been looking for a black pair to complete my boot collection (if you can call 4 pairs of boots a "collection"). This pair hit all my criteria: cute, comfortable and affordable. Less than 40 bucks! And if the prices weren't good enough to begin with, I can never turn down a BOGO sale! I left the store with a fab new pair of heels too. 2 (fabulous, quality) pairs of shoes for $50. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.

Here are few of the other styles I tried on (and fully intend on going back for). My daughter and I were, no joke, in the store for nearly an hour and we both tried on every pair we could fit our feet into. Like mother, like daughter! So my suggestion to you? Go find yourself a pair of shoes at Payless.....so I don't have to make fun of you for wasting money anymore! I kid, I kid.....kind of.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
(I actually brought #5 home with me too! Expect me to be rockin' them on the blog soon!)

What is your favorite spot for frugal shopping? Let me know down in the comments!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Payless via Burst Media. However, the opinions and text are all mine. All Payless shoes were given c/o Payless for review purposes.

linking with: Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On // My Whims Wednesday // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // What Wives Wear // The Tiny Heart // Vodka Infused Lemonade // Spotlight Weekly // Summer Style // Style Confessions // Throwback Thursday

I Finally Did It!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 19:08:00 +0000

Cut my hair, that is! If you remember this post, which was 6 months ago, you know I've been planning to cut my hair for a very long time. Whether it was my indecision, lack of funds, or a lack of time; for whatever reason, I never got it done.....until now!

Tee c/o / Leather Leggings c/o / Boots / Scarf- Thrifted / Backpack- Thrifted / Sunnies c/o

The story of how my haircut came about is actually very sweet. My husband, who has listened to complaints about my hair for over a year ("I dipped my dang hair in my cereal again!" "I rolled over and pull my own hair in bed again!" "My hair is so tangly!" "My hair has been wet for 8 flipping hours now, it refuses to dry!") decided to help me do something about it. He knows I have admired my sister's hair, and after several bad haircuts and major trust issues on my part, knew that I would only to trust my sister's hairdresser. (My girl quit cutting hair, for shame!) So he called up my sister to find out who it was and arranged for her to set me up a surprise appointment. Next thing I know, I'm being told not to make plans for Friday at 4 and am handed a wad of money. The two of them had schemed and planned to surprise me with something they both knew I wanted very badly.

Now I don't know about you guys, but I don't get a lot of surprises. Especially surprises that are so thoughtful! When I figured out what they had done, it hit me right in the feels. I am always accusing Justin of not listening to me but I guess he really does hear what I say. I was really touched that he thought about me and went out of his way to do something so nice for me. And with my sister! Who is a dang good secret keeper, let me tell you! Just the day before I was yapping to her (for a very long time) in the car; once again complaining about my hair and threatening to just chop it all off. I asked her who her girl was, when she was in, how much she charged, how I wanted to get it cut, etc. And Kendall played along the whole time, never once letting on that I already had an appointment set up and would be getting my hair cut in short 24 hours later. Sneaky, sneaky! So a BIG thank you to my husband and my sister! You definitely got me and it was the sweetest thing anyone has done for me! : ) I absolutely love it and feel 10 pounds lighter!

What do you think? Did I choose well?

Shop the look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // Monday Bloom // Visible Monday // Monday Mingle // Monday Must-Haves // Real Mom Style // Manic Monday // Mix-It Mondays // Style Sessions // Trend Spin // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On // My Whims Wednesday // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // What Wives Wear

Summer Meets Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 01:15:00 +0000

The last couple of weeks I have been majorly harping on transitioning my wardrobe from summer to fall. This seemingly simple task is such a such a complex task for me and successfully achieving it eludes me every year. So after digging down and trying to pinpoint exactly why this is so difficult for me, I figured out the cause; I have no transition pieces! All of my summer clothes scream "summer" and all my winter clothes scream "winter". I don't have any pieces to take me across the seasons. So that has been my goal this year, acquiring pieces that function for more than just one season.

Dress c/o / Necklace / Sunnies

Dress c/o / Denim Jacket / Bag / Scarf

This dress is the definition of a transitional piece. The cut and straps make it ideal for summer but the fact that it's a maxi with a neutral print, makes it perfect for layering in the fall. So my advice to anyone having the same issues as me? Get some transition pieces, duh!

This particular transition piece came from The Shopping Bag. I love it because it's one stop shopping; shopping from A to Z. From clothing and accessories all the way to home decor and food items. And all the pieces are unique. It's like boutique shopping online! Annnnd aren't you lucky you came here today because all High Heels and Training Wheels readers can get 25% your order by using code HHANDTW at checkout. Score!

Shop the look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On // My Whims Wednesday // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // What Wives Wear // The Tiny Heart // Vodka Infused Lemonade // Spotlight Weekly // Summer Style // Style Confessions // Throwback Thursday // Fashion Informant // That Friday Blog Hop // Passion for Fashion // Favorite Fashion Friday // Friday Fab Favorites // Fashion Friday // Fashion Item Friday // Friday Frills // Mamanista Friday

To Flats? Or not to Flats?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Sep 2014 17:18:00 +0000

That was the million dollar question today. I couldn't decide whether to wear my ankle booties or the flats. Well, you can see which won....

Sweater c/o / Skirt c/o / Hat c/o / Crossbody / Flats / Necklace- Thrifted

Any time I can't decide on a particular piece, I always ask my husband and/or daughter for their opinion. I'm not sure why because I usually don't do anything with their input and just wear what I wanted to all along. (Growing up, I always did this to my mom too! It made her nuts!) In which case, why did I even ask them at all, if I already knew what I was going to do anyway? I don't really know. But I couldn't decide on which shoes and my husband said flats, and today I actually went with the flats. Turning of a new leaf? Nah. I probably just subconsciously wanted the flats all along. ;)

AND let me tell you how nice this fall weather is!! Are you guys enjoying the same where you are? It has been in the high 60s/low 70s all week and it has been GLORIOUS! Makes me so excited for bonfires and pumpkin picking! Are feeling it too?

Are you as excited about the arrival of fall?

Shop the look

Mix-It Monday!! Check out the other ways I've worn this hat here!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: Funday Mondays // Monday Bloom // Visible Monday // Monday Mingle // Monday Must-Haves // Real Mom Style // Manic Monday // Mix-It Mondays // Style Elixir // Trend Spin // Totally Posted Tuesday // Tremendous Tuesday // Stylish Tuesday // Tuesday Pretties // WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On // My Whims Wednesday // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // What Wives Wear

My Baby is a Baby No Longer

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 00:26:00 +0000

So, as foretold, Alex and I did his yearly birthday Q&A this afternoon because my bitty baby is 10 years old today! Asking him these questions, I see how mature he is getting. I knew how big he was getting but he's growing and maturing by the day. (Waaaah! *sniff sniff*) So here is all of his answers. And as I said with Izzy's interview, I soooo recommend doing this with your kids! It's fun, they love doing it and I love looking back and seeing who they were each year.

What is your name?
Alex

How old are you?
10

What's your favorite thing to do?
In my spare time, I like to play on my iPod and listen to music
(In his spare time? He's just oh so busy at 10 years old!)

What's your favorite book?
"Pegasus" and "The Golden Wall"

What's your favorite show?
Adventuretime and Doctor Who

What is your favorite movie?

X-Men: Days of Future Past and Ninja Turtles

What's your favorite song?
Fancy by Iggy Azalea (we do not share the same taste in music!)

What do you want for your birthday?
A lizard and a hamster

What is your favorite color?
pink

Where is your favorite place to go?
Holiday World and Sky Zone

What do you want to be when you grow up?
An NBA player or engineer (he totally could be an engineer, that kid lives to build!)

When you get sick, what makes you feel better?
Medicine and funny things.

What scares you?
Someone breaking into the house and Slender Man (what the heck is Slender Man??)

What makes you happy?
Mommy (Awwww)

Who's your favorite person?
Mommy, Daddy, Izzy (sister) and Mason (brother)

Who are your best friends?

Elijah, Carly and Roberto

Whats your favorite toy?
My iPod

What is your favorite food?

Pizza! Hands down, it's pizza.

What is something you want to do now that you are 10?

I want more responsibility. (When asked to clarify): Like chores and stuff, like feeding the cats.....but not cleaning the liter box!

What is something you learned this year?
Don't touch a bug zapper if you're holding down the button. (Good advice? lol)

Happy 10th Birthday Monkey!!

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

The Coolest of the Cool

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 04:32:00 +0000

That's what these glasses are. Which, of course, makes me cool by association.

Chambray / Jeans / Leopard Pumps / Aviators c/o Oasap / Shoulder Bag c/o Oasap

This is my first time mixing denim. I'm not real sure why; I've always admired the look. Something about it is very laid back and cool, yet totally chic and put together. I love it when a look can be so many different things like that. I just wish I had somewhere to wear it other than anatomy class. Blah. But, I still felt supah dupah fly in these glasses, despite the lackluster occasion. So what if I only wore them in the car and on my way into the building; I was struttin' ya'll! Do you guys have a piece that automatically gives you an awesome feel as soon as you put it on like that?

On a side note, my biggest baby boy is no longer a baby. My handsome young man is 10 years old today! I just cannot even fathom it. 10 years! You really just do not grasp how fast time flies until you have kids. If you remember Izzy's interview, you know I ask my kids a series of questions on their birthday to document who they are at each age. It's a lot of fun to look back at all the answers and how they change over the years. He and I are going out for a special birthday date at McDonald's (his choice) where I will interview him so be on the look out for little man's Q&A! :)

Happy birthday my little man! I love you to the moon and back!

Shop the look

Not a follower? Not a problem! Click one of the ways above to stay up on all things

High Heels and Training Wheels!

linking with: WIWW // WIWW @ Pleated Poppy // Random Wednesday // Get Your Pretty On // Wacha Wearing Wednesday // Style Me Wednesday // The Tiny Heart // Lovely Thursdays // Vodka Infused Lemonade // Spotlight Weekly // Let Your Light Shine // Summer Style // Style Confessions // Throwback Thursday // Fashion Informant // That Friday Blog Hop // Passion for Fashion // Favorite Fashion Friday // Friday Fab Favorites // Fashion Friday // Fashion Item Friday // Friday Frills // Mamanista Friday Stylish Saturday