My 30 for 30 picks

I have decided to participate in the 30 for 30 style challenge with Kendi. I hope it will help me to be more creative, more minimalist, and follow the shopping rules and save money.

You can read the full rules here, but basically, I have chosen 30 items from my closet and will use accessories to make 30 outfits for 30 days beginning February 1.

Here is what I will be working with:

SHIRTS

From left to right: Plain black tee from Old Navy, Coldwater Creek sweater, (green sweater and blue striped tee have been replaced, see below), white rhinestone blouse from Charlotte-Russe, gray top from DownEast Basics.

I made a couple of last minute switches.

I switched this green sweater for this polka-dot blouse (both are hand-me-downs from my SIL)

I switched the Wet Seal tee for the green one from Target.

BUTTON-UPS

White blouse from Express, Red blouse from some cheap store in Montana, floral from F21.

SWEATERS AND JACKETS

Gray Wet Seal jacket, black cardi from Ross, my favorite blue cardi, gray cardi from Target, stripes from F21, and Target mustard sweater.

SLEEVELESS LAYERING SHIRTS

Cream lace from Kohl's, Shade shirt altered by me, purple blouse from ????

SKIRTS

Black and white made by Mom, yellow floral purchased at BYU bookstore, green skirt from JC Penney.

PANTS

Old Navy skinny jeans, Aeropostale skinnies, tan Dickies, and gray dress pants from Maurices.

SHOES

Black boots from Target, Brown Steve Maddens, Gray F21, gold flats from Forever Young Shoes, and gray flats from Ross.

I chose my favorite items of clothing, then some that I don't wear very often in an attempt to mix them in and get some use out of them. I picked all neutral shoes. If I do this again in the summer I will add colorful shoes, but for now I think this is the safest choice.

DISCLAIMER: I will be following the 30 for 30 rules posted by Kendi UNLESS I finish my next refashion project. If that happens I will be doing 31 for 30.

Also, I probably won't be posting my outfit each day. I just don't have time for that. Instead, I will post my pictures weekly (on Wednesdays) like I have been doing anyway.

What I Wore

It's that time again! I wanted to call it "What I Weared" just to mix it up a bit.

Skirt: ? Shirt: ? Cardi: Old Navy Boots: Steve Madden Tights: Walmart Necklace: Charlotte-Russe
I have had this skirt and shirt for a long time. I wanted to add the orange sweater to make it more exciting but the blue shirt tied in the back and would make a big lump. So instead, I tied it in the front and think it worked okay.

Sweater: Express, Pants: Aeropostale, Shoes: Target, Bracelet: Old Navy
I kept this outfit simple so I could show off this piece of bammy bling!

Does it count as breaking the shopping rules if I saw it at Old Navy for $1.50 and my husband just happened to see me admiring it and he desperately wanted to buy it for me *cough cough*? Oops...

Sweater: Old Navy, Skirt: Made by my Mom, Boots: Target, Belt: Ross, Necklace: Hand-me-down
This is what I wore to church.

Shirt: Shade, Sweater: Target, Pants: Elle at Kohls, Shoes: Ross, Belt: Ross
We had a parent meeting at school so I went a little on the business-y side.

Cardi: Old Navy, Shirt: Express, Pants: Maurices, Shoes and Belt: Ross

I have no comment on this outift.

Shirt: Walmart, Belt: local boutique, Cardi: Target, Pants: Aero, Boots: F21

The good ol' belt and boot combo.

I hope you are having a fabulous and fashionable week! : )

A Winter Luau

Winter can be so dreary- it's the perfect time for a luau. Take a look at the photos from the dinner I attended last night. The gorgeous decorations are inspiring for anyone looking to throw a party soon!

These flowers are hanging from the chandelier overhead. It was so cool to be in the room under this tropical plant!

Sand castle cake

My mother-in-law knows how to decorate for a party!

Happy birthday Sus!

Valentine's Book Page Garland

I love the trend of crafting with book pages. I am not usually into Valentine's decor but thought it went well these book page pinwheels. (Scroll to the end to see the entire garland).

First, take 2 pages from an old book and cut them to the same size.

Stack the pages on top of each other and accordion fold about 1 inch (or any size you want).

Pull the pages apart to use them separately.

Stack the 2 folded up papers on top of each other and secure with a small piece of wire around the middle.

Open the paper into a pinwheel and glue all 4 of the open sides together.
(After finishing this garland I found this tutorial for an adorable project that also uses these wheels. Follow the instructions in the video to use double stick tape instead of wire.)

By the way I am very impressed with myself for this photo.

The wheel looks like this when finished.

Now embellish as desired. I cut out a black circle from cardstock and a heart from some metallic red paper. I used 7 wheels total.

I then glued all of the wheels vertically onto a thin black ribbon. (Three wheels on one ribbon and two each on the other two ribbons. If that is confusing just look at the pictures below.)

I cut out another cardstock circle to glue to the back over the ribbon to make the wheel a little sturdier.

As seen below, I looped the ribbons over a curtain rod. I didn't want to tie knots so I used alligator clips to secure it. The clips are hidden behind the wheels so you can't tell that they are there.

BACK:

FRONT:

The finished product! It is hanging in my dining room window. It's not huge or showy but bring some Valentine's Day love to the room (although it really is kind of early for V day stuff...).

I think they would look cute hanging horizontally too. The wheels could be decorated to fit any holiday or theme.

If you make one I would love to see it! Email me aubreelarsen@gmail.com.

What I am Loving Right Now

Mid-winter can be so bleak and dreary. I am really feeling down due the effects of the weather. This is what I am lovin right now that is getting me through it.

1. The band Pomplamoose. I mentioned them before, but if you haven't checked them out yet, you need to. Hurry. Click on the link. They are seriously getting me through this winter. My favorite songs are "If You Think You Need Some" and "September." And "Mr. Sandman." And "Another Day."

2. The Planet Earth series from Discovery Channel. We have watched three episodes so far and I just love it. It shows scenery and animals that I have never seen before. It's beautiful. I love learning about the planet.

3. My new Camera. Although the cold outside is preventing me from really exploring possibilities I am still loving the reading and learning I am doing about photography.

4. Sunday School. I am not joking. The Gospel Doctrine teachers in my ward are amazing. Last Wednesday I woke up so stressed about the rest of the week but knew that if I could make it through the week I could go to Sunday School. It was worth it. Only a few more days until I get to go again.

5. My Student Council. It's comforting to know that there are teenagers out there who are amazing and excellent individuals. I can trust them with anything and know they will get it done. There are some superb leaders. They are great examples at our school (and to me) and really make a difference. I am so lucky to work with them. I want to be just like M. when I grow up.

My goal is to put my Valentine's garland tutorial up this Saturday. I need to get this blog back to the crafts!

What are you loving right now? Any helps to get us all through this winter?

What I WANT to wear

I didn't any pictures taken of clothes this week. I wore a couple of repeated outfits to different occasions than before and I wore some lame things. So this week instead I am doing "What I WANT to wear" instead.

I know this is funny in light of the shopping rules post I just wrote. But I did not actually buy anything- this is just stuff I am loving right now.

This is the "Meet Me in the Lobby" wedge from ModCloth. I HEART this shoe!! But they don't even have it in my size anymore so I don't have to worry about it. If you find something similar LET ME KNOW! This is what I am saving my allowance money for!!

I thinks this Old Navy cardigan is just cute and sweet for spring.

This dress from Anthropologie will never be a part of my wardrobe unless the clothes fairy visits but that doesn't mean I can't like it. Just the other day they had this dress as a part of a gorgeous outfit in which the dress looked even better. (It's better with the neck open and a cardi over it). But that campaign must be over because I can't find it anymore. YAY for long modest dresses being in style!

I would really like some skinny style pants in another color besides black to wear to work with boots. This pair from F21 is a good example.

I am loving tights right now and think this pair from Target is super cute. Do you like patterned tights?

What do you have your eye on right now?

I have finished my Valentine's book page garland. It should be up somewhat soon-ish. And I am almost at 200 followers! You guys are awesome!!!

2011 Shopping Rules

I thought it might be kind of silly to post this.

Then I was tempted a lot last week. Maybe this will give me some accountability.

And it's my blog, right? : )


A few weeks ago, right before Christmas I did a quick closet inventory to see what items I had acquired in 2010. How many shirts, pants, shoes, etc. To say the least, I was really embarrassed. So mortified at the mass amounts of apparel I had gathered that I won't be publishing the numbers. Granted, many items were gifts or purchased with gift money, several were only $1, bought from the thrift store, or a refashion project, but still.

I used to be such a tightwad with money and have slowly been loosening the padlock on my wallet. So much so that my husband has not only been raising his eyebrow at my purchases, but actually commenting on them. Gasp! That has never happened before. It's time to make a change.

First, I have resolved to not buy anything in the month of January. I need to exercise some self-control. The month is more than half over and I have been doing great (until a few days ago when I found myself in the dressing room at Ross. Yikes! But I didn't purchase).

Second, I need to think about wants and needs. Of course there is not a single clothing item in the world that I NEED. But I mean more like what does my wardrobe need. What items do I need to allow me to wear something I already own or what "key" things am I missing?

Right now my "need" list looks like this:
-black pencil skirt
-white 3/4 sleeve cardigan
-white classic button up

I consider these "needs" because:
-the black skirt I have been wearing has some modesty issues.
-my previous cardigan has holes and stains. I need it to wear my tank top refashions like this one.
-my white shirt has a small rip and isn't the cleanest anymore. Unless I find a deal this can probably wait awhile.

Third, I can only buy things I really love. I can't buy something because it is on sale or a good deal. I can't buy something because I am shopping with a friend and it is what she is looking for. I can't even buy anything just because it's only $1.

If you have been reading my blog you have seen the blue cardigan I have worn a bazillion times and my new boots. I love these 2 items so much that I could wear them everyday for the rest of the winter and be happy. They were worth the price, both being a bit more than I usually spend (although I used gift money). I have several shirts that I just bought in December that just hang in my closet because I just don't love them.

I have set the rules mostly to save money. But I hope to save time and focus on more important things in life than clothes. I also hope to be more creative in remixing my closet.

What sort of shopping rules do you have? Any suggestions to add?

What I Have Been Up To (and my new fave band)

This is a sneak preview of my next refashion project. I am making flowers out of t-shirts. I need red, blue, green and golden yellow and have none of those colors. I don't want to spend any money so I am trying to collect discarded shirts from people I know. I will have a tutorial on how to make the flowers when (and if) the shirt is finished. I have such a great vision in my head of what this is going to look like. I hope it works out!

I have been having so much fun making book page Valentine's Day decore. This is only one of the ideas that I have had. I have made 8 of these so far and will probably be making some sort of garland out of them.
A couple of years ago I bought a tissue paper flower Martha Stewart kit at Big Lots for $2. This month I have finally had the urge to make the flowers. I have made most of the bouquet.

I recently discoverd this band called Pomplamoose. Maybe you saw them on the car commercials this Christmas?? Anyway I have been obsessed with them this week. This is one of my favorite songs- and at the end of the video there is a sampler of some of their other songs.



They have a bunch of covers and origional songs. Check out their YouTube channel.
They are so creative so I had to share on this blog!

Yay tomorrow is Friday! I have some fun plans for the weekend! I have had terrible headaches this week so I am ready for a rest!

What I Wore

It's time once again for "What I Wore." Yay! It's Wednesday! Only a couple of more days until the weekend. I hope you are having a great week!

Jeans: Old Navy; Shirt: Shade, altered by me; White t-shirt: Old Navy; Boots: Steve Madden; Belt: Local boutique

My first outfit has already been shown on this blog when I did the tutorial for the shirt. When I wore this to work I just switched from jeans to my black pants. I love it. I got a lot of compliments on this shirt.

Dress: Ross; Cardi: local boutique; Belt: local boutique; boots: Steve Madden

I missed wearing this dress. I wore it in the summer but put it away at fall time (click here to see my September outfit with this dress). So I decided to see what would happend when I "winterized" it. I added my fave blue cardigan, boots, and belt and I really like how it turned out. I am just sad because I got a migraine headache the day I wore it to work and had to come early. : (

Shirt: Express; Cardi: Old Navy; Skirt: Hand-me-down; Tights: Walmart; Shoes: Target; Belt: Ross
I put this outfit together around these new tights my husband got me for Christmas. You can't see it well, but it is a sort of houndstooth print in gray and black. I hadn't worn this sweater for awhile so I put the two together and added everything else to make it all match!

Sweater, top, jeans: Old Navy; Belt: Local boutique; Boots: Steve Madden

I was feeling the winter blues this day so I needed a little color to cheer me up.

I could wear these boots every day the rest of the winter and be content. I guess that's the secret to shopping. Find something you really really really love!

Linking up at the Pleated Poppy.

Refashion #11 Flowers on the Collar

When the Shade clothing company was having their going out of business sale, I got this shirt for $3. I tried it on over my clothes at this big warehouse sale where the mirror was at an angle. It was a little wide, but I thought a belt would do the trick.

Little did I know, it looked like a tent on me. The shoulders made me look like a football player. Yuck. Something had to be done.

My mom helped me remove the sleeves and I used the fabric to make flowers to adorn the neck.

I used 4 templates of a variety of sizes to cut the circles. The largest is about 2 inches.


Cut the circles out of the fabric.


Fold a circle in half three times and cut off the corners. Make them nice and rounded and even.

When you open it up it it will look like a flower.

Repeat for all sizes of circles.

Stack the flowers, largest to smallest. For the large flowers I used all four and for the small ones I used the smallest three sizes.

Stitch each flower onto the collar of the shirt, sewing a pearl bead to the center. I alternated the large flowers with the small flowers.

It needs a good ironing, but it's a brand new shirt!

For winter I can wear a long sleeve white t-shirt underneath, and when it gets warm again I will switch to a short sleeved shirt.

A belt at the waist gives the shirt some shape.

Bad hair day!

I also like it with my favorite blue cardi.

Do you have anything in your closet that doesn't fit well? Could you make a simple change like this so that you'll wear it again?

Linking up to some of these parties.