Paper Pumpkin January review

What I made, , ,

This month’s paper pumpkin arrived and I think it was my favorite so far.  This month, they sent a bunch of supplies to make Valentines but it was much more of a “use your own creativity” project than the last ones hand been because you could mix and match any of the supplies to create some different cards.

paper pumpkin

The supplies:paper pumpkin

The suggestions:

paper pumpkin

I ended up spending about 45 minutes working on these, because I was playing around with the different stickers and stamps to see what could be done.  I really enjoyed this months project.

Here are the finished cards:

makers jan 029 paper pumpkin

What I wore this week

What I'm wearing, , , ,

I remembered to take pictures of some of the things I wore this week.  I was trying to layer as much as possible because the office has been so cold and having layers enables me to adjust to whatever conference room or office I am in.

cream cardiganThis outfit combined a long cardigan from Target with a blouse from Golden Tote and a necklace from stitch fix.  These are my favorite brown boots that I purchased after a trip to Paris where all of the women were wearing boots like this with everything from flowery dresses to skinny jeans and sweaters.  They are comfy and roomy and look cute with almost anything I pair them with.

animal print shell

I got this sleeveless blouse from JCPenny from their black Friday cyber sale, and the cardigan is from Ann Taylor Loft.  I’m also wearing my favorite skull studded flats which make me happy whenever I see them.

scarf and bootsOn Friday I wore those boots again with a cream colored pull over sweater and a scarf my Mom had given me.  When I was chilly I wore the leather jacket, but for most of the day I was just wearing the sweater.

 

 

Stitch Fix Review #8

Stitch Fix Reviews, ,

After battling some flu like symptoms and getting back to work this week, my January Stitch Fix has arrived.  I approached the box with a bit of trepidation since the last few were not all that satisfying.  I just hoped that I’d be keeping at least one item in order not to have wasted the $20 styling fee.  My only request this time had been “more colors and patterns please”.  I hesitantly opened up the box to see…

Stitch Fix 8a sea of black and white.

This was not at all what I asked for, so I’m wondering why they completely ignored my request.  Then I unfold the note that comes with the fix and see this:

Stitch Fix 8Wait, What?????  Congrats on your first fix?  We’re excited to have you join?  The receipt clearly states that this is my 8th fix!!  So this stylist somehow thought I was a new customer and apparently did not look at a single note from my past history, or my last request for color and patterns.  Wow.

Stitch Fix 8 016 Stitch Fix 8 Stitch Fix 8 Stitch Fix 8 Stitch Fix 8

Splendid Ruben Tab-Sleeve Open Cardigan $78 and Rikka Amanda Enamel Bib Necklace $38

Stitch Fix 8

Not really loving this cardigan.  The fabric is thin and not at all good for winter, and the cut is not flattering.  It just sort of cuts me off and makes my upper body looks stumpy.

41Hawthorn Amani Cowl Neck Sleeveless Blouse $48

Stitch Fix 8This top by itself looks terrible on me.  I look like an exaggerated purple pear.  Thumbs down on this one.

But then, when I put the two items together…

Stitch Fix 8Suddenly this outfit looks professional and I could see myself wearing it for an upcoming conference I have to attend for the night events.  Despite the items being awful on their own, I decide I’ll keep them because paired together they work.

Renee C Rosenberg Dip-Dye Cross-Front Knit Shirt $58

Stitch Fix 8This one is a bit quirky and strange, but overall I liked the faux leather panel at the top and the fabric was soft.  I’m not sure what to wear under it though.  A white tee looked bad and the sleeves were too tight, but I don’t like the triangular peak of my fly of my jeans so I might try to find a longer tank I could wear underneath.  Decided to keep it because it’s unique.

41Hawthorn Dominic Brick Print Belted Shirtdress $78

Stitch Fix 8On the hanger this one reminded me of a dress I had gotten in a previous fix that I really didn’t end up liking after I wore it, but once I put it on, I saw that the fit was much nicer and flattering.  I will wear it with a black half slip underneath because the buttons don’t go low enough at the bottom and the flap kept opening up, but overall it was a surprisingly good dress for work.  Decided to keep it.

Overall Impressions

Despite the fact that everything they sent was black and white with one exception of the purple blouse, and despite the stylist thinking it was my first fix, I ended up keeping all of the items from this fix for a total of $210.  I actually requested this stylist for my next fix, because even though the colors were off, these pieces generally were a better fit for me than some of the odd stuff previous stylists had picked out.  We’ll see what the February box reveals, but I really hope it’s color.  My request this time was no more black/white, or solid burgundy or navy.  Here’s hoping.

Winter Outfit Ideas

What I'm wearing, , , , ,

I’ve been really bad about posting what I’ve been wearing lately, so here are a few things I wore in December.

Brocade SkirtI took this picture on our “Snow Day” we had here a few weeks ago.  We only got around an inch, but everyone was freaking out and all the schools were closed.  Most of my co-workers flaked out and didn’t show up, but being from the Midwest originally I didn’t really mind and went in anyway.  Usually the biggest threat when it snows here is other inexperienced drivers, but I just watch out for them.  The skirt is from Ann Taylor Loft, and the blouse is from Old Navy.

cropped jacketThe thing I loved the most about this outfit was the shoes.  I love those sparkly flats!  The jacket was from Ann Taylor Loft, and the tee was from JCrew.

hankerchief hem dressThis is one of my favorite dresses and I’ve had it for a few years.  I love the asymmetrical hem and the pattern.  It’s also a nice soft material and great for the winter time.  We were having some pretty chilly weather this December so this kept me warm with the tights and boots.

mustard sweater and blue shoes

This is one of my favorite color combos with mustard and black and white.  The top is from Anthropologie, and the sweater is from LOFT.  I also really love these flats I got at DSW.  Comfy and electric blue.winter sweater

I got this sweater from Piperlime last winter, and like it paired with these eggplant skinny jeans and these awesome skull print rhinestone studded flats.Blanket Sweater

I wore this blanket sweater on one of our cooler days here and was nice and toasty!  I think I got this from ModCloth.Plaid skirtI also really love this skirt.  It’s a nice long wool skirt that keeps me toasty and I paired it with this rust colored sweater from Target.  The skirt was from ModCloth.

For The Makers – December Review

What I made, ,

I got my first “For the Makers” kit this month and absolutely loved the projects!  The degree of difficulty varied between projects, but it kept me occupied during my time off and I had a ton of fun with the glitter.

Here’s what was included:

For the Makers

For the Makers

For the MakersThere were 4 projects total and here they are in the order I made them.

Chain necklace

For the MakersThis was by far the most difficult of the projects, and the most fun!  The chain was super heavy duty and none my jewelry tools would cut it.  I had to borrow a cutting tool from my husband’s tool kit and even with that I needed to wriggle the tool back and forth for some time in order to get the link apart enough to slide the other two sides off.  Later I even tried bolt cutters which  STILL didn’t cut through that chain!  It is seriously hard core.  I followed the tutorial online using my Surface so I could work at the kitchen table and finished the project in one night.  I really love the finished project and have already worn it twice.

Sparkly earrings

For the MakersThese were the simplest project of the bunch.  All you do is fill the center of these posts with glue, then dip them in the container of glitter, and voila!  Sparkly earrings.

Sparkly Votive holders

For the MakersThese were also relatively easy.  The instructions guided you through the one on the right, but I decided to try the one on the left using scotch tape to make the glitter stripes.  Fun and easy and I like the way they look on our sideboard.

Sequined Monogram

For the MakersThis one was also a bit challenging.  I found a “K” stencil online and traced it using tailors chalk on this velour hoodie I had then proceeded to fill it in with the sequins, beads, and rhinestones.  I ran out of the beads long before I was done and had to fill in the rest of the space creatively with rhinestones.  It took a good part of the afternoon to finish this one.

Overall Impressions

Overall, I really liked this kit.  It had projects of varying degrees of difficulty and it was nice to make things I wouldn’t normally do on my own.  So far I really like this subscription service and can’t wait to get my January kit!

More about For the Makers here.

Paper Pumpkin December Review

What I made,

My first actual Paper Pumpkin box has arrived and it took a little longer than the trial kit to complete.  Here’s what was included:

paper pumpkin

paper pumpkinI was surprised to see it came with another acrylic block.  I’m guessing that after this they will just send the stamps since these can be reused.

paper pumpkinThe project was super simple and took maybe 20 minutes to complete.  I liked that they banners and green circles were actual stickers which made them easy to apply.  The ink blot stamp was interesting too and gave it a cool effect.  These seem like they might make a good gift to give someone.