Mar 20, 2015 | DIY
Welcome to the official First Day of Spring!
Yes my friends, Spring has definitely Sprung…and I bet you’re itching to make some fun DIY projects to welcome the new season. Flowers, Easter, May Day, graduations, prom, baby showers, and other Springtime celebrations? Bring on the season bursting with flowers and loveliness with these great crafts:
1. Enamel Bib Necklace
Celebrating all that is flowery and fun this season, this bib necklace works by collaging charms and buttons onto a filigree backing – and painting with Martha Stewart self-hardening enamel. Amazingly easy for such a fun project!
2. Flowered Ballet Flats
Adorn a pair of simple ballet flats with flowers and lace trim to become lovely and elegant footwear.
3. Flowered Snackcessory Clutch
So sweet as a pairing to a simple outfit…or to take along with you to prom.
4. Prada Rose Cabochon Stud Earrings
Surprisingly simple to make – with a huge impact – these studs sparkle with a chic, ladylike quality.
5. Florald Applique Cardigan
Take your favorite flowered fabric, cut out bits of the pattern, affix Heat ‘n’ Bond to it – and iron onto a boring cardigan for a quick pick-me-up.
6. Lace Maxi-Skirt
Repurpose an old lace curtain (and there are always a ton to be found at Goodwill!) into a pretty lace maxi-skirt for over your shorter skirts, dresses, and shorts.
7. Flower Barrette
Silk flowers from the craft store make this barrette look like a flower crown adorning your hair.
8. Gold Foil Easter Egg Nails
Pretty pastels pop when gold foil is applied haphazardly to the top. Do the same for your Easter eggs for a matching holiday craft.
9. Flower Petal Top
Hand-stitch flower petals down the front of a plain tee to make it floral fabulous with only a small amount of effort.
10. Watercolor Scarf
Use dye to paint a scarf in daubs of color, leave on for a short time, and wash out for a faded, Monet-like quality.
What projects are you looking forward to making for Spring?
xo
Carly
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Mar 19, 2015 | Blogging
Connecting with people when we all have vastly differing schedules can be a big hassle… and being able to chat or share via video is a great way to connect. Skype is the affordable way to stay in touch about the things you care about – whether it’s just checking in, holding virtual meetings, or even deciding on a great outfit before a big event.
My parents are Australian, I moved to Japan when I was 11 and lived there 6 years, and I’ve also lived in rural New Jersey, Virginia Beach, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Yokohama, Honolulu, and now Portland, Oregon. All of my extended family lives in either Australia or Japan – and my friends are scattered the world over. Skype has been a necessary facet of my life for years as a way to stay connected with everyone – from my kooky friend Lenna in London, my East Coast bestie Jenn in Tennessee, my cousin Sam in Australia, and my mom in Tokyo. 
Since I’ve been writing Chic Steals for 7 years now, Skype has come in super-handy in a number of ways. For a year I was producing a podcast called Creatively Chic in partnership with WebTalkRadio.net, and Skype was instrumental in allowing me to conduct interviews with people in faraway places (including Tom and Cat from the CutOutandKeep.net team in London!) with crystal-clear, recordable voice quality.
Checking in with fellow blogger Jenni of A Well-Crafted Party about an upcoming Portland Bloggers’ event
More recently as an active member of Portland Bloggers, it’s allowed me to connect with local blogger friends quickly and accurately – with bonus video. Sharing a new affordable find I scored at Goodwill? Asking a “what ideas do you have for DIY’ing this piece” with my blogging buddies? Touching base about outfits before a big blogging event so we don’t accidentally show up wearing the same thing? Skype has proven itself useful – and priceless – time and again.
What do you guys think of this sparkly cardigan? Too much?
I love that I can use it on my phone and connect with other people for a quick check-out-this-necklace-stack check-in… even if they have a different phone than I do! Skype works regardless – and it’s FREE. It’s fun, it’s quick, it’s affordable, and it’s easy – what could be more chic?
You can download the Skype app and follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
xo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: This post was written as part of a paid campaign with BlogHer and Skype. My full Disclosure Policy is here.
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Mar 16, 2015 | Fashion
Welcome to another installment of
Chic for the Week, where I share a couple shopping picks that I can’t stop thinking about.
It’s mid-March, and Spring is definitely here! Portland is uncharacteristically warm and hail-free (at least so far, fingers crossed haha) and it’s time for bare legs and showing some skin.
Here’s what’s on my wishlist this week:
1. Nothing like adding a little strappiness to your life – and this Strappy Together Orchid Purple Dress delivers that and then some. Flaunt some skin and taunt your curves in this amazing, Spring-y color.
2. I do have a thing for kitschy, fun bags – and this ASOS Popsicle Cross Body Bag is no exception. How adorbs is this?? Seriously…and I may be too old for this stuff by now, but every time I look at it, I just break out in a smile. A popsicle that won’t melt, and you can carry with you always, like your best friend in your pocket. (and use promo code GRAND to save 20% off your ASOS.com order til 3 AM EST 3/18/15!!)
3. When wearing a sexy dress, you can sometimes push it too far by adding accessories that read too overt. I like to mix things up and err on the side of caution – and these In a Classic Heel of Its Own Heels in Mint make this outfit more ladylike with their low heel. Pastel-on-pastel, in this pairing they make the dress read feminine and sweet.
4. To ward away any remaining chills, wrap up with this lightweight New Look Pretty Cream Floral Scarf. Also looks fabulous in a casual outfit with jeans and your favorite T-shirt…plus a floppy fedora. (Again, use that promo code GRAND and snap this up by Wednesday 3 AM!)
Hope you guys are having an excellent – and Springy! – start to the week!
xo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you click and buy something through one of the links above. My full Disclosure Policy is here.
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Mar 15, 2015 | Life
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.
-Sylvia Plath
It’s been awhile, my friends.
I took an impromptu hiatus from this blog because I was hard at work on many other things.
My day job managing the online presence of Studio 3, Inc., posts in collaborations with brands that can’t go live yet, reorganizing and re-linking my entire DIY gallery (still a work in progress), planning out new content for Chic Steals, making jewelry and baubles to launch my line soon, working on videos with Uncommon Era, plus personal things threatening to reach out and swallow me whole…yup, it’s been a very busy March so far.
I’ve had to let a lot of things slide.
Plus being so busy has begun to make me doubt myself…is it worth it to be this busy? Am I doing to much? Should I lay any one of the above to rest?
Of course, with these thoughts circling in my head it has been hard to write about being creative. So I took a little time and put together this bit of typography just to flex those creative muscles.
Just because.
And I find, that if I can lay those nagging doubts to rest and just do something, regardless, I start to feel more creative, and back to my old self again.
How do you deal with creative block?
xo
Carly
Typography layout by me. Link, share & pin as much as you like! Share and share alike
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Mar 2, 2015 | DIY
Fashion weeks around the world have drawn to a close, and we’ve seen a ton of DIY-able ideas for this coming Fall. How about that ubiquitous street style for February 2015 – what are all the fashionistas in the know wearing? The answer is fabulous coats and warm weather gear…and there are more than a few great ideas out there that are still totally do-able and make-able before Spring is fully here. See below to get those creative juices flowing…
In London, Tati Cotliar sported a cut pink hooded overcoat – and you can add a similar studded detail to the hood with some flat round brass studs.
This verbose topper spotted on the streets could be easily remade with a thrifted man’s wool overcoat and adding some wordy iron-on appliqués in punky neon colors. (This Etsy shop makes some neat ones!)
Caroline Sieber attended the shows in this pretty blue suit jacket – made beautifully unique with a large-sized iron-on embroidered floral motif appliqué.
Sarah Rutson‘s No 21 top could easily be mimicked by hand-sewing some black ostrich feathers (humanely harvested, ideally) onto the front of a boring black sweater to make it chic.
In Milan, Elisa Nalin‘s punchy ensemble is offset by a bright beaded clutch – which could be made by gluing plastic beaded necklaces from the dollar store or a toy store in a V-pattern onto an existing clutch.
This neat hybrid denim jacket spotted on the streets could be re-created by someone enterprising – just by re-purposing a knitted blanket sewn to the hem of a jacket, cut apart and used as collar-covering, and some of the yarn pulled out and woven into the jacket as detailing. (Look for a really thick, luxurious yarn to make this work!)Appliques again! (Seeing a trend??!) Adding them to a plain sweatshirt-fabric skirt can make gray look fabulous.
And that coat would be a doable Franken-DIY: bleach an indigo denim jacket, remove the arms and replace with arms salvaged from a thrifted black leather jacket. Instant Milan street cred.
From New York, something similar to Anya Ziourova‘s Fendi sweater could be made with hand-sewing some exposed zippers to the front with colored faux fur, rhinestone trim, and colored fleece in patches and shapes to make that fun monster face.
Gigi Hadid‘s Diesel Black Gold jacket take some serious studding skills…but would be an amazing upgrade to a very simple black leather moto jacket.
Any top could be given a glam makeover by hand-sewing beads and rhinestones onto the front in a starburst pattern.
That Thom Browne coat could be easily re-interpreted with just a line of cone spikes ringing the armscye of a nipped-in gray Victorian-style overcoat.
Hope that gives you some ideas for projects to start right now!
xo
Carly
Photos: Phil Oh from Vogue.com, Craig Arend from The New York Times, , Mark Iantosca, POPSUGAR. Composites by me.
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