Dec 4, 2012 | Fashion
A warm coat is a
must in the Northern climate I live in (Portland, OR), and it’s tough to find a good coat that goes with a number of different outfits (and that isn’t a huge amount of money). Of course, something that one wears daily from September-June of the year
should be an investment piece, but
that doesn’t mean it has to be a significant chunk of change. If you can time the purchase of such a piece to a seasonal sale, or buy from a retailer that offers great brands at affordable prices, then half the work is already done for you.
I love checking out the
coat selection at Macy’s because as a national retailer they carry select brands such as Steve Madden and Nine West, that are both trend-driven but easy on the wallet. Plus, they offer sales all the time! (And they’re offering one
right now, in fact!!)
Many of their brands (including designers such as Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Vince Camuto, and DKNY) also offer styles that are exclusive to Macy’s – meaning you won’t be wearing the same topper as 3 other random people at the holiday party.
I fell in love with this two-toned Nine West coat, that I’ve been wearing nonstop since it arrived. The shape is beautiful and the colorblocking instantly dresses up even the most beat-up pair of jeans beneath. It’s very high-quality for the price, and the stiff outer wool is withstanding the abuse I throw at it without losing its shape or collapsing. It’s now my go-to work cover-up, that can go from the studio to a client meeting seamlessly.
For an edgier feel (or dressed-down casual wear), a puffer vest is a great piece. This Style&Co vest is supremely affordable at just under $41, featuring a removable hood and great hardware details. It’s perfect as a layer for when it’s not too chilly out, and thrown over or under another coat it’s amazingly toasty.
Ordering from Macy’s online is super-simple (orders over $99 ship free!), and my package even came with a slip to rate their packing job (!). Macys.com even has this cool feature where you can create a poll of items you like, and share it on Facebook with your friends to get their input. Social sharing at its most fun!
Now that my personal coat shopping for this season is complete…I can now focus on the next hurdle: Christmas gifts!! Eeek!
Stay chic~
Carly
FTC Disclosure: I received 2 coats from GigaSavvy, for review purposes. I have not been compensated in any other way for my review. The opinions above are 100% my own. If you’d like to know more, please check out my Disclosure Policy.
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Nov 30, 2012 | Blogging, Fashion
Found on CraftSnark, a really awesome website with a ton of snarky posters and graphics depicting what it’s really like to be a craft blogger. Start reading the posts and you’ll get addicted. Or at least, I am addicted. It’s.all.SO.TRUE.
And yes, often companies contact me offering me free products to use in a tutorial on my blog. When it’s itemized line-by-line like that….the time investment and financial investment doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Thank you CraftSnark!
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 29, 2012 | DIY
Whip up some sparkling, shimmering ornaments super-quick, and with only a couple of supplies! This can even be a great project for kids to work on their fine motor skills.
Materials:
sequins in leaf shapes or snowflake shapes / pearl-head pins in red or pearlized / round styrofoam balls (you can paint them different colors before using if you don’t like the white showing through) / glitter ribbon
Tools: glue gun / scissors
How to:
1. Cut a short length of ribbon, enough to go around the styro ball and create a hang loop.
2. Use the glue gun to attach around the ball at the center. Loop the end of the ribbon over itself and glue together to hang.
3. Use the pins to attach sequins all over the ball. 
For the holly ornament, use 2-3 leaf sequins strung on one pin, and for the snowflake ornament, use 1-2 sequins on one pin.
4. Keep adding pinned sequins until the ball is completely covered.
Hang on your tree, pile in a bowl, attach to a garland or a wreath – however you decide to display these pretty ornaments, they’re sure to be the star of your holiday decorating!
Thanks to LocalSpotter.com for featuring these DIY Sequin Ball Ornaments in their Christmas Gift Tips series today! Check out their whole Christmas Guide series for some major holiday inspiration!
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly
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Nov 27, 2012 | Score!
I’ve partnered with Echoed.com that produces this cool new application called “Stories.” It’s an application that allows users to upload their own photos and write a “story” about the photos, vote on photos you like, and share content. Kind of like Pinterest but with more space for adding information, and space for different angles or descriptive photos. Plus it’s hosted right on your own site, so it creates a beautiful array of user-submitted content available to any visitor to see immediately.
You can now view DIYs submitted by Chic Steals readers (and submit your own!) in the bar appearing at the bottom of my site window. Press the double-down arrow to hide it. Reload the page to view the bar again. Click See All Stories to view all the DIY projects submitted by the community and get some great inspiration! Up-vote projects you like, and leave comments. I’m dying to see what all of you are making – and it’s a great way to get your DIY’s featured immediately on the front page of my site.
To promote this partnership, Echoed.com is offering a giveaway of a gift card to Michael’s Arts & Crafts to help someone create that fabulous DIY. Here’s how to win:
One Lucky Reader Will Win a $25 Gift Card to Michael’s
{just in time for the holidays!}
How to Enter
1. The Stories app appears as a gray bar at the bottom of your browser window while looking at my site. Click on the RED BUTTON on the right that says “Add Your Story.”
2. Register with your email address, Facebook login, or Twitter login.
3. Upload a photo of a Holiday-themed DIY you’ve done into the app. It can be a photo of any project that is holiday-appropriate (ANY holiday, even Halloween or Fourth of July!). It can be fashion, food, crafts, decorations, kiddie project…ANYTHING.
4. I will be randomly selecting one entry from the submissions (once the entry period is closed) as the winner.
Rules
Entry period is from now until midnight PST on Tuesday, December 3, 2012.
Winner will be randomly chosen from the entries posted until then.
Anyone over the age of 18 can enter – and you can enter multiple times, with a photo of a different DIY each time, to increase your chance of winning!
Giveaway is open to anyone, worldwide.
DO NOT post separate entries that use photos of the same project. Each time you “Add Your Story,” make sure it’s a different project!!
Total entries allowed: as many holiday-themed projects as you want!
Good luck!
xoxo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: I have not received any compensation for this post. One $25 gift card to Michael’s Arts and Crafts will be provided to the winner of this giveaway, courtesy of Echoed.com. To see my Disclosure Policy, click here.
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Nov 25, 2012 | Life
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
A silly photo from work last week; I’m just playing on the photography cyc. Man, does it need to be re-painted!!
I have had a completely perfect holiday – and all because Lil Tot has been sick with a cold since last Sunday. Which sounds completely horrible to write.
I’m not rejoicing that he’s been sick; but because he’s had to stay inside I’ve canceled all the birthday parties and events we’ve RSVP’ed to, and spent a wonderful 4 days cooped up at home.
I can’t remember the last time I did that!
I felt like I really needed this indulgence, because the next 2 weeks are going to be utterly crazy for me. I’m not sure how I’ll survive until Dec. 8, since I have about 5 HUGE things happening Dec. 5-Dec 7. If I can only get through the next two weeks in one piece…
But over this Thanksgiving break I’ve gotten a solid 9-10 hours of sleep a night, cuddling with poor Lil Tot as he hacks away. Thanks to all the rest I’ve been able to avoid getting what he got (though Hub got it instead of me; a rarity). While being at home I’ve gotten a head-start on holiday DIY’ing, holiday baking, holiday decorating, and we even took a family photo for our Christmas card. 
My latest DIY recipe for a delicious holiday treat…will be sharing soon!
I’ve read some piled-up magazines and even got halfway through a favorite book of mine (and I haven’t read a book in ages!) I cleaned up all the dead debris in the garden. I’ve declared a moratorium on my computer and used it as little as possible these past couple days…and in fact, today I just opened it 10 minutes ago. I’ve stayed away from browsing on the Internet and kept mindless TV programs off.
Getting back to crafting – yay!
Instead, I’ve played a ton of board games with my son, taught him some new card games (and gotten a little too hooked on Klondike solitaire, unfortunately;-), played Wii party with him, read him stories, and even done some kiddie crafts with him (we made a prince marionette based on instructions here!). With the whole family home (and 2 members sick), we’ve all been taking it easy and re-connecting. I’m also on cloud 9 because I FINALLY cleaned out my DIY supply drawers that I have not gone through in FIVE.YEARS. It was a huge mess, and I feel so much calmer for tackling it.
Lil Tot is finally almost completely better so will be heading back to school tomorrow, and Hub and I go back to the daily grindstone. But all in all, I couldn’t have wished for a better Thanksgiving holiday.
Do any of you “re-charge” by un-plugging and spending time with family? What’s your secret to finding that balance?
xoxox
Carly
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