Shop Your Closet: BHG Cover

Shop Your Closet is a feature where I find some inspiration and then go shopping in my closet to recreate it. This way I am exercising my creativity without spending any money.

Welcome to the first party edition of Shop Your Closet. If you don't have a specific "SYC" post to link up, feel free to link up anything about inspiration for getting dressed or some type of What I Wore post where you explain why you wore a particular thing.

This week I got my Better Homes and Gardens magazine in the mail. I was immediately drawn to the colors on the cover. I knew the combo would make a great outfit.

I had already planned on wearing the shirt and necklace together but hadn't considered adding in the blue until now. I also hadn't thought about wearing it with this skirt.

What I am wearing: shirt: DownEast, Necklace: Forever 21, Skirt: DownEast, Shoes: Coldwater Creek (gift), bracelet: Gem Faire, Sunglasses: Kohl's.

I think this is such a great outfit and color combo for summer!

I even did my hair all fancy. I was inspired by this video from Studio 5 that said that messy hair was in. I can do messy!! I think it turned out kind of cute. You?

Now it's your turn! Please use the button either on your post or blog to help spread the word. I am hoping that as this grows we will all find a lot of inspiration from each other.


<center><a href="http://yellowblackbird.blogspot.com//" target="_blank"><img src="<a href="http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad210/aubreelarsen/Shop%20button/shopbutton.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad210/aubreelarsen/Shop%20button/shopbutton.jpg " border="0" alt="blog" ></a></a></center>Is the button too big? I can make a smaller one...

P.S. Bracelet Week begins on Monday. BE HERE!

What I Wore

It was week one of 30 for 30. It didn’t go well. It was really hard to do on vacation. It made packing easier, but being creative harder. I packed a shirt that wasn’t part of the remix on accident and wore it without even realizing. With everything that is going on in my life right now, 30 for 30 just isn’t working out. I have 2 more “outdoorsy” type trips within the scope of the 30 days. I am also taking some classes to get my PE endorsement and it’s too hard to dress for those and follow the remix. I don’t want to be a quitter, but I am not having fun with this like I did last time. It was much easier in the winter when I could wear lots of layers, and was going to work everyday. It was fun and a good creative exercise then. Now, it’s just frustrating me and it’s one more thing to worry about. What I really did was “25 for 9.” Now that’s creative!

ONE

This is me with my new dinosaur friend. I am wearing the shirt that wasn't really a part of 30 for 30.

TWO

This is inside our hotel room. It was a really nice hotel with a great breakfast, exercise room, and pool. What more can you ask? Um, just for the Disney Channel. Which they did NOT have. :(

THREE

This is what I wore to go to the St. George LDS temple.

FOUR

This is outside of the hotel. The class we were attending had blaring florescent lights which gave me a terrible headache the first day. So for the rest of the class I wore this hat which succesfully blocked out the light. Except when we used the ghetto computers. The light from the screen was so terrible that I had to wear my hat and sunglasses. Indoors. Not cool. It was embarrassing to say the least. But worth it.

The belt SO does not match.

FIVE

I snapped this in the hotel room as we were on our way to dinner.

SIX

Home again. Cold again. Jeans again.

SEVEN

This is my outfit for last week's Shop Your Closet feature. This Saturday is the first linky party so you should come play!! Pretty please!

EIGHT

Outfit for Father's Day- This turned out to be one of my favorites of the week. I made that belt myself!

NINE

This is a tank that I rarely wear so I put it in the 30 for 30 remix. At least I wore it once!


DON'T FORGET:

1. to come back Saturday for Shop Your Closet. There's even a fancy button you can grab. I made it all by my lonesome little self. First one ever!

2. that next week is bracelet week. I have some amazing tutorials for you including a couple of Anthro knock-offs that are just as good as the Accordion Strands necklace was!

That's a lot of exciting stuff to remember so you had better become a follower so you don't forget! : )

Shop Your Closet- party next week!

Shop Your Closet is a feature where I find some inspiration and then go shopping in my closet to recreate it. This way I am exercising my creativity without spending any money.

It sounds like several of you are interested in participating in "Shop Your Closet" with me, so the first Shop Your Closet link party will be begin next Saturday, June 25th! Spread the word! Grab one of the buttons below! I am excited about this because hopefully we can inspire each other to be creative with what we've got. I don't know about you, but I have found myself buying something I didn't even know I wanted all because I saw a blogger with that item in her closet. This way, we can celebrate our own styles and teach each other how to be creative while being thrifty!

So this is how it will work....

1. Find some inspiration. this can be an outfit you saw on a celebrity, blogger, neighbor, stranger, etc. It can also be a particular pattern or color scheme (ex: stripes with floral, or black and white) or a theme (ex: nautical or bohemian). You could also use a piece you already have in your closet but don't wear much (see my outfit below) or a favorite necklace as your inspiration. Anything goes!

2. Create an outfit from things you have in your closet already. Hopefully it's something that you have never worn before.

3. Blog or otherwise put online your inspiration and your outfit. A little show-and-tell, if you will.

4. Link up to Yellow Blackbird on Saturdays.

If a lot of people link up, you will have a lot of inspiration for the next week. Feel free to participate if you don't want to follow me. I will ask that you please use the button on your post to help advertise. : ) The more the merrier! You will always be able to find this button on the "grab a button" bar at the top.


<center><a href="http://yellowblackbird.blogspot.com//" target="_blank"><img src="<a href="http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad210/aubreelarsen/Shop%20button/shopbutton.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad210/aubreelarsen/Shop%20button/shopbutton.jpg " border="0" alt="blog" ></a></a></center>

And now, on to the main event...

Because I am participating in the 30 for 30 challenge right now, this whole week I have been shopping my closet. But we have been on vacation so it was "shop your suitcase" and my outfits weren't terribly creative. You can come back on Tuesday to see them and judge for yourself.

But now that we are home, I wanted to wear something a little more exciting. I have had this hot pink shrug for a really long time. I haven't worn it in years, but have never managed to let it go. I decided to put it in my 30 for 30 picks and see what happened. This is what I came up with for today.

I am wearing a dress from Walmart, shrug from Old Navy, necklace from Charlotte-Russe and hand-me-down shoes that I think are from Target.

The orange and gold bracelet was made by me, and I just bought the blue one yesterday at the Gem Fair. Isn't it cute?

I don't know that I usually wear dresses on Saturdays, but sometimes it's fun to break out of the mold a little bit. We are going on a double date with my in-laws to the movies tonight so at least I am all dressed up with somewhere to go!

Okay, now it's your turn!!! Go shopping in your closet and see what fun you can come up with to share with us all next Saturday!

Featured at Southern Scraps

Today I am being featured over at Southern Scraps. Fonda offered to feature my shop and blog for no charge so I am returning the favor. I like what I found over there!

First, I LOVE this cuff! It's amazing! You can see her tutorial right over here. It's an Ann Taylor Loft knock-off. I have an old cuff that needs some reworking. I am inspired!


I also love this really pretty shirt refashion. It's her version of a tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff and I think it turned out amazing!

Southern Scraps is also an Etsy shop full of beautiful handmade goodness. I particularly like this pink and brown birthday card.

My favorite card is this stamped butterfly card. It's just my colors and I really have a thing for butterflies.

What are you still doing here? Why haven't you left to go check out Southern Scraps yet???

Thanks so much Fonda!

Vintage Travel Garland

I made this garland to decorate a going away party I had for my bro and sis-in-law that moved to the Washington DC area. I cut out the airplanes and the globes from black cardstock on my mom's Silhouette machine. I found the vintage travel posters online. The items are all just taped to the twine.

All of my travel posters are for DC because that's what my theme was. You could use any area, or a variety of locations to make the garland more reusable. Click here for a website I found that has free posters.

For the party I hung up maps in the room of the world and the DC area. I also put a globe on the table. I didn't know if this was cute or not, but husband told me it was okay. Then I got made fun of by the party guests so I guess "not" was the answer.

Oh well, the garland is super cute and I really love how it turned out. I love vintage travel posters. I thought about hanging it in the retro room, but it's too long to hang there so I will be using it in my classroom next school year.

P.S. Thanks for the help, Mom!

What I Wore

To my friends visiting from the Pleated Poppy- if you like to blog your clothes then please check out this feature I have called Shop Your Closet and let me know if you want to participate!

Shirt: Shade, Belt: Forever 21, Shorts: ?, Wedges: Kohls

This is a pretty simple outfit but I like how it turned out. It had never even crossed my mind to wear this top with these shorts but I think it's the new belt that ties it all together.

Dress: local boutique, Sweater: Charlotte-Russe, Necklace: Charlotte-Russe, Sandals: Old Navy, Bracelets that you can see very well: Made by me for the upcoming Bracelet Week beginning on June 27!

I cannot get enough of this dress! I finally wore it in a little bit different way. You can't really see but I thought my hair and make up looked fantastic that day! I love feeling pretty! : ) This outfit was inspired by an Anthropologie ad I saw a few months ago The model was wearing a maxi dress with a long duster sweater. My sweater is a bit different, but still gives the same affect.

Shirt: Walmart, Jacket: Old Navy, Jeans: Wet Seal, Sandals: Target, Belt: Forever 21

Sad that I had to wear long pants and a jacket for a night out in June. We had another "Dollar Theater Thursday." We saw the movie Rio. It was better than I expected. I do love birds. I was entertained the whole time, but wouldn't be sad if I never saw it again. Love that striped belt!

Shirt: Old Navy ($1), Shorts: Shade, Sandals: Walmart, Necklace: Made by me

Easy outfit for a summer day.

Blazer: Vanity (old!), Shirt: Ross, Jeans: Old Navy, Shoes: Mudd from Kohls

This is the outfit I wore for Shop Your Closet last week. Go check it out! And let me know if you are interested in participating! PLEASE!

Come back next week to see how I did on my first week of 30 for 30! To see my picks, go to the next post down.

30 for 30 Picks

It's time for another 30 for 30 with Kendi Everyday! Today is the first day of the remix challenge. A little while ago, Kendi did a post about making the challenge your own. It's not about following strict rules, but about stretching your creativity and learning and having fun. It's not about minimalism or deprivation for me so here are my exceptions to the standards 30 for 30 rules.

1. All denim bottoms count as 1 item. I don't think I am really remixing when I switch out denim shorts for jeans or capris. It really just depends on the weather.

2. I will not use my 30 for 30 items for church. I have too many summer dresses that I want to wear to restrict myself to just a few. I will wear a 30 for 30 outfit after church on Sundays.

3. Shoes don't count. I have only picked 25 items, and then will have unlimited access to my shoes. They are pretty much accessories anyway. : )

I also may skip a few days when I go camping or something.

With that being said- here are my picks:

DRESSES

I have chosen 3 maxi dresses. I have never worn the black one- I just got it. It's from Walmart. The blue one is from F21, and the purple from a local boutique.

PANTS

Denim shorts: Shade, White capris: ? Brown cargo shorts: Old Navy, Green shorts: Kohls?
I have had a lot of these for a long time.

CARDIS

White: Charlotte-Russe, Coral: Target, White: Kohls, Mustard: Target, Black: Ross, Pink: Old Navy

I haven't worn the pink one in a couple of years. It will be fun to try to mix it in.

TANKS

Red stripe: Ross, Blue/red stripe: Walmart, Blue/green stripe: Roxy (from Ross, I think), Black floral: Ross (brand new, never been worn), Yellow print: Old Navy

BLOUSES

Polka dots: Ross, White: Express, Butterflies: Wet Seal

SHIRTS

Stripe: Shade (thrifted), Yellow: Down East, Orange: Aeropostale, Purple: Old Navy

I have mixed in a lot of things that I haven't worn in a long time, with several brand new things. I will be fun! Wish me luck!

I will continue to post my clothes on Tuesday night as usual. So the first round of remix outfits will be published Tuesday, June 21.

Have a great week!

Shop Your Closet: Kendi's Hot Pink Blazer

Shop Your Closet is a feature where I find some inspiration and then go shopping in my closet to recreate it. This way I am exercising my creativity without spending any money.

When I saw this outfit from Kendi Everyday, I was so glad I hadn't got rid of my hot pink blazer. What a fun way to wear it- I had really only ever worn mine with solid white or black. I had the blazer, striped shirt, skinny jeans, and nude colored heels to make this look work.

But when I tried it on, the stripes were too big and too wide and just didn't do it for me. I tried it on with a polka dot top and liked it better. I made it my own.

I also haven't worn these shoes in a long time. Thanks Kendi for the inspiration to shop my closet!

You can totally see my toe rings through those shoes. A few weeks ago one of my students said "who wears toe rings anymore?" to which I quickly stepped out of my flats and showed her my toes. She felt kind of dumb for saying that but maybe she's right. Maybe nobody but me wears toe rings anymore. But I love them and I don't care.

"Shop Your Closet" has been a little bit sporadic in the past. I am going to try to make it a weekly Saturday feature. It will be good for me to create new outfits each week so I feel like I have something new without going shopping.

I am also thinking about making it into a party. Is anyone interested in participating? You can shop your own closet, post your outfit and link it up to my blog for others to see. The inspiration can be a designer, a fashion blogger, your neighbor, a color scheme, an ice cream cone, whatever! I can even give ideas each week to help inspire you for those interested. For example, one theme can be "black and white" meaning that you have to create an outfit that is (or just contains) black and white that you have never worn before with items you already have in your closet. Please let me know what you think! I know something like this would start pretty small, but I don't want to do it if NOBODY wants to participate. Leave a comment or send an email to aubreelarsen@hotmail.com!

Who I Met and a Winner!

And the winner, as chosen by random.org, is...... comment #7- Laura Woodbury! Woot woot! Congratulations! : ) Email me your address and I will send you the belt!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated. It was really fun to get to know you and check out your blogs. Here are a few of the fun things I found:


Camille at Sugar Baby Boutique made this gorgeous version of the book page wreath. This is one project that has been on my to do list for a long time!


I love fruit, I love trifle, and I love red, white, blue. This dessert is on my to do list. It is from AJCrazies.

I met Melissa at That Girl who made this darling bird charm. I love birds. I must make this. She also has some other great jewelry tutorials including a cool Anthro necklace knock-off.

These amazing shoes were made by Suburbs Mama. They are Mod Podged with glitter. She also made a better than the original Shabby Apple dress, and has several great tutorials on belts. We all know how much I love a good belt!

If you were featured, feel free to jet right over HERE and grab a button!

Thanks again! It was lots of fun!

What I Wore

Dress: Forever 21, Cardi: Kohls, Necklace: Forever 21, Shoes: Target

This is the picture I referred to the other day when I said that husband had a hard time taking photos. At least I am smiling.

Shirt: Ross, Jeans: Old Navy, Shoes: Forever Young Shoes, Necklace: F21, Bag: Coldwater Creek

So I decided to try to take my own outfit photos. You can see the rest here.

Shirt: Old Navy (altered by mom), Blazer: Target, Shorts: Shade, Shoes: Target, Bracelet: Made by me and will be featured during bracelet week on YBB June 27-July 1

I tried to take my own outfit photos again, but this time I did it sitting down. Kind of hard to see the clothes maybe, but my hair looks good and I actually have a normal look on my face! : )


The rest of the week I was sick with a cold so I didn't even get dressed. I wore some hand-me-down sweat shorts that have bleach stains but are sooo comfy for three days in a row. Didn't think you would care to see that!

LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY, FRIENDS!!!

(Linking up with the Pleated Poppy)