What I Wore

I have felt in a bit of a clothing rut lately... but there's nothing like a bout of cold weather and dash of snow to put a little excitement in one's wardrobe!

I loved this outfit. I am sporting my new almost knee-high boots and have my scarf belted. I love wearing the scarf that way because it stays in place, but isn't heavy because there is no knot.

I added my new yellow coat from Old Navy to go out. I wore this outfit for dinner out on Saturday, but loved it so much that I switched the jeans for black pants and wore it to work on Monday too. Isn't the coat fab??

I also really loved this look. I am so happy to be wearing my ruffle boots again. I am so happy to have a long mustard cardi this season. I am also wearing my new silver leaf charm but you can't see it very well. I wore this for a night out with friends, so I will repeat it (maybe with slight variation) for work and a family party or something. If it isn't the same people seeing the outfit, I don't mind wearing it again.

My boot is a little too slouchy in this picture, but this is another one of my new pairs for this fall (I got 3!). This skirt came from the thrift store. I have decided that thrifting isn't my favorite thing to do. But occasionally I will try it out and hopefully find some great stuff.

This last look is what I threw on to go grocery shopping one night. A funky hoodie, warm scarf, and snuggly boots. Maybe not the most fashion forward thing, but I was comfy and warm!

Don't forget that the shopping trip I am taking into my closet this week is all about finding inspiration on Pinterest. I actually wore my outfit already (and loved it!) but am saving my photo for Saturday. Come back to link up either an outfit that was inspired by Pinterest, or anything else you came up with while shopping in your closet.

Linking up with Momma Go Round and Pleated Poppy.

Jewelry Basics: Dangle Necklace

A few weeks ago I began a series called "Jewelry Basics" and I told you all about what tools and findings are needed to make jewelry. It's time to put those supplies to good use. I will be doing several necklace tutorials demonstrating techniques. Each necklace is a sort of Anthropologie/ModCloth inspired piece, but you can use the techniques to make any style you want.


This tutorial shows you a basic dangle technique you can use to make a myriad of pieces.

Materials need:
Basic chain
Decorative chain if desired
Clasp
Jump rings
Head pins
Beads
Round nose pliers
Regular pliers
Wire cutters

Begin by cutting a desired length of chain. I chose to use several inches of basic chain to hang the bead dangles on, and the rest the fancier chain making the total length of my necklace 19.5 inches.

To make the dangles, put one bead on the head pin.

Using round nose pliers bend the wire sideways...

...then use your other hand to turn the wire to opposite direction, making a hook. This takes a little bit of practice.

Attach the bead to the chain, and use wire cutters to clip the extra wire. Use round or regular pliers to close the hook.

Repeat until you have the desired amount of dangles. Hang them all directions on the chain.

If you are going to attach the basic chain to something else follow this next step: attach a jump ring to the end of the chain by using pliers to pull it apart. Slip the chain or clasp on (see below) and close the ring.

Use the same technique to attach a clasp.

And you are done! This technique can be used to make bracelets too. (My fireworks bracelet is one example).

I would love to see what you make using this technique. Email me and I would love to feature you! (aubreelarsen@gmail.com)

If you are interested in purchasing this one-of-a-kind piece, you can find it in my Etsy Shop. There will only be this one, so hurry!

I will be linking up to these parties.

Shop Your Closet

Wahoo! A couple of you tried out the brooches last week! You did great! Thanks for joining me!

This week's shopping trip was to wear some of that holiday sparkle before the holidays. I chose to wear this green glittery tank. I remember going shopping with my friend Erica and she helped me pick this out. We got in at Papaya in December of 2005. We also bought a shrug from Express. It was the first shrug/cardigan type item I bought. I wore them both to our New Year's Eve party. This was about 1 year before husband and I started dating, but I already had a big crush on him. I felt like I was looking fine that night. : ) Since then, I have really only wore this on holidays. I decided this week to wear it on a regular 'ol day.

I chose to pair the tank with my favorite blue cardigan, black skinnies, and my favorite brown boots. (If you have been with me for awhile you might recall how many times I wore this cardi/boot combo last year. Looks like we're in for that again!) I am also wearing a new leaf necklace that I picked up at the Gem Faire a couple of weekends ago.

I don't know if I am completely satisfied with this. I had something else in mind, but didn't try it on the night before. When I got dressed in the morning it looked terrible so I quickly grabbed this cardigan and went with it. It look okay, though. I have thought of a few other ways to wear this so hopefully we'll be seeing it a bit more.

And seeing it was the first day of winter (remember how I said it snowed?) I am glad I bundled up in a coat and scarf!

Did you play along? Link up below! I realize this feature is mostly about me and may be hard to participate in. Does anyone have any suggestions for future shopping trips into our closets? I am up for new ideas! Please use the button and spread the love.



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NEXT SHOPPING TRIP: PINTEREST INSPIRED. I have a ton of ideas waiting for my closet on my style board on Pinterest. This week I am going to put those to good use and come up with a new outfit. If you don't use Pinterest you can borrow my board, or just be inspired by another blogger, an ad, or something else on the Internet.

Good luck!

P.S. thanks for letting me know the linky wasn't working last week. Continue to report problems!

Touches of Fall and Anticipation!

Putting up my fall decorations is one of the best times of the year. It is the anticipation of things to come... Halloween, fall leaves, Thanksgiving, and best of all Christmas!!! Husband and I plan out the entire season and we will do holiday-ish things pretty much every weekend for the rest of the year (we're kicking it off this weekend with a Halloween movie, hot chocolate, and homemade pumpkin cookies if all goes according to plan).

I have known what my Halloween costume would be since spring and have been buying stuff for it all year. Today I made the final purchase on amazon.com and in 5-8 business days I will be putting on the finishing touches! Nope, sorry, I don't tell anyone what my costume is going to be, unless my mom helps make something, then she gets to know.

It snowed today! It's so strange that just 4-5 days ago it was in the 80s, and today there was a little bit of snow on the ground. It was strange to have green leaves on the trees during this storm. The leaves haven't even changed yet. The seasons are all mixed up! It's supposed to warm up again next week, but there's nothing like a little bit of snow to get you in the holiday spirit!

I just love the feeling of anticipation in the air and in my heart! That sounds super cheesy, but it's true! Happy holiday season!

Boot Storage

If you are like me, your boots get stuffed in the closet all jumbled and misshapen like this. You can see an example in this post. Poor sad boot. Then one day I was reading Already Pretty and the author suggested using bottles or magazines to stand your boots upright! Genius!

Just grab a magazine, roll it up, stuff it down the boot and....

voila! It stands up straight!

I had to do this with all of my boots of course.

I loved how it looked so much to husband's chagrin, I commandeered this shelf in the closet. Where there used to be a pile of old dirty work shirts, there is now a lot of boot eye candy! I am happy to have a bit more organization in my closet! Makes it much easier to shop my closet : )

And I am happy to finally have some weather where I can wear my boots! Too bad we skipped straight from summer to winter!

What I Wore

Well, today October 4th, the high in this part of Utah was 80. Tomorrow the high is 65. Thursday, the current projected high is 49. Gotta love the Utah weather. SCARVES AND BOOTS HERE I COME! And probably some complaining about the cold too... sigh....

Skinnies and a flowy top. I love it. I totally have to belt this shirt or I look like I have wings!

Good bye summer version of this dress. Next time I see you, you'll look like this.

I wore my Rosie the Riveter necklace with this dress. Husband gave it to me for my birthday. I love it. I love her. I love him! Remember when I dressed as Rosie?

I'm telling ya, taking pics of yourself at 7:00 am is tough. I hope this looked better in person.

I wore a little bit of sparkle, in preparation for this week's shopping trip into my closet. I am happy with the many ways I have found to style this tank.

Well, gotta keep it short and sweet tonight. I am late for bed and morning comes too soon!

Linking up with Pleated Poppy and Momma Go Round.

Shop MY Closet... Last chance!

Good Monday morning! I just wanted to let you know that this is your last chance to check out my blog clothes sale. Everything is priced way below what you would get in a thrift store.

In a few days I will take down the inventory, donate it, and replace it with new items for sale.

Check it out here and hurry and email me if you want to buy (or trade) something! aubreelarsen@gmail.com

Have a great week!

Shop Your Closet

This week's shopping trip was to look for a new outfit wearing a brooch. How did you do?

I made this brooch; it's the same flower from the Blooming Sash Belts, but with a pin back on it. I love it! I got quite a few compliments that day. I wore it for parent teacher conferences, but half way through first period I had to shed the sweater for the rest of the day so I moved the flower to the shirt.

Shirt: hand me down, Cardi: Target, Belt: Ross, Flower: Made by me, skirt: Ross, Shoes: Steve Madden via Ross

How did you do? Link up below!

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NEXT SHOPPING TRIP: Sparkles. I have several pieces that I have bought for Christmas parties and stuff and then don't wear again. Is that wasteful just to them wear once or twice per year? Many people wear sparkles and sequins during the week. I am going to try to wear something this week. Are you in?

Inspiration:

Kendi guest posting at pretty shiny sparkly.

Chici Bella has a cute outfit board.

How to Find Yourself on Pinterest

Maybe you know this already, but it was a fun discovery for me. If you want to see if anyone has pinned something from your blog go to this site:

http://pinterest.com/source/yellowblackbird.blogspot.com/

EXCEPT replace the yellowblackbird address with your own and voila!

Unfortunately you can't do that for Etsy shops. Pinterest doesn't categorize Etsy shops separate. : (

It's really fun! I love seeing what people have pinned from my site. A couple of you have even pinned some of my outfits which is very flattering!

It's also great if you find a blog and want to quickly see what projects or outfits that person has made. I love seeing what's been pinned from Kendi Everyday or Sunday Crossbow. It makes for a great look book!

Sponsor Yellow Blackbird!

Let's consider this a trial run, a "soft opening" if you will.

This is a great opportunity for small blogs/Etsy shops, etc. to get a little more exposure.

Yellow Blackbird is still small but is growing bigger literally every day. I currently have a little over 450 followers (check the side bar for the most current number) and receive between 8,000-10,000 hits per month.

I post at least 3-4 times per week and link to many blog parties, including "What I Wore" at Pleated Poppy which brings a lot of traffic to my blog.

I am going to offer ad space for the rest of 2011 for only $5 per month, or $12 for all three months. At the end of December I will reevaluate my stats and adjust the price accordingly, if needed.

This price also includes 1 blog post about your blog/shop/etc. sometime during the month(s).

Maximum ad space is 185 X 185 pixels. Email me if you are interested! aubreelarsen@gmail.com Your ad will go live Saturday!

I will only be accepting family friendly, G rated ads!