Shop Your Closet

This week I shopped my closet for an outfit to match to a scarf. I said I was going to match a scarf I hadn't ever worn.... and I didn't. (In this post you can see the two other ways I have worn this scarf.) But I did wear something brand new!

Although I LOVE this jacket, I hadn't worn it yet this year, so I thought it was a great addition to an outfit in which I am supposed to be shopping my closet for something new to wear.
(See how I wore it here to model an Anthro shirt refashion I did.)


Wearing Target jacket and scarf, Old Navy shirt, Gap pants, and Forever Young boots

NEXT SHOPPING TRIP: 30 FOR 30 REMIX. I am taking a break from the weekly shopping trip prompt to participate in a longer style challenge. Basically, you choose 30 items from your closet and make 30 outfits for 30 days. Come back later today to see what items have I picked (and how I am bending the rules).

Want to join in? I will post all of my remixed outfits for the week on Saturdays and continue the linky party so you can link up. BTW, you can link up any outfit post! I would be happy to get a linky with thumbnail photos but since so few people link up I haven't yet.

P.S. It's not too late to go over to GiGis Petals to get a slamming deal on one of my Blooming Sash Belts. You have until the 16th!

Have I Got a Deal For You! (Blooming Belt Sale)

Have you heard of GiGis Petals yet? It's a site that has daily deals on handmade items. Starting today you can get a Blooming Sash Belt from Yellow Blackbird for only $10! Choose from black, red, or white, and there is no limit on how many you can order! Hurry and click on over to GiGis petals to grab this deal while it lasts!

If you have had your eye on another color of the Blooming Sash Belt contact me and let's talk about what we can do for you. aubreelarsen@gmail.com

Handmade by Mrs. H

I'd like to introduce to a sponsor of Yellow Blackbird.... Handmade by Mrs. H! This darling Etsy shop is ran by Samantha in the UK.

She makes darling handbags such as this purple tweed one. Love the embellishment!

This rosette brooch is to die for! I love the color and the style!

Samantha's shop is filled with these wonderful cushions. They come in so many different styles such as this blue and white polka dot one.

Samantha also runs the blog At Home with Mrs. H. She is the best participant in my Shop Your Closet feature.

Go say hello! And tell her Yellow Blackbird sent you!

What I Wore

Is anyone up for a 30 for 30 remix? (Don't know what that is? Check out this link to read about it. Basically you choose 30 items from your closet and make 30 outfits for 30 days just from those items and any accessories). I have been waiting and waiting for Kendi to announce a fall one (I even asked her about it on Facebook) but I don't know that she is going to do it, so I am going to start on my own. It's fun to do with other bloggers so anyone want to join me?

I will be starting this Saturday. I will continue to post my weekly "Shop Your Closet" linky party on Saturdays but instead of a weekly challenge I will be doing 30 for 30 for the next month. Feel free to come on Saturday and link up if you want to participate in the remix (or have other outfits to share).

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It was cold this week! I got to bundle up!

Wearing Old Navy jeans, Forever Young boots, Old Navy t-shirt, ??? jacket, F21 ear warmer.

I love this picture. I love the yellow ear warmer. I love the pop of color. Don't I look better with curled hair? I am SO glad I finally figured out how to do it!

Wearing Target sweater, Old Navy Jeans, Madden girl boots, F21 ear warmer, gifted necklace from a SIL

I just got this sweater over the weekend. Isn't it awesome? I love yellow and gray.

I can't believe it took until this winter for me to get on board the ear warmer trend. I love it! It keeps me warm without being the full hat. They have sort of a flapper vibe which I am over the moon about! Over the weekend I made some ear warmers with a friend. Watch for that in an upcoming post!

Also coming up... my boot socks! I "made" them myself. I will be posting about that soon too!

Can you guess which coat I wore with the above 2 outfits? Yup, that one.

Wearing Cold Water Creek blazer, ??? skirt, Express shirt, belt traded with Paige, Walmart tights

All browns. As much as I love color, a little monochromatic outfit never hurt anyone. Isn't the jacket divine?

Wearing Ross dress, boutique cardigan and belt, Madden Girl boots, Charlotte Russe necklace

Ah, color. You are back! And in a big way. Nothing like a punch of orange to brighten your day! The wind did some crazy things with the dress in the photo. It kind of makes me dizzy to look at. Sorry!


One last thing... isn't Spencer doing a good job with the photos? Our schedules now allow us more days that he can take my picture. He says that he feels like dying every time I ask him, but he does it anyway. (I only take 1 minute and we only take 3-5 photos every time so it's not a huge deal...) Love you! Thanks!

Validation

I know that not many of you are going to want to hang around my blog for 15 minutes to watch this entire video. But you won't regret it if you do. We watched it for Family Home Evening tonight (it's not church related though) and talked about how we can be happier each day if we are trying to make other people smile. I saw it for the first time 1 week ago and have been thinking about it and trying to act on it. It has made a difference in my life.

(Sorry in advance for the quick "h" word at the beginning!)

Follow this link if the video isn't displayed properly.

Have a great week everyone!!

Shop Your Closet

This week I went shopping in my closet to find an outfit to wear with my khakis and this is what I came up with. I followed some of the tips in the article from Already Pretty that I linked you to last week, such as the cognac boots. But I really went out a limb and wore red with tan. This was a stretch for me, not only because I don't want to look a Target employee, but because the kids at my school wear red and tan as part of their uniform and I don't want to match or be mixed with the students. The brown jacket solved that problem.

I started with the pants, of course, then added the boots. As I was rummaging around for a shirt, I found the red and though, why not? But this shirt pretty much has wings so I needed something to make it look more fitting. Last time (and the time before) that I wore this I used a black belt so I wanted something different. The jacket was just the thing.

Throw in a green bracelet for some color and voila!

Did you try out your khakis? Or shop your closet in any other way? Link up below!

NEXT SHOPPING TRIP: SCARF I am going to plan an outfit around one (or two) of the new scarves I have that I haven't worn yet.

Be inspired to join in:

Make it the focus of your outfit.

Mix your patterns like Jessica.

Go neutral with a pop like this.

Add a pretty pattern like Emerald.

Tie it in a bow.

Or one of these 25 ways.

Paper Quilling Inspiration

Source: 100christmastrees.blogspot.com via Aubree on Pinterest

If you look closely, this amazing work of art is made up from small rolled up pieces of paper. It's an art called paper quilling. See more amazing art like this on artyulia.com.

Paper quilling is something I have been interested in for a long time. I tried it once in high school but wasn't really following the correct techniques. I just purchased this Paper Quilling for Dummies kit from Hobby Lobby so I could learn. I am excited to get started making some fun projects.

But first, I will be practicing the basic shapes:

Source: increations.blogspot.com via Aubree on Pinterest

Eventually I want to make a monogram like one of these:

Source: typographyserved.com via Aubree on Pinterest

Source: craftastical.com via Aubree on Pinterest

I will be sure to show you what I come up with!

What I Wore

How was everyone's Halloween? It was our first time staying home to pass out candy. We sat on the porch and ate pizza while we passed out candy because there was a very steady stream of kids. We grossly underestimated how much candy it would take so eventually we had to sneak in the house and turn off all the lights. Did you check out my awesome Tron costume yet?

F21 cardi, Old Navy t-shirt and scarf, Gap pants, Forever Young boots

I really loved how this outfit turned out. Simple, matching, cozy. I love yellow and gray together.

Old Navy sweater, Target dress and boots, Express shirt, Ross belt

This outfit was inspired by Suburbs Mama in this outfit. I have been waiting for months to wear it. The skirt is really a dress but it looks terrible as a dress on me. I pulled it up under my arms so it looked shorter.


Don't forget that this week I am shopping my closet for khakis. I haven't worn my outfit yet.. I need some time to play in my closet and figure it out.

Retro Room Redo

Do you remember my retro room? It's our downstairs family room. Recently we gave it a small facelift. Over the summer I gathered retro-inspired paraphernalia and we rearranged all the decor to add it in. I want the walls to be plastered with stuff, like a themed restaurant.

(This wall has an empty space... waiting for me to make or find something...)

The photos don't do it justice. It's such a fun room! So if you have any unused retro-inspired decor, send it my way! : )

Halloween!! Quorra from Tron and Clark Kent Costumes

My Halloween costume this year was Quorra from the movie Tron: Legacy. As soon as I walked out of the theater last spring I knew this is what I wanted to be for Halloween.

For the light up effect, I sewed little elastic loops to my clothes and ran EL wire through the loops. The battery pack is in my boot. It looks so cool in the dark. I purchased the identity disc on Amazon and husband built the mount using recycled materials and spray paint

Coolest. Costume. Ever.

I love my Quorra Tron costume!

Spencer went as Clark Kent.

He is so creative. This was kind of a last minute costume and he had the idea to wire the tie so it looked like it was blowing in the wind.

I LOVE dressing up!

Quorra and Clark

And finally, this is my good friend Holly who dressed up as a disco ball. She even had a tape player (yes a tape player) inside the disco ball so she could turn on music!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!