Category: accessories

Avoid Grey weather turning into a Grey mood

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This time of year, all we see is the cold, grey of winter. It’s easy to fall into a grey mood as we patiently (or not so patiently) wait for spring.  Here are 2 easy ideas to help you avoid the doldrums:

2020_brightsBrighten up your outfits.  When the temperatures outside fall below freezing, it seems we tend to think that means we should be dressing in dark dull colors. Liven up your dark ensembles with pops of bright colors. Things to look for at your local Goodwill Store include scarves, tank tops, belts or other layering pieces.

2020_clutter

Spring clean – a little early. After the holidays, my office is a disaster. Well, if I am being honest, everything in my house feels cluttered and unorganized.  We all have that room in our home that seems to accumulate all the “stuff” over the holidays. Take an afternoon and re-organize that space. Focusing on just one room isn’t as overwhelming as thinking about your entire home. Take all the extra things and duplicate items that you find and donate them to Goodwill. Keep the other rooms of your home free from clutter by not re-storing things you don’t use over the holidays.

DIY Jewelry Organizer

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One of the things I seem to struggle with is wearing all of the great accessories I’ve collected over the years.  It seems I always wear the same few pieces…because I can see them, they are on top of the pile (know what I mean?).

The notion of being able to see all of my jewelry coupled with a good storage option has been something I’ve been frustrated with for a long time.  I’ve tried hanging everything on a necklace tree, I purchased a piece of furniture that held my jewelry, I even invested in stack-able trays thinking that was the ticket to storing all of my jewelry pieces.

None of those things worked.

When a modern mom has a problem like this, what does she do?  She turns to Pinterest of course!  I saw some DIY jewelry organizers that I thought might work, so I decided to make my own.  And I must say, it is working very well!  The best thing about this DIY project is you don’t have to be crafty or own a bunch of tools to have a great looking final product.

DIY PICTURE FRAME JEWELRY ORGANIZER


STEP 1
First, head to your local Goodwill store and find a picture frame that you love.  It doesn’t matter what is inside (what the picture is), just look for a decorative frame (or maybe something simple) that will match your decor. The best frames for this project will be large bulky frames.  Look for something that is made of wood  and that is at least 1 1/2″ thick. I found 3 frames to use for this project.  Two smaller frames (about 8×10), and one larger frame (about 24×30).  I will use the smaller one for bracelets and earrings, and the larger one for necklaces.

STEP 2

The second step is to head to a craft store or hardware store.  I stopped by a hardware store and purchased $14 worth of supplies.  They include:

  1. A variety of small ‘S’ hooks
  2. A roll of chicken wire (sometimes called Hardware Cloth)
  3. Some heavy duty thumb tacks

STEP 3
Prepare the picture frame by removing all of the backing.

Next, measure how much of the Chicken Wire you will need to cut to fit the frame.  I cut the piece to fit the back of the frame, leaving about 1/4″ border. Using wire cutters (mine are technically floral cutters), trim a piece of the Chicken Wire to fit the back of your frame.

STEP 4

Affix the backing using a hammer and the large thumb tacks.  Next, using the ‘S’ hooks, plan how you will organize your jewelry pieces on the frame. It is OK if the chicken wire is a little loose, or not flat.  If the wire is flat against the wall, it will make it harder to hang the ‘s’ hooks.

I didn’t finish the edges of mine, but I think I might add some heavy duty tape (like packing tape) to the edges on the back of the frame. This will help secure the wire to the frame, and protect the wall from the raw edges of the wire.

Step 5

The last step is to nail your jewelry organizer to the wall.  I used 2 basic picture hanging nails. Enjoy seeing all of your jewelry pieces neatly organized!  And the best part, it takes up unused wall space in your closet! BONUS!

TRENDS – Spring is finally here!

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One quick way to add some life into your wardrobe is with a dash of a current trend.  Nothing feels better than adding several new pieces into your closet; things you love, that fit you well that are spot-on and trendy.

Let’s be honest – revamping our closets every season just to maintain relevancy and life can be really expensive!

Let’s think of trends in terms of accessories.  Handbags, shoes, jewelry are all ways we can take a simple monochromatic outfit from drab to fab! …and can maintain our budget at the same time!

OVERSIZED SUNGLASSES
Channel your inner Jackie-O with some over-sized sunglasses this season. The bigger, the more colorful the better!  This trend leans a little catroonish in style.

Thrift shops always have a ton of sunglasses in a variety of styles. Be sure to check out this section next time you are at your local Goodwill store. 

LUCITE DETAILS
This trend reminds me of the 70’s and 80’s in a BIG way.  I remember my Mom having a pair of sandals that were see-through Lucite.  They had little flowers that were glued on the toe. Ahhhh yes, memories!

Today, this trend is a great thing to look for at your local Goodwill.  The true fashionista will want to embrace this trend in its pure form: the mod vintage feel from the 70’s and 80’s!

THE TOTE
Another big trend this season is the tote.  I love the notion of this, especially for summer.  Imagine yourself strolling through an open air market, with your super trendy cool tote to hold all of your goodies!  Or for moms, consider doing away with the baby-bag and embrace something a bit more sophisticated in this season’s trendy tote!

One thing I always check out at Thrift Shops is handbags.  You never know what you are going to find there!  This season, be sure to train your eye to look for the larger bags. 

BOLD METAL
In jewelry, the trend is strong metals.  Bold, thick metal statement pieces are all the rage!  And, yes, GOLD is very on-trend right now.

Consider layering your jewelry this season to create this big bulky look.

Did you know that most Goodwill stores have a section just for jewelry?  I have visited dozens and dozens of Goodwill stores all over the country, and I notice the jewelry counter / display seems to get overlooked. If you are a collector or maybe someone who likes to make or re-purpose jewelry, check out this area of your local Goodwill store.

How To Make T-Shirt Flowers

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Today I wanted to share with you an easy and fun project you can create from some common items that you can find at your local Goodwill Store. Today’s inspiration came from a bag of clip on earrings that I found when browsing through the jewelry section of the store and the sea of endless t-shirts in every variety of color that you can find on their racks.

For this project you will need a t-shirt (any size), spray paint in a contrasting color, clip on earrings, hot glue, glue sticks, scissors, a piece of card stock to make your template, and one piece of felt.

  1. To begin, you will need to cut out eleven circles out of your old t-shirt. I used a large circle punch and created my template out of scrap card stock. You could also just trace a lid to a canning jar, if you don’t have a circle punch handy.

  2. Grab your piece of felt and cut a heart out for the base of your flower or you can cut a simple felt circle.

  3. Let’s make some flower petals. Fold your circle in half as shown.

  4. Fold up one side of the circle that has been folded in half.

  5. Fold up the other half of the halved circle and have it meet with the other side to form a petal.

  6. Now hot glue the seam just a tiny bit together where the petal is gathered and then hot glue the end of the petal to the felt heart.

  7. Repeat this with all four ends of the heart.

  8. In the spaces left, fill in with three or four more petals.

  9. Spray paint your clip on earrings in your favorite color. Allow this to dry.

  10. Remove the back of the earring with a pair of pliers. Hot glue the earring to the center

  11. On the back of your fabric flower, you can attach a simple jewelry pin that you can find in the jewelry section of your favorite craft store.

  12. Wear your thrift store pin proudly!


Have you ever done anything fun with thrift store t-shirts? Feel free to share your ideas for ways you craft with Goodwill supplies here. We would love to hear them!

Question: What do I do with this holiday weight?

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I thought about making a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight – but really…would I? Is weight a matter of something to be “lost” or something to simply deal with once and for all? It seems that losing something implies you will find it again. I am deciding to deal with the weight thing – whatever medical, psychological, caloric, emotional thing it is…it will be dealt with once and for all!

But how to start?

I assume I should start by making myself feel better. Ever notice when you feel like you look OK, you seem to be more motivated? Looking your best at whatever weight will do more for your psyche than any diet I have ever tried. A visit to Goodwill for some new items to add to your wardrobe can do wonders without breaking the budget.

Step 1: make sure we feel like we look our best…every single day!

This means employing a few “hide weight” tricks. Here are the tips I plan on living by:

PATTERN – When you are trying to disguise a little extra weight, pattern can help you or really hurt you. Pay attention to where pattern and detail lies on your outfit. For example, if you don’t want people to notice your midsection and hips, then don’t put any detail (pattern, belts, color contrast) in that section.

However, some pattern can act as camouflage. For example, an all over pattern on a wrap dress. This option is a very slimming and is forgiving of bumps and bulges. If the pattern thing seems too complicated, and if you are worried about making a mistake – for the time being, skip it and go with outfits that are monochromatic.

COLOR – I would be lying if I said monochromatic (all black) wasn’t a good option…especially since I live in this community, and see so many of you out and about – you’d bust me (since I wear all black a lot – it is a problem, and it another New Year’s Resolution). In our quest to keep attention away from trouble areas, lets strategically wear pops of color; for example a colorful scarf or a bright red shoe. This will bring the attention to your face, or bring it down to your feet. That tactic is one of my favorites, as long as you don’t notice lumps and bumps in the middle, I am OK with face and foot attention!

STYLE – When we put on a few pounds, we seem to hibernate and pull out the muumuu from the back of our closets. This is a mistake. It is important when you’ve added a few lbs that you wear the right style for your shape; things that fit as opposed to oversized and baggy (non structured) pieces. Concentrate on defining your waist, be sure the cut of clothing you wear is flattering to your shape rather than hiding it. Choose clothing that creates an hourglass silhouette…rather than a bowling ball silhouette.

FABRIC – When you feel a little thick in the middle, be conscious about what kinds of fabrics you wear. Avoid overly heavy fabrics, and likewise, avoid very thin fabrics. Heavy fabrics (like tweed) can add extra weight to your look. Thin fabrics have a tendency to cling…in all the wrong places. Thin fabrics are OK, if you are using them as first layer pieces…but definitely not as the statement to your outfit.

Remember – extra fabric will translate (visually) to more weight. It seems to me, this is the opposite of what our goal is (to look thinner!).

FINALLY…
The simple fact is looking your best lies in your attitude and the presence you have in your clothing. Embracing WHO you are under the jackets and jeans will make those jackets and jeans look amazing on you…the you today, and the you of tomorrow!

…and when you become the ‘you of tomorrow’, go through your closet and donate all of the clothing you don’t need to Goodwill!

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Photo Credits:
http://gigabiting.com
http://health.com
www.clker.com
http://flatstomachplan.com

Sparkle…the Goodwill way!

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PHOTO: http://tangarangblog.blogspot.com

This time of year, we’re all looking to add some glitz and glam into our holiday wardrobes. I have an idea…put on your crafty hat, and get to bedazzling! Find a perfect tank, or perfect blouse and add a few sequins. Adding just a touch of glitz can transform something that is rather boring into something that is fabulous!
PHOTO: http://www.chictopia.com 

 
You can also purchase glitzey appliques from any craft or fabric store. You could also purchase sequin fabric, and add a band of sparkle to a skirt, top, gloves or anything! 
PHOTO: http://www.recycledlovelies.com

Even adding a little pop of shine with a hair accessory can bring up the wow factor in your holiday garb.
PHOTO: http://www.prudentbaby.com

Tips on how to add sequins can be found at: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-sew-on-sequins