Love Struck >> Arrow Bobby Pins Tutorial

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and we are all set.  Ivy's classroom Valentines are made, her box is ready to go and her hairstyle all planned out.   We looked up some Valentine's inspired hair tutorials on youtube and fell in love with heart braids.  It is cute to see Ivy {finally} get excited about doing her hair.  She even practices making her own hair tutorial videos in the mirror.   To add our own touch to her heart braids we made some arrow bobby pins to make the braids a Cupid's heart. 

To make your own Love Struck bobby pins you need just some tiny scraps of material >> ours are leather and felt <<  bobby pins and a hot glue gun.   To make two bobby pins you will need 3 small squares of material.  

Take the first square and cut it in half diagonally.  This gives you the two arrowheads.   With the second square, first cut a triangle notch out of the top.  Then cut the bottom corners off at an angle to make a point.  Carefully snip the sides of your square to give it a feather look.  Repeat with the third square.  These are your arrow tails.  All that is left is to hot glue the arrowheads and tails to the top of your bobby pins.

Gray skies bring out the hipster in me.

  

I find it much easier to be fashionable in the winter.  Don't you?  Boots. Skinnies. Shirt. {P}leather coat.  Scarf.  Maybe a hat.  Done.  So what if it only varies slightly each time right? The only person who sees me on a regular basis is Darin.  And lets be honest.  He is stoked to see me in that cuz I don't have sweats on ;) And being monochromatic is very hip of me don't you think?  

Sometimes a pop of color is good though. Yes?   As soon as I saw this sweater at H&M I knew it was coming home with me.  I'm pretty sure I have wanted it all of my life.  It is kitchy, it is coral-y red and the reindeer are perfectly Scandanavian.  Which goes really well with my Scandinavian coloring.   Speaking of which Ivy has informed me that my hair is not blonde.  Sniff.  Its just the Instagram filter sweetie. Don't let the Walden fool you.  Also if you want to feel really good about your *rear view*  just try on clothes at the Washington Square H&M in Portland.  The mirrors will do your body image good.  Seriously.  

And to get Ivy back for the non-blonde comment I'm posting a picture of her five year old fashion sense. This was her awesome church attire on Sunday.   I failed to teach her not to wear socks with sandals.  But apparently she picked up on the whole monochromatic thing. 

Ruffled Sunshine Summer Essentials

What?!  There are still two whole months of summer left so don't look at me like I should be giving you fall essentials.  Here are my faves from this summer.  

1.  Sanuk Yoga Mat flip flops.  The most comfortable flips evah.

2.  Mighty Mango.  I have some shade of pink on my toes all summer long.  Right now its neon.

3.  I finally used up my huge stock of lotion.  I got this one from Pink and la la love it.  Sad face its not available online but your local VS might still have it.

4.  A brand new worn out sweatshirt is my fave.  June Gloom by billabong.  I got mine at TJMaxx for $18 so check there first

5.  This stuff will rock your socks.  Big Sexy Hair Powder Play volumizing powder.  My friend Steph gave it to me to try.  Get it.  You will love it.

6.  My go to skirt, black + white stripes from Target.  If you are lucky you might find one in stores.  

Pretty Pink Pleats

I've been saving this skirt for the perfect spring day. 

 It is totally twirly and terrific, and only cost twelve dollars!

skirt: h&m

shoes: steve madden

{linking up with the pleated poppy}

Patches

Stripes and elbow patches.  Be still my heart.  My mom + sis know me well cuz they got this cardigan for me for Christmas.  

sweater:: H&M

green shirt:: old navy

jeans:: target skinnies

boots: old navy 

I've loved wearing it with different shirts.  But this combo might be my fave.  I may or may not walk around rubbing the patches since they are super soft suede.  

Linking up at WIWW 

Today I have a fun post for you from my bloggy friend Andrea!  She was my hoop art swap partner and I'm s and I can't wait to meet her this fall at Blog Sugar!  She is one stylin mama and I'm so happy to have her here today.  If you are new from Andrea's Space welcome I hope you'll stick around!

Hi Ruffled Sunshine readers!  I'm Andrea from Four Flights of Fancy, where I blog about the things I love in life, primarily family, faith, fashion and food.  I post a weekly series titled Playgrounds & Lollipops where I highlight one of my favorite outfits of the week that is child tested and mother approved, and will hopefully give a little inspiration to step outside of your style comfort zone and try something new.

I'm excited that Jenn asked me to guest post today and share some of my tips I've learned along the way while working most of my professional life in the fashion industry.  I'm a stay at home mom now, but still love to feel comfortable and stylish on a budget.  My style is not complicated or fussy, so you usually don't see my doing a lot of layering, or wearing a ton of accessories.  Getting dressed in the morning shouldn't make your head hurt is my motto.  But there are a few things I keep in mind when shopping and choosing my outfit for the day that I'd like to share.

Basic Isn't Always Better is the whole premise that I try to build my wardrobe on.  When I first became a mom, I stayed home with my daughter for the first year of her life before I went back to work.  I was dealing with an infant and I was on a budget, so I developed this mindset that each new piece of clothing I bought or wore had to be basic so that I could wear it multiple times and with many different outfits.  But what I quickly found was that I just looked the same everyday and my closet didn't bring me any joy.  For me, getting dressed helps me feel good and is something I look forward to everyday.  It's my creative outlet.  So when everything in my closet shifted to solid colors with nothing as a stand out piece, I quickly lost my zest for looking good.  Look good, feel good is my motto :)

Now, to help me stay out of that basic is better rut, when getting dressed in the morning I try to incorporate at least one of these four things into my outfit.

1. Pops of Color - You can be wearing simple blue jeans and a pair of flip flops, but if you've got a bright pop of color on top, you instantly feel a lift in your spirits.  I swear wearing a bright color makes you smile more.  It's almost impossible to be down when you see your reflection in the mirror.

2. Fun Prints - Whether it's a bold graphic, a feminine floral or a nautical stripe, incorporating some sort of print into your look gives you an instant dose of style.  I usually keep the accessories to a minimum if wearing a bold print, which makes getting dressed even easier.  Let your print be your accessory.

3. Shoes With Style - I love shoes.  Give me a cute pair of shoes and I'm a happy girl.  I love that they can make the simplest of outfits chic, and elevate it to a whole other level.  They don't need to be fancy or dramatic, just a subtle detail can make all the difference.  The right shade of leather or an interesting detail take a pair of shoes from 'meh' to wow!  And I'd rather have 1 pair of good shoes than 3 pairs of cheap shoes, without a doubt.

4. Well Appointed Accessories - Accessories stress me out so I usually try to keep it pretty simple.  I only have about 6 pairs of earrings, 3-4 necklaces and 2 statement rings I keep on rotation.  And a couple of hats.  Accessories can be tricky when caring for little kids and can get in the way, but a cute necklace or a sweet pair of earrings can make all the difference.  And hats do keep the sun out of your face ;)

Thanks for the great tips Andrea! Be sure and check out Andrea's blog and say hi!

Valentines {Jewelry Edition}

I was never much of a jewelry kind of girl until I turned 30.  In an effort to be more stylin' after that fated day I started adding more than just my wedding rings to my collection.  Jewelry instantly makes me feel fancier. Kind of like wearing makeup when you aren't feeling too great.  If you look better you feel better right?  And with Valentine's day right around the corner its the perfect time to start dropping hints.  

{Or shhh getting yourself a little something. I won't tell}  

And since sometimes we deserve better than Forever 21...

I can't wear earrings, I know sad but I'm CRAZY allergic, but if I could I would be rocking these ones.  Pretty much every day.  Found at Funky Vintage Kitchen.  Since I can't,  you should definitely rock them.  Or anything else from April's shop for that matter. ;)

Last fall at Project: Craft I got a Crystal B necklace.  I wear it all the time.  If I was going to add another one of her designs I think that one up there would be it.  Or this one.  Or this.  Ok I couldn't decide.  Which one would you pick?

Just don't buy this one from Spunk and Sass.  I'm still holding out hope that someone I know and love fiercely and makes my heart beat faster buys it for me.  A-hem. 


Now if you are feeling a tiny bit crafty here are some fun ideas to try...

Little Miss Momma's Pom Pom Necklace.  I made a pink one the other day and I totally love it.

Or you could make a braided fabric necklace with Cakies at Small Magazine.  I'm pretty sure you have the materials on hand even.

I had a bracelet from Mexico I lost a couple of months ago.  I still get sad when I think about it.  But I 'm thinking I should replace it with something like this t-shirt one from The Green Wife.  Ahh, the scrappiness of it all.  Makes me smile.

I even have a quick and easy jewelry idea for you.  Ready?

Grab your favorite color of Baker's Twine.  I snapped up a sampler pack of The Twinery's new colors the day they came out.  Hello!  Charcoal?  Love it.

Cut off a length that will tie around your wrist.

Then, tie it around your wrist.


That could quite possibly be the easiest tutorial. Ever.  Seriously. 


+++

And one more via LuckyDuct, because I'm pretty sure you know how I feel about it.