Tie Blankets

As the Christmas season is approaching I thought id share with you my favorite handmade Christmas gift to give....Tie Blankets! They are super easy to make, and if you buy with the right sales, super cheap as well. People love getting tie-blankets because it shows time and energy put into making the gift, which makes it even more valuable. 

Supplies: 

You only need three things: scissors, two types of fleece and your hands. The most standard thing when choosing fleece, is to pick one solid color and one patterned color. Almost any craft or fabric store will have fleece. The fleece can be about 2-2 1/2 yards long. The longer the fleece the bigger the blanket. Also, another note with the scissors is that make sure to use sharper scissors because fleece can be hard to cut sometimes.

Step 1: 

Lay the fleeces on top of each other, making sure that the corners match up. 

Step 2:

 Cut off any excess fabric that would make the fleece not line up. 

Step 3:

Cut off the corners with about 3-4 inch sides. The length just depends on how long you want the fringe to be. These squares help make the corners curve the right way. 

Step 4:

Cut lines into the fleece. The lines should be as long as the corner you cut out, and they should be about 1-2 inches apart. This will make the fringe of the blanket. I like to fold over every other section because it makes it easier to see if you are cutting in a straight line and it will also help later on with tying fringe. 

Step 5:

Tie the fringe by taking the top and bottom part of each section and tying it like you would start to tie your shoes. Do this twice for each section. I like to try and make the solid part of the fringe face the patterned part of the blanket. 

Volia! You have just made a beautiful tie blanket that someone would love to have. 

xoxo,

Maddie

Weekend Uniform

This fall I have found myself wearing almost the same thing every weekend. Jeans and a crew neck sweatshirt. After trying to look nice every day of the week, it is just nice to slip into something warm and comfortable. I love crew necks because they can be so many different things, like for colleges or sports, or can have funny pictures on them or a pattern. I wear this so often that I have started referring to it as my weekend uniform. 

Crewneck (similar)  // Jeans // Shoes // Scarf (similar)

xoxo,

Maddie 

November Favorites

Old Navy Flannel Scarf: I want plaid scarf so badly! They so are cute and just add a little more to every outfit without being insane. This one really comfortable. I know that by being flannel it will be so warm and cozy. I can just see all types of different outfits that I could make with this scarf.  

Great Lakes Clothing Company Long Sleeve: oops.. I just bought this. So I guess it can't really be on list but I can say, I want another. These shirts i would say are better than Vineyard Vines. There fabric is heavier, but still has the same softness that all of the other shirts have. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a new shirt for the winter.

Vineyard Vines Fair Isle Boot Socks: Vineyard Vines new holiday line is to die for. I seriously want everything! The new socks are probably one of the best parts. I love these socks for their fun colors and cool design. I am really hoping to find a pair in my sock drawer soon.

Southern Proper Tartan Frat Hat: I have been eyeing up this hat for so long. It is so fall and wintery that it would be fun to have. It also has a cute pattern so it would be totally different than the hats I have now. The only issue is that I could only use it for about 2 months out of the year because it gets too cold where I live to wear a baseball hat instead of a winter hat. 

Vineyard Vines Tartan Shep Shirt: This is probably the cutest shep shirt out there right now. I saw this in the new arrivals and I just am in love. The tartan on the back is just so cute. I also really like how it is white, because it is just so different then what I have (Navy) so I could wear it with a lot of different outfits. If I had this shirt I would probably end up wearing it all year even though it is a seasonal item.

xoxo,

Maddie

Where to Get the Best Vest

Vests are one of the things that I consider as the most important accessories to have for the fall and winter. They are very versatile and can make an outfit look just a little nicer. 

There are really two types of vests that are popular right now, fleece vests and puffer vests. The classic puffer vests are from J.Crew, and I would say that most people think of the Vineyard Vines fleece vest when they think of a fleece vest. 

Based mainly on reviews and personal experiences I'll compare a couple different vests of each type to find the best vest. I will be focusing on price, ratings, and uses/colors. 

For puffer vests the places I will be reviewing will be J.Crew, Old Navy, and  the North Face. For fleece vest, it will be Vineyard Vines, Columbia, and Patagonia.

J. Crew Quilted Down Vest

• price: $120
• rating: 4.7/5 (155 reviews) 
• Colors: Poppy, Navy, Black, Ivory, Sand, Moss, Brown
• Personal: I have tried these one in stores. They seem to have a really good quality and they are a little puffier than the Old Navy one.

Old Navy Quilted Zip Vest

• price: $35
• rating: 4.6/5 (24 reviews)
• colors: Canvas, Navy, Black, Bright Orange, Forest, Chambray, Red Check
• Personal: I own two of these vests, and I really like them because they are thin so that they can go over everything without making the outfit super big. They aren't really warm but they work really well for a vest for only fashion. 

North Face Thermoball Vest

• price: $149
• rating: 4.6/5 (52 reviews)
• colors: Turquoise, floral, purple, galaxy, black, plum, silver, surf green
• Personal: I have only seen these online.

Vineyard Vines Westerly Vest

• price: $98
• rating: 4.5/5 (37 Reviews) 
• colors: Navy, White, Light Blue
• personal: I have seen it in stores at it is super soft.

Columbia Benton Springs Vest

• price: $45
• rating: 4.7/5 (177 reviews) 
• colors: Plum, Black, White, Grey, Purple, Emerald, Pomegranate, Light Blue, Navy/Grey
• Personal: none

Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Vest

• price: $99
• Rating: 5/5 (2 reviews)
• Colors: Birch White, Black, Green, Navy, Linen, Red
• Personal: My friend owns this in black, and it looks really good on her, not boxy at all. 

Overall, I would go with the Old Navy puffer vest if you just want something for fashion, but I would go with the J.Crew vest if you want something for both fashion and a little warmth. For the fleece vest, I recommend the Vineyard Vines vest because it looks the best and it is really soft. 

Which one seems like the best one to you?

xoxo,

Maddie

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

Pumpkins are the quintessential fall decoration. This pumpkin is even cuter than your everyday plain orange pumpkins. And what, may you ask makes this pumpkins better? Why glitter of course! It makes a fun decoration that add a little something to every area it occupies. I got the idea from this pinterest post. This was so easy to make, and with so little supplies needed, it makes the perfect decoration. So enough about how cute this is, here the instructions.

Materials:

• Pumpkins (I chose a medium size)
• Glitter
•  Spoon
• Spray adhesive or mod podge 
• Small paintbrush (if using mod podge)
• Cardboard or newspaper

How to:

Get all of your supplies together so you don't forget anything.

Lay down the cardboard or newspaper so you don't make mess. I 

used a broken down vineyard vines box for this. You also might want to think about making these outside because it does make a considerable amount of a mess.

Grab your pumpkin and tape. Tape the stem of the pumpkin up so you don't get any glitter on it. It doesn't really matter what type of tape you use, just make sure that you can easily take it off when you're done. 

                       

Take the spray adhesive just spray it on the pumpkin where you want the glitter. It doesn't dry right away so you can spray the whole top right away or just do it in little sections.

                    

Use the spoon to help control the amount of glitter you put on the pumpkin at a time. I didn't do to good of a job at the control part, but it did help me keep the glitter confined to the area I wanted it. 

                        

As you can see, glitter is all over the place so just fold up the paper and put the glitter back into the container so it isn't all wasted. My glitter is going into an old medicine container because it's our "mixed glitter" container.

Now the pumpkin is almost done, all you have to do is take off the tape and it's done!

                    

It took me about 20 minutes to do this whole thing and it is totally worth it! This is probably the best pumpkin that I have made in a long time!

Happy Halloween!

xoxo,

Maddie

Red, White & Stripes

I wear an outfit similar to this almost once a week. It combines so many of my favorite things (vests, scarfs, boots...) This outfit is so easy to change, just add different boots, or a plaid shirt, legging or maybe a statement necklace. All of these always looks so put together and cute. This is definitely a go to outfit for me.

 Similar Striped Shirt // Similar Quilted Black Vest // Jeans // Similar Boots // Scarf

xoxo,
Maddie

Redone Room

A while ago I wanted to redo my room in way that matched my personality. It have had these pictures for a while but I just have't had the time to share this with you, so here it goes.

For this year, the one thing I really wanted to do was redo my my room, but there was one major catch. It had to be an okay theme with my sister since I have to share a room with her. This is the main reason that our room hasn't changed in several years. Until this year, her style was very pink and girly, while mine was very simple and sporty. Both of our styles have changed: now I lean more preppy and hers can't be described in one word, but it's like a simple boho style.  I came up with the idea that I would have navy and white bedding because that would be able to match with almost color she would want. We went with this idea and I am thrilled with how it turned out! I going to show a before picture followed by what my room currently looks like.

The major thing that you will see is that we painted our room white instead of lavender/pink. The pink limited our options in many ways, from what went on our walls, to the bedding we wanted.

Before

After

We used to have a couch (wasn't it ugly?), so I moved my bookshelf and brought up a dresser for me to use. 

This is my favorite area in the room because it is really pretty. I display my Essie nail polish and baseball hats (stacked) to add some preppy touches. I also spent time organizing my book shelf in alphabetical order to make finding a book a lot easier.

Before

After

 Moving my bookshelf gave my sister an area that was all hers. I think she did a good job on making it her own. 

Before

After

 We used to have matching bedding that was pink and orange, but neither of us liked it so we splurged and got ourselves new bedding and curtains.  I  got the Kate Spade bedding sold at Beth Bath and Beyond. Originally the price was $130, but I brought in a coupon for %20 off because I signed up for emails. This made the price go down to $105.  I can't say you will for sure get the discount because technically they weren't supposed to give it to me. Let's just say I was thrilled to get the discount.

I love this view because it shows my bulletin board, with all my stickers, senior pictures, and memories. 

  

                                          

Before

After

The first thing you have to understand is that my closet is my baby. I love that little thing to death. One of the biggest changes I made was get some fabric boxes from Target to store scarves, belts, purses, and swimsuits (all things that were in the drawer in the bottom of the closet). Then I moved the drawer holding my t-shirts underneath my bed. Then I moved my shoe boxes to the bottom of the closet. I always keep my shoes in their boxed show I can find what pair I am looking for right away. 

This project took me about a week and a half to completely finish. Overall I think is went from a middle school room to a high school room, even though it took until I was a junior to do it. 

What do you think of the change?

xoxo,

Maddie