Hanna

Easy Valentines Photo Gift

posted in diy, holidays, inspiration, kids by Hanna on February 12, 2016

Something about Valentines these last few years has really got me loving this holiday. It’s just a fun time to embrace all the pinks and reds and spread some love! This year I decided to make our Valentines a little more personal. Grandpas and Grandma’s always enjoy getting pics of the grandkids and since we always sent out Valentines boxes to our families I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to combined the two. I put together this SUPER easy valentines backdrop and did a little Valentines shoot!

Livy Valentines 2 Mia's Valentines 2 Girl's Valentines – XOXO tablecloth backdrop inspiration from WALK IN LOVE blog.

– heart banner was done just cutting hearts out from my silhouette and sewing together

Mia’s Dress and tights // Gymboree

Livy’s Dress // The Children’s Place

I also wanted to do something for Eric that would be a little more personal so since I had a backdrop all ready any I did a fun little flip book for Eric to have to take with him on business trips to remind him that I love him 🙂

Flip book inspiration from Camille Styles blog

Top // Downeast Basics

Also as a little tip/side not, I think we all know that sometimes it’s impossible to get perfect lighting for indoors. Either we don’t have good, natural lighting in our house or it’s hard to take pictures at the right time for lighting. To solve this problem sometime if I know I’m going to be doing a lot of pictures I will rent a light. If you live in Utah I’ve found this great place that you can rent camera equipment for pretty cheap, so nice to work with and they have pickup locations in Salt Lake, Draper and Orem so it’s super convenient! It’s Acme Camera Company. I get the Lowel Rifa 44 or 66 light kit which is only around $20 a day.

Style and Comfort for any Occasion

posted in Uncategorized by Hanna on December 16, 2015

We had SO much fun shooting this promo video for our shop! We love seeing our clothes in action and know that sometimes we have things on our “to do” list that we want to be wearing something comfortable in. Why not still get to be stylish at the same time?!

Also we hope everyone remembers, especially this holiday season to take some time to put down that list and just enjoy some time doing things that make us happy!

Budget Friendly Holiday Dinner Party

posted in decor, diy, food, holidays, inspiration, money saving tips, party, Uncategorized by Hanna on December 9, 2015

When the holidays roll around it usually involves parties, food and entertainment. All of that can get a little overwhelming and pricey when you are the one hosting and start feeling like it has to look like it came out of magazine. What we are coming to find out is that you can still get a great look that will impress all your guests from just shopping your house, incorporating a little DIY and shopping dollar stores or discounted items. Also fancy, plastic dinnerware makes clean up a dream!

Here are the details on our Christmas dinner party and some tips that can help you!

– Since there was going a lot of people coming for dinner, to keep the cost low we decided to go with a rustic theme to incorporate elements that we could get right outside our door. We gathered pine cones to use in our centerpieces and branches from trees to make twig start place holders. I kept mine to use on my Christmas tree this year or you could let your guests take them as a little party favor to hang on their trees.

-For all the center pieces we shopped our houses for vases, candles and candlestick holders. Basically grab anything that could look good on the table and help add some fun interest and fill the space! The greenery and cranberries we used in the vases we got on sale at a number of craft stores but you could easily gather those things from outside as well the day of the party.

– If you want to know a secret for an easy and SUPER cheap charger 12×12 craft paper is the answer! We got 6 sheets of this metallic bronze paper for $1! To add a little color to our table and break up the layering of the plates we added some burlap ribbon with fringe ends.

-For dinner we decided to do buffet style so we created a quick menu in Word and got it printed out for $5. A chalkboard and some chalk would also word perfect for this! The sign we hung above the food table we created with a font we liked and cut it out using a Silhouette machine and then strung the words up with some twine.

Now lets move to the best part..the food! We’re really excited to introduce you to Megan and Nathan from the blog “Half Cup of Snark“. Hop on over to their blog to see what was on the menu for our holiday party, to enjoy some witty, food talk and get some A-MA-ZING recipes to wow your guest’s taste buds this Christmas!

Lastly, we all know that the decorations and food for a party are just part of planning but looming in the back of our minds is always, “What am I going to wear??” Well we have you covered for that as well. See how our plaid peplum top and window pane swing dress are perfect for any party, including all the ones for this holiday season! We’ll just call this the post that just keeps giving. 😉

Now with all your bases covered for hosting a bomb holiday party we wish you luck on all your family and friend gatherings!

We’d love to hear some tips and tricks you have tried for saving money hosting a holiday party while still wowing your guest!!

Plaid Peplum Top Style Inspiration

posted in inspiration, shop by Hanna on December 4, 2015

We’re still finishing off some final touches on our holiday party post; however we still wanted to bring you guys something fun today on the blog so we’ve decided to share some styling inspiration for our plaid peplum top!

Sometimes its hard to commit to something with so much pattern and color, but with plaid being all the rage now is your chance to jump on board! We’re showing you just how versatile our plaid top can be and not only that but how flattering and comfortable it is too!

With this top you can make it casual with either some skinny jeans, bootcuts or even boyfriend jeans or you can pair it with a nice pencil skirt to dress it up. Accessorize it with a vest, scarf, chunky necklace, belt it or ever layer it with a collared shirt underneath!

To shop our plaid peplum top and get the full details head to our SHOP! Quantity is limited so literally don’t waste any time ordering! We are positive you’ll be happy with your order 🙂 These tops are also pre-made so you won’t have to wait long to receive and start wearing your fab new top!

Personalized Holiday Cards

posted in family, holidays, shop by Hanna on October 26, 2015

Growing up and still to this day one of our favorite things about the holidays are the annual Christmas cards. Not only does it mean getting something a little more exciting in the mail besides bills and ads, but also getting to see what family and friend who live far away are up to. It’s a time to reconnect and spread some love.

So as we’re all starting to realize, thanks to stores already having full isles dedicated to Christmas, it’s that time of year again to start thinking about all the things that the holidays entail, including annual, holiday greeting cards.

Why not let us handle it this year and we’ll create a personal, holiday greeting for you that is sure to stand out among the rest?! You’ll also be happy to know that it will fit perfectly into your Christmas bugdet with illustrations starting at just $20 for 2 people and just $5 more per person.

If we’ve convinced you head over to our shop and follow the 3 simple steps above! We would LOVE the chance do an illustration for you!

Dare to be Bold

posted in Uncategorized by Hanna on August 6, 2015

Being bold takes on different meanings depending on each person. For me, I’ve always been the kind of person where being bold meant trying something that for an average person would be quite normal. I get stuck in my comfort zone and quite frankly, would be perfectly content staying there except for some minor changes here and there. Plus it doesn’t help that I over think EVERYTHING, am a tad self-concision and at times I’m a little to comfortable being in the background. Since joining in on this venture with Sara 2 years ago on our blog and now shop, I’ve found myself slowly coming out of my shell a little at a time making bolder choices. This outfit is a perfect case-in-point, aside from modeling in front of the camera.

As you know we’ve been working on quite a few new pieces to add in the shop just in time for fall! One of the pieces is our new relaxed tee with leather sleeves! Did we mention they are going to be available in a pink and gold leather sleeves?! To give a little preview of our new shirts for the shop we wanted to put together an outfit that is a little different than our usual. I’m sure to most it seems like nothing too out of the ordinary with all of the cute, patterned track pants that are all the craze right now and while I am ecstatic about how the shirts turned out, for me this was a step out the box. Thinking about it, it’s kind of funny that I felt this way because I love patterns, colors and interesting pieces but never seems to be brave enough to wear them myself.

If I’m being completely honest I’m still warming up to the idea of wearing patterned track pants in public and feeling confident enough in them to think I have pulled off wearing them. However, these pants were a good start and it definitely is a bonus that they are extremely comfortable!

*Note: These pants are from the newly opened MASI Shop. Not only do they offer a good product but they are donating $2 of every purchase to Artists for Orphans, a local Vietnamese charity helping provide services and facilities for children born with defects as a result of Agent Orange.

Easy 3-Step Kimono Tutorial with Lace Trim

posted in diy, sewing, sewing for women, tutorial, women's fashion by Hanna on May 22, 2015

5 MORE WEEKS! As excited as I am for this baby to come, and to gain back some comfort, I’ve been enjoying the quiet moments. With the hubby at school for most of the day and it just being me and Addie at home, life is rather simple and peaceful (most days anyway). We’re not your hustle and bustle kind of family. We really enjoy being at home and our down-time together. Really I’m just trying to soak it all in before our lives get thrown into the chaotic whirlwind of having a new baby. You guys I’m not going to lie, I honestly feel completely unprepared and a bit anxious about life with a new baby and a toddler all while my husband is in graduate school. For those of you who know me I may seem completely at ease, but inside I’m freaking out a little bit. However, with all that being said, there is just something so miraculous and wonderful about holding your baby for the first time and watching them grow that makes it all so worth it… even on the very worst days.

But back to the present, this increasingly warm weather and growing belly of mine has made getting dressed some days a challenge (that is the days I actually get dressed). At this stage in pregnancy, comfort also plays a huge role in what I wear. And my new favorite thing besides yoga pants and maxi dresses, are kimonos. They are the perfect layering piece for those warm summer days and oh so comfortable! Not only are they comfortable, but they are extremely easy to make… seriously, like 3 steps easy!

My original inspiration for this lace trim kimono came from a lace trim kimono from Novae Clothing. And, as with a lot of clothing I see, my first thought was, “Hey, I could make that!”. So, here is what you’ll need:

Materials:

1 3/4 – 2 yards of chiffon, silk, or any type of lightweight fabric (I got mine from Joann’s)
3 yards of lace trim
coordinating thread
measuring tape
sewing machine

1. Fold your fabric in half hot dog style with right sides together. Before you cut out the kimono you’ll need to get a few quick measurements.

Sleeve length: hold arms straight out and measure from one end of sleeve to the other (my measurement was 38″)
Width of armhole: my measurement was 14″ in diameter
Length of sleeve from body of kimono: I measured about 5-6″ from the end of each sleeve
Length of kimono: measure from top of shoulder to desired length (I simply used the entire length of the fabric and didn’t cut any off of the bottom)

Once you have your measurements it is time to make some cuts. First cut out the shape of the sleeves, then cut the front opening. When cutting the front opening, make sure you are only cutting your top piece of fabric. DO NOT CUT ALONG THE FOLDED EDGE.

2. Pin side seams together and sew from the end of sleeve to the bottom hem on each side. I used my serger here to prevent fraying, but if you don’t have a serger you can zigzag stitch the edges or use some Fray Check.

3. Now, hem around all openings including the armholes, bottom hem, and front opening. I used a simple rolled hem by folding the edges over twice. At this point you can leave it as is or add some lace trim to the bottom of the kimono and sleeves. Simply measure around the bottom of sleeves and the bottom of the kimono to know how long to cut your lace, then pin the lace around the openings and sew on using a straight stitch.

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend! Happy sewing!

Please feel free to email or post a comment with any questions.

XOXO,

Sara

Author: Hanna