sea-foam striped nails (diy)

I wanted to do a fun manicure with my new sea-foam colored nail polish! I decided to pair this turquoise-ish color with bright white for a fresh look for spring! This manicure was fairly easy, although a bit more time consuming than just painting your nails because you have to make sure each coat is dry. Here's how I did my manicure!

Prep nails by removing any polish. Even if they are free of polish, wipe them down with polish remover real quick, this will help your polish adhere to your nails better! Paint 2 coats of your base color. I used Wet n Wild's Wild Shine in 'French White' and let dry completely. Then section off your nails using tape (I used masking tape), covering where you want your white, or base color, to show. Then paint your accent color right over top of the white where the tape isn't covering your nail. I did two coats of this pretty seafoam green color, it's by OPI and the actual name is 'Mermaid's Tears'. Once polish is dry, remove tape. You should be left with a clean and precise line! Finish nails with a clear top coat and that's it! :) 

cropped pants in pale pink

These pink pants that I thrifted and posted about here were so fun to wear! I went with a classic look and styled them with a pretty cream blouse (there's a post about it here), neutral tan belt and heels, and a vintage inspired pearl necklace! It's been so warm lately..I love it! On a side note, my bangs are now long enough to put my hair in a high pony without the assistance of bobby pins! Hallelujah! If I ever get the urge to cut my bangs again..someone stop me! Please! My mom was absolutely right (mothers know best) when she said bangs do not suit me...and, holy cow are bangs annoying! :) Happy thrifted thursday! :)

outfit details:

pink cropped pants/thrifted, blouse, heels, bag, necklace/JCP,  sunglasses/Charming Charlie's

pink pants

Sources: 1, 2, 3

I've been crushing on pale pink pants lately! Like the pretty ones in the above pictures! So, of course I was absolutely thrilled when I found some at the thrift store! Although...the pants I thrifted just weren't quite right until I did a little altering! Now I've got a pair of perfect, pink pants! Wanna see how?!

While they're not absolutely terrible..the pants were just all around too baggy. But that's not anything that a few darts and side seams can't fix! 

high-low hemline

Remember that frumpy, floral, thrifted skirt that I refashioned into a high-low skirt here? Well, I wore it out to dinner with the husband the other day! It was so fun to wear! Because I love the combination of floral and stripes, I paired my high-low skirt with a classic striped tee (also thrifted) and added my favorite tan belt and wedges! This outfit is definitely spring time appropriate! Because, you know...spring is officially here now! :)
Happy Thrifted Thursday!

outfit details:

skirt/thrifted (but refashioned by me here), striped tee and clutch/ thrifted, shoes/JCP, necklace/gift, bracelets/mix of gift and JCP, watch/Anne Klein (ordered online)

short in the front + long in the back {and no I'm not referring to a mullet!}

I've been wanting to test out the high-low skirt trend for a while, but hadn't yet found one in stores that suited my fancy..or my pockets. So, I made one! Or rather re-purposed a frumpy thrift store skirt into one! I found a floral print (because you know I love anything floral) skirt at my local Goodwill and had a vision for it. Pretty sure the lady at checkout thought I was crazy for buying it though, especially because of the semi-grandma floral pattern.. :) But it's fine, because I really like how my high-low skirt turned out! Want to see how I refashioned my skirt ?

The thrift store skirt I bought had buttons all down the front and I did not like this at all, as buttons tend to gap open..and who wants to wear a slip? seriously?! So, I just removed all the buttons, pinned right sides together, and sewed a straight seam right over the button placket. My seam allowances were pretty wide (3/4 inch) because I had to catch the button holes in my seam. Then I pressed the seam open.

To make my high-low hem I kept the skirt right sides together and folded it in half, matching side seams. Then I placed my pins in a line along where I wanted my new hem to be. My high-low hem is not very severe, it's more gradual. Then I cut my fabric along my pin line and then sewed a narrow hem. I kept the hem that was already sewn on the back of the skirt because I didn't want it to be any shorter. This made it a little difficult to make my new narrow hem on the front of the skirt match up with the hem that was already on the back. If I were to do this again, I would probably first unpick the entire original hem and iron it flat before cutting my new hem length and sewing the new hem. If that even makes sense? Either way it's an easy (and quick) refashion!

I love my new skirt! Come back on Thursday and see me wear it in my Thrifted Thursdays outfit post! :)

banana pancakes + peanut butter syrup topping

Need a yummy weekend brunch idea? Bananas and a homemade peanut butter syrup topping makes for a fun twist on ordinary pancakes! Would you like to make banana pancakes? Here's how!

Banana pancake ingredients:

*1 cup all-purpose flour

*1 tbsp white sugar

*1 tbsp brown sugar

*2 tsp baking powder

*1 beaten egg

*1 cup buttermilk

*2 tbsp melted butter

*1 large banana or 1.5 small bananas mashed

*1 tsp cinnamon

*1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine. I used a handmixer. Your batter will most likely be more lumpy than normal pancake batter, I didn't mind this at all. But, if you do mind that lumpy texture, you could always purée your bananas to create a smoother batter. Cook on a griddle top or however you normally cook your pancakes. Serve hot and topped with homemade peanut butter syrup (recipe below)  Enjoy!                                       **This is my very own adaptation of a recipe found on all recipes.com

Helpful tips:
*Cooking these pancakes low and slow is the key. If you cook them too quickly, or on too high of heat, the insides will not cook thoroughly and will be mushy!
*If you don't have buttermilk, make your own substitute! Pour 1 tbsp of vinegar into a liquid measuring cup, then add regular milk until it reaches the 1cup line! This is what I did since I did not have buttermilk on hand.  I even used skim milk and my pancakes turned out great!
*For a healthier version you could add 2 tbsp of apple sauce instead of the melted butter, I did not go this route though..

Peanut butter syrup topping ingredients:

*equal parts peanut butter (creamy is best), white sugar, and water. I used 1/2 cup of each and it made A LOT of syrup!

Melt ingredients together in a saucepan on stove top, stir constantly or very frequently. Bring to a boil for a minute or two. Syrup will thicken up, a lot! Remove from heat and serve over banana pancakes!

*Note: This peanut butter syrup topping does not have the same consistency as regular pancake syrup..the consistency is much thicker and is similar to caramel dip.

 Seriously, try these banana pancakes out! They are SO good! :)

mauve stripes and black skinnies

Hello! Hope your week is going swell! I recently got back from my weekend visit to my home-state Illinois (I wrote about it here) and while it was tons of fun..it's always nice to get back home and to sleep in your own bed! I've settled back into my routine of work and school! This is what I wore while bridesmaid dress shopping in IL for my friend's upcoming wedding..my blouse and cute clutch are actually IL thrift store finds! The boat necked blouse is white with mauve stripes! I paired it with my black lace blazer (also seen here), black skinny jeans, and gray booties!

outfit details:

blouse/thrifted!, lace blazer, jeans, and necklace/JCP, gray booties/shoe boutique in Little Rock, AR..I think the name is Shoe Connection, bracelets/mix of gifted and JCP, watch/Anne Klein ordered online

showering the bride!

This past weekend I went back to IL for a visit! I, along with the other bridesmaids, hosted a bridal shower for my lovely cousin Hayley! Her colors are yellow and gray; super cute!! I have been itching to make these floral pom poms made out of tissue paper ever since I found them on Martha Stewart.com, so of course I volunteered to take care of the decorations! :) I'm just thrilled with how the floral pom poms turned out! They were easy to make too, and I love how they looked suspended from the ceiling with clear fishing line! Although...it was a little humorous driving the 8 hours to IL with the backseat of my car filled with them!

For the centerpieces I just used squares of scrapbook paper (alternating 2 different patterns, one was a gray geometric design and the other was wedding related words in neat fonts in a sort of striped format) on which I placed little flower pots. I made the flower pots using (shh don't tell) pewter colored solo cups with the brim cut off so they didn't look so cup-ish! I just hot glued a piece of floral Styrofoam into the bottom of each cup and stuck in faux flowers that I already had on hand, tied a pretty ribbon around it and that was it! Easy peasy! :)

Above picture: us cousins with our grandma, isn't she precious? That's Hayley in the yellow, wearing the apron I made her! For food we served fruit, spicy tortilla roll-ups (maybe I'll do a recipe post for them, they are SO good), chips & salsa, cocktail weenies, crackers & cheese, beautiful & delicious cake that my aunt made, and yummy punch! It was a lovely day and we loved showering Hayley with gifts and best wishes for a sunny future for her and fiance John!

Love ya Hayley