One of the most requested post topics lately has been spring makeup tutorials. I tapped into the talents of a local mom and makeup queen who lives a few streets away from me that has some AMAZING makeup artistry skills.
Meet Nicole Baca, a mom of three and an expert on all things makeup.
Nicole is an elite status orange presenter with Younique, a company I can get behind for their mission to uplift, empower, validate and ultimately build self esteem in women around the world. Nicole has gifted us with a three part makeup tutorial series just for GYPO. In her first video today, she’s showing us how to create this pretty, feminine spring eye look.
I even learned something new about how you should actually apply eyeshadow to your crease. And yes, I’ve been doing it wrong all of these years!
Before a fashion challenge or shopping for a new seasonal wardrobe, it’s important to sort and purge closets and drawers, removing unnecessary items. But once that process is complete, it’s time to glam up the closet! Keep reading to learn some “high and low” options for bringing some style to your clothing storage spaces. From adding inexpensive drawer liners and swapping out hangers, to adding a glam light fixture and painting an accent wall, there are many things that can be done to put the icing on the cake!
LOW TIME & FINANCIAL COMMITMENT Add drawer liners. My favorites are the lightly scented ones from Crabtree & Evelyn but many other brands are available on Amazon. If you like the look of pretty drawers without the scent, try contact paper, leftover wallpaper, or gift wrap. (If you go with gift wrap, make sure it’s the sturdy kind.) Measure, cut, and tack down with a few dots of glue or double-stick tape. Or add a scented sachet of lavender, citrus, or cedar to your drawers or closet. Available for purchase on Amazon or at home good stores, or make your own with yummy essential oils available at your natural foods store.
Swap out your hangers. This means getting rid of all of your dry-cleaner’s wire ones! They get tangled and are not sturdy enough. Out they go. Replace with one or two standard types. Try white plastic tube, velvet “huggable,” sturdy wooden, metal pants, or whatever suits your fancy. And for goodness sake, face them all the same direction!
Organize your jewelry. There are many options to store your jewelry inside a top drawer in divided boxes, on top of a dresser on a stand, or hanging on a wall. Are you a displayer or a tuck-away gal? Is out-of-sight also out-of-mind? Perhaps you could store away things you don’t use often, and display or keep out the pieces that you wear frequently or want to remember to wear!
Add drawer organizers. There are many to be found at The Container Store in every shape and size. They will allow you to divide and contain underthings or keep flimsy camisoles and t-shirts in line. Or you can make your own using old shoeboxes or cardboard.
MEDIUM TIME & FINANCIAL COMMITMENT
Paint the closet walls. Yes, this could be an undertaking. But you’re taking everything out of the closet anyways, so now is the time to do it! Give it a clean, fresh coat of light-colored paint that makes you smile. This reflects the light and gives you a solid neutral background to view your clothing against. Or go a step further and wallpaper the closet, or just one accent wall for a huge impact.
Add a new light fixture. This is especially important if you have no (or poor) lighting in your closet. If you have a walk-in closet, consider the impact of a fabulous chandelier in this space. Wow! It doesn’t have to be expensive. Even Ikea has some great ones for less than $100.
Add some artwork. Search art.com for a piece of artwork that will make you smile every day. Or simply enlarge a favorite family photo and pop it in a pre-matted frame. If you don’t have any wall space in your closet (those without walk-ins), perhaps you could frame a small photo that makes you happy, and place it on a shelf.
HIGH TIME & FINANCIAL COMMITMENT
Install a new closet system. This can be done on a budget! Sometimes it’s as simple as moving up a single-hanging rod a bit higher and then adding another below it. If it’s time for an entire closet system, check out Home Depot or Lowe’s. Bring measurements and they can help design your perfect closet. If you’re handy, you can install it yourself, or hire a handyman to do it for you. If you want something fabulous, check out the elfa® line from The Container Store. It is modular, super-sturdy, attractive and well worth the investment.
ABOUT SARA
Since 2000, Sara Pedersen has offered hands-on organizing assistance for countless Twin Cities residents. She helps them organize, simplify, and discover time to do the things they love. She is the author of Born to Organize and Learn to Organize, both available on Amazon.
She lives in Shoreview, Minnesota, with her husband, two children, and tabby cat, Mulligan. When she’s not working with clients, she enjoys finding new and creative ways to organize and decorate her home! She also loves to dig in the garden, take evening walks, eat chocolate, and explore the North Shore of Minnesota.
Visit her website at www.TimeToOrganize.com for helpful organizing tips, donation resources, and access to her free set of Organized Acts of Kindness Cards.
If I had to choose just ONE pair of jeans to wear all spring long, it would have to be my white jeans. Honestly, I wear them at least twice every week, sometimes even back to back days! OK, maybe that’s TMI but I just love them that much.
Over the weekend, I hosted a spring trends fashion show and my community manager Bebe and I both sported our white jeans! She paired hers up with neutrals and I wore mine with the pieces in outfit #4 (below).
Today I’m sharing five of my favorite ways to pair up my white jeans. If you’re following me over on Instagram, you may have already seen a sneak peek of these looks (if not, hop over there and follow along!)
My all-time favorite white jeans are this pair. The denim is thick enough to disguise anything I don’t want showing through my jeans and they don’t stretch out with wear. They also come in a few different fits, so you’re sure to find the pair that’s perfect for you.
It’s Your Turn: What’s your favorite brand of white jeans and how are you pairing them up? Tell me in the comments.
Stella and Dot + Summer Challenge Giveaway
If you loved any of the Stella and Dot items paired with these outfits, I have a pretty sweet deal and giveaway for you. If you spend just $50, you’ll qualify for 50% off any of the items in the image below. Plus every order will be entered into a drawing for a free membership to the Summer 2016 GYPO Style Challenge!
My top recommendation for spending your $50 is this fringe necklace that will go with all of your spring and summer outfits. Pair it up with a fresh white tee and some turquoise shorts for an easy on-trend summer outfit. Psst, it just might be on the summer challenge shopping list. #gyposneakpeek
The Details: Qualifying orders must be placed through this link today through April 27th. Giveaway winner will be drawn on 4/28.
When spring arrives, we love to clean out and spruce up our homes and our wardrobes. The dark, cold days of winter are gone, and we get to decorate and dress with the bright, cheerful colors of spring. But, some of us who are not born interior decorators or fashionistas struggle a bit with exactly how to go about sprucing up our homes and wardrobes for spring. That’s why I’ve compiled some of the best tips I’ve been able to find for doing just that:
1. Add Colorful Accents
Fashionable, bright colors are the perfect way to accent your home and wardrobe for spring. Consider putting away the whites and silvers of winter and replacing them with vibrant napkins, placemats, and other colorful linens. When choosing your vibrant linens, don’t use just one color. Rather, choose colors that accent one another and that you can repeat throughout the home in throw pillows and accent rugs .
In terms of adding colorful accents to your wardrobe for spring, there are a few options that will turn up the appeal of your outfits. Consider adding a bright bag to neutral wardrobe staples this spring. Or, bring color to your wardrobe through jewel-tone sunglasses, candy-colored shoes and sandals, and vibrant watches. If you’re feeling bold, spruce up your wardrobe for spring with pants in colors that pack a punch.
2. Add Flowers to Your Home and Floral Prints to Your Wardrobe
We often associate plants and flowers with spring, so it’s a great idea to spruce up your home and wardrobe for spring by incorporating them into your décor and fashion. There are so many options for adding flowers and plants to your home. Place houseplants in sunny areas of your home, and include the powder room if possible. Start a windowsill herb garden in your kitchen. Arrange a few fresh-cut flowers in a mason jar, cool glass, or other container that can serve as a vase. Put them on end tables, bedside tables, on top of a bookcase, or anywhere else that needs to be spruced up for spring. Trim a few stray branches from bushes or trees in your yard and join them with wildflowers or sculptural driftwood to make dramatic bouquets for the dining room table or island in the kitchen.
When it comes to adding floral prints to your wardrobe, go ahead and add away. Floral prints started to make a comeback in 2015, and they’re still on trend for Spring 2016. Some of the trends include garments that look as though they have watercolor florals painted onto them. Skirts and dresses featuring bold, colorful floral prints also are on trend for spring, and you can go as dressy or casual as you’d like with your floral look. The florals can continue into your footwear and accessories this spring, too.
3. Make the Old New Again
If you’re of the DIY persuasion, you can take advantage of the new season by making the old new again in your home and your wardrobe. You can completely change a room in your home and spruce it up for spring by adding an accent wall with a fresh coat of paint. Choose a spring color, test it out, and make sure it adds the cheerful atmosphere you look forward to when spring arrives. If you’re having trouble deciding on a color or choosing the wall to accent, ask for a small sample of paint from the local paint or hardware store, paint a few cardboard squares, and hang them on the walls to help you make your decision. Don’t forget to consider the color at different times during the day, to make sure that you love it.
You can apply the same technique of making the old new again to your wardrobe, to spruce it up for spring. There’s a good chance you have spring garments in your closet or drawers that you’ll love to wear, once you update them a bit. It’s inexpensive and fairly simple to rely on DIY tricks for updating your wardrobe for spring. For example, you can use some pastel fabric to make floral accents for necklaces or tops. Or, you can add pops of color by sewing shapes or patterns to tops or skirts. Another idea is to add floral prints to jeans. Going away for spring break or taking a trip this summer? You can even spruce up your luggage in preparation for the warmer seasons by using ribbons, stickers, or decorative tape to add a little flair.
Sprucing up your home and wardrobe for spring can be a simple process, as long as you think about the trends and work them into your home and clothing in the way that works best for you. Colorful accents, floral prints and flowers, and DIY tricks that make the old new again are just a few of the ways that you can spruce up your home and wardrobe for spring fairly quickly and easily.
Aimee Lyons is a twenty-something free spirit who loves crafting, painting, building, and anything else that lets her exercise her creative muscles. A born do-it-yourself kind of girl, she started DIYDarlin.com to inspire others to embrace their inner creators and tackle projects with confidence. When she isn’t crafting, you might find her vintage shopping or taking her Corgi Champ out exploring in her hometown of Austin, Texas.
When I worked as a pastor and chaplain I had to dress in my best everyday because I was a woman in a male-dominated profession. Whether we like to admit it or not, we often judge others and make assumptions about their character, ability to do a job and even socio-economic status based on appearance. The way we dress also speaks volumes about the way we care for ourselves.
My closet was full of power suits, silk blouses, pencil skirts, tailored jackets and heels. I spent about an hour each morning putting myself together to face the day. Then it happened: I got sick. I ended up leaving the pastorate and my job as a chaplain. Everything changed. The beautiful clothes in my closet began gathering dust. Day after day as I struggled with illness, my clothes were a constant reminder of the way my life as I had known it had changed. I felt tormented because I had spent so much time and care choosing each piece and found myself suddenly without any opportunity to wear them.
As I struggled with illness, I found myself more comfortable in yoga pants and t-shirts. My dresser drawers were suddenly filled with a variety of very casual clothes. Many of these clothes made me feel even worse about my situation, as they did not fit my body the way they used to. My daughter did a “closet intervention”, and we spent many long days while I was sick going through my dresser drawers and closet –making me try on each piece, keeping only what I looked and felt great in.
It was during this long process of purging my wardrobe that I began to recognize what a powerful impact our clothes have on the way we feel about ourselves. Our sense of self-esteem is reflected by our clothing choices. A great jacket, blouse or sweater and pencil skirt or pair of jeans with a fabulous fit can actually change our attitudes toward ourselves and the world around us. A great outfit can change the way we see ourselves, and the way we perceive and accept others.
When we rise in the morning and put on our best selves, making intentional choices about our clothing, it becomes an act of self-care, discipline and the cultivation of hope in all that the day may bring. It is an act of optimism when we dress for our best selves. This process is about more than just clothing; it is an act of being fully present, fully alive, regardless of our health, emotional state or circumstances. Something amazing happens when we dress for our best selves. It changes the trajectory of our lives.
When a friend invited me to join the GYPO Style Challenge, I had been through a dormant season in my life, struggling to hold onto hope during illness. Through the challenge and the resulting connection with a group of inspiring women, the fashionista inside of me was reborn. The thought of reinventing myself once again sparked joy in my heart, and I found myself excited to get up get dressed, connect with fellow participants and think about which pieces fit comfortably into my current lifestyle. As I began to feel better about my clothing choices, I felt motivated to go out and got a new haircut. I also began to explore ways to care more holistically for my body, mind and spirit. I started getting massages, bought pretty nail polish to make my hands and toes feel pretty. I got serious about self-care.
As a pastor, I had taught self-care to thousands of women, yet years later I found myself lacking in this discipline. Dressing for the best you is an intentional act of self-care. It begins right where we are in life and gives us the confidence that the things for which we hope are possible. Developing any sort of discipline requires order and intention. Working toward being our best requires us to take the small spark within ourselves and light it. Just as we dress with intention, we also put intention into caring for our bodies and souls, giving them the attention they need and developing daily discipline to care and nurture them.
Like the capsule wardrobe, putting on our best selves will spark something inside of us that says, “I am worthy. I am beautiful. My present circumstance does not control my destiny. There is hope.” In closing, we do not have hope because of the way we dress, but the hope within us beckons us to get up each day and be our best selves, to live with intention and to walk as confident women through the day that is before us.
ABOUT MARY CLEWLEY
Mary Clewley is a former pastor and hospital chaplain. An author of several prayer journaling workbooks, she also writes, blogs, teaches and speaks on hope and cultivating an inspired life. She believes in a philosophy of cultivating hope in everyday living as an integral component of ongoing spiritual formation. Through her website and social media, Mary teaches a group of 4500 women on the importance of focus on the interior life and the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, solitude and worship. Mary is very connected to her readers, and seasonally writes devotionals to help them work through each page of her prayer journaling workbooks. She has taught self-care classes at seminaries, cancer centers, to hospital staff and through her women’s events.
Registration for the Spring 2016 Style Challenge will be closing soon. Sign up now to get your spring trends shopping list and a spring capsule wardrobe with 21 days of outfit ideas. Feel confident in your clothing this spring. Get more info and sign up HERE.
Do you struggle to put outfits together? Are you stuck in a yoga pants rut? Not sure if you can make the latest trends work for you? You’re in the right place!
I’m Alison, a mom of three and recovering yoga pants addict on a mission to make getting dressed and feeling pretty the easiest thing you do all day! Learn more about my story HERE.
I am so glad I was part of the Fall 2019 Style Challenge. It gave me confidence and so many great outfitt ideas. The ladies in the group were very supportive and I will defintetly be doing another challenge in the future.
Betty Weyandt Lamont December 20, 2019
I’ve been participating in the GYPO Style Challenges for three years now and I’ve loved it. I’ve always loved clothes, but I didn’t know how to put outfits together. My closet is now full of mix-and-match outfits, I have learned how to dress myself, and there is no more stress in figuring out to wear. The private FB group is full of wonderful ladies that build each other up. It’s so fun and is seriously the best group on FB.
Kirstin Rasmussen McFarlane November 20, 2019
Get Your Pretty On has changed my life, seriously. I have always chased what is trendy but found from season to season, that things go out of style and I was wasting money on items that I would only end up wearing a few times. GYPO has enabled me to simplify my closet, helps me make smarter purchasing decisions, and I feel so put together and confident using the outfit formulas that are provided. This program is a GAME CHANGER. I've been following GYPO for a few years now and my only regret is not jumping on board sooner.
Michelle Kline November 20, 2019
Great community of ladies, helping each other look stylish, without breaking the bank, and using much of what you already own.
Chosen Faith November 19, 2019
GYPO challenges have been one of the best things I have done! It had taught me so much more than just creating a closet of clothes that I love but also to have confidence in myself, how to pick and choose colors that work for me instead of against, and had given a wonderful community of Pretties who are so special.
Maraline Freeman October 16, 2019
I love GYPO!!! I finally feel put together and stylish! The shopping lists and outfit combinations make shopping and getting dressed effortless.
Krista Probst October 16, 2019
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