Shopping with Polyvore

I'm a Polyvore newbie. I found it scouring Pinterest for Stitch Fix ideas.

Polyvore is a social shopping site where you can discover fashion trends,

experiment with style, and best of all, shop.

When you find something you love you'll be redirected to the website where it is available for sale. Unfortunately, the Stitch Fix merchandise posted on Polyvore doesn't link up to alternative places to buy Stitch Fix items. But, it does show similar items.

This is how I found this Anorak jacket from Tilly's.

I had pinned this other jacket and happened to know the brand name from talking to another Stitch Fixer on Facebook. So, I looked it up on Polyvore and found it for sale on online elsewhere.

For $159.00

(crickets)

Yeah, with 4 kids I'm not exactly rolling in dough.

So I looked around, found this for too much money, & this for too much money.

But then I clicked the "Shop Similar Items" button and found the Tilly's Anorak.

I've mentioned before how scary Facebook is, stalking me and telling me what to buy.

Well the jacket popped up, with a 20% off coupon + free shipping (below).

Why not, worth a try for $31.99, right?

What appealed to me was the removable hood, material (100% cotton), and interior drawstring for cinching the waist. I like it in real life, too. Especially the optional roll sleeve and muted hardware. And I absolutely love the color.

This is definitely juniors sizing; I normally wear a s/m in women's clothing and ordered a large.

The sleeve length is perfect, I just wish the jack itself were a tad longer.

While I'm deciding if this is a keeper, I'm still hoping Stitch Fix sends me something similar for comparison. Only 9 more days! By the way, I wish everything were as easy to return as it is with Stitch Fix, in a prepaid envelope in my own mailbox.

Fortunately, Tilly's is just 2 miles from my house.

Thought you might like to see the jacket without the hood and with the sleeves rolled down.

That's one of my little's, still on the fence about him, too ;)

Tell me, have you had any luck with shopping Polyvore? Do you think I should keep this?

Have you found any great military, utility or cargo type jackets I should try?

Just in case you "need" this jacket, here's the coupon code for Tilly's.

Hope it works for you if you decide to try it! Let me know if you do.

Happy Shopping!

A Simple Way to Organize Necklaces & a Hobbies from the Heart Coupon Code

First off, I want to congratulations the winner of the Hobbies from the Heart giveaway,

Susan Moseley!

More on this great shop, and a coupon code below :)

Temporary distraction:

For some reason, no matter how many times I clear off my dresser, it always seems to be piled high with laundry, subscription boxes, or whatever else I can't find a place for. Up until a few months ago, I was just throwing my necklaces in a jewelry box that was buried somewhere in there.

The problem with that was that I wasn't wearing my jewelry. Out of sight, out of mind. 

I really never wanted to go to the trouble of digging for it.

Good old Pinterest, she found me a solution. 

I bought myself a nice wooden belt hanger and Ta-da!

You can find one like it on Amazon here or here.

I bought mine at Marshall's for about the same price.

 Pardon my little photo bomber. Clearly he's more important than this blog post.

The design of this particular hanger is great, the jewelry never falls off in the closet.

I just hang it right in the middle of everything so I see it all the time

and remember to throw something on. It's definitely a space saver,

and my jewelry doesn't get as dusty as it would on a tabletop display.

I thought of my jewelry organizer when I received a gift from Mari at Hobbies from the Heart.

I realized I needed a new hanger as I've run out of room!

That's okay, it will give me time to admire this adorable box anyway! 

She is really making me rethink my product packaging!

Isn't this necklace cute? I can't always get a good pic of things on, this might explain why.

I'm thinking about getting a scarf hanger, too. Do you have any favorite accessory organizers?

I still haven't found the perfect solution to storing shoes.

Thank you for patiently waiting for the coupon code for Hobbies from the Heart :)

Use coupon code MT152015 at checkout for 15% your entire purchase!

Happy organizing & shopping!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, because I love Amazon Prime. I never recommend anything unless I love it!

How to Support my Handmade Business without Spending a Dime

Hey friends. Over the years, many of you have asked me about my handmade Etsy business. If we are "real life" friends and you respond with "oooo...I need tags for..." I just make them for you. We are friends, friends don't do favors for money!

But there is a way you can support my handmade business without spending a dime: social media.

Let's be more than "friends"

Most people are comfortable enough with Facebook to join, friend people, and stalk people.

But there is this hesitation about "liking" posts or commenting on them.

But those likes and comments are invaluable to us business types. 

When you give me a thumbs up, you increase the popularity of my posts.

Popularity means business. 

Here's what you can do:

#1 Click here to find my business page on Facebook.

Likes, comments and shares are much appreciated!

#2 If you aren't big on clicks on Facebook, give my Etsy page some love.

This is where I sell my handmade products.

Hearts are appreciated.

#3 Addicted to Pinterest? I need love there, too.

It's my second biggest source of internet traffic.

Click here and "follow" me.

Better yet, repin something I sell, or leave a comment on a pin, such as this one.

Most of my products are pinned on this board:

https://www.pinterest.com/moderntypo/the-modern-bride/

#4 You can also sign up for emails when I write a new blog post.

 by using the links on the right side of this page --->>

Or Click here for my email newsletters from Mail Chimp (less frequent).

#6 Follow me on Instagram.

I'm relatively new at this and see very few hits from it, but I'm working on building relationships there. I'm liking it more and more as time goes on. I enjoying seeing what other Etsy sellers are working on, find great giveaways to enter, and like seeing pictures of friends.

Here's the link: https://www.instagram.com/moderntypography/

You'll notice I repost my shop updates from Etsy there, pictures of the daily grind.

#6 If you are really hip, follow me on Twitter.

Warning, I haven't entirely figured it out yet. If I could I'd link up something for you to retweet!

Thank you for supporting my handmade business!

Be sure to leave a comment below with your business links so I may reciprocate.

Let's spread the love around!

Here's to 10 Crazy Years Together

When I sat down to write this post, I laughed a little because I'd recently read part of a blog post about the pressure Pinterest puts on moms. I mean, occasionally I have some ideas of my own, but 9 times out of 10 if I made something awesome I either saw it on Pinterest or Etsy. And I can almost gaurantee that if I'd never come across Pinterest I'd have never agreed to throwing a craft party for my daugher.

Well, Pinterest does exist and I am slightly addicted. So, we had a craft party, of sorts. I thought I'd share a few pictures of the stuff my daughter and I managed to put together. 

Confetti Cupcakes
An old favorite of mine. Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever make cupcakes from scratch, nor do I feel the need to. This mix is really good and super quick and easy. I've used it many times over the years. It looks good with light colored cupcake liners. And most importantly it smells and tastes amazing.

Mason Jar Cups 
with Cupcake Liners & Paper Straws
This was a pinterest inspired idea. I bought the liners and straws from sweetestelle
I used the liners for the cupcakes, drink cups, and jewelry crafts.

It's pretty easy to make these happen. You do need a drill to put holes in the lids, but that's what husbands are for. I guess you could call this a man craft, ha!

Photo Props
This was a good party starter. I used a combination of my own designs and a few from the web.
I really liked the ones from Oh Happy Day, tons to pick from.

All you need for these is white cardstock, a printer, scissors, a craft knife, tape and wooden sticks. These aren't meant to last forever. If you want the fancy kind, Oh Happy Day has a tutorial.

Marshmallow Shooters

I picked this up from Pinterest, of course. Super easy, quick and cheap.

All you need is plastic cups, regular balloons, scissors and mini marshmallows.

I thought about making a target for them to shoot at, but they preferred to shoot each other.

Good Old Fashioned Otter Pops

This was not a planned snack, but the marshmallow shooting was pretty intense!

I'd say the colors went pretty well with the theme.

A Cup Game Learned at School
Don't ask me how it goes. I never could do these things, even when I was 10.
You may want to buy yourself some earplugs if you plan to do this one.

 The Birthday Girls Favorite Food: 
Pastrami.
The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. We also had 7 layer dip my sister made and pepperoni pizza. I'd list all of the stuff we ate, but I might lose my RD credential ;)

Jewelry Crafts

#1 Hand Stamped Flower Charms with a small jewel on a ball chain. 

This turned out to be too hard for the girls so my sister and I finished them. Even though they didn't make them themselves, the girls all loved them. It's like having 8 best friends necklaces :)

This craft was my idea. I bought the flower charms from FabulousRocks on Etsy. I had a stamp set I'd bought awhile back from Michaels. I bought 2 small sets of jewelry pliers, headpins and the little crystals from Michaels as well. The ball necklaces came in packages of 7 from Joann.

#2 Upcycled Computer Cord Bracelets

My daughter and I tried these out the night before and had a lot of fun. However, cut to party mode and very few children had the patience to follow through. A few of the tried braiding, but as small as these look, the thickness makes it nearly impossile to braid.

I picked up this idea from the Etsy Blog. I'm sure my daughter and I will be trying more of this on our own. I love the colors, and I think a stack of them would look really cute together.

Modern Mixed Tape

The birthday girl picked out her 10 favorite songs and we burned CDs for each of the girls.

I thought it would be a useful gift, and of course we listened to it at the party.

The girls even did a little karaoke to it.

All in all I'd say the party was a success. Now if I could just have an extra day to sleep...

New Mini Print: Sponsored by my Pinterest Addiction

Buy it here