Summer Flavors

As promised, I'm back with another review based on a Crowdtap sample-share.

This time I was lucky enough to get in on a generous package from McCormick's Grill Mates, who sent a  box chock full of 5 full-size seasonings to use on the grill.

...And wouldn't you know, we landed ourselves a brand new Traeger grill/smoker only days before. Perfecto!

I didn't do a very good job did an absolutely horrible job of taking photos of the delicious, smoky goodies being consumed, but at least I got pics of the prep and cooking process. I'll let the photos do the mouth-watering talking from here on out.

As always, feel free to leave me a note in the comments with your email address if you'd like an invitation to join me in my samplings on Crowdtap. You take surveys, get free goodies, and earn points to cash out (Amazon gift cards and more) or donate to a charity of your choosing (mine is ASPCA).

Join the 'Crowd'

Hi friends! I'm remaining more involved these days with my lifestyle blog, In Knots, but wanted to share the latest and greatest from Crowdtap.

I know I've talked about the program here before, but it has ended up being far from a flash in the pan. I'm currently involved in nine discussions, three of which offer free goodies to test! So thought I'd take a minute to fill you in.

Remember my post about getting a free winter coat of my choice via Crowdtap? Well, Old Navy strikes again, and members of their 'Style Council' were able to apply (aka: take a short survey) to this time pick up and review a free swim suit of their choosing. As was with the coat, an extra coupon to bring a friend was included too.

And while I had plans to share with a different pal "the next time", I had to go with Mom again. She's been complaining for ages about not being able to find a swim bottom that has enough, well, bottom, and once I went into Old Navy to scout which suit I'd choose, I knew I had to hand over the freebie to her.

I went with a - dare I say it - sexy one piece (did you know such a thing could exist??) in bright orange. Ready to see?

Mom's combo

My new suit

Such fun, and I can safely say the first time I've been excited to go swim suit shopping. Usually such a depressing chore! And my Mom and I got to have some fun setting up our little mini photo shoot, trying to get creative without having to photograph ourselves for the world to see.

I've also gotten samples of a bunch of McCormick's grill seasonings that I'll share about at some point, and am going to be receiving samples of Woolite for testing with friends in the near future. Interested in joining in the survey-taking fun? Happy to send you a link - Just leave a note in the comments below with your email address and I'll mail you an invite.

WhoWhatWear

Does anyone else read the blog Who What Wear?

While 95% of the goodies they post are financially out of reach, I find it to be a fab site for inspiration and illumination. I find myself frequently pinning looks to put my own twist on, or jewelry to recreate for a fraction of the cost.

They always to a great job of Runway-To-Realway too - I mean, Elvis In Vegas is not a theme you see yourself thinking as you look at your closet, but then you see this and it seems like an option :

(images)

Check it out for some eye and brain candy - Always fun to see what's happening out there in the world!

Yo' Mama

The folks at Real Simple recently tackled all the tried-and-[sometimes not quite] true Mom fashion advice we all grew up with.

Picking the brains of experts like Stacy London from What Not To Wear, designer Laura Bennett of Project Runway, and designer Dana Buchman, among others, tips like 'matching your belt to your shoes' and 'ignoring size to focus on fit' were all put to the panel for dissection.

 Bad Mom Fashion Advice.

Image courtesy of modernkiddo.com

Here's one exerpt (courtesy of cnn.com) :

"Always wear shoes that are close in color to your pants, especially if you have big feet."
Stacy London, co-host of "What Not to Wear" and a New York City-based style expert: Wearing shoes that are exactly the same color as your pants is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Dana Buchman, designer: Oh, my goodness. That really dates from 1910. With all that's going on with shoe design, doing that would leave you out of a lot of the excitement of getting dressed.
Jenna Lyons, head women's designer for J.Crew: That's crazy. There's nothing better than a bright shoe. As long as it doesn't make your foot look like a boat, you're fine.

Read the whole article here, and feel vindicated that sometimes yes, you should have 'gone out of the house like that'!

Closet Case

Excuse the delay, but buying and moving into a house is soaking up my time like nothin' else. But it's given me a fantastic excuse to completely immerse myself in color and texture : Two of my favorite things!

Closets are currently on my brain - The master bedroom has given me my first ever walk-in (JOY! RAPTURE!), and we're lucky enough to have scored a home with more bedrooms than we have people to sleep in them, so I get my own sewing room as well.

I think it would be fun to go a little nuts in the master walk-in : My fiance loves a neon, and I'm not scared of brights either, so how fun would it be to have a crazy pop of color or pattern in a place where you can close the doors and hide it away whenever you want?

Image from here

 Image from here

And my sewing room. I've seen some shots on Pinterest where folks have removed their closet doors completely and added healthy dose o' contrast for a sort of shadow box effect. Loving it :

Image from here

What do you think? Any recommendations from you lucky ducks who've been living with walk-in's or extra storage space for a while? Dish.

Merry Everything!

Happy Christmas!

Fellini Couture ~ Christmas Gown

Image courtesy of  stylefilebyclarabellekay.blogspot.com

De-Glitterize

I mentioned here that removing glitter nail polish was not exactly the best part of my fun, sparkly manicure. After some good ol' fashioned web research, the consensus is (drumroll, please...) :

Step 1: Saturate cotton with acetone or polish remover (a remover with acetone works best).
Step 2: Place the cotton on the nail and wrap each finger in aluminum foil. Press down.
Step 3: Leave on for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Pull the foil off and your glitter polish will glide off, too!

The above text was snaked directly from the Refinery29 website, which is a great beauty site that tends to always offer the best summations of info. So there you have it - A little time consuming with the 5 minute wait time, but I say wrap 'em all at once, and it will be nearly time to take them off again by the time you finish the prep work on the 10th digit.

Better than taking a granite sander to your fingers, anyway.

Image courtesy of favim.com

Sparkle & Shine... Some More.

Another ...Love, Maegan inspiration - The accent nail!

Because let me tell you : Scrubbing off glitter polish from every nail made me want to just drink the polish remover and hope for a quick demise. I'll be working on researching a better method and if I find one will be posting it here pronto!

Anyway, using the same two colors from the previous post, here's what my digits look like now :

 

I gave my ring finger on my right hand the same treatment. Fun and subtle, and definately not tough to execute. Winner!

Check out Maegan's original post about rockin' an accent nail here.

Sparkle and Shine

Don't know about you, but I seem to have a hard time not being attracted to anything coated in glitter during the holidays. So you can see why when I saw ...love Maegan's Maegan Tintari take on a neutral nail with a hint of sparkle I had to try my own hand (haaaaaa.) at it.

Glitters-but-not-too-much and goes with everything? Yes. You can see her tutorial here.
 For my own digits, I used Revlon's Sheer Cotton :

Image courtesy of tinroofnails.com

  ...And a swipe of Sally Hansen's new Gem Crush line in the color Big Money :

Image courtesy of AlisNailNews.blogspot.com

Those colors together along with Maegan's single-swipe idea turned out looking like this on my hand :

Excuse the Instagr.am quality, but you get the idea. I'm thrilled with the outcome. The glitter is uber-durable, and a chip in nude nail polish isn't very noticeable, which combined are making my life easier.
Grab the Revlon Sheer Cotton here (on sale for $3.99) or at your local drugstore for around $6. Pick up the Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Big Money (or any of the other DELICIOUS colors) in person only at this point - Not available anywhere online that I can find including the Sally Hansen website, which is currently down. Regardless, I think it will run you right around $6 too.
I plan on quite a few more spin-offs of this mani in my future... Stay tuned.

Color Run Of Gem Crush Line ('Big Money' 3rd from left)

Image courtesy of AlisNailNews.com

Holi-Daze: More Inspir-WRAP-tion

When Julie of Julie Ann Art offered up a collection of gorgeous gift wrap ideas, I knew I had to share. Some uber-simple, some tough, but all just lovely and inspirational. Click here to see!

I especially loved this one - Who hasn't run out of gift wrap for that last box and not known what to do? Voila : Find a coordinating color, a piece of ribbon, and make it look like it was meant to be!

And this collection, while falling more into the whoa-that's-complicated category, is so beautiful, isn't it?

Loving the derivations from the traditional red + green + gold. Happy wrappin'!

Holi-Daze: Wine Bottle Wrap

Instead of buying yet another wine bottle sized gift bag or slapping another ribbon around the neck, how 'bout trying something different with that hostess gift this year?

Enter : Furoshiki

There are a positively endless amount of furoshiki options out there for different sizes of gifts, but as we hit the holiday get-together circuit, what's easier than grabbing a bottle of wine and heading out the door?
Armed with nothing more than a scarf (or a large fabric scrap,or even a table linen) and a rubber band, try this:

Psssst! Square scarves are super easy to come by at your local thrift store for practically pocket change.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

"Thanksgiving" (with Karl Lagerfeld!) ~ by Danny Roberts ~ via FashionIndie.com

Holi-Daze: Hassle Free Gift Wrap

'Tis the season for trying to cut straight lines, walking around all day with tape stuck to unflattering places, and struggling with scissors and curling ribbon.

Image courtesy of cgtreasures.blogspot.com

Check out these super simple (not to mention super lovely) wrapping ideas from RealSimple. There are 21 of 'em, so you're bound to find something you can bust out in just a matter of minutes.

Sorry, tape still necessary in most cases. Keep a mirror handy.

Holi-Daze: Happy Feet

Next up on the personal holiday shopping list :

Stiletto Hardware

Image courtesy of en.paperblog.com

I don't know about you, but as much as I love the look of a sky-high heel or the perfect, slim-line ballet flat, the truth is : They suck.

Your heel throbs, the ball of your foot eventually goes [blessedly] numb from pain, your arch is screaming for support. Why do we do it, girls, why??

But we do. So here's why Stiletto Hardware is different from your average drug store gel pad : Memory foam. Yes, like the mattress. That way it offers actual * GASP * comfort to your foot, as well as offering the shock absorption qualities of the gel pads. Find them through the Stiletto Hardware website, where these gems retail for $7.95 a pair and they offer free shipping on orders over $10.

Stock up before you're teetering around those holiday cocktail soirees!

Holi-Daze: Wine Stain Remover

Kicking off a little mini-series today of sneaky tricks to utilize during this holiday crush that's fast approaching.

Under 40 shopping days until Christmas, peeps, can you handle that?

Anyway. First up on the things-you-never-knew-you-desperately-needed list :

Wine Away Red Wine Stain Remover

I've heard nothing but stellar reviews of this stuff, and although I'm not a huge wine fan I know there's no worse combo that gorgeous winter white and a glass of bordeaux. A handy spray bottle that uses no bleach and is safe around kids and pets, Wine Away can remove or fade a stain immediately... Although some toughies may need a run through the wash (or trip to the dry cleaner) to really make them disappear.

Regardless, enough of a trick to not have to carry an emergency brooch to cover a spot on your shirt or have to maniacally move furniture to cover a carpet blotch and keep the party going. Find it at Drugstore.com for $8.99 for 12 ounces, or your local Rite Aid (complete lists of stores that carry it here).

Lune Vintage: ☮

 I just think this is such a fascinating post, and so appropriate on this Veteran's Day. (Click the link below to see the full post and fantastic photos)

Lune Vintage: ☮: The peace sign. A symbol which adorns "Made in China" pre-teen backpacks, key chains, costume jewelry and sparkly pink pajamas. In tr...

ReDub the Bub

As celebration season approaches, you're bound to have some leftover sparkling something-or-other. Heed this tip from Real Simple Magazine (via CupOfJo) :

Drop a raisin into a bottle of flattening champagne (or prosecco, or whatever). Any smidge of carbon dioxide left in the liquid will glom on to the wrinkly raisin and then release in the form of tiny bubbles.

Presto! Reinvigorated bubbly.

25 Ways To Wear a Scarf

Did you know there are 25 ways to wear a scarf? This charming vid shows you how, PLUS click on any image at the end to see a video with a detailed tutorial of the one(s) that grab you. Enjoy!

Updates

Okay, I KNOW.

I haven't posted here in what, a month? Ridic. But look at this and tell me I haven't been busy! It's been a CRAZY few months of projects and planning, but I do have a few updates for you.

I mentioned CrowdTap a while back - Well, about a week ago I applied to be a part of a group to test a product. Specifically the Old Navy Style Council's test of women's outerwear. Low and behold I was chosen to participate, and received a coupon in the mail to go choose ANY PIECE of women's outerwear FOR FREE. Not only that, but they sent a coupon for me to give to 'a stylish friend' so another lucky duck could cash in as well.

It seems to good to be true, I know, but I am living proof it's legit : Went to my local Old Navy yesterday, and although the cashier looked at the coupon long and hard, once she rang it my $89.94 neon red/orange thigh-length felted coat went down to a big fat goose egg. Woooooot! So get yourself over to CrowdTap and sign up. It certainly paid off big time for me, and the cost is just answering a few (0-5) survey questions a week.

My Wool-Blend Double-Breasted coat in Rowdy Red

Image courtesy of OldNavy.com

Another update is on Missoni for Target. You all shared in my glee at scoring three pieces : A chiffon sweater, velour hoodie, and a pair of ballet flats. After a short delay (4 weeks instead of 2) I received the chiffon sweater and it is stellar. The velour hoodie met a much sadder fate - Cancelled. Target to the rescue, however, sending me a $25 gift card for my disappointment. The ballet flats are estimated to show up sometime in December... If they show at all. But hey, if Target's handing out $25, I'll take it. They can certainly pay me $50 for not getting anything.

Image courtesy of ItsAllFreeOnline.com

All for now... And, let's face facts, probably all for a while. Feel free to follow my project-o-rama over on In Knots: Attempting a Handmade Wedding if you need a dose in the meantime.

Daily Values

Image courtesy of LuneVintage.blogspot.com