Three on Tuesday: Fall Color for your Home

I love fall colors: orange and green and rust and brown.

One of my favorite Etsy potters has lovely fall-colored items.

This "wee vase" could hold a small bouquet or just look charming on a shelf:

These pottery leaves would be pretty hanging from a fall wreath:

This little pendant's fall tones will add a little touch of handmade style to your fall wardrobe:

Three on Tuesday

1. Emerald Green is in the fashion magazines this season. Emerald is one of my favorite shades of green (along with avocado and lime and olive and moss and sage... oh, I guess I just like green in general!). InStyle magazine had a great suggestion for makeup: wear a little purple around your eyes when you wear emerald green clothing. Obviously you want to do this carefully--these two colors together look like a Mardi Gras party. But why stop with makeup? Why not wear a chunky purple necklace with an emerald green blouse?

2. Susan Isaacs twittered about a free trade jewelry website: Big Village. I found these amazing earrings there:

Be aware that this is a Canadian company, and the exchange rate is not what it used to be.

3. Don't miss Shari Braendel's advice on fall fashion.

Style and the Middle Child

My oldest daughter chooses her clothes based on comfort. She likes long shapeless knit dresses.

My youngest daughter usually throws on the first clothes she sees in the morning. She might wear a sweater in July or a sleeveless dress in December. She is never cold or hot, and she manages to squeeze her size 5 self into size 2T shorts. Once in awhile she gets bored with her clothing and lies in the middle of the floor saying, "Oh I have lots of clothes, I just don't feel like wearing any of them."

My middle child looks for three things in clothing: pink, leopard print and bling. When she was four she wore a tiara constantly. She wore it to Walmart and to the park and after awhile I hardly noticed it. It was just part of her.

She is also the tomboy of the family. She smashes bugs with her pink shoes and she climbs trees while wearing a tutu.

Sometimes my youngest daughter will decide to match the middle child, but never the other way around. Middle child has no need to match anyone.

On Sunday I painted my nails a dark purple color. Oldest daughter came along and I did her nails the same color. Youngest daughter watched us and asked for lavender nails (youngest likes long words--lavender is preferable to purple).

And then we all showed our nails to the middle child: "Look! It's purple fingernail day!"

"Very pretty," she said softly, "may I choose my own color?"

And she chose sparkly peach.

Fall Color: Bordeaux

Shari Braendel, author of Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad, recommended bordeaux as a fashionable color for fall.

I thought I couldn't wear bordeaux. I thought my red hair would clash with it. I avoid red and pink tones in clothing. Shari suggested I try wearing a few accessories in bordeaux with a color that works well for me: olive.

That sounded like such a fresh and fun color combination, I just had to try it.

So I've been collecting accessories in bordeaux.

This wrap

to wear with this moss green shirt (moss is very close to olive, right?).

This scarf

which I will probably wear with an indigo denim shirt and an olive skirt or olive jeans, and big olive earrings.

I found this amazing nail polish, which is a color somewhere between bordeaux and black. I'll wear it with my connemara marble ring.

And my husband crocheted a hat for me. Yes. My husband rocks.

It fits kind of like this hat, except I wear it a little further back on my head:

Last week I was hunting in my garage for a curriculum guide I need for my children this year and I found a beautiful Bible cover.

I thought I gave this away years ago, but here it is, and just the right size for carrying my parellel Bible, my keys, wallet and phone to church. It's the fall color and it works with this fall's purse shape as well. I updated it with a scarf.

What color is calling to you this fall?

It's a great day for a scarf!

Ok, maybe you don't want to wear one around your neck in August, but TextileMonster at Etsy is having a Free Shipping day. Remember, you can always put a scarf on your purse or around your head (which is a great way to hide the fact that you might need a haircut or a hair color refresh).

The scarves labelled "Neck Tissues" are a great length for head wraps. Necklace scarves are an "eternity scarf" shape and are wonderful if you like a very loose scarf effect. For most of the year in the desert, it is just too warm to have a scarf very close to one's neck, and these are a wonderful option. They are shown doubled in the photos, but they don't have to be worn that way.

Some of my favorites:

My Favorite Etsy Jeweler: Mompotter

Mompotter makes beautiful jewelry at very affordable prices. Friend her on Facebook for an extra sale this weekend!

I like Mompotter's jewelry because it's affordable and durable enough for everyday wear, yet nice enough to wear to church or out to dinner.

Update your purse

I want a new bag. A big bag, to carry all my stuff to Bible study. This is not a need. I have several large bags. I'm just tired of them. I was trying to talk myself into carrying a very plain brown bag that I already have, when I noticed a great trend in InStyle. A whole page is devoted to photos of scarves tied on purses! I found a bunch of similar pictures at QVC.com.

Wow! I'll tie a green leopard print scarf on my blah brown bag! Or maybe a flowered orange scarf with sparkly gold threads running through it.

I want to try this on several different styles of purses, fitting the style of scarf to the purse: a fringed and flowered scarf on a hobo bag, a solid color scarf on an animal print bag, and a colorful paisley scarf on a more structured solid color purse. This will be a great way to use some smaller scarves that I never wear around my neck.

If you are in the market for a whole new purse, do check out this week's What to Wear Wednesdays.

Crackle Nail Polish

When I browse InStyle magazine, I'm always a little annoyed at how out of touch they are with the budgets most of us live on. Their idea of an affordable piece of clothing is quite different from mine. However, there is one thing that is always within my reach: nail polish. My favorite current trend is the crackle effect.

It's very easy to do. I apply three coats of a base color (in the photo above it's a dark green by OPI called "Leaf Him at the Altar"), usually two coats one day and one the next. Then I add a crackle polish (this is the OPI black crackle). I recommend not starting to apply on your smallest nail first. It's too easy to get too much polish on the smallest nail, especially with the first swipe of the brush that's been soaking in the bottle since the last time you used it. Apply the polish to the middle of the nail first and then (without re-dipping it) apply to the sides. It will look thick at first and then thin out and crackle. I add a top coat to make this last longer and because my nails feel a little bumpy without it.

OPI makes a silver crackle that is a lot of fun too. I saw a cobalt blue crackle by Sally Hansen at Walgreen's. I think China Glaze makes quite a few different colors, and I've seen some bright crackle colors at Justice.

My favorite thing about this trend is that if my nails chip a little, it hides the chips well.

My children say this color combination makes my nails look like turtle shells. What do your nails look like this week?

a colorful DIY project

I keep seeing photos of colorful jumbled layer necklaces in the fashion magazines.

As I gasped at the price of one of these in People Style Watch today, I thought, "I wonder if I could make something like that." Now, I'm not very crafty, but I went looking online. And I found this: DIY a Fenton necklace. Fenton is one of the jewelers who makes these in a price range far above mine.

Look back at the layers of different colors and textures in the photos. The possibilities for assembling your own are endless. This one at Etsy has some floral elements that could be brooches. Check your jewelry box for things you never wear; they might find a fresh life in a necklace.

I think it would be lots of fun to go to Michael's and Walmart and choose pieces to make one of these, but it would be even more fun to invite friends over and have a necklace-making party. If we all brought a little more than we needed, we could share a bit, and it would be fantastic to see everyone design something different.

Who wants to join me?

Fair Trade Jewelry

Because I bought a dress on ebay yesterday, my clothing budget is at zero right now. So I will blog about this beautiful jewelry instead of purchasing it!

Worldcrafts.org describes their mission this way:

WorldCrafts develops sustainable, fair-trade businesses among impoverished people around the world. Our vision is to offer an income with dignity and the hope of everlasting life to every person on earth.

Established in 1996, WorldCrafts began with just one artisan group, Thai Country Trim, in Bangkla, Thailand. Today we work with dozens of artisans groups to import and sell hundreds of fine, handcrafted items from more than 30 countries around the globe. And we still work with Thai Country Trim, helping them employ more and more women at risk of abuse and exploitation. That's who we are. Committed. Holistic. Fair trade.

We are committed to the in-country partners and artisan groups with whom we work. By investing in product development, maintaining certain levels of products orders, and encouraging sustainable production practices, we help create viable employment for women and men in poverty. Women no longer need to turn to prostitution for their next meal. Parents can provide education and nutrition to their children. Men can use their artisanal skills to earn a fair and reliable income without leaving their families.

Here are two items that would be great additions to summer and fall wardrobes.

The Ugandan Jewelry Set

Aren't the colors fabulous? And the price is excellent! I don't think you can specify a color when you order. That adds an element of surprise, and of course if you receive green and it's not your color...let me know. Just sayin.'

This bracelet from India would quietly add orange tones to your wardrobe:

Have fun browsing the World Crafts website. It's not just jewelry: there are purses and journals and stationery sets. I ordered a Thai purse a couple years ago; it's beautiful.

Product Review: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

Sally Hansen's "complete salon manicure" does everything it promises. I truly do not need the top coat I usually apply over other polishes. This polish lasts almost a week, and if I do chip it a little, it layers very well, so the chips are easy to fix.

The shade pictured here is "Commander in Chic." It looked gray at drugstore.com but is actually plum. I like to wear it when I wear a brown blouse; I think it adds a touch of femininity without being foofy. It's a good summer color, but it will be perfect for fall too--with all the greens and rusts and peaches I'll wear. With the right accessories I think it would really pop with teal clothing also.

This shade is very similar to the purpley side of CoverGirl's Smoky Shadow Blast in Silver Sky.

If you're taking advantage of the sale on those Smoky Shadows, you might add Commander in Chic to your basket too. Drugstore.com offers free shipping on a $25 order, so add some things from your shopping list(razor refills or paper towels or children's vitamins) and save yourself the shipping charge.

The silver side of the eyeliner is supposed to be an eye shadow, but as I said the other day, I find that it creases almost instantly. However, it makes a fun eyeliner. If I apply it early in the morning, it disappears by midafternoon, but it's easy to reapply. It's sparkly without being glittery, so it's very wearable every day--you don't have to save this for a night out.

Returning to the Complete Salon Manicure products, I did find that the brighter or more intense colors look smoother. The nude color I tried (Peachy Kean) was a little gloppy. My favorite shade is "Grass Slippers." It's a lime green I often wear on my toes.

The ring I'm wearing in the photo is my touch of green for the day. It's connemara marble and you can buy it at QVC. Or you can do what I did and watch ebay (use the "favorite searches" feature so you don't miss any new listings) and save half the price.

What's your favorite nail polish brand? What shade are you wearing this summer?

Dashes of Orange

People tell me my wardrobe is well-coordinated. Actually, I just have a very simple color scheme: orange and green. I buy accessories in these colors, and most of my clothing is one color or the other. When I don't have accessories in quite the same shade as a green shirt, I wear orange with it instead. When I wear orange, I add green accessories. (I enjoy being an echo of the Irish flag.)

But recently I've extended my wardrobe to include items in basic colors: brown, blue and cream. I add the accessories I've been collecting to spice up those basics.

I have a photo of my outfit today, but it's foggy and the long ribbons on my bathroom mirror sneaked into the photo near my hair, and it just didn't work. So here's a shirt like mine:

I love it, but it's boring! I added color with a necklace from Penney's (which includes green and brown and white tones also--my shorts are green and my sandals were brown so it tied everything together), my orange watch (from the $10 store at the airport) and butterfly earrings from Dandy Apple.

By the way, Dandy Apple has fun hair clips too.

This necklace has similar tones to mine. In fact it's more fun than mine, but mine was on the clearance rack at Penney's for about four dollars so it gets points for affordability. A long necklace is important for this shirt's neckline. My necklace is only a few inches shorter than the shirt.

To really pull this outfit together, I should have worn my orange shoes:

but because it is over 100 degrees outside, I wore sandals instead, brown sandals to reflect the color in my necklace.

What's your spice-it-up color?

Tangerine!

InStyle magazine recommends Tangerine as a color to add to your summer wardrobe this year. I feel ahead of the game--my closet already holds quite a bit of orange in various shades! It's a far friendlier color than many people realize. (Coral is a good starter color if you're easing into orange.)

Try an orange scarf loosely knotted around your neck, or as a stylish headwrap.
This is at Etsy Seller Textile Monster's shop.

Too warm for even a light scarf? How about a necklace? This is from my favorite Etsy jeweler: MomPotter at Ocean Breeze.


Feeling a little shy? Not quite ready for a big burst of orange? Try earrings. These are wonderful with green clothing. They're also at Mom Potter's shop.


JCPenney has a great sale this weekend. This blouse is on my wishlist. Here's a tiny closeup of its fabric.

I've been wearing this color for a week, and I love it: OPI Atomic Orange. I borrowed this photo from Amazon.


This was my favorite dress last year and I still love it.(Yes, I wore this year's hot color last year. I feel like such a trendsetter!) It's Calvin Klein, purchased for an affordable price at Burlington Coat Factory. (I was ecstatic to find the same dress in turquoise at Ross this year!)


Last year I wore it with lime green accessories. This year I've worn darker green or brown with it.

How do you feel about orange? What's your favorite summer color?