Clothed with Grace: August 2014

Friday, August 29, 2014

Leopard and Pink

A leopard skirt has been on my wish list for quite some time.  I didn't find one last year at the right price, so when I found this one on thredUP for $3, I was sold.  I love the longer length and the slight metallic look of the fabric.  I decided to pair it with my hot pink blouse, then added my black blazer to polish off the look.  

 I recently ordered a jacket from thredUP.  It's brand new from Gap and only cost $11! I really like it and this I'll wear it a lot this fall. If you haven't signed up yet, you can sign up here to get $20 off your first order and I'll get a $10 referral credit too.  

Have you entered my giveaway for $50 to chloe + isabel here yet?



Blazer: H&M similar
Top: Joe Fresh similar
Skirt: Sunny Leigh (sold out)
Necklace: Purple Peridot same
Bracelets: Stella and Dot and Tulip Boutique c/o
Heels: Heels: Audrey Brooke similar

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Pretty in Pink

Last week  I told you all about the "Hayden Faves Bag" I'm collaborating with Kika on  here.  Then I shared two more pieces I received in the "Hayden Faves Bag."  Today I'm going to share one more piece, this fun pink dress.  It's made of the softest cotton and super comfortable.  I'm wearing it with sandals today, but I'm excited to wear it with leggings and my denim jacket later this fall.

The "Hayden Faves Bag" is now available at Kika, so you too can have this maxi dress plus four to five more pieces picked by the stylists specially for you for only $149. After adding the Hayden Faves Bag to your cart and you begin to check out, you can add comments in the "comment section" about what type of pieces you're looking for.  I said I was looking for pieces to transition to fall and that I love prints and bold colors too.  These details will help your stylist pick the perfect pieces just for you!


Have you entered my giveaway for $50 to chloe + isabel here yet?

I'm also excited to be collaborating with Tulip Boutique for their August "Tulip with a Twist"  Challenge.  They gifted me four of the bracelets below and it was my job to style them with one or two of my own.  A few other KC bloggers are also taking part in the challenge.  I'd love for you to check out Tulip Boutique on Facebook and vote for me!  So fun!




Cardigan: Merona similar
Dress: Kika c/o similar
Necklace: The Forward Fashionista same
Bracelets: Stella and Dot  same and Tulip Boutique
Shoes: Sam and Libby similar

Linking up with:

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

A Utility Vest and Stripes

Recently the sweet Amy at Mariposa Medley sent me this great Kendra Scott Inspired necklace.  I'm only slightly obsessed.  I now have pink, teal, and black.  I tell you what, they go with everything!  I love it her with my utility vest and striped dress.  I have it with wedges here, but I think it'll be great with booties in a month or so.  

 Mariposa Medley also has the matching earrings  for this necklace.  Awesome.  You should definitely snag one or all of these pieces up before they're gone!  Need an incentive? Use code grandopening25 for 25% off your whole order!

Have you entered my giveaway for $50 to chloe + isabel here yet?



Vest: JCP (last year) similar
Dress: Merona (last year) similar
Necklace:  Mariposa Medley c/o necklace
Bracelets: chloe + isabel c/o samesame 
Shoes: Aerosoles c/o Chippmunk similar

 Grant wanted to be in the pictures too.  He's got just a little bit of a personality here...


 And one more for good measure....


Want some inspiration on how to wear a utility jacket this fall?  Here are some ways I styled it last year.  Man, I love this thing!


Linking up with:

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Insta-Outfits

Not every outfit I love makes it on the blog, here are my favorites from Instagram this month:

Have you entered my giveaway for $50 to chloe + isabel here yet?








































Monday, August 25, 2014

chloe + isabel

Recently Kristin a merchandiser with chloe + isabel reached out to me.  She sent me the color code bracelet, the retro-glam bracelet, and the Medina necklace.  If you aren't familiar with  chloe + isabel, all of their pieces are nickel free, lead safe, hypoallergenic and come backed by a Lifetime Replacement Guarantee!  

The prices of the pieces are really fair too.  When shopping the newest look book I saw a lot of pieces in the $25 range with a lot under $50 too. It's quality at an affordable price and I love that.

The pieces arrived within a few days of ordering, and I absolutely adore them!  I've been seeing a lot of bracelets like the ones I picked floating all over Instagram, so I'm super excited to have them for myself, they will go with everything!  I'm also super crazy about this Medina necklace.  I don't have anything like it and it can be worn layered like this OR I can just wear one or two at a time,  I love this! These pieces also came the same day I happened to be wearing my new lace cardigan, and this outfit seemed fitting, so I hope you don't mind seeing this cardigan again so soon. :)

I'm also hosting an online show here.  So if you'd like to purchase something it's super easy.  When you go to check out, just make sure you see both mine and Kristin's names toward the bottom of the page. Also, I have one $25 off $75 purchase code to share, comment down below today with what your favorite chloe + isabel piece and your email, then I'll chose one of you randomly tonight to get the code.

There's also a treat for you today! Kristin is giving away a $50 store credit! Enter using the Rafflecopter down below. : )



Cardigan: Chicwish same
Dress: Loft similar
Necklace: chloe + isabel same 
 Bracelets: chloe + isabel c/o samesame 
Necklace: chloe + isabel c/o same
Shoes: Aerosoles c/o Chippmunk similar

Good Luck!  Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Loving Lace

When I came across this lace cardigan on Shanna I did what I almost never do, I clicked the link and bought it immediately.  It was so unique to anything else I had, and I loved the idea of it.  You can also get 30% off your first order, which meant I got this for a steal with free shipping.  I decided to pair it with this dress I've had for years and my nude wedges for church. I'm really excited about the different possibilities for styling this!



Cardigan: Chicwish same
Dress: Express similar
Necklace: Instagram Shop real deal
Bracelet: Sira & Mara c/o same
Shoes: Aerosoles c/o Chippmunk similar

Linking up with:

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Falling for Fall Clothes

As I mentioned on Monday's Post I'm excited to be collaborating with Kika to share the "Hayden Faves Bag" with you on.  The first piece in the bag was this beautiful maxi dress and today I'm going to share two more pieces I got in the "Hayden Faves Bag."

The "Hayden Faves Bag" is now available at Kika, so you too can have this maxi dress plus five more pieces picked by the stylists specially for you for only $150. After adding the Hayden Faves Bag to your cart and you begin to check out, you can add comments in the "comment section" about what type of pieces you're looking for.  I said I was looking for pieces to transition to fall and that I love prints and bold colors too.  These details will help your stylist pick the perfect pieces just for you!

Make sure to check out Kika, and with fall approaching, it's the perfect time to invest in some new fall clothes!

I really love the shirt and skirt I'm showing you today!  I don't have anything else like them and this shirt can easily be dressed up with this skirt, or untucked and worn casually with jeans or shorts. Winner!  Today I styled them with my denim jacket and wedges to wear to school this week.  The skirt also has pockets, so that's a double win in my book. : )



Denim Jacket: The Limited similar
Top: Kika c/o 
Skirt: Kika c/o similar
Necklace: Stella and Dot same
Bracelets: Stella and Dot and Sira & Mara c/o same
Shoes: Aerosoles c/o Chippmunk similar


Wednesday:
Linking up with:

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Back to School with Sharpies at Staples

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Sharpie, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia  #StaplesBTS http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

School is here, whether we are ready for not! This week marks our first full week back and we are in full swing! When getting ready for the school year I have a tendency scroll through Pinterest like crazy for activity inspiration, and then search out great deals on school supplies to help my classroom activity ideas become a reality.

A number of the activities I'd like to do involved Sharpies, and I was in luck because Staples has all Sharpie Fine and Ultra Fine assortment packs and Sharpie Neon Marker packs currently on sale through August 24th “while supplies last.”

Today I'm going to share a couple of classroom activities I've done with my students to start off the year using Sharpies from Staples.



If my kids even hear the word "Sharpie" they begin to act like little kids on Christmas, seriously. So I picked up some awesome fine point and neon Sharpies from Staples and got to work. I love Sharpies because the are great for just about everything: DIY projects, organization, classroom preparing, or gift giving during this back to school season.



The first activity I did with my kids was a beach ball get to know you activity.  I've done this in the past with terms to review, so I thought it would be fun to apply the same concept to getting to know my students.  I also love how inexpensive this activity is.  I found a beach ball for dollar and used the Sharpies I got from Staples on Sale.


I started out by Googling some questions and I found this site that had all kinds of great questions I adapted to fit my middle school crew.  Here are the ones I used:
  1. What is your favorite food? Why?
  2. What's the #1 most played song on your iPod?  Why do you like it?
  3. What's your favorite activity/sport/hobby? Why?
  4. What chore do you absolutely hate? Why?
  5. If you could learn anything new, what would you pick? Why?
  6. Wild Card, you pick!
Here's how the game works:
  • Get all the kids into a circle.
  • Explain to the kids that they'll throw the beach ball to another student in the circle and whichever question is closest to their left thumb is the question they'll answer.
  • I also ask that they kids answer the question in a complete sentence, and I give them an example of what that sounds like.  If their thumb lands on "wild card" they get to choose the question they'll answer, for a fun twist. 
  • Play until everyone goes at least one time.
The kids had a lot of fun and it was great getting to know the kids a bit more.  Other variations include writing key terms for review on the beach ball or prefixes/suffixes work great too.


The second activity I did with my kiddos was a goal setting poster utilizing metaphors.  One conversation we teachers seemed to have at lunch a lot last year was that some kids were just "doing school," they didn't really seem driven to succeed or see how school could empower them to be their very best.

I decided this year I wanted to focus on some goal setting with them in hopes of motivating them. I also want them to see that big dreams take hard work; they don't just happen. I also wanted the kids who don't see a future for themselves to try to see the possibilities.  If they didn't have a career in mind and wanted their goal to simply be "Graduate from high school," I was ok with that.  

I came up with the idea of creating a metaphor poster and Sharpies from  Staples were perfect for this project. 


I created an example of what a metaphor poster looked like with the steps it took for me to become a teacher. I added signs like, "Try my best," "Ask for help," "Get connected," and "Try a sport" as steps along the way that helped me cross the finish line and reach my goal of becoming a teacher.

After showing this example we brainstormed other metaphors as a class, then came up with a list of possible metaphors they could us for their own posters.  Here are some possible ideas:
  • Stairs
  • Mountain
  • Map of the U.S.
  • Recipe
  • Video Game
  • Board Game
  • Race
  • Soccer or Football field with "goal"
  • Golf course
  • Treasure Map
  • Jack's beanstalk
  •  Solar System
  • Plants in a garden
  • Maze
Next to this list on the board I wrote the poster expectations.  They needed to include:
  • at least three steps that help them reach their goal
  • at least two parts to each step that would help make them successful. Ex. Step- "Try my best." Two parts within step- "Study" and "Ask for help."
On the back of the poster we divided it into four parts, one for each quarter.  At the end of each quarter the kids will do a quick write stating their progress toward the goal.  What's going well? What's not? etc. 


It was really cool to see what my students goals are and for them to really think about what it'll take to reach them. They took the activity really seriously and I'm really am excited to see how this activity plays out this year and if this goal setting helps to keep my students motivated. 

Monday, August 18, 2014

The "Hayden Faves Bag"

Today I'm excited to share with you a fun collaboration with Kika.  Kika is a clothing company out of California that is all about eco friendly clothes made here in the U.S.A.  The quality and fit is phenomenal and I'm super excited to share them with you today.

I've gotten to work with them before when I shared this cotton blazer with you all, and today we're collaborating on a special "Hayden Faves Bag." I picked out this gorgeous maxi dress as the first piece in the bag, then the wonderful stylists at Kika picked out five more pieces especially for me, based on my style and what  I was looking for.  This "Hayden Faves Bag" with six pieces retails for $149, but included over $400 in clothing!  Like I said above, these pieces are made here in the U.S. and Eco friendly, so the value is incredible!

I was so excited to open the bag and see what they picked and I wasn't disappointed! Besides getting this gorgeous maxi dress, I received another dress, two tops, a skirt and blazer. I decided to share a sneak peak of some the pieces I got down below, but will show full OOTD posts of some of the pieces later this week. I'm so excited to add these quality pieces to my closet!

The "Hayden Faves Bag" is now available at Kika, so you too can have this maxi dress plus four to five more pieces picked by the stylists specially for you for only $149 After adding the Hayden Faves Bag to your cart and you begin to check out, you can add comments in the "comment section" about what type of pieces you're looking for.  Like I stated above, I said I was looking for pieces to transition to fall and that I love prints and bold colors too.  These details will help your stylist pick the perfect pieces just for you!

I'm so excited about this maxi dress!  It's so unique and I feel like it's super flattering too.  It's hit's perfectly at the waist and the "chevon" design down the front is such a neat feature! I decided to pair it with my white denim jacket and fun sandals.  I'm looking forward to pairing it with my denim jacket and my cobalt and mint cardigans from J.Crew Factory too.



Jacket: Merona similar
Dress: Kika c/o same
Necklace: Instagram Shop real deal
Bracelets: Stella and Dot same 
Sandals: fibi and clo c/o same

Here's a look at the other pieces I received, and how I think I'll style them. I got this top and skirt from Kika and am so excited about them!  I told my stylist I was hoping for pieces to transition to fall, and she did not disappoint.  This top is light weight, so it's perfect for layering and I love the bold stripes!  I also love this skirt, it hits right above the knee and it has pockets too!


I also got this ruffle tank from Kika.  The fabric is pretty thick, so no need to wear a cami underneath it.  I really like the ruffle detail and am excited to wear it with my mustard boyfriend cardigan and skinny ankle pants!


I also love this bright pink dress from Kika.  It's cotton, so it's super comfortable.  I don't have another dress like it, and can wear it bare-legged now but think it'll look great with leggings this winter too. : )

Lastly, I got this blazer, and I'm excited to try it with a few of my dresses.  The first outfit I thought would be fun is with my geometric shift dress.

I'm super excited about these pieces!  Make sure to check out Kika, and with fall approaching, it's the perfect time to invest in some new fall clothes!