Sunday, July 12, 2015

Lilly Agenda Letter Craft

Hi Everyone!

I'm so happy that Lilly Agenda Season has arrived! If you have not picked one up yet, get yours at Lilly Pulitzer before they run out. I recently bought the Large Agenda in Pink Lemonade and I cannot wait to use it!

Recently on tumblr, I've seen a lot of people that are semi upset because they feel that they lose use of their months in the Lilly Agendas. Lilly Agendas from last year are scheduled from August 2014-December 2015, while the new ones are scheduled from August 2015-December 2016. People feel as if they are paying for months they don't use, since they switch over to their new planner in August. I definitely agree that can be a problem for some, but I'm showing you how I make the most out of my old Lilly agendas. If you do not own any old Lilly agendas, you could always google Lilly Pulitzer Prints and print out a bunch of different ones to make crafts!

There are several crafts on Pinterest that work with agendas such as picture frames, canvases, and even covering a mirror! My favorite craft to make with my Lilly agendas are Lilly Letters. They are the perfect decor for rooms (especially dorms!) and also make for the perfect gifts!

I went to Michael's to get my supplies. I bought a wooden "M" letter, a paint brush, modge podge, and then just used my old agenda pages for the craft! 

A couple years ago, I made my initials for Lilly letters but looking back on them now, I feel that they are too busy. When re-doing this craft, I wanted to simplify the look of the wooden letter by using a common color scheme, as well as larger pieces of the agenda paper. 
Listed below are the steps that I took to make my own Lilly letter. These steps would also work if you wanted to make a picture frame or even cover the side of a mirror! 
After the steps, I included pictures of the process I took to make the Lilly letter, as well as a picture of my Lilly letters I made several years ago!


Steps:

1. Gather the supplies that I listed above (old agenda pages, scissors, ruler, modge podge, wooden letter, paint brush)

2. Cut out the Lilly Pages from your agenda that you want to use, then organize them by common color schemes. I organized mine into 4 different piles: blue, green, pink, and multicolored. 

3. By looking at your piles, choose what colors you want to use. I love the look of pink and green together, so I chose them. 

4. Sketch out the areas that you want to put the different patterns. I sketched out about 2 inch sections with a pencil.

5. Begin to cut out and lay out your pieces without modge podge. This way, you can get a feel for how the letter will look while also being able to move the pieces around.

6. Begin to Modge Podge the pieces down. I used my paint brush to paint Modge Podge on the back of every piece of paper, then I carefully pressed and smoothed the piece down so no bumps formed. 

7. After all of the pieces are Modge Podged down and dry, you go around with a small pair of scissors and trim any extra paper that is hanging off of the side. Be very careful when doing this step though, as you don't want to tear or rip the paper.

8. After all the edges are trimmed, put another coat of Modge Podge over the top of the letter to seal the pieces together. After it has dried, it is ready to be hung or displayed! 









If you try this, let me know how it goes! I would love to see pictures or hear about other crafts that you have made with Lilly agendas!

Sunday, July 5, 2015

First Mini Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!

If you follow me on tumblr, you may have seen that I am doing a giveaway but I wanted to post it on here as well! My blog has been up on here for about a year so I want to do a fun giveaway to thank you all for a great year! 
You will win a Lilly Pulitzer Sunglass Strap in She She Shells as well as a 5″ by 7″ hand painted canvas painted in Red Right Return!


Rules:
The winner will be picked on July 18th, I will notify them through Tumblr message. I will be checking to make sure you have reblogged and followed me on Tumblr and Instagram, but I will also use this as an opportunity to check out blogs and Instagrams so I will follow back some. This giveaway is only open to the US. Feel free to message me if you have any more questions!
Good luck!!

Saturday, June 27, 2015

KJP Boat Shoes

Hi Everyone!

I recently ordered a pair of Kiel James Patrick's new Boat Shoes. Believe it or not, I have only ever owned 1 pair of Sperry's that I wore daily so I wanted to add a new boat shoe to my collection. I'm a huge fan of everything KJP, so when I saw that he was coming out with his own line of boat shoes, I knew I had to splurge a bit. They are about double the price of Sperry's, but I believe that they are definitely worth it. They have arch support unlike my Sperry's, and the attention to detail in the shoe is amazing. I'm so happy with my purchase and it was such a nice splurge. The box they came in was so unique and I kept it to put old pictures in. They even sent an adorable KJP sticker in the box!
If you're looking for some new boat shoes, definitely 'treat yo self' to a pair of KJP's!









{ Shoes: Kiel James Patrick }



Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Upcycled Bikini

Hi Everyone!
At the start of every summer, I go through my old bathing suits and get rid of ones that don't fit or ones that I'm just not a fan of anymore. This way, I can make room for some new suits. When I was going through my old suits, I came across an old halter bandeau that I have had for years. I loved it because it has a halter string that you can take on or off. It had fringe on the front and wasn't really my style anymore. My mom suggested that I cut the fringe off and see how it would look because I was planning on getting rid of it anyway. I carefully cut the fringe off and had to go back several times cutting to make sure I got all of the fringe off. 
Once it was off, it looked like a solid, plain bandeau. 
I have always loved how monogrammed bandeaus looked but I have never bought one. I searched on Pinterest and looked at different kinds of monograms on bandeaus and picked one that I loved. Then I took my bandeau to my local monogram shop (for any of you in the Annapolis area I use Blue Heron Bags in the Annapolis Mall). I spoke with someone who worked there and we figured out that we had to leave the padding in the bathing suit because there would be no way to fit it back in after it was monogrammed. That was fine with me! I decided to use black string for a monogram since any light color string would get dirty from our Bay water. Then, I ordered a cute new black scalloped bikini bottom to match the black monogram. I came back two days later to pick it up and I was so happy with it. I love DIY/Upcycle Projects and I'm so glad this one turned out; I was able to make an old bathing suit into a new one!






{ Top: American Eagle (similar) | Bottoms: Victoria's Secret Pink | Monogram: Blue Heron Bags }

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Georgetown

Hey Everyone!
Today I am sharing my day with Ross in Georgetown. My photographer (aka my awesome sister) got a new lens for her camera and wanted to try it out. And it was a great excuse to go to Good Stuff Eatery, our favorite burger place! 
I was lucky enough to survive Lilly for Target! I got all my clothes online (between 12-4am) and was even able to snag some stuff for my mom and sister.
Here are our picture from our day in Georgetown, I hope you enjoy!











Morgan: { Dress: Lilly for Target (similar) | Shoes: Jack Rogers | Watch: Michael Kors }
Ross: { Shirt: Vineyard Vines | Blazer: Vineyard Vines | Bowtie: Brooks Brothers (similar) |
Shorts: Jcrew | Shoes: Sperrys | Bracelet: Kiel James Patrick }

My favorite part of today was learning how to tie a bow tie! I can't imagine being a guy and tying it yourself, even I struggled to tie it. Hopefully we will make it into Georgetown soon for another round of photos again!
Much love,
Mo

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Lilly Pulitzer Croakies

Hey Everyone!
Every Spring, I treat myself to some new croakies. After one year, my croakies usually get pretty dirty and often fall apart just because I use them so much. I always buy Lilly Pulitzer Croakies from my local Lilly signature store, The Pink Crab. Yesterday, I went to pick up some new croakies and I couldn't be happier with them!


{ Sunglasses: Polarized Ray Bans | Croakies: Lilly Pulitzer }

 The sunglasses I have are Ray Ban Wayfarers. I bought polarized ones since I have blue eyes. If you have light eyes, it's best to wear polarized sunglasses to help protect from Macular Degeneration in the future. They are a bit more expensive, but it's definitely worth it since it's protecting your health. Because they are a bit pricier, I always use croakies just so they don't fall off or I don't lose them. The style of these croakies are different from my pair from last year. They are all cloth, much skinnier, and a bit longer. I love the new style and I think they will definitely last longer than my old pair. I chose the print "Cute as Shell" because who doesn't love navy and pink paired together?! I love the detail in the shell print too. These new croakies are perfect and I hope they always stay this clean! It looks like Lilly Pulitzer just stopped selling sunglass straps on their website, but you can find them different places on the internet still! What kinds of croakies do you all use?

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Croquet by the Bay

Hey everyone!
As a local Annapolis tradition, every year St John's College plays the Naval Academy in a heated croquet tournament. The event is open to everyone so all the local Annapolitans love to get dressed up. For one day, our whole city turns classy and preppy. I love that, how one event can bring a city together. I had actually never been because I've always been busy, but this year I knew I wanted to attend and I had my calendar marked with this date for months in advance. It turned out to be the perfect spring day and a great time to take pictures. When the croquet is over, everyone normally walks around downtown so that was another great photo opportunity.


 


Morgan: { Dress: Vineyard Vines (similar) | Shoes: Jack Rogers | Sunhat: DIY (similar) }

Ross: { Shirt: Vineyard Vines | Blazer: Vineyard Vines | Bowtie: Brooks Brothers | Shorts: Jcrew | Shoes: Sperrys | Sunglasses: Ray Bans }

Many people wear Derby Hats so I chose to make my own this year! I bought a plain sunhat for about $20 then hot glued Navy ribbon with a bow to it. It was super easy to make and I think it turned out pretty well! I wore a Vineyard Vines Sailboat dress from last year and Jack Rogers with them. Ross wore a navy blazer, pink Chinos, a white button down, a blue striped bowtie, and Sperrys. It was such a great day and hopefully a tradition we will always follow! What are some local traditions you all have?

Much love,
Mo