Amazon Lounge Wear Sets

 Here are all the links to the Amazon lounge wear sets I showed on my feed! :)

What can $50 get you?

Hey Guys!

Today I am writing on a fun blog project! I wanted to go shopping at 3 different stores, and see what I could come up with for a look at each store, while spending $50 or less. Honestly it was a challenge for me for a few reasons.

1. I went with my loving husband who HATES shopping, so needless to say I had about 10  minutes in each store to throw something together LOL

2. Since the Covid-19 all fitting rooms are closed. This obviously makes all the sense in the world, however for someone like myself who is always in between sizes I had no idea if anything was going to fit! (cross your fingers and hope it works)

3. Lastly, I was really trying to put together different styles at each store for all different fashion types. In 10 minutes this was a very fun challenge.


On Instagram and Facebook I put out the looks and asked where people thought each one was from, and also which price tag they thought went with each look! Some of you were right and I am excited to unveil the truth!

Sadly shoes are not included in these looks or prices, but I will still link them!

**I am so sad to say that Walmart and Meijer would not let me link any of their items :(

Without anymore typing here are the looks! :)


Look #1: Target $60 Preppy Chic 

Ok yes I know I said $50, but in my defense this tank did not have a tag so I really screwed this one up! LOL

You guys these Jeans are just WOW! I bought them to just get some denim in a look, and I now want 500 more pairs. They are high rise, and the material is so dang comfy!

I then added the headband since I was already over (this is also how I justify free shipping online, I can't be the only one who does this...please tell me I am not the only one lol) The headband was on a sale when I got it, which it now is not so bummer on that piece.

One last side note on these shoes. They are from Kohl's and I love them so much if I could be a shoe it would be these! They are also on sale for $17.99 right now originally $60!

Tank
Denim
Mules

Look #2 Walmart $33 Beachy Vibes

Honestly this might be my favorite look of the bunch! It is such a fun beachy vibe! The Walmart I was at was extremely picked over, because it is the only thing open so it makes sense. My best score with this look was my pink hat being on sale for $2!

BOOYAAAA (yes that is what I said in the store too and I have never seen my husband more embarrassed of me but hey a good deal gets ya girl going)

Sandals


Look #3 Meijer $43 Boho Lovin'

Oh how I love Meijer! They are always so good in the clothing section! I wanted to throw a dress in a look and this number is the bomb! So dang comfy and tall girl approved. I paired it with the cute gold earrings for a simple summer dress up look. Both of these pieces were on sale because I had it priced out at $50 before the register.

I hope you all had fun guessing on these! It is so fun to put looks together on a budget because it really makes you get creative!

more to come,

Small Town Fashionista

Budget Friendly Kitchen Renovation

Hey Guys!

Today's blog is all about our recent kitchen renovation. As I am sure  lot of you are, we were trying to do our renovation on a budget. We wanted it to look upgraded without the price tag. Every person that I have showed my kitchen to so far has been in disbelief that the counters are not real marble or the back splash is actually just stick on.

I am going to link every product I used on here so you guys can find them easily!

First off we started with our cabinets. Honestly, out of this whole old farmhouse, those might be the thing that was in the best shape. I knew with just a little face lift they could look brand new! I will say I did splurge on the paint, however I wanted it to last so I was not constantly touching up my cabinets everyday.

* A big disclaimer to those that may not paint often, this is the one area you do not want to skimp on any project. As much as it may stink to spend the extra dollars on it, you will be so happy you did in the end. Cheap paint will almost always scratch off or chip much quicker than you would ever like*

The paint we used  is the Magnolia Home Trim & Cabinetry paint. Since this paint is specifically made for cabinetry is gives it a much better finish than a normal paint would. It gave my cabinets that glossy and hard feeling brand new cabinets would have.

We chose the color Silos White for our cabinets.

Silos White Paint

The process:

I started by removing all the hardware and doors. Then I cleaned the cabinets and sanded them down. I always wonder when people say you need to sand how intensely you need to do this. I can tell you mine was short and simple. I simply roughed up the cabinets so the paint would hold better.

Next I primed all the cabinets and then finally I painted them. I did 1 coat of primer and 

2 coats of the paint. If you want great results you do need to prime your cabinets. Skipping this step will only result in a lower quality end result.

After all cabinets were done we moved on to doors. We were lucky enough that my husband's shop has a spray paint hook up so that made painting the doors and drawers much easier. It helped  them all to have a smooth finish with no streaks. If you have access to one definitely use it! If you don't just take your time with a roller of brush and you will be just fine.

I will say I was absolutely horrible at handling the spray gun so my wonderful husband took that over while I get put on hardware duty. LOL 

I really wanted to keep the original hardware because I liked having a touch of original still mixed in with our upgrade. Also this saved us a ton of money because hardware is expensive!! Our hardware was all coated in a nasty black filth. I was determined I could fix them so I searched and searched the internet until I found the miracle product!!

This bar keepers friend cleanser is an absolute powerhouse cleaner! You can see in the photo above how incredible it made our hardware look in a matter of seconds! I will tell you, I scrubbed my little heart out and it was a lot of work to get them all that clean. However for the price of this product and
the result you can't beat it!!



I actually used a brush from my espresso cleaning kit, but I will link that here so you all can see specifically what brush worked well for me.


Once all the cabinets were done and back in place I started the counters.

THIS STEP TAKES PATIENCE AND YOU CANT EXPECT PERFECTION

I spent an entire afternoon on this, and I did it while I was alone because I knew my husband would not have the patience for it. In a nutshell it is essentially like putting on a vinyl decal. If you have any experience with those (which I thankfully did) you will be ok. However if you don't you will still be ok you just need to watch a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to apply it (I also did that because I wanted as much information as possible).

I measured out my pieces for my counter and went to town. You start by sticking the end of the contact paper to the back of your counter. You then use a scraper to slowly push the contact paper to the counter while getting out the air bubbles. I actually used a pan scrapper to do this and it worked perfectly. Little by little you pull back  the backing of  the paper to get more and more if it stuck to the counter until that strip is  done.

I will link a YouTube tutorial so you can see first hand what I am talking about.

Video on how to apply counters

You will have air bubbles, you will be able to see where the pieces overlap, and you will have mistakes. But for a quick cost effective fix you really can't beat it.

My counters have been holding up great! I have been very careful with heat and cutting on them,. If you are aware of those two things you should have great luck with them!



Lastly the back splash.

This is what really pulled our kitchen together for me and it was hands down the easiest step! You seriously just peel off the back and stick it to the previous back splash or wall. I can't stress to you all how easy it is! Yes you do have to cut pieces for around the window and light fixtures, but that is really the only challenge.

Mine is so far from perfect but with this block style it is so easy to mess up and still have it look great! Haha!


I am going to link our new sink and our small new light fixture we put over our sink. Both of these were easy install and are so cute!



Kitchen Sink

This type of renovation is perfect for renters as well! I have tore off a piece of the counter and it came right off. The same goes for the back splash. (However this does matter what you are sticking it too. I stuck both of mine to laminate counter tops and back splash)

Overall I am 100% happy with the end results and all of these products! I hope this can help someone else spice of their homes while keeping it cost effective!

more to come,

Small Town Fashionista

How to say "Yes" to the Dress!

It is that time of year, where wedding dress shopping is in full force! In fact, exactly a year ago today was when I said yes to the dress. I thought today would be the perfect day to blog about my experience and give all the brides-to-be a little real life idea of what it is like.



Shopping for your wedding dress is an experience like none other. It is full of so much joy and happiness, for most brides it is one of the first steps after the venue is booked. As the fashionista that I am, I would say this was 100% my favorite part of wedding planning. So what does the actual day/experience look like? I am gonna tell you some advice and tips I learned that will hopefully help other brides as well! (I am no expert so please don't expect Vera Wang sort of advice here ladies lol)

So here we go...

1. My biggest and strongest words of advice are, bring people with you but not too many.

You want to bring people who know you best, but also respect your choices. The people you choose to bring really have a hard job. They have to tell you what they like the best, but try not to make the choice for you.  Nothing would be worse than a bride getting a dress because others love it but she secretly hates it.



2. Try on all different kinds of dresses.

 Do not pin yourself down to one specific type because you saw a Pinterest post of that dress and you are 100% sure its the one for you. It may very well be the dress for you, but another style you never expected could also look amazing on you. I can tell you I left with a dress that was nothing like what I pictured myself wearing. You might hate what you try on but at least you can say you tried it. That is half the fun!

3. Get the dress YOU want, not the dress you think others would like to see you in.

I was almost certain this the dress was the one. It was the second one I tried on. An absolutely stunning dress, but in my heart it just wasn't the one. There were so many little things I did not like about it. However, I thought this was the dress all the girls liked the best and the one that had the most wow factor. I would have walked out of the boutique with this dress if I had not found the right one. I knew this dress was not me, but I was so scared I would not find anything better so I was desperately trying to convince myself it was.

4. You will have the moment that you know it is the one.

I totally thought this was a lie to be honest. I thought that second dress had to be the one, but I did not get that magical feeling everyone talks about. I tried on 10 dresses total and on dresses 1-9 I had no special feelings, just that I had tried on many gorgeous dresses. Do not rush into making a choice you are not sold on, wait for that moment to happen.

5. If there are things you do not like about the dress, it is not the right one.

I stole this advice from the wonderful woman named Cheryl that helped me in my appointment. She, along with all my ladies I brought, could see in my face I was not fully satisfied with many dresses I tried on. I would try and sell them to myself but then in my head think about all the small details I didn't like. At the end of each dress Cheryl would ask, "Anything you don't like about this dress?" and that is how I knew they were not right for me. When It came to the dress I picked I was speechless during that question.

6. The magical moment 

Remember how I said you will have a moment? Well here was mine:

I walked back into the fitting room for one last dress. I was feeling slightly defeated, but knew I had a gorgeous dress to take home and was convincing myself it was the dress for me.

Cheryl popped in my room and said, "Ok, you only have time for one more dress. This dress is very different from any you tried on. I kept hearing you say how you wanted comfort, elegant, and unique so I think this one hits all of those marks."

I took the last dress from her. I faced away from the mirror to put it on because I liked to surprise myself what it looked like. (I know such a dork) My first thought when I had it on was "Holy crap this is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn, it feels like sweatpants!" I looked in the mirror and didn't even know what to say. I had never seen any other dress like it. It was so simple yet so many elegant details, something that I was longing after.

I stepped into the room with the ladies and you could hear a pin drop. My heart sank and I couldn't believe that they hated it so much. I stood there waiting for the first person to say a word and then realized my face was the color of a tomato. I had no idea what was happening to my face and what in the world my body was trying to do.

Every single one of them said they all knew the second I walked out in that dress it was the one. The way I stood in it, the way I had more confidence it it, the way that it was so unique and different how I had been describing. The fact my face turned insanely red without me even knowing it meant that my body knew it was the one before my brain did!


I walked out of that shop the on cloud 9, and so thankful for dress number 10. 

Every single dress I tried on was insanely gorgeous. This is not me telling you my dress was the most amazing dress ever and it's better than any other dress. (Because every bride's dress is the most perfect dress for them!)

This is me saying, listen to your heart, don't rush yourself into a choice, and have so much fun along the way. Every dress you try on will be the right one for someone, just make sure it is the right one for you. You will never pick a dress that is everyone's favorite, but make sure you pick that one that is yours!

More to come,

Small Town Fashionista

Last Minute Fourth of July Looks

Hi Everyone!

Happy Saturday! I hope you are doing something fun and for yourself today! I wanted to post some cute and simple Fourth of July outfits, in case like me you waited until the last minute to purchase any! LOL

My goal with this blog post was to put together an entire day's worth of outfits. This way no matter where your day takes you, you will be covered in the wardrobe department. So lets get to it!

First stop...brunch!

Everyone knows a good day starts with a brunch and some farmer's market shopping (and by everyone I mean myself because that is my ideal morning hahahaha). This cute little dress is perfect for that! It is so lightweight, but oh so flattering! My favorite part of it are the little ruffle details, it really makes the look dainty and feminine. This dress is also lined, so no worries of it being see-through here! I did link the cute white tassel earrings I am wearing to spice up this look!

After a perfect morning, what is better than an afternoon at the beach? 

This suit is something totally out of my own comfort zone! When I was shooting these photos with my fiance (yes he is the secret photographer behind the scenes haha) I kept saying I can't believe how much I love this, because it is so unlike anything I have ever worn before.

First off it is seriously SO cute! The smock top and little ruffle detail...I mean come on!! I have never worn high waisted bathing suit bottoms, and wow have I been missing out! I love how they feel and just how comfortable they are! My girls that aren't into super revealing bikinis but want it to still be cute and festive, this is for you!!






Finally, nothing ends a Fourth of July like a backyard BBQ!

This little Americana tee is so classic. I love the simplicity of it, but also how cute it can make your outfit. It is a perfect Fourth of July piece, without  having to try hard at all! I paired it with these little fringe white shorts. I love the fit of these shorts! I love that they are high-waisted, but also long enough to cover my booty. My two words of advice on them is, don't order a size up because they will be huge, and don't wear neon pink underwear because it will show through...I know both from experience hahahaha.

Hopefully these quick and easy outfits help you put together some Fourth of July looks, or inspire you to create your own! There is still time to get the perfect outfit, thank goodness for online shopping! LOL!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

more to come,

Small Town Fashionista