{Pinbuster!} Gallery Wall

I have pinned so many gallery wall configurations it is borderline unhealthy. I love the eclectic look of them and how they become a focus piece for a large or small wall space. However, I don't really have a natural knack for putting things like a gallery wall together. The event that pushed me over the edge was this discovery of THE PERFECT furniture piece. Since the day we moved into our house we had a very large, very dark, and very old china hutch on the main wall in our dining area. It had been there so long we kinda didn't even look at it anymore. That is until my obsession with creating a gallery wall in its place. We searched and searched for a buffet piece that wouldn't break the bank and would open up the wall space that I needed. I stumbled across a local company~ Carver Junk Company~ that refurbishes and re-purposes furniture in the most unique and beautiful ways for the most reasonable prices. It was here that I found THE PERFECT buffet for my gallery wall vision. Once the behemoth china hutch was out and the buffet was in I got to work! Thank goodness for Hobby Lobby (mostly) and this local "junk" company! I drew my plan out first and then over a few shopping trips over a few months, slowly gathered the items that would make up the "gallery."It took me weeks of having all the pieces laid out on my den floor until I felt confident enough to actually put a whole in the wall to hang it up.  Here is the final product!

The BEAUTIFUL buffet!

Most of the items were purchased at Hobby Lobby--that store will be the death of me! 

Several of the table frames are from Home Goods

Lamp is from Target

Metal letters are from Carver Junk Company 

Plants are from Home Goods

Canning jars are antique

Thanks for looking! 

Check back soon for my closet makeover!

FINAL teacher outfit post!

Ok folks- this is it! Day 10 of my teacher outfit challenge. I'm not going to lie and say the 10 days were a piece of cake. I'll admit there were days where I changed out of my school outfit, made supper, and then realized I never took a photo of my outfit. Ugh. Really? I'd then head back upstairs, put on the entire outfit and snap the pics. Awesome. I was SO proud  of myself when I would remember right away. Whoo hoo! I am going to share another two weeks of my outfits soon. Thanks for all of your kind words! 

{Day 10}

I actually wasn't in school this day-- had to get a cortisone shot in my thumb. I would NOT recommend that by the way. The day was filled with appts and errands. I wore THE GREATEST FIND of the last year-- a white, fitted, structured blazer from The Limited that I paid $13 for!  Go quick as they still have it in stores! 

{Shop the Style}

Blazer: The Limited 

Tank: Gap

Jeans: JCrew

Necklace: The Limited 

Shoes: Target 

Two Weeks of Teacher Outfits! {Days 8 & 9}

Wow am I enjoying this small tiny Indian summer we are having here in MN. I am squeaking out a few last days with my summer dresses and sandals. The weather has been nearly perfect and despite really wanting to bust out some boots, I will relish these last few warm, sunny days and the outfits they bring.

{Day 8}

This is one of my favorite Old Navy clearance finds from the summer. A super cute shirt dress that I dropped a mere $8.99 on sometime in August. I adore mint and couldn't pass up on the stripes either. This dress transitions well to fall with an outer layer cardigan. Throwing on my Emily sandals from Target made me super happy as well. The necklace is from Groopdealz and is hands down the necklace that I get asked about most often while wearing. Pssst...I have it in four colors! Side story--I spilled smoothie on the sleeve of the sweater and four WHITE stripes on my way to work. Argh! The curse of wearing white! Thank goodness for baby wipes!

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Dress: Old Navy

Sweater: Old Navy

Sandals: Target

Necklace: Groopdealz 

Tank: Old Navy

{Day 9}

Oh. My. Goodness. I saw this top in a Limited email and it haunted me for the better part of a week. Turquoise? My favorite color. A little bit of peacock vibe? Smile. Loose, drapey fit? Swoon. How about 40% off? Why thank you very much! I'm head over heals for this shirt AND I already owned a cardigan that matched it perfectly!!! (Insert evil laugh here!) I busted out some black booties and I was one happy camper. 

{Shop the Style}

Top: The Limited

Skirt: Old Navy

Booties: Target

Cardigan: Vanity

Necklace: Charlotte Russe

Two Weeks of Teacher Outfits {Days 6 & 7}

Here we are at week two! I have kept up with all of this better than I thought considering its the BUSIEST time of the year for people like me! Whoot Whoot!

{Day 6}

I really had to put an outfit together for Monday {Day 6} because it was school picture day! There are few professions where you get to see yourself age from September to September, year after year. I even get a few pictures to give away to my friends and family. Am I too old to be doing this? Eh. Who cares?! This outfit has so many separate pieces that I love and it all adds up to a pretty snazzy picture taking outfit! These pants are the new ankle length from The Limited~ the waistband and pockets are faux leather trimmed and so chic. I love the bold print of the top as it adds just enough wow to stand out in a picture. I just had to match the studs on my shoes to the ones on my necklace to complete the whole ensemble.

{Shop the Style}

Cardigan: Target (Merona)

Top: Target

Pants: The Limited

Shoes: Von Maur (Naughty Monkey)

Necklace: Charlotte Russe

{Day 7}

Well the temps here in Minnesota are following the typical, fickle Fall trends. We are now having highs back in the 70's. It is very chilly in the morning, but by the afternoon it settles right down on gorgeous. A maxi skirt is the perfect match for this kind of weather as it allows my legs to be covered when its chilly but offers air flow for the hotter temps later. In the morning I sported a full sleeved jean jacket and traded it out later for the sleeveless version. I love accenting black with gold and adding it with the necklace and shoes was the perfect flair. 

{Shop the Style}

Tank: Old Navy

Jean Vest: Old Navy

Skirt: The Limited

Necklace: The Limited

Shoes: Born 

Check back for Days 8 & 9! 

Two Weeks of Teacher Fashion! {Days 4 & 5}

Turns out doing two days at a time is waaaay easier than everyday! I wrapped up my first week back at school this week. Over 300 sixth graders are now feeling like real middle schoolers and I am exhausted! Thank goodness I planned my outfits out ahead of time so I could hit the snooze button once. Or twice.

Day Four~

We are barely topping out at 50 degrees right now--leave it to MN to go right from 80 and humid to needing to wear two layers. Oy. I am pretty pumped to be adding blazers to my outfits now but dread the frigid temps that are around the corner. Fall is a perfect time to wear summer pieces mixed with fall pieces to create a great transition outfit. My day 4 outfit is a perfect example!

{Shop the Style}

Top: The Limited

Blazer: Kohl's

Pants: American Eagle Skinny Kick

Wedges: Target

Necklace: Von Maur

Day Five~

We have school spirit days on Fridays--especially if there is a home football game. I'll be honest and tell ya that I don't take advantage of these days very often. I'm not really a sweatshirt kinda gal. I like comfy clothes when I am doing comfy things. However, when I am teaching I really do like to look professional. I AM willing to do it ever since I found this stellar home team sweatshirt in groovy tie-dye. It is a wonderful light weight. An outfit like this also gives me an excuse to where my Converse. Win for me. Now let's hope our team wins too! 

{Shop the Style}

Sweatshirt: Local team store

Pants: J Crew Skinnies

Converse: Shore from Von Maur

See you on Monday! 

Two Weeks of Teacher Outfits! {Days 2 &3}

Throwing two days together as I meant to sit down and do Day 2 LAST NIGHT, but the day just got away from me. I woke with a start at 1 a.m. and thought, "Dang-I didn't get day two up on day two--not a good way to start." I fell right back asleep so I must have been okay with it.

I am using my outfit menu to plan my week of outfits. It just really makes things simpler and less hectic in the morning when I know exactly what I am wearing and am assured that all of the outfit pieces are ready and wearable. I am so not a fan of last second ironing and this method helps with that a ton.

For day two I went with one of my favorite color trios--black, white and a pop of color. The dress is a clearance score from Target and it has a great vintage feel to it. I continued the vibe with wedges and a simple bead necklace.

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Sweater: NY&Co (older)

Dress: Target

Wedges: Nine West

Necklace: Maurices 

For Day 3 we had a major weather change that I knew was coming--I always look at my 10 day weather forecast when planning my outfits. I have to admit---for a gal who loves heat and summer-- I was pretty excited to pull out some skinnies and ankle booties. This outfit was super comfy and cozy yet had a great classy look. The top from the Limited has great detail at the neck that carries over to the back and shoulder. 

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Top: Limited (just scored on clearance!)

Skinnies: JCrew Factory 

Booties: Jessica Simpson

Necklace: homemade 

See you tomorrow! 

Two Weeks of Teacher Outfits Starts NOW! {Day 1}

I received TONS of great feedback on the last post about teacher basics for your wardrobe. I am going to challenge myself to take a picture of EVERY outfit I wear for the next two school weeks and post them EVERYDAY! We just started school today as our school district had summer construction projects and needed a tiny bit of extra time to get the schools ready for us all. So....Here goes day 1!

{Shop the Style}

Dress: The Limited (marked down as we speak---such a cute dress!)

Shoes: Target (current)

Jacket: Kohl's 

Necklace: Origami Owl