Katie Haller, Author at Thrifty Wife Happy Life

How to Hem Your Jeans Without Sewing

September 13, 2017 by Katie Haller

A couple months ago, I found this cute pair of Hollister jeans at the Goodwill. They were in great condition and had the perfect amount of stretch to them. They were so comfortable that I knew they would be perfect to wear for work. The only problem with them was that they were way too long.

I’m only 5’1, so I’ve always struggled with jeans being too long. I normally just cuff my jeans at the bottom, but these jeans were too long for that. I never pay to hem my clothes and I definitely can’t hem pants myself, so I decided that I would just cut them. It’s an extremely simple way that you can shorten the length of your jeans and since the distressed look is very in style right now, it won’t look weird to have it frayed at the bottom.

Before

After

I was very pleased with how my jeans turned out. It’s such an easy solution to a short girl’s problem. Below is one way that I styled my jeans recently.

Thrifted Summer Romper

September 10, 2017 by Katie Haller

I love to thrift shop because you just never know what you will find. I like to think of it as treasure hunting. Today I wanted to share one of my latest treasures I found on one of my thrift store trips.

While shopping at the Goodwill recently, I ended up finding this cute little romper that was only $2.50. I had never owned a romper before, but I’ve always liked them on other people. I figured that it would be a great piece to wear during the summer heat. I really love the print on it, and I figured that it would look cute layered up with a cardigan or on its own. For today’s look, I wore it on its own with my dark brown sandals, my brown purse, and gold accessories.

I know that summer is coming to an end, so a romper is a little out of season for most. But it’s very easy to layer and wear on a warm fall day. It’s also a good time to snag up a cute romper for a good price, especially with all the end of summer clearance sales. Below, I’ve linked a bunch of cute similar rompers all under $20!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

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Transitional Fall Outfit

September 8, 2017 by Katie Haller

I’m so excited for fall. I know that I talk about it a lot, but fall is my favorite season for fashion. I just love all the neutral colors and layering pieces. It’s hard to really embrace the fall fashion when it’s still 100 degrees outside. The weather plays a big part in what you wear. That’s why this fall, I really want to focus on sharing a lot of transitional fall looks. I mean, in Las Vegas, we transition into fall until it’s Christmas time. Then once it’s winter, we finally get to wear all our fall clothes comfortably.

For today’s transitional fall look, I pulled this tan lightweight sweater from my closet and paired it with my favorite pair of shorts from this summer. I love the color of this sweater and it’s the perfect kind of sweater to wear when it’s still warm outside. I love how it looks with this salmon-colored statement necklace. I wore this combo a lot when I first moved to Las Vegas over 2 years ago (older post here) and I’m hoping to bring it back this fall.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life || Transitional fall look

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life || Transitional fall look with neutral colors and a salmon statement necklace

Shop my closet

Top- Kohl’s (similar) || Shorts- Abercrombie, thrifted from Savers (similar) || Shoes- Roxy, DSW (similar) || Necklace- Charming Charlie (similar, similar) || Purse- Coach Outlet (similar) || Belt- Old Navy (similar) || Sunglasses- Glassesshop.com (exact)

Smile Brilliant- Affordable Teeth Whitening

September 5, 2017 by Katie Haller

*This post is sponsored by Smile Brilliant. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Professional teeth whitening at home

My smile has always been very important to me. There is nothing like a healthy smile to give you the confidence that you need. I always feel like your smile is your best accessory.

My smile hasn’t always been so great. I wore braces for 6 years of my life. From 4th grade to 10th grade I had those ugly little metal things hiding my smile. When I finally got my braces off and saw my new smile, I promised myself that I would always take good care of my teeth. For 16 years I wore my retainer to bed almost every night. I brush my teeth often, floss and I keep up on those teeth cleanings every six months. I’m proud to say that I’ve only had one cavity my whole life. But even with my good dental care, my teeth are still not as white as I’d like them to be. I drink coffee daily and I enjoy wine, beer, and the occasional pop. I use whitening toothpaste and mouthwash, but I still wish I could have whiter teeth. I’ve looked into getting my teeth whiten at the dentist, but insurance doesn’t cover it and it can get pretty pricy. That’s why I was so excited when Smile Brilliant contacted me to see if I wanted to collaborate with them and try out their teeth whitening system.

Smile Brilliant is a professional at-home teeth whitening system that simply removes the stains from your teeth and brings out the natural color. At first, I was a little intimidated by the system, because it all seemed very involved and I didn’t want to mess anything up. After doing a little research, I quickly realized that it wasn’t so hard.

Smile Brilliant sent the kit to my house with everything I needed. The teeth whitening kit came with the whitening gel applicators, desensitizing gel applicators, impression trays, catalyst paste and base paste to make the impressions. It also came with an envelope with shipping to send the impressions back to the lab.

The first thing I did was make my impressions. I can remember having to make impressions so many times when I was at the orthodontist as a kid, so I felt like this processes was pretty easy for me. I followed the directions that came with the kit very closely so I didn’t mess anything up. When I was done, I filled out the card that came with the kit. I placed the impressions and the card in the envelope and dropped it in the mail box. I was surprised how quickly they were able to send back my custom-fitted trays to me.

Once I received my custom-fitted trays, I was ready to go. The instructions are very easy to follow, you just need to set aside time to do the treatments. I found it easy to do my whitening in the evening, which is what is recommended. I wore the whitening trays for an hour or so before bed, while I cleaned up around the house and got some blogging done. After you are done with the teeth whitening gel, you brush your teeth, wash and dry the trays, then you use the desensitizing gel for 20 minutes. Some people experience some gum irritation or teeth sensitivity, but I didn’t have many problems with that. I think that the desensitizing gel really helped any of the teeth sensitivity that I may have experienced.

Everyone’s results are different. For me, my teeth have a natural white color to them, so the whitening helped with removing the stains from around my gums and on my side teeth.

I’m really glad that I had the chance to brighten up my smile. Now here’s the fun part! Smile Brilliant is going to give one of my readers their own whitening kit so that you too can try out their teeth whitening system for yourself. To enter the GIVEAWAY all you have to do is CLICK HERE and leave your name and email address. Winner will be notified by email 2 weeks from today. The lucky winner will walk away with a $139 credit! That’s not all! If you don’t win you can still order your own teeth whitening kit and use the coupon code thriftywifehappylife to receive 10% off your order.

Home Teeth Whitening

My Fall 2017 Wish List

September 1, 2017 by Katie Haller

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Fall 2017 Wish List. Affordable fall essentials

It’s that time of the year again. The days are starting to get shorter and the weather is starting to get cooler. Season changes make me want to do some shopping. Before I go shopping, I always like to put together a list of items that I really would like to buy. It always helps me stay on budget and stay away from impulse buys. Every time I make myself a list like this and post it, I normally do a good job sticking to it.

Fall fashion is my favorite! Fall in Las Vegas starts much later than other’s, but once it cools down, the weather stays like fall weather all winter long, so my fall wardrobe is also my winter wardrobe. This year I’m all about neutrals and layering. The clothes I have my eye out for are very simple, but very versatile and easy to wear. I always love a touch of leopard print in the fall and winter, so I have my eye on a couple leopard print accessories. I’m also loving gold jewelry lately. I’ve always worn silver, but I have my eye on some pretty gold and rose gold jewelry pieces. As always, I can never have enough purses and shoes, so those are definitely on my list as well.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Neutral fall clothes

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Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Must have shoes for fall

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Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Fall jewelry essentials

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Now that I have my list together, the next step is the fun part… shopping for them! Look for my outfit posts to see what I end up buying and the great deals I find this fall!

Red Striped Dress

August 28, 2017 by Katie Haller

Hey everyone! Happy Monday! I’m going to start off my week with an outfit post. I think that by now most kids have started back to school and if they haven’t then they will be starting next week. That means teachers are back to work. Now I’m a teacher, but I do work summers because our program is year-round. It has its pros and cons, but now that the new school year is back in session, I’m trying to put together some new fun teacher looks to wear in the classroom. I teach PreK, so I usually have to modify my looks so that I can wear them around my little ones, but for my other fellow teachers who can get away with wearing a little cuter outfits, these looks are for you.

For today’s look, I’m sharing this red and white striped dress that I bought at Walmart for under $8 while buying school supplies for my classroom. I think it’s a perfect dress for a teacher. It has a high neckline and it falls at a perfect spot on your knee, plus with that price tag, it’s okay if you get a little dirty. I’ve been wearing this dress to work with my tan slip-on Roxy shoes (similar) to make it a little more casual for my classroom.

*This posts contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchasing through a link I will receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Red stripe dress with denim jacket

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- teacher outfit

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- congac tote for fall

Shop my closet

Dress- Walmart (similar, similar, similar) || Denim Jacket- Meijer (similar) || Shoes- Kohl’s (similar) || Purse- Neiman Marcus Last Call (similar) || Sunglasses- GlassesShop (exact) || Necklace- Kohl’s (similar, similar)

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