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Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Teacher Gifts Under $20!!

December 5, 2016 by Katie Haller

When it comes to buying Christmas gifts, I’m not one to go overboard and try to find the perfect gift for everyone I know.  I usually just stick to family members, however, there are certain people that I feel do deserve a Christmas gift and that is my child’s teacher.  After being a teacher myself, I know how much we appreciate the thought.  There is nothing cuter than seeing your students all proud to give you something that they picked out or helped wrap up.  This year is the first year that I get to go to teacher shopping for Jack’s daycare teachers.  I know they work so hard and take such good care of my little guy while I’m at work, I want to give them something so that they know that I appreciate them. 
I decided to put together a list of some of my favorite teacher gifts that I’ve come across this year. Best of all they are all under $20!

 One| Cable Knit Mittens $12.97
Winter outerwear always makes for a great teacher gift.  Preschool and elementary teachers do spend a decent amount of time outside on the playground, so mittens like these ones from Nordstrom Rack are the perfect gift with the perfect price!

Two| Plaid Blanket Wrap  $16.97
I love getting accessories as gifts.  Plaid is everywhere this season, so I love this Steve Madden Plaid scarf from Nordstrom Rack.  Us teachers love our scarves, especially if we have a chilly classroom.

Three| “I Teach there for I drink” Wine Glass $14.94
This teacher wine glass from Walmart makes a great gift!  Trust me, most people who spend all day working with children, like to come home and relax with a glass of wine.  If you want, I’d even throw in a bottle of wine to go with the glass, I’m just saying 😉

Four| Kate Spade thermal mug $18.00
Teachers always end up with tons of Christmas coffee mugs.  What about trading out the traditional snowman mug with this adorable Kate Spade thermal mug?  Teachers are on the go and it’s so much easier to fill your thermal mug on the way to work, rather than a regular coffee mug.

Five| Knee High Boot Socks $5
Socks always make a great gift, because if you’re like me, you don’t like to buy socks for yourself.  Any kind of cute socks will do.  Personally, I love these knee high socks from Target.  They are perfect to wear with your boots or just around the house.

Six| Antica Farmacista Pomegranate Candle $16.97
If you want to play it safe, you can never go wrong with a candle as a teacher gift.  I love these Antics Farmacista soy blend candles at Nordstrom Rack.  They smell great, and burn nicely.  Any teacher would appreciate a gift like this.

Seven| OPI Breakfast at Tiffany’s Nail Mini Set $14.50
I always love all the gift sets out there this time of the year!  Sometimes giving a teacher a little something to pamper herself at home can be just what they may need.  For me,  I personally love this OPI gift set at Macy’s!  It has a good mix of colors that anyone can appreciate.

Eight| Alex and Ani Apple of Abundance Bracelet $20
Sometimes you want to give something a little more sentimental.  Jewelry is always the perfect gift when you want to show that you really care and appreciate all the hard work your child’s teacher puts into their job.  This charm bracelet at Nordstrom says just that, without an expensive price tag. (The price has been fluctuating with sales over the past week, but its original price is $28.)

Those are my teacher gift ideas.  If your still at a loss for a teacher gift, I will say that you can never go wrong with a gift card.  My two favorite teacher gift cards are always Starbucks and Target.  What will you be giving your child’s teacher this year? 

Filed in: holidays, Shopping • by Katie Haller • 4 Comments

Gifts That Give Back

November 21, 2016 by Katie Haller

One// Two// Three// Four// Five// Six// Seven// Eight// Nine

With the holiday season quickly approaching, I’ve been thinking a lot about getting ready to do some Christmas shopping. To me, Christmas is so much more than just gifts.  It’s a time to count my blessings and try to give back in some way or another.  That’s why this year, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about purchasing gifts that give back. 


  I love how there is such a big movement right now with more and more companies being charitable and trying to use their business to better the world.  I’ve been doing a lot of research to find some gifts to purchase this season and I’ve found that you can find a gift that gives back for pretty much everyone on your shopping list. 
Here is a list of some of my favorite companies and gifts that give back. 


One | The Little Market
The Little Market is a fair trade online shop that was co-founded by one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Lauren Conrad.  The company helps support artisans and empower women from all over the world.  While browsing their website, I found a number of beautiful and creative gift ideas that were also quite affordable.  I really love these soy blend holiday candles.  They would be perfect for a teacher gift or co-worker, even a friend or family member.  I also love these cute little aprons.  Aprons always make great gifts, because they are not something most people buy for themselves.   

 Two | Hand in Hand Soap
Hand in Hand Soap is a company that I came across in my search for charitable companies and I was drawn to them because of their products and their affordability.  For every bar of soap that you buy from Hand in Hand, they donate a bar of soap and a month of clean water to a child in need.  They sell bar soap, bath salts, candles, lotion and all kinds of fun bath products.  It’s a great place to find gifts and I love that they sell their products at Target!  It’s perfect because you don’t have to go anywhere fancy to find their soaps.  I am eager to try out their Coral Sugar Scrub and the Juniper Berry Bar Soap.   These also make great teacher gifts! 

Three | Cuddle + Kind
This is my first Christmas as a mom, so I decided to look into baby and kid companies.  I ended up finding Cuddle and Kind, which is a really great company that gives back to children.  For every dollar you spend, they provide 10 nutritious meals for children around the world.  I love their adorable hand-knit dolls.  I thought that this doll, Aspen the Penguin would be such a cute gift for a little one in your life.  I also love the wall art.  It is the perfect gift for an expecting parent this holiday season.  I know that I would have loved one of these adorable gifts for Jack while I was pregnant last year. 

Four | Better Life Bags
I was so excited when I came across this company, Better Life Bags, because not only do they sell handbags, which what girl doesn’t love handbags?  But their business is set up to help support local women from low-income households in Detroit, MI.  With me being from the Detroit area, this company’s mission is really close to my heart.  They sell custom made handbags, made by women living in Hamtramck, Michigan, which is a very culturally mixed area of Detroit.  I love that you can pick out your own material for your bag and design it however you want or you can pick from their collections.  I really love this black and white striped crossover purse, also these cute little nesting pouches are perfect for organizing your purse or closet.  I definitely encourage you to check them out and learn more about their mission.

Five | AUrate New York  
If you are in the market to splurge on something special for someone, or maybe you are making a wishlist for your significant other, AUrate New York is a company that sells beautiful gold jewelry.  From white gold, to yellow gold and rose gold, they have it all in beautiful modern styles.  I‘m really in love with their collection of necklaces, especially this absolutely gorgeous gold bar necklace.  What I love most about this company is that with every purchase that you make, the company donates a book to an underprivileged child.  Being a preschool teacher of low-income children, I realize how important this mission is.  So many of the children that I work with do not have books in their homes, so it’s my job to encourage them on how to find books and teach them the importance of early literacy.  That is why I love that this company is giving back through reading!  I would definitely recommend checking out their site and browsing their beautiful jewelry collection.

That’s my list, I hope these companies will inspire you the same way they did for me.  What are some charitable companies that you will be shopping with this year?  I’d love to hear them! 

 

Filed in: holidays, Shopping • by Katie Haller • Leave a Comment

What to Wear for the 4th of July!

June 28, 2016 by Katie Haller

I love the 4th of July!  It’s always been a special holiday for my family and me.  Not only is it our country’s birthday, but it’s also my dad’s birthday.  I have a lot of happy memories spending this day with my family while growing up.  Ever since I was a little girl, I always had to make sure that I wore my red, white and blue on Independence Day.  Now that I’m an adult,  not much has changed.  I still look for those colors in my closet to make sure I’m festive for whatever I have planned on that day. 

Some easy ways to put together a great 4th of July outfit is to look for basic pieces like shorts, tank tops, and skirts, then accessorize them with some holiday flair.  For me, I like to accessorize with my red beads and add some denim in for my blue.

Whether you plan to spend your day at the beach, a picnic, barbecue, parade, fireworks or even if you have to be at the office…here are some easy ways to incorporate red, white and blue into your look.
I like this casual maxi skirt look.  It’s perfect for a hot summer day, plus it’s super comfortable!
I love this white Ann Taylor dress.  I actually wear it as a bathing suit cover up most of the time, but when you pair it with some wedge shoes, red beads, and a denim jacket; it can really dress it up nicely. 
This casual look is perfect for a day time BBQ, then you can add the denim jacket to it for evening fireworks.  I love the navy and white stripes in this tank top. 
This is another great evening to look for fireworks.  Having a red sweater in your closet can definitely come in handy, especially for holidays. 
This look is a great work outfit for the day before the long weekend.  We all know that a workday can drag on, especially the day before a holiday weekend.  Dressing up a little bit festive can make your day more fun! 
Those are my 4th of July looks.  Follow me on Instagram @thriftywifehappylife to find out what I end up wearing this year on the 4th.  I hope everyone has a safe a fun holiday!

Filed in: Affordable Fashion, fashion, holidays, looks, My Closet, outfits • by Katie Haller • Leave a Comment

Dressing Your Baby Bump for the Holidays

December 18, 2015 by Katie Haller

Last year, I wrote a post called Dressing for the Holidays on a Budget.  It was all about how to add some Christmas into your wardrobe, without having to spend money on a whole new outfit.  This year, I’m still following my own tips on dressing for the season, the only difference is this Christmas season, I’m 8 months pregnant.

I’m excited to be pregnant during this Christmas season.  Besides having to skip out on the holiday drinks I enjoy so much this time of the year, I’m very happy to be expecting our little man this Christmas.  There is just so much to celebrate and be thankful for!  Plus, I have this fun little baby bump to dress up!

While going through my closet, I’ve realized that there are a couple important things to keep in mind while planning out your maternity holiday outfits.  The first thing is to remember to be comfortable.  Between eating all the yummy holiday food and your growing baby smooshing your insides, comfort is my number one priority when picking out my outfits.  The second thing to remember is to stick to very basic clothes that you can easily accessorize with some of your favorite Christmas accessories.  My favorite way to accessorize during the holidays is with green, red or anything sparkly.

Here are some outfits that I’ve picked to wear this holiday season, using my favorite holiday accessories and comfortable maternity clothes.

This striped dress is one of my favorite dresses right now.  It’s simple and comfortable.  I love that I can accessorize it however I want.  Here I wore it with my red cardigan and red bead necklace to give it that Christmas look.  I also wore black tights and black ankle boots to complete the look. 

For my next look, I wore this simple black cotton maternity dress from Target (similar here).  This is the only actual “maternity” dress that I have bought so far.  I figured if I was going to spend money on maternity clothes, it should be something simple that I could wear over and over again, and what’s more simple than a plain black dress?  I added my green bubble necklace and my most comfortable pair of heels.  I wore this look to my husband’s company Christmas party.

Here is the same black dress, I just tried it out with my shimmery gold scarf instead of the necklace.  I also wore my black tights and ankle boots to give it more of a wintry look.

Continuing on with my all-black outfits, Here is an example of sticking with very simple comfortable clothes and just accessorizing them.  Here I wore a black long tank top, leggings and a black blazer.  I accessorized it with an infinity scarf that has some red and green in it and my boots.

 I thought this look would be a great casual Christmas day look.  I wore my polka-dot blouse, jeans, a red cardigan, green statement necklace and brown boots. 

Those are just a few ideas that I have for this Christmas season.  If you’re pregnant this year, hopefully these looks will help you figure out some ways to dress up your baby bump.  If you’re not pregnant, this can still be a great guide to help you figure out what to wear this Holiday season!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Filed in: holidays, looks, Maternity Style, Pregnancy • by Katie Haller • Leave a Comment

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Hi I'm Katie! Welcome to my blog! I am on a mission to help women build a wardrobe that they love without spending a lot of money doing it. I believe that everyone has the right to feel good in their outfit, no matter what your budget is! I am excited to have you here!
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Helping women love what they wear on a budget!
Thrifted fashion + Affordable retailers
👨‍✈️ Wife • Mommy
📍Michigan
💌 thriftywifehappylife@gmail.com

Katie || Affordable Fashion
For the last year, I have been on the hunt for com For the last year, I have been on the hunt for comfortable and affordable bras. I've bought a lot of bras I love and some that I wasn't too crazy about, but I've come to the conclusion that you don't need to splurge too much on a good bra. 

Check out my blog post today on thriftywifehappylife.com to read what my hits and misses of affordable bras are!! [link in bio]

#comfortablebra #affordablebra #womenundergarments #momstyle #momstyleblogger #themominfluencers #affordablefashion #budgetfriendlyfashion #michiganblogger #michiganmom #momootd #newblogpost #newontheblog
Here are some of the new items that I have added t Here are some of the new items that I have added to my wardrobe this spring that I have been loving! ⬇️

Target black midi dress- https://liketk.it/3ELfo
Target black Sandals- https://liketk.it/3ELfo
Target animal print sneakers- https://liketk.it/3ELcp
Amazon gingham dress- https://liketk.it/3ELba
H&M white blazer- https://liketk.it/3ELbQ
J.Crew Factory striped tank top- https://liketk.it/3ELbQ
Amazon floral dress- https://liketk.it/3EL9Y
Amazon belt- https://liketk.it/3EL9Y

Follow my shop @thriftywifehappylife on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!

#ltkblogger #shoppingonabudget #ltkstyletip #ltkunder50 #affordablefashion #whatibought #targetstyle #amazonshopping #amazonstyle #affordablestyle #midwestblogger #michiganblogger
What I wore this week as a SAHM... I had planned What I wore this week as a SAHM...

I had planned to document all my outfits this week, but I haven't been feeling that great the last couple days, so my outfits did suffer as the week went on! He's what I wore Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday! 

Follow my shop @thriftywifehappylife on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!
🛍➡️ https://liketk.it/3Ebzv

#wiw #sahmstyle #momootd #ootdfashion #everydays #everydayoutfit #realoutfitgram #realmom #michiganmom #michiganblogger #midweststyle #momiform #momfashion
I'm not sure if my content is getting better or th I'm not sure if my content is getting better or the Instagram algorithm is finally liking me, but I cannot believe the amount of growth I've had in the last couple months here on Instagram! Almost half of you are new!! 🥰 I'm not very good at sharing about me posts because I never know what to say, so drop me a question in the comments about what you want to know! 

As for the outfit, this cute floral dress is from Amazon! I'm loving the orange this season! I have a discount code for you to use until 4.26.22! Get 20% off with code: 2036KGEQ 

Follow my shop @thriftywifehappylife on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!
🛍➡️ https://liketk.it/3DsUs

#gifted #floraldress #affordablefashion #springstyle #ltkmothersday #ltkstyletip #ltkunder50 #amazonfinds #amazondress #amazonfashion #easystyle #momstyleblogger
Happy Easter 🐣 (a day late). We celebrated our Happy Easter 🐣 (a day late). We celebrated our first holiday at our new house! I hope everyone had a great day!

I was happy that I got to wear my new chambray dress from @loftoutlet however the weather didn't let me wear it the way I wanted.  Michigan Easter's are always chilly! 

Similar dresses linked ➡️ https://liketk.it/3D6YT

Follow my shop @thriftywifehappylife on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!

#easteroutfit #easterstyle #springstyle #chambraydress #sundaystyle #springdress #affordablefashion #budgetfriendlyfashion #affordablestyle #michiganblogger
I am loving this orange gingham dress! Gingham is I am loving this orange gingham dress! Gingham is an easy spring trend that you can bring into your wardrobe. I have a couple tops with blue gingham, but this orange print is so fun! 🍊

Use this 20% off discount code up until 4/19/22: 202NPX3P 

Follow my shop @thriftywifehappylife on the @shop.LTK app to shop this post and get my exclusive app-only content!
🛍➡️ https://liketk.it/3COHB

#ltkunder50 #ltkstyletip #ltkmothersday #amazonfinds #affordabledresses #amazonfashion #affordablefashion #budgetfriendlyfashion #springstyle #cutedresses #gingham #michiganblogger #easystyle
I wasn't sure what to post today. I was debating b I wasn't sure what to post today. I was debating between a picture or a reel, but then I found this picture on my camera roll and I couldn't resist. My little photo bomber is always trying to make her way into my photos. 😜 

This is just a friendly reminder that you never know what or who is behind the Instagram feed. 

#mommoments #lifewithatoddler #momstyleblogger #momsofinstagram #momblogger #momootd #michiganblogger #michiganmom #sahmstyle #sahmlife #midwestmom #behindthescenes #behindthefeed #reallife
We are having a snuggle kind of day. Seasonal alle We are having a snuggle kind of day. Seasonal allergies are hitting both my littles. They aren't sick enough to be sick, but feel yucky enough to be whiny and clingy. Hopefully it will pass soon. For now, my lap is the most popular seat in the house. 

#momlife #sahmlife #sahmproblems #michiganblogger #bloggerstyle #momstyleblogger #lifewithlittles #realmotherhood #motherhoodunplugged #momofboth #momootd #momiform #michiganmoms
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