Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Grey Plaid Scarf

November 9, 2017 by Katie Haller

I have to say that I am pretty spoiled with weather living in Las Vegas. November through March the weather has that cool fall feel, which is my favorite kind of weather to dress for. It never gets too cold, but you still get that chill in the air where you want to layer up a little.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission for this blog.

For today’s look, I wanted to share a way I like to layer up when the weather is not cold yet, but you still want to embrace the fall/winter styles. This grey t-shirt is quickly becoming one of my favorite tops in my closet. It was one of the tops I purchased with my ThredUP credit. It’s so soft and so comfortable. If I could, I would wear it every day. I paired it with the jeans that I recently distressed myself. For accessories, I wore my grey plaid scarf that I found on clearance last fall at Banana Republic Factory. My ankle boots are Forever 21 boots that I bought on ThredUP. I usually stick to brown when it comes to boots, but I am loving these boots in black. Plus they are super comfortable and I’ve been able to wear them to work a lot. This black satchel purse is one of my favorite purses in my closet. I bought it last fall at Nemain Marcus Last Call. I thought it was a cute cheaper option to the black Kate Spade satchel purse that I was eyeing at the time.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Distressed jeans with grey plaid scarf and black ankle boots

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- grey plaid scarf

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Distressed jeans and black ankle boots

Shop my closet

Top- ThredUP (similar) || Jeans- Jessica Simpson (similar) || Scarf- Banana Republic Factory (similar) || Boots- ThredUP- Forever 21 (similar) || Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus (exact, similar)

Confessions of a First Time Mom- Appreciating the Moment

November 6, 2017 by Katie Haller

Sometimes I feel like it’s hard to appreciate the present. I’m always thinking and planning for the future or reminiscing on the past. Sometimes I forget to take in the moments and appreciate where I currently am in life. I often look back on certain times in my life and wonder why I didn’t just appreciate that time. Time goes by so fast, especially when you have little ones. I feel like I had a newborn just yesterday.

My current life is so busy. I work full time, then when I’m home, I’m trying to catch up on all my responsibilities at home. My weekends are spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, meal prepping and cleaning. I’m really trying hard to set aside my busy life and just soak in my time with Jack. My husband has been busy this fall training on a new airplane, so I’ve had a lot of one on one time with my little guy. I’ve been trying to just enjoy my time with him as much as possible. I know that he’s only going to be little and sweet for a short time. I don’t want my busy life to take me away from those little moments. That’s why I take him to the park as often as I can. I push him on the swing and I go down the slide with him. I read him books. I tickle him and give him as many kisses as I can. At bedtime, I lay next to him until he falls asleep. I have been the only one who has put Jack to bed every night since he was born, and I’ve never spent a night away from him. That’s important to me because one day he won’t need me to put him asleep.

I’ve taken a little step back from blogging, just to get that extra time in with Jack. I love writing and working on new blog posts, but I’m not going to stress if I can’t get all my posts out that I’d like to. I usually do most of my blogging on the weekends and at night after Jack goes to bed, but lately, he’s been staying up later. I put him to sleep around 8:30 and after he falls asleep, I’m ready for bed too. If I don’t get around to working on a post, then that’s okay.

One thing I’m learning as a parent is that you just need to slow down and look at what’s in front of you. I once was told that when you have kids, the days are long, but the years are short. It’s so true. Not to mention, one day I hope to have 2 kids and that means life will get even crazier. I need to soak in this one on one time that I’m getting with my little guy while I can.

Casual Fall Dress

November 1, 2017 by Katie Haller

A few months ago I ordered a clean-out bag from ThredUP, which is an online consignment and thrift store. I filled my bag with a bunch of Jack and my gently worn clothes. To be honest, I really had low expectations of getting any kind of money back for it, because I normally don’t have good luck with resale shops. I ended up having a few treasures in my clean-out bag and I ended up with a credit of $98 and some change! I was so excited! I ended up getting a ton of new clothes and accessories for Jack and myself, so many of my blog posts for the next month or so might include all my new fun ThredUp purchases.

I shop at thrift stores a lot, and the biggest downfall for me about thrifting is that it’s hard to find clothes and accessories that are still in good condition. It takes me hours to search for a good item at a thrift store. Everything that I ordered from ThredUp came in perfect condition. It was like I ordered it brand new from the original store. Thrift shopping can be really time-consuming, but I loved being able to sit from home on my phone and thrift shop!

Today, I wanted to share this casual Old Navy dress, that was just one of the many items I ordered from ThredUP. They actually had 3 dresses in this style, but I picked this one because I liked the pattern on it. I felt that it would be the perfect fall dress. It’s perfect for work, church or even to wear for Thanksgiving. The best part about this dress is that it’s so comfortable. I like to call dresses like this “pajama dresses” because they are so comfortable I feel like I’m in my pajamas. I also bought these adorable peep-toe booties. I’ve wanted a pair of peep-toe booties for the longest time and these are perfect. I love the color because they can be worn with almost anything!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/ or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Casual Fall Dress

Shop my closet

Dress- Old Navy-ThredUp (similar, similar) || Shoes- Target- ThredUp (similar) || Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus (similar, similar) || Necklace- LC Lauren Conrad- Kohl’s (similar) || Belt- Target (similar) || Sunglasses- glassesshop.com (exact)

I have had a lot of people tell me that they weren’t sure about ThredUP, but they wanted to try it out. I will tell you that you should go for it! They have so many cute styles and designer brands, plus I loved that they have kids clothes too! It’s the perfect way to update your wardrobe for the season changes. Plus you will get 40% off your first purchase! Incase you’re wondering, this post is not sponsored by ThredUP. I just love to share how I save money on my wardrobe. I hope that you can save too!

Blush Cardigan

October 25, 2017 by Katie Haller

My entire wardrobe is all about layering. The weather in Las Vegas in the fall and winter is cold in the mornings, but the sun is always out, so I easily get hot in the afternoons. That’s why I love cardigans so much. They are so easy to throw on over a t-shirt or tank top. Last winter I bought this blush cardigan at Target. I love how it has the cozy sweater feel, but it’s easy to remove if I get too hot. For today’s look, I wore it with distressed jeans and a simple white tank top that I bought at Old Navy last spring for $2. I accessorized with my taupe ankle boots, black satchel purse, and a silver statement necklace.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking and/or making a purchase through a link, I will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- blush cardigan with distressed jeans

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Layered look with blush cardigan with distressed jeans

Shop my closet

Cardigan- Target (similar similar) || Tank Top- Old Navy (similar) || Jeans- Express (similar similar) || Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory (exact) || Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus (exact similar) exact) || Necklace- Savers (similar)

3 Ways to Accessorize a Simple Little Black Dress

October 19, 2017 by Katie Haller

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | Making the Most of your Wardrobe | 3 ways to accessorize a simple black dress for a special occasion

October seems to be flying by. I can’t believe that it’s already time for another Year of Color linkup post. In case you just started following along, every 3rd Friday of the month I team up with some of my fellow blogger friends to host a link party called A Year of Color. Each month there is a color theme and you can share ANYTHING you like on that color. I always like to share an outfit post, because that’s what I feel I do best. This month’s color is black!

*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!

I can’t lie, I was so excited about this color. Black is always my favorite color to wear. It’s easy to accessorize, you can wear it with anything, plus everyone looks good in black. With that said, I had a difficult time narrowing in on what kind of outfit posts I would do for today. I ended up deciding on one of my favorite wardrobe pieces in my closet…..a Little Black Dress a.k.a. LBD.

In my mid to late ’20s my weekends were filled with going to weddings. All my friends were getting married, and to be honest I couldn’t afford to go buy a new dress for every wedding I attended. I bought this simple empire waist black dress for my rehearsal dinner (similar). Instead of going with a traditional bride rehearsal dinner dress, I played it safe and went with a black dress. I’m so happy I did because I’ve worn this dress on a number of other occasions since then.

Today I am going to show you how easy it is to accessorize an LBD like this.

The first way is a very classic traditional look. I wore black patent leather pumps, rhinestone jewelry and a satin clutch with rhinestones. This is perfect for a more formal wedding. I wore this exact look at my husband’s cousin’s wedding in Chicago a few years ago.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life- Accessories for a formal occassion

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | Simple black dress accessorized with rhinstones

Shoes- Ivanka Trump- Von Maur (similar) || Necklace- Target (similar) || Clutch- Jessica McClintock (similar)

For my second look, I chose leopard accessories. I wore my gold sandals, with my leopard clutch and gold jewelry.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | Gold and Leopard accessories

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | LBD accessorized with gold and leopard

Shoes- DSW (similar) || Necklace- LC Lauren Conrad- Kohl’s (similar) || Clutch- H&M- ThredUp (similar)

For my final look, I accessorized with some color. I always love how turquoise looks with black, so I wore turquoise jewelry with my turquoise clutch. For shoes I went with my nude pumps. I think that this look would be great for a destination wedding.

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | Turquoise accessories

Thrifty Wife, Happy Life | LBD accessorized with turquoise

Shoes- Target (similar) || Necklace- Kohl’s (similar) || Clutch- Hand-me-down (similar)

Hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to accessorize your black dresses and maybe help you out next time your stumped on what to wear to a wedding or special occasion.

I hope to see everyone back here next month for the color Orange. Don’t forget to leave your link below!

An InLinkz Link-up

How to: Distress Your Own Denim

October 16, 2017 by Katie Haller

Today, I want to share my latest obsession with distressing my own jeans. I love the look of distressed denim, but I’ve had bad luck finding distressed jeans that I really love. They are either too distressed or not enough. I feel like the ones that I really like are way out of my price range. I feel like you shouldn’t have to spend $70 + for a cute pair of distressed jeans. That’s why this fall I started looking over some of the jeans in my closet that I never wear anymore and I decided that I would make them new again by adding some holes to them and distressing them a bit. (sounds weird to make something new by destroying them, but hey it’s the style.)

I started searching on Pinterest for how to distress your own jeans and I was confused by some of the articles I found. Some talked about using a cheese grader or sandpaper. Luckily, I was able to find a good video on YouTube that broke it down for me.

So here are the steps I took to distress my jeans.

Step 1: Pick out a pair of jeans that you want to distress. I would go for an older pair or a cheaper pair of jeans that you wouldn’t mind if you messed up. The jeans I picked for this post are a pair of Express jeans that I’ve had in my closet for probably 10 years. They needed a makeover! I recommend that you do some research first on what style of distressed jeans you want. I personally don’t like too many holes, so I kept it simple with 2 holes on the knee and a small hole on the upper leg on one side.

Step 2: I used a white eye shadow to mark where I wanted to make the cut. (I read to use eye shadow instead of a marker or pencil because it washes out easily.)

Step 3: Once you have your spots marked, start cutting.

Step 4: After you’ve made your cuts, use your fingers to fray the material a little until you see the white fibers.

Step 5: Once you’ve frayed the ends, you will be able to see the blue fiber ends. Use a pair of tweezers to pull the blue fibers out. This is the time-consuming part. I recommend you do this part in your bathroom or somewhere you can easily clean it up because it gets a little messy.

Step 6: Once you’re done with one hole, move on to the next and do the same technique until you’re done. I was very pleased with how my second pair of jeans turned out. Now a pair of jeans that I was ready to put in my Goodwill bag a month ago are my new favorite pair of jeans.

I hope that was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. I’d be happy to help!

Follow

thriftywifehappylife