Holidays are always a time to cut back on the frivolous spending in preparation for flights home, presents, and well, after-Christmas sales! This year now that I’m finally (recently) settled in a new apartment with this girlie, we wanted to up the holiday spirit without emptying our wallets. Skip the multi-color twinkle lights for sleek color schemes like red, white, silver or gold. I love using gold and silver as a base and then having pops of a brighter color like red, green or blue.

Apothecary jars are a great investment for year-round decor. I purchased these at Crate & Barrel but this is another great site for more affordable crafts. Use jars to hold Sweetheart candies for Valentine’s Day, mini-pumpkins for Halloween, or if you’re like me glitter all year round! Here are a few other decor ideas for the winter holiday…

Stick to a simple color scheme for your decor or sets. Silver is sparkly, classic and refined. Present bows are super cheap for a large bag and have a great dimension when stacked in a jar.

Monochromatic nutcrackers like these (on sale!) have a modern twist on a traditional classic. Use large ones as decor, or smaller ones inside of your jars. OR by glitter in bulk and fill any size jar 3/4 of the way full, add ornaments, candies, or keep it solely sparkle.

Arrange jars by height and color to complement each other. These can also be used as centerpieces for a long table, especially the shorter jars to be sure guests can still talk over the table.

To add pops of color use peppermint candies, ornaments, or bows in bright hues.

Invest in the jars, use creativity with the contents. Candy, bows, glitter, ornaments can all be found under $5-10. And happy decorating!

Mondays are rough. We wake up early to the sound of an unwelcome alarm, have to wear appropriate clothing when I much prefer baggy sweaters and leggings prior to my morning coffee, and rush through the morning commute. I will admit, some Mondays I’m excited, ‘leap’ out of bed, and can’t wait to tackle the day. But now that it’s football season + Sundays are a bit busier, I’m finding Monday mornings to be a bit more difficult.

Lately, I’ve been tricking my friends + coworker’s eyes by falsifying a put together look. Here are a few of my tricks:

Topshop scarf// Macy’s pearls// Nine West heels// Estee Lauder liner// Maybelline lipstick

Cozy- a bright scarf, especially in this on-trend pumpkin shade, can jazz up a basic long sleeve tee, or casual look.

Polish- pearls will add a classic touch to your look, despite how tired you may look.

Height- heels help your posture & will add a bit of feminitity even with a grumpy attitude.

Drama- one quick swipe of liquid liner will make your half-opened eyes pop.

Lips- my 1 must is a bold lip. A bright lip, my personal favorite being Maybelline’s Fuchsia Fever, is ‘caffeine for the face’ and the perfect distraction from any tired eyes.

If you’re feeling super lazy, try the below bun tutorial from Lauren Conrad’s site, The Beauty Department.

Hope these tips make your Monday less messy!

The weather took a turn for the cold today here in NYC and I immediately was put in the fall mood. I absolutely love October, football is in full swing, the anticipation of Halloween and decorating is stirring, and my birthday is tomorrow! October is for hot chai lattes, cozy light layers, and pumpkin muffins (and bread and pancakes and….). Since summer is my favorite season, once the chill comes I always get a bit sad knowing that winter and puff coats are just a short bit away. This year I am excited to decorate my apartment with fall inspiration to put me even more in the post-summer mood.

Here are a few inspiration images that I hope to recreate…

Modge Podge glue is a DIY must- use it to glitter any item in your house. Or use a pitter to hollow out pumpkins, apples, or gourds to hold candles, candy corn… or you know, more glitter.

Flea markets and vintage stores are your best bet for cheap styling. Cake stands or candlestick holders make for the best displays, tin pans can be re-used into wall decor, or pails spruced up to add a little twinkle to your life. For a cheaper project, glue leaves from your yard on a piece of twine for a go-to garland.

Clear glass or plexi holders make the perfect display for leaves, ribbon, faux-fruit, glittered items, floating candles- the craft store is your limit.

I’ve been collecting fall inspiration images from all over the web and am quite excited to put them into craft-action. I’ll never turn down a crafternoon!

PS- Make sure you head over to my Facebook page to see if you won the Bobbi Brown Pretty Powerful palette!

As I was flipping through Lucky Magazine’s September issue I spotted a trend I absolutely loved: metallic green eyes. Also, seen on the Chanel runways, this spin on a smokey eye is a subtle way to switch up the dramatic eye. I love experimenting with new colors but still need a semi-neutral eye for the office each day. Golds, browns, and bronze are great standard eye colors for day time, and black is a great go-to for weekends, but a deep green is the perfect in-between for a fun and different look without going overboard.

Metallic, olive, and sage greens are flattering on every skin tone, eye color, and hair color. Green is especially flattering on redheads or those with fair skin but anyone can pull it off because of the deep hue. For darker skin tones, pick a shade with a bit more metallic to give off a shimmer from your skin. If you’re hesistant to try this trend, head over to your local drugstore and pick up a shadow, if you decide you don’t like it (but I bet you will!) you won’t feel guilty for splurging on a department store product. Wearing color may seem daunting but try it out! It’s a fun twist and you can play with the levels of intensity based on the activity, more neutral for the office, and deeper and darker for heading out!

What you’ll need:

- A lighter more neutral eyeshadow, any white, gold, beige will do (I used the lightest shade in the Maybelline Mad about Mauve palette above) 

- A deep metallic green

- A flat, shadow, blending and angled brush

- Mascara

- A neutrally pink lipstick (I used Maybelline’s Born With It) 

Once you have completed your standard foundation routine, apply a light shadow to your entire lid.

Then, apply the green shadow to your entire crease (right under your eye socket bone) and to your outer corner. Use a brush to blend, I swear by MAC’s 224 brush.

Using an angled brush, wet it under the sink, and dip it into the same green shadow.

Apply to your upper and lower lash lines. This can be a thicker line but try to stay as close to your lash line as possible.

The liner will highlight the green shade while the shadow acts more as a neutral.

Apply mascara and a neutral lip, and there you have it! A smokey green eye that looks as neutral as a brown, but is much more interesting up close. What do you think, would you wear a metallic green makeup look?!

What girl doesn’t covet those beautiful beachy waves that make you feel like you’re on vacation even if you’re just at the office?! Blake Lively, Rachel Bilson, and Kate Hudson are known for these soft loose curls and now I learned how to get them at-home. I am absolutely obsessed with my clampless curling iron, the Bombshell by Sultra. It’s super easy to use, creates quick waves, and won’t cause any creases, clamp marks, or dents in your curls! The affordable tool is sold online, at Nordstrom, and Sephora and is my ultimate must-have. I know I sound like an infomercial but in one try I learned how to create these waves, and have used it almost every day since. Since getting the hang of the tool, I can literally do my entire head of hair in 7 minutes flat, pretty fast for such a glamorous look. No one wants to spend an hour on their hair, especially before work and school, so this is the perfect look to let your hair air dry with and then whip up to create volume and salon worthy hair in a third of the time.

This look isn’t only for summer, it will be amazing to create waves to pair with winter wool hats to give hair volume. I can’t wait for beanies, berets and wide brimmed hats to pair these waves with all fall and winter long. As you can probably see by my over the top gushing, I’m absolutely obsessed with this tool, and would recommend it to anyone. My only hesitation is for girls with super short hair, the barrel is big so in order to wrap around it I would say you should have shoulder length hair or longer. Or try my other tutorial of creating curls with a straightener which is perfect for any hair length (even my mom uses this trick now!)

Head here to buy the Sultra Bombshell and let me know if you love this style as much as I do! And if you haven’t yet, check out my other tutorial on curling your hair with a straightener here!