Easter Sunday 2017

Easter Sunday 2017

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

(Pictures taken by my brother) 

Dress: Ross

Shoes: Shoe Carnival 

Earrings: Sam Moon

Easter has come and gone, and we are back to another week of happenings, but not without remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross......because he defeated death and conquered the grave, and that is something to celebrate and forever renew our perspective on how we live out our life! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend, because I for one had a wonderful time visiting with family and carrying out yearly traditions. On Saturday we had our first (of the weekend) Easter celebration with my moms side of the family and that was a relaxing day visiting with everyone and eating BBQ. After we left that celebration my family and I went to go see a movie and then we decided to try IN-AND-OUT burger for the first time (and also because I have been wanting to go) and that was definitely a fun memory as we were all in rare form and laughing our heads off! 

Sunday morning we woke up and went to church with our grandparents and our aunt and uncles family. Then after church we headed out to my other grandpa's house for our second Easter celebration with my dad's side of the family where we also ate BBQ (apparently it's kind of a small town Texas tradition). As always there was our annual Easter egg hunt, and the funny thing is that all the cousins are now 17-23 years old, but we still hunt Easter eggs! 

This Easter I didn't get a chance to make myself a dress, but I did find this lovely dress at Ross and fell in love with the color, cut, style, and print. The print actually reminds me of something you would find on The House That Lars Built because it has such a natural and earthy print which I LOVE! It's also great because it is 100% wash and wear so this will be seen in the classroom on many occasions (like yesterday). Since the floral print of the dress is so unique and natural, I decided to style my hair in a crown braid and even found some wildflowers (or weeds) to sprinkle amongst the braid which made me feel so whimsical. 

How did you spend your Easter?

-Madison

Spring Trend: DIY Velvet Bows

Spring Trend: DIY Velvet Bows

Saturday, April 1, 2017

If you haven't noticed, BOWS are kind of all the rage this season and I'm not complaining at all because bows are one of the cutest, most versatile, and feminine accessories to ever be created! With that being said, I thought you all would enjoy a fun and easy DIY tutorial on my process of making velvet bows. Since bows really are so versatile I will show you 3 different sizes and styles that I have been loving that you can easily make for yourself. 

What you will need:

Velvet Ribbon - 1" width and 1.5/2" width

Hair clips - black or silver (hobby lobby)

Hot Glue Gun low temp 

Sewing needle

Thread to match your ribbon

Scissors 

Are you a fan of bows?

Do you think you will try your hand at making some for yourself?

-Madison

Here's To The Ones Who Dream

Here's To The Ones Who Dream

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Sweater: Old

Skirt: Thrifted 

Jacket: c/o Madewell

Socks: Forever 21

Shoes: Old

Purse: Vintage Coach 

I have always considered myself to be a dreamer, whether that was having different small businesses throughout the years, ideas for creative projects, everyday daydreams, or visions for my future. With that being said it is no surprise that the song Mia sings for her audition quickly became one of my favorites from the LaLa Land Soundtrack! I love what she says when singing: 

Here's to the ones who dream. As foolish as it may seem. Here's to the hearts that ache. Here's to the mess we made. 

 I think this is a message we can all learn a lot from, because it tells the story of a woman who had dreams and took risks. The things she wanted out of life might have seemed foolish to many people, but she did them anyway because that was what she loved. Our dreams sometimes might cause us heartache, or stress, and sometimes (most of the time) we make messes and even fail.....but that's all part of living your dreams. 

So what are your dreams? What do you love to do? What are your hobbies? 

A day or two ago I had someone tell me "you are just so active in everything!" and when I asked them what they meant by that they said "well...literally you're a blogger, photographer and future author, so basically super human." and if you know me and my struggle with compliments you know I was trying hard to figure out how to respond to that, so I just said "It's just the things God has given me a passion for." However, that got me to thinking about what I love and I realized that if someone were to ask me what I like to do or what my hobbies are it would probably take me a good five minutes to list and explain them all because I truly do LOVE so many things and have so MANY dreams because of that......but with that being said I don't consider myself a "super human" because of my interests, I just consider myself to be an ordinary human whom God gave a mind and heart to dream.  

Thus, even if you don't have a list of hobbies or interests, the things you do love are there because you are passionate about them, and the things we are passionate about very easily become our dreams. For some of us those passions manifest themselves in many dreams and others manifest themselves in one incredible dream to marvel at. 

So wherever you are and whatever you love, DREAM, let people think you are foolish and make messes because that is what it means to live fully alive! I think N.D. Wilson say's it so perfectly when he wrote 

Do your best. Live. Create. Fail

P.S. Also just realized how New Darlings this look seems to be which makes me so happy, because Christina's fabulous braids always inspire me! 

-Madison 

Making The Cut

Making The Cut

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Dress: Lula Roe (Thrifted)

Purse: Thrifted

Shoes: Cato's

Watch: Sam Moon

Lapel Pin: Shop Luella

Earrings: Forever 21

**All Pictures By Me**

Person: "Did you do something different with your hair?" 

Me: "Yes, I cut bangs!"

(every comment from this past week)

SURPRISE! Well.....probably not that much of a surprise if you caught this weekends post or follow me on Instagram, but I took the plunge and cut bangs, and when I say "cut" I mean that I cut them myself......yes, you heard that right! 

Okay, so flash back to my Junior year of High School when I had hair down to my waist and decided to cut bangs (basically I was just copying Taylor Swift). However, when I decided to cut them the first time I failed to watch a really good tutorial and I totally did not know what I was doing! They didn't turn out horribly, but they were definitely to thick and not as flattering as I had imagined, thus after 6 months I decided to grow them back out. Three years later I have chopped off my hair to shoulder length, then went for long bob (which is back at shoulder length), and now I have gone for bangs again.....but here's the funny story!

I had been toying with the idea of bangs since spring break when I got my hair cut shorter (again I just see to be copying Taylor Swift's hairstyles), however I never could get up the nerve to go get them cut or find the exact style that I wanted. Then, last weekend one of my best friends was up at college staying with me and well....we decided to cut bangs. The sum of the story is that we sat down to do homework (which we both had a lot of) and 20 minutes later we found ourselves watching hair tutorials for cutting bangs, hopping in the car and buy scissors at Walgreens, and then proceeding to CUT BANGS!!! 

Thankfully, this time I knew what I was doing because I found some FABULOUS hair tutorials HERE and HERE (if you are thinking of cutting your own bangs check them out!). The fact is that I have always been one to cut my own bangs because every time I would get bangs (usually only side) cut at a salon I never liked them and I feel that when I cut them myself I have more control (plus I can't get upset if they turn out wrong). After having bangs for a week now, I am still getting used to them, but definitely LOVE how they change up my hairstyle and are truly perfect for fall!. 

Also, can we just talk about how FAB this Lula Roe dress (that I thrifted at Goodwill) is! Totally in love with the simple a classic silhouette which definitely pairs perfectly with my new "Introvert" lapel pin from Shop Luella, and this super fun and colorful satchel purse. 

Any of you toying with getting bangs?

Have you ever cut your own hair?

-Madison

Tutorial: How I Curl My Hair

Tutorial: How I Curl My Hair

Saturday, July 30, 2016

You've asked, I've listened, and FINALLY I filmed a hair tutorial for you all! For the longest time I have been asked how I achieve a vintage "finger wave" curl with my hair and what kind of tools I use. Thus, in my latest video I show you just how I achieve this style. 

For any curled hairstyle I do, I use the KOR 19mm wand. Funny story in regards to my wand (and straighter because they are the same brand) is that they are actually from those carts in the mall that always ask to fix your hair with their products........oddly enough all of my heated hair tools have come from the mall kiosks (apparently they are good salespeople) and have all turned out to be the best tools ever!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial video and hopefully I will be doing more of these in the future! Make sure to go and subscribe to my YouTube Channel in order to stay updated on any new videos I put out. 

Do you use a wand to curl your hair?

-Madison

4 Easy Short Hairstyles

4 Easy Short Hairstyles

Friday, April 22, 2016

I thought it was high time I did another hairstyle idea post. Quite honestly it makes me chuckle thinking about how these hairstyle posts come to life because it usually involves me running around my room 20 minutes before class and snapping pictures!! This time my hair is about three inches shorter than it was in the last hairstyle post so here are 4 easy hairstyles for all of you who have short hair (though these can easily go either way). 

 First up is "The Flip" and it is everything it sounds like....just take a curling iron or straightener and curl the ends of your hair up, by doing this you get a flip! I used to wear this style ALL the time when I was growing up and now that I have short hair again it works quite nicely and offers a different look and feel than simply curled hair. 

Number two is a style that I honestly don't wear enough but after putting it together for this post I fell in love with how simple and different this ponytail was. It isn't your typical ponytail however, because not only does it have wispy little hairs in the front framing your face, but it also incorporates a classic and girly ribon which completely reminds me of the hairstyles that Rebecca from A Clothes Horse would wear. After fitting in this shoot on Tuesday morning I ended up wearing this hairstyle for the rest of the day!

Number three is easy peasy as all you need is a headband! Granted, you might have slightly unruly hair that threatens to spread out in every way and thus you have to tame it down, but even after you quickly do that you just throw in a quick headband of your choice. This particular headband is a gathered cotton headband I picked up at Forever 21 while back and I simply LOVE the blue color. With this style and variations of it (depending on the headband) I have come to realize how easy short hair is when you just use a headband. 

Last but not least, and a style that takes me back to my own pigtail running around days is this cute and quick style:) I have always loved how pigtails look and how they take you back to your youth, but I never wear them enough. However, when putting together these styles for the post I quickly discovered how easy this style was for my short hair and how much I liked it! Pretty sure this will be a recurring style this summer.

There are two weeks left of school....I can't believe this semester is almost over! When I reach the last day I might just have to have an impromptu dance party in my room complete with crazy dance moves and a brush microphone....whose with me?
For any of you wondering "Madison, why didn't you talk about what you are wearing?" As much as I could easily talk about what I am wearing in these pictures I figured I would make you all wait:) Have no fear dear readers, this look, dungarees and all will be getting photographed this weekend and will hit the blog sometime next week!!

For now I am off for a full weekend of blogging "stuff" complete with multiple photo shoots and maybe even a thrift video of I have some time:)

Do you have short hair like me?
Would you or have you ever used one of these styles?
What will you do at the end of your semester?

-Madison