Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Little White Dress









white lace dress (similar here and here) // sandals // earrings (Bohoblu) // pearl bangle // gold cuff (similar) // rope bracelet (similar)

Hey y'all! WHY IS SUMMER GOING BY SO QUICKLY?! I love simple white dresses, and this one is easy to throw on for errands and dinner with friends if you're going for a dressier look. And new shoes!! Christine and I got these Jacks for 40% off at Belk and were so excited about them! Then, I got home and realized that I brought home a box of two left shoes. No worries, I picked up a right and a left the next morning and put them on in the car! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Maddy

Friday, July 17, 2015

DIY Flower Letter


Hey y'all! I recently made a flower letter for my dorm room, and it turned out so well, I wanted to share it with y'all! Making the letter is easy enough, but it is time consuming. Though with how well it turned out, I think it was well worth it! 

To start off, I purchased a bunch of fake, pretty flowers from Hobby Lobby. I ended up getting way more than I needed, but I can use them on future crafty projects! I might put them on my tall mirror that I bought from Target for $10 to put in my dorm room last year, just to spruce it up a bit.

 

Then, I pulled the blooms off of the stems and cut the remaining stem off of the flower so that it would lay flatter on the surface of the letter.


I also got this cardboard "M" from Hobby Lobby. Because it was a thick block letter, I painted the sides of it with a couple coats of white acrylic paint to make it prettier and brighter! After allowing the paint to dry, I arranged the flowers on the letter before glueing them down because I'm a perfectionist and had to make sure the colors and sizes varied aesthetically well. 


We determined that hot glueing the backs of the flowers was more effective for the bigger flowers. For the smaller flowers that we used as space-filllers (so that none of the cardboard would show), we put a dot of hot glue on the cardboard and stuck the little flower on that. 
[only a few fingers were burned in the making of this post]



Ta-da! We were thrilled at how great these turned out! It took a total of two hours to make the letters, including breaks between burning fingers and watching reality TV.


 I hope y'all try it out! Yay for creativity…and Pinterest!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy



Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Cherry Stripes








tank (recently purchased from Belk) // shorts // sandals // bag (Kate Spade, similar styles here and here) // watch

THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHIRT. It's adorable!!! Cherries, stripes, buttons down the back. So so so cute. I want this print on everything. And this purse is gorgeous. Unfortunately, I don't own it :( My best friend let me use it just for pictures though :) Thanks Tine! Summer fashion really isn't my favorite. I would much rather be in boots and sweaters, but this is actually one of my absolute favorite outfits ever! I hope y'all like fruit on your clothes too :)

Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Watercolor Flowers








shirt (similar here and here) // jean shorts (these look super unflattering online) // sandals // watch // purse (similar)

Hey y'all! This past week has been HOT. Lightweight shirts and shorts have definitely been on repeat. This watercolor tee is so fun and bright, and I absolutely love it for spring and summer. Distressed denim seem to be the thing recently, so I picked up this pair from Target about a week ago, and they are so comfy!
I hope y'all have been staying relatively cool and are having a wonderful summer! After Independence Day, I feel like it flies by, so I'm trying to enjoy every second. Buttttttt, I still have to prepare for going back to school, so what better way to do that than with Pinterest-y crafts for your dorm? I'll be posting some fun DIYs for dorm rooms (or just room rooms) soon! My best friend Christine (who deserves credit for taking these pictures) and I have been crafting recently, and I think we've done a pretty good job! Not to mention, it's been really fun - minus a few hot glue gun burns!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy

Monday, July 6, 2015

Peplum & Polka Dots






Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a fab 4th of July weekend! I spent most of my weekend in the mountains relaxing! My mom and I made some bouquets out of wildflowers and lilies and whatnots to pretty up the cabin! We also attended a Christmas in July festival in a nearby town where I found some great little nicknacks! I picked up a face mug and two bow shelves, which I posted on my instagram @sweetsimpleblog :) 

The flats I'm wearing are absolutely adorable. They were one of the items I posted on my Currently Coveting blog back in February, and they were well worth purchasing.

Anyways, let's be thankful of all the veterans and current soldiers that have served and are serving our nation. As crazy as this world is, we certainly need a merciful God and a whole bunch of prayer. God bless America!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Stars and Stripes








shirt (similar) // pants (similar) // sandals 

Hey y'all! These are two different looks that would be lovely for the 4th of July! The first one is dressier, so if you're watching fireworks from a fancy little get-together, I think this would be adorable. I absolutely love this dress. It's gorgeous, and I think this color looks great on everyone. Floppy hats are all over the place, and my mom surprised me with this monogrammed one while I was still at school! 

The second outfit is more casual, but I opted for white pants rather than shorts because 1) it gets cooler at night, and I'm always cold, and 2) less mosquito bites!!! Also, I WON THESE SANDALS! I was so excited. Y'all, I am not lucky. I am probably the least likely to be chosen for something that I actually want and the first to be chosen for something that I don't want. (Totally not saying that I'm not blessed, because I definitely am, but when it comes to luck of the draw, not so much). Anyways, Marley Lilly and Monday Dress were having a giveaway on Instagram last week, so I entered, not expecting anything to come of it. Then, I got the notification on my phone, and I jumped up and down and squealed. I love these, and I would strongly recommend following @marleylilly and @shopmondaydress on Instagram and entering in those giveaways! Everything in their shops is adorable as well, so check that out too.

Yay! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Woman Crush Wednesday




Elisabeth Elliot

December 21, 1926 - June 15, 2015

I've thought about doing posts like this for a while, and with the death of a wonderful lady, I was prompted to post my first "Woman Crush Wednesday." Every few weeks, I'll be posting about women of the Lord whom I greatly admire. So, here we go!

Elisabeth Elliot's autobiography can be found on her website elisabethelliot.org. The story I know greatest about her is when she was the wife of Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot died in 1956 while witnessing to an Indian tribe. The Indians were confused and scared, and they speared Jim Elliot. Sound familiar? This story was told in the movie End of the Spear (which I strongly recommend watching, it's awesome). My grandparents were acquaintances of the missionaries serving alongside of the Elliots, so I've heard their story many times during my life. Elisabeth stayed with the same tribe that killed her husband for two years. I can only hope to be as forgiving as she and as determined as she to reach the most challenging people. Through opposition after opposition, this woman put all of her strength into honoring the Lord. 

"The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman." Preach it, sista. We should be different. We should disagree with what the world thinks. We should live for Jesus.

I hope we all desire to be more like this woman but most of all, more like Jesus!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Maddy