A Beautiful Mess

February Favorites

Hi friends! It's time to recap my very favorite blog posts from this past month. Here goes... I love this one-Geometric Photo Art. ♥ 

This past month we added two new Fashion Mixology posts! ( ONE + TWO ) These are so much fun to work on. We're always always planning more...

A few favorite recipes: Red Velvet Hot Chocolate / How To Make Cake Pops / Vanilla Extract / Fancy Butter Recipes / Cake Batter Milkshakes

 

We collaborated with Kelli Trontel on some fun photography basics... Photographing with Backlight + Sun Flare / 5 Tips For Capturing Emotion in Photos / 10 Tips For Great Outfit Photos / 5 Tips for Great Outdoor Photos / 5 Tips For Great Indoor Photos 

A few cute D.I.Y. Projects for him + her! Heart Sweater / Bow Tie / Suspenders / Red Saddle Shoes + speaking of hearts, some Best Friend Wall Art too! 

A Chocolate Themed Goodbye Party (sniff*sniff....)

Two Incredible Hair Tutorials: How To Style Beachy Waves + How To Style Victory Rolls. 

My favorite outfit of the month. And here's my favorite Sister Style.

We started sharing travel outfits (here + here)... kinda fun and different!

A hand stamped pony dress... and I love this vintage inspired dress makeover too. 

Gosh... these little recaps always make me super happy! Thanks for reading! This next month is going to be really fun too... I'll be sharing a new D.I.Y. series this week. xoxo, elsie

How To Mix Chalkboard Paint in Any Color

 

We love using chalkboards as backdrops for displays and parties (like this one here!). So we were super excited to learn that you can create your own custom colors-and it's really easy! We first learned how from Martha Stewart whose tutorial you can read here. She recommends that you use latex paint, but we tried it out with acrylic paints with much success. Here's how you too can create your own chalkboard paint... 

 

 

Supplies: 1/2 cup acrylic paint (choose any color you like, or mix colors together to make the perfect shade!), 1 tablespoon unsanded grout (this can be purchased at most hardware/home improvement stores, we got ours at Home Depot), mixing cup or bowl, spoon, paint brush and an object or board you plan to paint on.

 

 

1. Measure out your paint and grout. The unsanded grout is a fine powder so be sure to work in a well ventilated area.

 

 

2. Stir the grout into the paint until no lumps remain. 3. Paint your surface with your new custom chalkboard paint! The paint will begin to harden once it is mixed, so only mix what you need at one time as it won't store as well as other paints.

 

 

Once your chalkboard has fully dried be sure to slate the surface before using it for the first time. To slate a chalkboard lightly rub chalk along the surface and then lightly rub it off.

 

 

Have fun creating any color combination you like!! xo. emma and elsie

 

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Travel Outfits

Emma and I are off for a fun little trip to see Jeremy play a show. We're dropping him off for the last leg of his tour with Canon Blue. I'm excited to meet all his pals and have a fun night with Emma. Here's a little peek at our travel outfits.

Elsie's Outfit: Dress and Top/Target, Belt/J.Crew, iPhone Case/Kate Spade, Glitter Eyeshadow/Cargo (the best!), Polka Dot Glasses/Icing. Emma's Outfit: Top/Thrifted, Shorts/ASOS, iPhone Case/Society 6, Scarf/American Apparel, Chocolate/Askinosie (our favorite in all the land!) and both pairs of headphones are from Urban Outfitters. 

And here are our outfits for our little shopping day. We always try to squeeze that in! I'm looking forward to a little sister time. We've been so busy this past season that it's always wonderful to have a day to refresh! XOXO. elsie

Elsie's Outfit: Dress/Target, Sweater/Urban Outfitters, Floral Purse/Vintage, Coral Blush/Stila. Emma's Outfit: Dress/Target, Lace Tunic/Urban Outfitters, Sunnies/Anthrologie, Mimi Camera Bag c/o Kelly Moore, Necklace/Sadie Designs, Fedora/Vintage. 

Sister Style: N-N-N-Navy.

We're thinking that navy is the new black. :) I mean, it's a great neutral to pair with stripes or polka dots (or neons for Spring!) but it's not as serious as black. We are absolutely loving navy right now, so Elsie and I decided to show off our navy-love with two outfits: one totally casual and one a little more office-chic!I layered a denim dress over a long-sleeve top. I like layering this time of year because the weather is beginning to warm up, but can still be a bit unpredictable. And I love how the stripes on my top added a little more interest to my otherwise neutral outfit. I'm a little crazy for stripes right now-obsession!

Emma's wearing: Dress/Threadsence, Top c/o StyleMint (first time buyers get 20% off your first T with the code MESSY20, offer good through 2/29), Shoes c/o Lotta from Stockholm, Hat/Vintage, Bag c/o Kelly Moore.

Elsie's navy look is a little more dressy and polished-I love how she added a bright belt to the mix. Cute! What colors do you find yourself mixing in to your outfits lately? xo. emma and elsieElsie's wearing: Top c/o Lace Affair, Skirt c/o 11 Eureka, Shoes c/o Lotta from Stockholm.