Guest Post: Sarah of Birds Vs. Me

Making Friends Through Jewelry

Hey Everyone! I’m Sarah from Birds Vs. Me. While Kate is off sunning herself in beautiful Hawaii, I’m stuck in Michigan, where it snowed just last week. But since Kate is so amazing, I’m going to keep you guys entertained until she returns with this super mega awesome guest post! Now, when she asked me to do a guest post I was completely stumped as to what the subject should be. When I mentioned maybe doing a DIY Kate jumped at it since her blog seems to be lacking those. So without futher ado …

I hope you guys are as excited as I am! Once you find out how easy this is you’re going to spend all of your spare time making friendship bracelets. When that day comes I hope you send me one!

What You’ll Need: Embroidery Floss in the colors you want to use. Scissors for cutting the floss. Tape for taping. THAT’S IT! You may also want a large bead, but that’s optional.

Step One: Cut each color into an equal length strand. So what I did was cut one yard (about, I measure from my nose to the length of my arm) of each color.

Step Two: Fold your strings in half and knot at the top. This will give you doubles of each color. Every strand represents it’s own row. At this point you decide what pattern you want the colors to follow. I chose orange orange pink red red pink. If I wanted to have one row of each color I would arrange the strings orange pink red, orange pink red.At this point you can tape the knotted look to any flat surface you plan to work in front of (you could also safety pin it to your pants).

Step Three: To make the rows your going to take the first thread (the one on the left) and knot it around each thread in a row. To knot it you’ll want to go over, under, and around! See, just like above.

Over. Under. And around. for each string. When you finish the row just move onto the next color!

Step Four: Continue in this fashion until the bracelet reaches your desired length (you may find it wants to twist on you. Just flat iron it a little and it’ll straighten right out).

Step Five: When it’s reached your desired length you have two choices. True friendship bracelets are tied on and left in place until they eventually fall off. Since they’re made of cotton it’s safe to shower with and I’ve never had the colors bleed or anything. But some people don’t want that or can’t wear it everyday, so you have the option of tying a large bead at the end. That way you’ll be able to use the loop at the top as a kind of hook and eye deal.

That’s it! I told you it would be easy! It’s also a great, cheap craft to do on a rainy day! I hope you enjoyed my DIY as much as I enjoyed making it.

Guest Post: Elissa of Dress With Courage

While I am off in Kauai, Hawaii sunning myself on the beaches, attempting to kayak the Wailua River, and eating delicious Spam (yes I know, what a hard life, right), I am excited to bring you some guest posts from some of my favorite bloggers.  I love every single one of these ladies, and they are some of my inspiration for blogging, and life, so please be sure to check them out!

Today’s guest post is from one of my favorite personal style bloggers, Elissa of Dress With Courage. I have so much I could say about how much I adore Elissa, but let me just keep it simple.  She is a phenomenal writer, a fantastic dresser, and an all around great person.  Also, if you love thrifting and/or purchasing vintage clothes, be sure to check out her Thrifting 101 Series!

Hi everyone. My name is Elissa and I blog over at Dress With Courage. It’s a personal style blog from a woman with a background in writing, which essentially means I blog about more than fashion and what I’m wearing. I was so flattered when Kate asked me to guest post for her while she’s sunning and swimming and luau-ing in Hawaii!

The last time I took a trip was back in October. Though I’m a native New Yorker, I haven’t spent much time in the city since relocating to the South eight years ago. So this past fall I informed my husband that I needed to go back. I needed to eat a decent slice of pizza, and run through Central Park, and narrowly avoid getting hit by a speeding cab. And, most of all, I needed to shop. Oh, did I need to shop. So I booked my flight and counted down the weeks until my lover NYC and I were reunited.

I only had three days planned for my trip, and knew I had to pack accordingly. But I also felt pressure to look as glamorous as possible. So, naturally, I crammed half my closet into my carry-on. This was a big mistake. Huge. Because when I arrived, and unpacked, I realized I couldn’t fit as much as a new pair of earrings into my suitcase, much less the leather tote I had planned to buy at Barneys.

So I thought I’d list a few tips regarding how not to pack for a trip.

1.   Unless you are a Kenyan endurance runner training for the Boston marathon, leave your workout gear at home. Sneakers, sweatshirts, sports bras, and running shorts take up valuable suitcase space, and you’ll probably get a decent workout walking and doing touristy-things.

2.  It is not necessary to cram your entire cosmetics hoard into your suitcase. Things spill and shatter and the last thing you need is that highly pigmented blue eyeshadow tie-dying your white lace blouse. Pack a palette of neutral shadows, an eyeliner pencil, a lip gloss and mascara, and be done with it.

3.   On a related note, I know your new five inch platform sandals are amaze-balls, but you will be in agony after spending a full day wearing them. And a woman writhing in agony is just not cute. So bring a pair of comfy shoes/sandals for day, and save those heels for night.

4.  Check the weather forecast before packing. It might be shorts season where you live, but your destination could still be in the grips of old man winter. Better yet, just plan on inclement weather. It will happen, and everybody there will say, “Oh, it almost never rains/snows/hails/blows/floods like this! This is very unusual weather.”  During my NYC trip, it rained two out of the three days I was there. And guess who didn’t have an umbrella?

Hopefully these tips will help you pack more efficiently for your next trip than I did. I do know that the next time I visit New York City, I’ll be better prepared for potential purchases and weather ickiness. Lesson learned.

From Kate: Here are a few of my favorite looks that Elissa has recently worn!  Woman has serious style!

Guest Post: Kileen of Cute & Little

While I am off in Kauai, Hawaii sunning myself on the beaches, attempting to kayak the Wailua River, and eating delicious Spam (yes I know, what a hard life, right), I am excited to bring you some guest posts from some of my favorite bloggers.  I love every single one of these ladies, and they are some of my inspiration for blogging, and life, so please be sure to check them out!

Today’s guest post is from one of my favorite fashion/style/beauty bloggers, Kileen of Cute & Little. She is seriously the most gorgeous software developer in all of Texas (if not the US), and her style is always spot on and perfect!  I am ridiculously envious of her entire closet.  She is also the organizer of The Color Brigade, so definitely check her out!

Hello there lovely Divergent Musings readers!  It’s Kileen here from cute & little.  I know we’re all jealous of Kate and the fact that she’s getting an amazing tan right now in Hawaii, but I’m so happy to be guest posting for her in the meantime!

Kate requested that I do a quick post about how I dress appropriately for the office while still keeping true to my personal style and individuality.  For me, I basically follow one simple tenet:  wear classic styles while having fun with colors and accessories.  Classic styles include pencil skirts, blazers, knit tops, fitted trousers, and cardigans.

Hope these workplace tips helped!  Thank you so much Kate for letting me guest post and I know we all can’t wait for her to return already from her trip!