Filed under: craft envy, fashion envy | Tags: Anthropologie, catalog, Maeshowe dress
Have you all received the November Anthropologie catalog yet? I’m loving the over-sized format and the section titled the stories within where scenes are cut from book pages.
Of course there are plenty of items I’m gushing over, but I’m now accepting submissions for the following dress. Just contact me and I’ll give you my size and shipping address. 
Every time I’m in Anthropologie with someone I say that I’d like to move in. That place just makes me so happy regardless if I buy something or not. It has this effect on me where I always walk out of there feeling inspired. I realize this might sound really silly to some people; I mean, it’s just a store. And I don’t get the same feeling when exiting Target. That is more of a “Hey, I came in here for toothpaste but left with $50 worth of stuff” kind of experience.
I was at the Easton store yesterday and I had to snap a few incognito shots with my phone of their current installation. They have these two giant ostriches made out of paper standing guard around a quaint table setting on a platform. Who thinks of this stuff and can you please become my best friend?
Anthropologie is always posting a sign for current positions and it usually says “visual intern”. I have inquired about this position to see what the requirements are and if it would be something I could do on the weekends. Unfortunately it is for college students only, for school credit. So unfair. To be a fly on the wall when that genius person comes up with these crazy ideas would be amazing. Sigh….
Filed under: design envy | Tags: anthro, Anthropologie, packaging
A bumpy envelope from Anthropologie was in my mailbox today. I had no idea what it could be but was delighted to find the following inside.
It’s basically just a 15% off coupon for my birthday month of February but how darling is the packaging? They really know how to make a sweet impact in their deliveries (see their gift cards below with their hallmark mittens!) I love the play on the word “so” as well as Anthropologie’s recent adoption of this typewriter font on their materials. 
This (and having a snow day) definitely made my day today. If you’re a big Anthropologie fan, sign up for anthro so you can receive email newsletters and various shopping priveleges (i.e., receiptless returns).
Filed under: projects | Tags: Anthropologie, Christmas decorations, garland
The amount of time I’ve spent over the past week on decorating my apartment for Christmas is kind of ridiculous, especially considering that I rarely have people over nor am I hosting any kind of holiday party. I do it for myself to enjoy because Christmas is my favorite time of year. I’ve been listening to Sounds of the Season on my digital cable nonstop. I’m sure Beck is ready to strangle himself with garland. I’ll most likely have a couple more posts around this subject both having to do with decorating and gift wrapping.
First up, my tree. It’s fake (as you can probably tell from the skinny exposed pole at the bottom that will eventually be covered up by presents). This year I didn’t want to use the same boring ornaments so I decided to take a stab at replicating something I saw in September when I was in NYC. My inspiration came from a window display at (shocker) Anthropologie.
Anthropologie, Manhattan 9.08
Anthropologie, Manhattan 9.08
Anthropologie, Manhattan 9.08
I love this display because they’ve taken a bunch of simple paper products and turned them into something truly unique and pretty breathtaking. So my scaled down version uses coffee filters, baking cups in 3 different sizes, and the bottoms of Dixie cups.
I used mostly white baking cups but mixed in some of the foil ones. I also sporadically colored the inside bottoms of some. They’re strung using a needle and thread which, yes, was extremely tedious, but I thought using a stapler might make them tear and I wasn’t sure if it would give me the ability to manipulate them as much.
Although it may look like it, this isn’t one continuous chain. It’s a bunch of different sections because after about two feet of stringing them together, it would get extremely awkward to work with. Plus the paper is so delicate it’s easy to rip them. While it would have been nice to have a real tree, it was definitely advantageous to have a fake one so I could bend the branches to accommodate the chain and tuck certain portions in. I decided that since the garland is such a focal point and takes up so much space on the tree, I don’t need to add any ornaments. I do want a tree topper, which I’m working on so I’ll post more pictures once that’s on.
While I’m okay with no traditional ornaments on my tree, I was kinda bummed not to put up the ornaments I love or that have special meaning to me. As a solution, I decided to string them up as garland on one of my mantels.
I have another Anthropologie-inspired idea I will be starting this week as well as the crocheted snowflakes I’m almost done with. I know, I know….it’s a sickness that I have. I think I’ll have to keep all this stuff up until February given all the time I will have spent on it by the time Christmas rolls around.
Filed under: fashion envy, projects | Tags: adornments, Anthropologie, Boden, buttons, Etsy
I was browsing through the most recent Boden catalog today and found this adorable button-adorned top. It’s pretty great, isn’t it?
But is it really worth $74? I don’t think so. Especially when I’m attempting to be on somewhat of a fiscal diet. I want to attempt a similar look on something I already own. I’ll have to check my current inventory, but if I can scavenge up a mixed bag of random buttons, I’ll be in business.
Just doing a quick search on Etsy, I found the following vintage buttons, so there’s a lot out there to pick from. I know I could also get them at the same antique shop where I got this stuff.
In the same vain, I think the following looks from Anthropologie could also be imitated on the cheap with the right adornments:
Passersby Cardigan
Aelia Shell
Keeping-It-Casual Tee
Twee Tee
Yet another idea to add to the project list….
