Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Thrift Store Shopping- Affordable Elegance

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Thrift store shopping is one of my favorite hobbies! I go and visit the thrift store, Goodwills and antiques shops a few times every few months. I love the hunt! I love finding pieces and pulling everything together. I always find great deals and wonderful pieces.

My grandmother was a thrift store shopper. She went every weekend. The staff knew her by first name and always looked forward to seeing her. As I got older she would come and pick me and my sister up and we would go with her. She was so good at finding things. It were as though the items would just navigate to her.

I think I may have inherited that same gift. I always seem to find fantastic pieces and great clothing. I went to the Goodwill store this past weekend. We have one of the south-side of Indianapolis. This location has become one of my favorites. So take a look at some of the great items that I found. These are pieces that I was drawn to. So go and visit your local thrift store. You never know what great items you may find to add elegance to your life!

 
I found some great pillows for a great price!

I love the jeweled details. Both pillows were $3.99 each!

Oh my gosh! I loved this table it was only $40!
I could see it next to a chair with a small lamp and some
of your favorite books. Great find!

I thought this picture was great. Great photos of nature!
It was only $5.99; it was a large picture too!

This was a great picture also. It is a copy of a painting called the
“Mediterranean”. It was only $5.99! I purchased this and I am now looking 
for a frame.  

I love large platters. This is great for daily family meals to place your
main dish on. I use this all the time. This was only $3.99!

I love white dinnerware and utensils. These were only $1.99 each!

These purple goblets are great for entertaining. They were only $2.99 each!

This was a huge crock pot! It was in great condition and very clean.
Only $20! I love using these. It’s great to put your meal in before work and
come home to dinner being ready. 

I found a set for 5 mixing bowls. I only purchased the big one. 
It was only $4.99. 

Enzo Angolini pumps; these were a  size 9 1/2! Only $10!

I couldn’t purchase them. They were a size too small.

I really liked this rocking chair. It was only $29. I loved the
neutral color. 

I also found a set of 6 dusty rose place-mats. 

They were only $.99 each!


Keeping your Handbags Elegant

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I own about 12 authentic designer leather bags. I love my bags and use them. The one thing that I cannot stand is seeing a woman pull out trash and other foreign objects out of her bag!

I just think, “Are you serious”! You don’t have time to throw the trash away but you seem to have the time to keep stuffing your bag with it. I think cleaning your bag about once a week is a good habit to adapt.

And when I say cleaning your bag I don’t mean scrubbing it down every week. Just simply getting rid of trash, receipts, old candy, hair, lint and dirt.

What I use for cleaning my bags are baby wipes, Coach Leather cleaner, Coach Fabric cleaner and a lint roller. Below are pictures of what I use and what I do to care for my bag. There is also a video from Martha Stewart and she shows how she cleans her bags. Enjoy!

What I carry in my bag is 3 small makeup bags, my Coach wallet,
Travel organizer, Coach Sunglasses and small bottle of body spray.

The black and gold item is my travel organizer. You actually use it to pack your toiletries 
when you are going on a trip but I use it for organizing bills, notes, checks, etc.

I use a lint roller to grab hairs and dust out of my bag

I use baby wipes or leather cleaner to get the dirt off.

I use small makeup bags to keep small items in. Like in my small black one I 
keep my headphones, mp3 player and charger. 

The cleaners I use on my bags. The are only $10 at the Coach stores. One is for fabric 
and one is for leather. 
http://www.marthastewart.com/243340/handbag-care-how
 
 

9 Gestures a Woman Should Never Do

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Last week I posted a book review on “A Guide to Elegance”, by Genevieve A. Dariaux. I am still finishing this book but it is so fantastic to me! I just think it’s wonderful.

It’s rich with ideas and standards that you can began to incorporate into your own life. Being a woman is becoming a dying art. But this book can help you with bringing it back to life!

I read the chapter called “Gestures”. In this chapter she discusses gestures that you can do to immediately obliterate any image you may create of being well dressed. So below is the list of things that can demolish a woman’s elegance. Remember these are actions done in public:

1.   Diligently seeking some undesirable foreign matter by means of an exploratory finger in her mouth. (digging for food in your mouth)

2.  Scratching her head. (guilty!)

3.  Tugging at her underwear. (guilty!)

4.  Pulling up her bra straps. (guilty!)

5.  Carefully examining the condition of her complexion or teeth in her compact mirror.

6.  Biting her fingernails.

7.  Sitting with legs apart.

8.  Combing her hair at the table.

9.  Talking to loudly in a public place. (this drives me nuts)

Homekeeping with a Pet

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Homekeeping is very important in regards to being elegant because a clean home is an elegant home. I really like to clean and organize. It takes my mind off whatever issues I may have for the moment. It’s great exercise and you can listen to your favorite music.

I have a boxer named Bishop. I love my dog and enjoy having him. One thing I will not tolerate is my home smelling like “dog”. My visitors should see my dog not smell him. That is why I clean my house religiously. I keep my floors swept and vacuumed. We bath our dog and wash his blankies.

One product I decided to try last year was the Swiffer.  It is absolutely wonderful!!! I use it on all my floors and it gets all of the dog hair and human hair. Another product I use is Odor Control Solutions. My husband buys it at our local pet store. It is an all natural treatment for bacterial odors. I sprinkle a little on the floors and vacuum. It works great!! They have it in lavender and lemon scent.

The other products that we use are the Nature’s Miracle . They have helped when he had his little “accidents”. Of course I still have my Bath and Body Works bulbs in my walls and that keeps the house smelling wonderful. Below are some photos of what products I use. So I want to give those of you a little hope who have pets that having an elegant home is possible.

My dog “Bishop” in my sitting room

The carpet cleaner I use





My Swiffer

All the hair it picks up (sorry I know this is gross but I wanted to show everyone)

My beautiful Casablanca lilies, my dog does not bother them. 









(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Being Elegant in Public Bathrooms

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Oh my this is a touchy subject. Public bathrooms are just gross sometimes. I know that bathrooms are made for doing “your business” but some people’s business is worse than others. I have made a habit of trying to be nice, clean and as odor free as I can be when going to public bathrooms.

Sometime ago, I went into a bathroom and noticed that there was no tissue! I was horrified! So to remedy that I now carry personal cleansing cloths. They come in different scents and they are just wonderful! They are also hypoallergenic so you don’t have to worry about “breaking out”.

Another item I carry is room spray. Bath & Body Works and Yankee Candle sell fantastic room sprays! They are small enough to keep in your bag or your baby bag (if you still carry one). So I go in do my business, use my wipes, spray my bottle once, wash my hands and when the next person comes in after me they are greeted with a friendly scent and not thinking, “Oh Lord”!

So I encourage you to visit your local Bath and Body Works or Yankee Candle to pick up your favorite room spray. The prices range from $5-$7 and the wipes are sold in most stores. They are about $3 a box and are small enough to keep in your makeup bag. Below are photos of what I carry now. Enjoy!

(all photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Afternoon Tea Etiquette

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I love having tea! It reminds me of the days gone by. I love getting together with some friends having tea and talking about anything. I think that learning tea etiquette is also a wonderful trait to add to being a lovely lady.  I have a channel on Youtube and I enjoy watching some of the videos of some of the women that I follow. There is one in particular and her name is Trina Leavers. She lives in London and I just love her style!

She is so elegant and down to earth. I started following her a few months ago and I have learned so much from her. She is like a distant girlfriend that I chat online with. In one of her videos she talk about how to have afternoon tea (London style). She has this tea set called Royal Albert Old Country Roses. It is just stunning!

While at Macys I find the Royal Albert set and my goodness is it expensive! Just for one tea cup and saucer alone is $60! So what did I do, I went to Ebay.  I found a cup and saucer set for $25! I was so excited. So now I am on a quest to complete my set. I will have to buy it piece by piece but oh well. Below is a photo of me with my cup and also is the video with Mrs. Trina in it. I have also attached a video of the proper way to have tea. The videos are so fun! I hope you enjoy them!

how to make a proper cup of tea – YouTube
English Cream Tea Etiquette – YouTube

Looking Presentable at Home

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Looking presentable at home has been a task for me. As soon as I come home my second job begins. Being a wife and mother is a lot of work and sometimes when you get off you don’t want to look “polished”. Well one day when I came home I looked at myself and noticed that my hair was not in order and I just wanted to get out of my clothes. But then I realized that I put a lot of effort into looking nice at work. Why not look nice at home to?





If the people on the outside world see my best then so should my husband and daughter. So now when I come home I comb my hair, spray on some more perfume and put on my apron. I am starting to love aprons. They keep my clothes nice and they can hold your cell phone and lip gloss. They are pretty inexpensive. I paid only $12 for it. I watched a video called “Looking Presentable As a Busy Mom” by the Daily Connoisseur. It is a great video and has helped me to continue on my quest for looking chic at home. So take a look at the video and let it inspire you!
the Daily Connoisseur – YouTube


(photo via Mrs. Shockley)
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