Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What to Wear: HOMEmaker's Dress for Less Challenge!

Hi girlfriends!
It's Wednesday and boy are we gonna have fun today and the rest of the week!

Congrats to CHERYL for winning Rachel Olsen's new book! She even posted over at Rachel's site so those 2 chances at winning helped her out! Cheryl, please email your address to me and I'll put it in the mail to you!

My friend Amy Bayliss heads up this really cool site for homemakers and offers challenges and so forth on her site. (Last challenge was a cupcake contest or something like that...it had to do with the kitchen so I pretty much stayed away from it. Smile.)

Anyway, we over here at The Beautiful Place are going to jump right in and join her this week. Details in a minute, but before I dive into it, I want to address last week's blog post about NOT feeling guilty about spending time and money on yourself.

THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all of you who commented and showed support for Star. Also, it was amazing to see how many of you resonated with her and feel guilty about spending time and money on yourselves. I loved your honesty. I loved your support of each other (and of me) and I loved how you stepped up an admitted to those same kinds of feelings and are going to try and do something about it.

That's why you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this post this week and Amy's Challenge. It's why I LOVE LOVE LOVE her idea and decided we just had to join in. There is NO guilt involved. At all. And you are going to look good too. And maybe find a new outfit, or two or three out of it.
Sound interesting? Read on.

Here's a word from Amy, directly from her blog:

You know it has been proven over and over that when we look good, we feel good. I took that to heart and made sure that every day I am dressed to look good. I felt better because I knew if I had an unexpected guest or had to run a last minute errand then I was prepared. My dear husband also prefers to come home to a women who has on something with a bit more style. In other words: he is not into sweats.

Your Homemaker’s Challenge is to add 3 new outfits to your wardrobe BUT, you can’t spend any money. Get creative. Swap clothes with your sister, your friends, or shop your very own closet! I know you have stuff in there that you forgot about. You can even remake some clothes out of what is in your closet! It is totally up to you but you must add three new outfits to your circulation of clothes you wear regularly.

Once you have put your new outfits together craft a post and tell us about it. Show us pictures or videos. Remember, part of the challenge is to embrace new things as homemakers as well as honing your blogging skills, and yes, we know you have mad skillz! Show us!

I will blog about my new finds and we will even get to attend a pre-recorded fashion session by our expert judge, Shari Braendel! I will blog about my new finds and we will even get to attend a pre-recorded fashion session by our expert judge, Shari Braendel! Look for that here: The Truth About Black and Dressing for Your Body Type.
 
Our regular judge, Amy Stults, and our guest “judges” (Karin Katherine,  and our fashion expert, Shari Braendel) will be picking some of their favorites to share on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. If you want a bit of constructive feedback about your post then just put at the bottom of your post, “encourage me judges!” and that will let our guest judges know that you are interested in constructive feedback. Otherwise, just take the challenge for the fun of it!



 
Oh goodie I'm considered an expert judge! Hehe!
 
That pre-recorded fashion session she's talking about is actually a webinar I did for Amy's Christian Women's Affliliate group a few weeks back and it was fun, fun!
She's also giving away a copy of my book to a winner, too.
 
This sure looks like fun! Are you going to join in the fun? I sure hope so!!!!!
 
On another note, what did you girls think of
 Monday's Makeover with Sue Tipler?
Gracious that was awesome! She really rocked that post and it was so great getting to know her. Get ready for next Monday's post with another cool chick you're gonna love!
 
Hey, for today, just let me know what you think of Amy's challenge and tell me if you're gonna try to do it. Whether or not you blog about it, send photos, video it, or just do it for yourself, I'd love to know!
 
Hey girls, I'm off on the Girls Getaway Cruise tomorrow! I know, I know, some people have to suffer for Jesus....I'm just not one of them! LOL!
 
Love you!!!!!

(Leave a comment about Amy's challenge....I've got a surprise gift for EVERYONE who comments between now and next Wednesday!


SURPRISE!


Love, Shari




33 comments:

Rebecca Street said...

No money spent? That will require some serious creativity...hmmm.

One More Equals Four said...

Okay, I totally want to do this. Sadly, I am already making excuses in my mind why I can't...but I am going to ignore the little voices :) and try! It does sound fun!

Anonymous said...

I have lost some weight and just this morning I was thinking I need to look back into my closet and drag out some things that I haven't worn. This will be a good time to do this with out spending any money.

Anonymous said...

This is an awesome idea. Oh, how I wish that I had access to all of this when my children were growing up :) The support and ideas you get from these blogs is so fabulous. Even though my children are adults, we still have a budget to stay in so it is fun to read all the hints and tips. As a word to all stay at home moms who have tough budgets - enjoy every minute with those precious babies, time passes all to quickly.

Everyone have a fantastic day.
Lorri

Vanessa said...

I'll try to do it... my sis and I share a room (we're teenagers), but she usually uses my stuff because she has like two shirts and a few pairs of athletic shorts! :-) I'm the one who likes to shop. Thanks for doing this blog! I love it! :-)

Danette said...

I have a tendency to wear the same things over and over and over and over. So, this will be a great challenge to try to find something different amongst the same ole same ole stuff!

Michelle Angelique said...

I seriously went thru my closet and took out all the clothes that I couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't wear and bagged them for the thrift store after I read your book Shari but I can still work on putting together some more outfits from my closet. I love to play around with my clothes now and try new things that I wouldn't have thought of putting together before so this gives me a good excuse to play. I am so glad that Amy sent that challenge out and that you have encouraged us to try it. I think of looking good and taking care of ourselves as exercise. Quite necessary for physical and mental health, too little leaves us depressed and feeling mushy and too much leaves us exhausted and finance drained. It is so important to get all these different ideas that help us think outside the box, encourage us and help us with this journey. It may be hard to not feel guilty for taking a little extra care of ourselves but I feel that as long as we keep our focus on Jesus and do this in a healthy way then we are very pleasing to HIM! Smiles and blessings on this journey dear women of worth!

Jen @ Happy Little Homemaker said...

i would so be all over this with some friends of mine...but I'm due in a month. Good luck to everyone!

Mariah said...

Even with a busy schedule I could't NOT participate, so of course, count me in!!! :)

Elin said...

I love the idea! I'll definitely try it! Blessings.

~Brenda said...

I like what Michelle said,
“I think of looking good and taking care of ourselves as exercise”. Words of wisdom!

The 3 new outfits challenge sounds interesting!

Kim said...

FUN!! Your blog has just been so much fun lately! OK - it has always been fun, but it is extra special right now!

With October being breast cancer awareness month - I was just hit by seeing two beautiful bald women! I didn't know either one, but assuming they were going through chemo - their smiles just made them glow! I was encouraged by this and wanted to share it with all you beautiful ladies out there!!!!

Have a great cruise!

Tabitha said...

Ooooo!! I just rearranged my closet and dresser so this challenge would be perfect!! I definitely need to "mix it up" a bit!!
I'll go check out how to get involved--thanks for the head's up!!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, that's quite a challenge for a left-brained, not really creative, non-fashionista like me. I will check out my closet for new ways to wear things, but I don't have much faith in my ability to meet this challenge. Would love to hear what others do.

Erin said...

Wow! What a challenge! But it came at the right time when I was cleaning out my closet anyway. I have to exchange my summer clothes for my much warmer fall & winter clothes. I don't know if I can do it but I'll give it my best shot!

NicoleM said...

What a great idea! This is going to require some serious creativity, but so worth it. It's time to get out of the comfy sweats!

Anonymous said...

What a novel idea - to go shopping in my own closet. Yes, I'm ready! I really need to sort out what doesn't fit or I don't wear anyway. Thanks for the encouragement!!!♥ Have a lovely cruise, Shari! mheard11@frontier.com

Anonymous said...

I will definitely take on this challenge- by "shopping" my own closet. I have a habit of wearing certain things in my closet with just certain other things (i.e. the same shirt with the same capris, the same blouse with the same dress pants, etc.)But I'm going to get creative and find 3 new combinations to start wearing!
Alex. L.

Daphne said...

I'm heading for my closet right now! Too bad my friends and I are all different shapes and sizes as that makes a swap difficult. I'm going to see what I can do with what I've got, though!

Libby said...

I love being creative! this will be awesome!

Erin said...

Too much fun!

Anonymous said...

Ok, I can do this too. I've been wearing sweatshirts and shorts for so long, I think that is all I have. It will be interesting to see what lies beyond the sweatshirts. Nanci at kelbla@aol.com

Dawn T said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dawn T said...

Michelle, girl, you hit the nail on the head!! Yes, I agree those are true words of wisdom and an incredible way of looking at taking care of ourselves both physically and emotionally!

I'm at the very beginning of my seasonal clothes changeover so this will be a fun way to be intentional in my "at home" shopping... you know, shopping on purpose! ;0)

Dina-Marie said...

This calls for some serious creativity! I'll give it a try anyway!

Wander said...

I always got "dressed" when I was a stay at home mama!
It made the day seem way more productive. I also felt ready to go if I had to run out for anything.
It does something to your attitude!
Hubby's like together women too!

Katy-Anne Binstead said...

This isn't a very good challenge at all. Some of us don't have friends or relatives the same size as us (and definitely not ones with any sense of style whatsoever to trade with). Some of us also can't sew, and some of us don't hoard stuff we don't wear in our closets for no good reason.

Getting any new outfit, let alone 3, without spending any money is a ridiculous notion that not everyone can do.

Ruth said...

I "met" you when Amy posted the video you mentioned on her site. I really enjoyed it and hope that whatever broke wasn't too precious! I've really enjoyed doing this challenge. It was a great exercise to look again at my wardrobe and try some new combinations.

To Amy, I agree that not everyone can do this challenge but a lot of us can and have found it a real blessing and not 'ridiculous' at all. I hope that you can enjoy our enjoy of it, even if you feel you can;t do it too. Stop over at Amy's and see what everyone has come up with, you might be surprised!

Anonymous said...

I have just been over to Amy's blog and have read the posts of those participating in this fashion challenge. It's really fun to see what they have put together with what they already have.

It's really encouraging to be able to create new outfits just by 'shopping our closets!'

Thanks for the inspiration!
Karen

Unknown said...

It is a very good idea. I have done this in the past, mixing skirts & jackets. Last winter I pulled out some old scarves I had gotten at a yard sale several years ago (they were hidden on a hanger waaay in the back of my closet) and I put them with some rather blah outfits and it really dressed up the outfits and gave them new life. I also paid attention to how some of the women I work with had tied and wrapped their scarfs for some really cute new ideas.

Michele

Missy said...

Seeing as how I have more clothes than the law should allow, I may just have to try this.

Katie said...

This is a fantastic idea! I've been thinking my closet looks a bit bare lately - but maybe the extra space is just trying to inspire me to move different pieces closer to each other!

Ruth said...

Hi Shari,
I know that the sadness in Amy's family meant things went a bit muddly after this challenge but I was really looking forward to hearing any feedback you may have had (and, if I'm honest the chance to win your book!:) )I realise that the book thing has gone by the wayside but I would love it if you were still able to drop by our entires and give us some feedback on our combinations. Thanks for being inspirational!