Bauble Bar Pop-Up Shop in Soho

Have you been to Bauble Bar's pop-up shop in Soho yet? Before wedding madness took over I had a chance to stop by last month to take a peep at the online e-tailer's spacious set-up on Greene Street.

Whether you're looking for that great statement necklace or just some every day essential, there's a lot to covet at at the pop-up. If you have questions about buying costume jewelry online, this is your perfect chance if you're in the NYC area to see the goods in person. The pop-up shop will be featuring the same items that are available online through August 13, 2013. 

In addition to jewelry, there are a number of fun events happening and the next one features one of our favorite crafty ladies, Jenni Radosevich of I Spy DIY. So if you're around this Wednesday, July 17th, stop by for a chance to DIY with Jenni, sip Godiva cocktails and receive a complimentary leather pouch for attending. Just make sure you RSVP to rsvp@rmo-weatherly.com.

If you can't make the event, the pop-up is open Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm and Sundays 11am-7pm.

DIY: Custom Wedding Signage

A couple weekends ago I wandered into an art supply store with Jeff because he had a plan to make a Jackson Pollock inspired painting. While looking around the shelves I saw some super affordable wood board panels called "Birch Board", so I picked up a 5 different sized pieces and some acrylic craft paint all for the grand total of $16.89 with the grand ambition to make some cute a cheerful wedding signage the likes of which I've been seeing on Pinterest.

Unfortunately I failed to pick up a decent paint brush and after some failed attempts to paint signs with a terrible paint brush, I decided to help Jeff splatter his painting instead. Fortunately this past weekend I found a couple of better paint brushes at home and I took a second go at painting. I used some nylon bristle size "0" and "4" brushes along with Navy Blue and Silver paints for some signs that I am very excited to have at my wedding.

DIY: Proenza Schouler Rope Necklace

Ever since I first saw this Proenza Schouler Rope necklace with stones I’ve been eyeing it wistfully.  And although it’s currently on sale for 30% off, $315 was still too steep for my budget.  I decided that instead of just wanting the necklace, it was time to get my craft on.  The longer I stared at the necklace I realized that it was consisted mainly of techniques that I used to create friendship bracelets and hair wraps as a teenager – suddenly the project became much less intimidating.

What you’ll need is 3 different colors of accessory cord, 4 colors of embroidery floss, some waxed cord, a darning needle, thread, 3 stone beads, some pin ends and some needle nose pliers.  If you are in NYC you can pick up some accessory cord, embroidery floss and waxed cord at Daytona Trimming.  I picked up my beads and pin ends at New York Bead, but there are plenty of bead shops around 6th Avenue at 39th St.

Fall 2011 Preview: Katherine Kwei

Last weak, Erin and I had the great pleasure of previewing fall collections from Charmco and one of our handbag favorites, Katherine Kwei. The event was held on the lovely rooftop terrace at The Thompson in Lower East Side. True to Katherine Kwei and Small Girls PR style, the event was chic and super fun. There was dim sum and even a psychic on site doing tea leaf readings. I did a tarot card reading, and it felt so personal and true that it totally gave me the creeps. But enough about that, onto the important stuff - bags!
Katherine Kwei names her bags after friends and family members. This style, the Vivan, had Erin and I gushing. We love how she created the classic look of quilted leather with her signature knotting. This bag will be available as a shoulder bag and tote.


Our other favorite style was the Jessica. I can't seem to get enough of crossbody bags. I love the simplicity and subtle details of this style, and I especially love the muted color palette: sage, slate and sand. This would make a great everyday bag.

No luxury handbag line would be complete without flashy clutches and wallets. These small leather goods are Clea, metallic snakeskin on the left and super soft embossed shargreen leather on the right.


And then our favorite, Lulu! For fall, Lulu will return in embossed roc print on calfskin in khaki and cream. I wish I had taken this picture earlier in the evening before sunset, so you could see the detail better. It's a lovely bag.

The fall collection is full of adorable bags and charms too!

We had the chance to catch up a bit with Katherine who is a new mom! I adore her! She's so wonderful, just so fun and down to earth.

Before we left, we took some time to learn the Double Coin Knot. I initially wanted to walk away because last time I got incredibly frustrated, but I always enjoy a good craft project.
For those who'd like to try out the Double Coin knot, we snapped a picture of the instructions. Just click on the picture to the right for the full size.

Pictures taken on trial HTC Droid Incredible 2

Craft Time & Cookies with Rebecca Minkoff

Last week I had a chance to escape the blur that has been the last month to sit down and relax for a moment. There have been more sample sales and events than I can count. I’m not complaining, it’s been wonderful in so many ways but just been feeling a bit frazzled and forgetting to take the time to enjoy the moments. * Life has become a series of Eat, Sleep, Work, Shop, Blog, Repeat.Anyways, sitting down on a Monday evening with Lani, some other bloggers, Rebecca Minkoff and her wonderful staff gave me a chance to take in a DEEP BREATH and sit still for a glorious couple of hours. It sort of also set my heart in a minor panic mode as I was icing Holiday Cookies, thinking is it really the Holidays already? Where did 2010 go? And do I really have to start thinking about buying gifts and cards already? Eek! Not sure I’m quite ready to face that yet.Tubes of frosting, bowls of sprinkles and edible stars soon held my concentration captive as I attempted to artfully decorate some sugar cookies. I learned shortly afterwards that as much as I like crafting, I am no pastry chef! Not my finest creations, but still tasty nonetheless. I wouldn’t mind a re-do or perhaps I should stick to decorating cupcakes!

Peep some of the fun cookies that others in attendance created!

We then switched gears to look at the Holiday Gift Collection that I mentioned earlier today that comes in Camel, Red, Purple, Green Snake, Green Metallic and Black. I had such fun looking at all the styles and decided that my favorite was the houndstooth multi zipper mini side purse while Lani picked out the Studded Green Snake to take a picture with to create a Holiday card.

Little did I know that Rebecca Minkoff would later generously gift us for the Holidays with the styles we picked out for our photo op.

So Lani and I began to craft holiday cards and Rebecca Minkoff came and joined us in the action. We talked about TV Shows and vacation destinations as we all got down and dirty with glitter glue, rhinestones and rik rak galore. Ms Minkoff is incredibly kind,incredibly real and so down-to-earth. She gives me a sense of being the fresh scrubbed girl-next-door. But she is also undeniably beautiful and glamorous too.

Mid progress, Lani looked up and noticed that Ms Minkoff’s card bared a strikingly similar resemblance to her new footwear line for Spring 2010! Guess you can’t deny a designer’s aesthetic whatever her medium!

Check out our finished creations above! Rebecca Minkoff’s (Top), Lani’s (Middle) and mine (Bottom Left)

As I am heading out the door, Ms Minkoff stops what she is doing to make sure that I have the gift box too. She personally helps me find the right sized box to take home and open my new gift when I need a cheer up. That little tiny action of her stopping and shuffling through boxes, sort of stole my heart. She’s a designer who cares, who’s into the details and not afraid to be hands-on. The perfect end to a perfect evening. A little glimpse at the character of one of my favorite New York accessory designers.

*On a side note, I’ll be doing plenty of chilling out soon enough as I’m heading to London, England for 9 days of holidays at the week’s end. I’ll try to keep up with the blogging but won’t be around to cover the sales. If you have any tips or fave places in London, let me know!

DIY: Balmain Slashed Army Tee Shirt

Ever since I first saw this slashed tee make it's way down the Balmain Spring 2010 runways it was in the back of my mind to make this a project.

It's definitely been a while since we've heard the inevitable outrage over the $1625 price tag, but Balmain being very much in demand can get away with charging whatever they like. The original is currently on sale for $1,137.50 on Net-A-Porter but I just used a tee shirt I had in my closet already for my purposes. I used an oversized burnout tee from Alternative Apparel because I thought the burnout effect added to the overall military look of the tee. The tools I used are simple. A cutting mat, exacto blade and pair of scissors are all you need. Don’t mind the metal rulers! I suppose you can use the side to rake the holes bigger but it’s not necessary. First you place the cutting mat inside the tee with the cut surface against the side of the tee you want to work on first.

Then using the exact blade make random slashes in the surface of the tee. The smaller the slash the smaller the hole. Vary the pressure as you drag the blade across various areas to create a variety of holes. Try to be strategic in your hole placement as giant holes across your bust wouldn't be desirable, unless you were going for a “Mean Girls” costume. Continue slashing the surface and flip sides of the tee to get the back too. When you are ready for the sleeves, you can pull the sides of them over our cutting mat and continue slashing. I stretched out the holes with my fingers to enlarge the holes and then threw the tee in the wash for added distress.When you are finished, put on the tee and examine hole placement. You many find you’d like more on the sides or in the front. For this purpose, I carefully used a pair of scissors and snipped a few extra holes where I thought would be idea. Ta Da! Ready to be paired with skinny cargos & flowy minis! My tee is already semi sheer from being a burn out so the holes are a bit subtler but if you use a solid tee they will definitely be more visible.