How I've worn my project 333 in February

I haven't had the new additions in my wardrobe long, but I wanted to give them a good test run to see how I will wear them and decide if they were worth what I think they are.
I want to say that I do not own these white chucks. I have a pair of athletic shoes I wore and the Keds. (but no picture of them yet.)

Monday I wore a skirt because it was up in the 40s. I didn't go outside a lot I just wanted to wear it. I wore my fleece lined leggings underneath. They are grey but I have no picture of them. 

Tuesday it got a little chilly again. I wore a fancy looking bright lilac, long johns material ,top. The lace stuck out from under the pink sweatshirt material top. Jeans and my snow boots kept me toasty warm. 

 Wednesday I wore my jeans again. (I actually have 2 pair, but the picture shows the same pair) with a lilac linen shirt and my favorite sweater. It has every color imaginable in it. It's like my technicolor sweater. I wore my hiking boots since the snow wasn't very high.

 Thursday I wanted to wear some more of my new things. I had washed them all and this one was looking dapper today. It's a navy and pink cotton shirt. I paired it with my thinner pink sweater and jeans, yes again!

 Friday, realizing that winter time in Minnesota means jeans a lot. What else is going to keep me warm? Or am I just being lazy? We stayed inside most of the day and we went to the gym so I wore sweatpants and a tee shirt with my wool sweater overtop. (No picture as it doesn't count for my project 333 since I only went to the gym today.)




Saturday I was sore from our new routine at the gym and we lounged on the couch. Then realized that we had a lot of things to do inside. I wore another pair of sweats and a tee shirt. (again, no picture)

Sunday it was warmer and I wanted to dress it up a little bit after wearing sweats for 2 days. 

So I chose my raspberry dress with my new floral shirt and tan tights. Snuggly boots and a bright yellow sweater to finish me off. These boots were given to me by a friend and they are really warm. I love the toggles on the sides too. 

Notice that these black boots are the only black that I wore at all. I have finally decided that I just don't like to wear black. It makes me feel down and who wants that? These boots somehow don't make me feel that way, so they can stay. (even though they need some repair on the inside, I still wear them.)

I know I talked about how I fell off the bandwagon with Project 333 for Jan-March. But I did really good until I added new things. I had to test them out and most of them got to stay. The pink and Navy plaid did not stay. I ended up hating that ruffle on the front. If it wasn't there, I would love it. And if I took it off it would look weird. Otherwise I love the color. I'm hoping that the next season will be easier for me. Winter is just hard to do for me since it's my first one. I did OK when the weather was balmy, but when it got cold I brought in more clothing. Bad me! Oh, well. I have to stay warm. I'll try again with the next season, which is April-June. Don't give up on me. Also, if you are struggling know that you are not the only one. I too, dear reader, still have a lusting eye for new clothing. 

13 going in 30

I've been struggling with my wardrobe for awhile now. I purged a lot of the things that were not working for me, but I am still struggling. I realized that I had no theme to my closet and that nothing seemed to match anything else. I had a closet full of beautiful things that didn't match each other. Something had to give. So, I purged and tried to match things. I still got stuck. I like color so when I would read about minimalist wardrobes it seems they all talk about black or a neutral wardrobe with a hint or pop of color. Black makes me look really pale and unhealthy. I wear it occasionally, but not too often and especially not every day. I've been trying project 333 but I haven't figured out which pieces match and work for me. I wore the same 5 outfits over and over again. It was too hard for me and I gave up. I really want it to work for me, but this does not come easily for me. Then I found the lucky dozen, some people call it 13 going on 30.  13 going on 30 is an idea run by lucky magazine a few years ago. It was done for an office wardrobe. I love the idea of it, but I wouldn't ever wear the original pieces, since I don't work in an office anymore. I've been struggling with my wardrobe because I have a going out wardrobe and a stay in and work wardrobe. I think being able to make 30 combinations would be plenty and keep my closet from expanding too much. (Which it has been, I'm ashamed to say.)  I'm not suggesting that I  buy anything but rather that I can make this small wardrobe right now and test my ideas.  I would love to feel like this is all I need in my closet. I think that since project 333 hasn't been working for me I'm going to back up and test out a very small section of my closet. Maybe I can live with this for a month and go over it for the next month or go back to project 333.

Lucky magazine did this first and then shopruche.com did a great version a few years later. I love their version and would love to be able to see it in more detail but I'll have to settle for the pictures they did of each outfit and the ideas i can scrounge by looking at it, since it is an old webpage.

It looks like to me a plain colored neutral top, they use white. 2 pairs of pants (one jeans one dressier), 2 skirts(1 pencil, 1 flared or a line), 1 sweater, 2 shirts to layer, one scarf, one printed dress, a jacket/blazer and 2 pairs of shoes to match it all (neutrals in pumps and boots.) Now having the vision to put it all together is the hard part. This is where I would normally get stuck.

In the lucky magazine version all the clothing was from banana republic. It is a neat idea and helped promote their clothing line too I'll bet. But I'm going to shop my closet first. I've been misunderstanding my basics and I struggle with that still. Seeing this wardrobe and the pieces helps me understand a little bit better.

The plan is for me to get my pieces in order and then wear the same outfit as is styled in each day. I might not go in order, but I will get to all of them. I am hoping that I will be inspired with the creativity and learn how to style these pieces better and really know that they work for me. I hope that I do not have to exchange anything mid way, but I have been struggling over my choices a little bit. Be patient with me, as I try something different.

The Ruche pieces

1. The white lace shirt 
2. The olive long sleeve shirt 
3. Flannel long sleeve shirt
4. Peach solid colored sweater
5. pair of jeans
6. pair of smoke dressy pants
7. navy pencil skirt 
8. Black and white patterned dress
9. Grey A-line skirt
10. Grey light jacket
11. green scarf
12. Beige low pumps
13. Brown lace up booties

My pieces

1. Pink and white striped shirt
2. chambray shirt
3. pink and green plaid shirt
4. Dark Mint sweater
5. my favorite pair of jeans
6. Khaki pants
7. Mint linen skirt
8. Pink Sheath dress
9. Navy A-line, linen skirt
10. Olive Corduroy jacket  
11. black and white scarf
12. white keds (Ideally, I would love white or natural low Chucks)
13. Black Fluevog  Malibrans

Why giving and tithing can bring you closer to God.

Tithing. To some people this is a touchy subject. Yet, God tells us to give back 10% (at least) to Him.
A lot of people will say, "But, any god that needs my money isn't a god I want to serve." Yes, I would agree with that. But, God, that is the Great I am, Jehovah Jirah, the Lord who provides, Jesus Christ, The Great Sheperd, does not-I repeat does NOT NEED your money. He asks it of us. He even tells us to test Him. In nothing else does he say to test Him. It does not say, test me if you are Jewish, or even test me if you believe in Me. Just, test and see. It is proof that God wants what's best for us. That He is there for us. And it is a material way for us to see beyond our own self important noses.


"'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this', says the Lord Almightly,' and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it'." Malachi 3:10


Not only does it teach us to give to someone other than ourselves, but we get back blessings. That's something you can't buy in any store. He doesn't say what the blessing will be, but that you will receive one. I do not tithe because I want to receive a blessing. Yet, I say try it and see what happens. The Lord may bless you with a raise or with good health. Maybe your blessing will be the good that you are doing in your own life so that someone else may eat tonight.

Doesn't that make you feel good? To know that you are giving to someone else. You can give to your church or to a charity. Either way, it will be put to good use. Be educated about where the money is going also. God doesn't ask us to give to people who are going to buy drugs or alcohol or anything we don't agree with morally. He will use it for His good. And that brings us closer to God.

Are you tithing? I would encourage you to do so. And as always if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them for you, assuming I know the answer. If I don't I will happily find someone who does know. And if it is not something known we can pray about it to the one who knows all.

God bless.

Trying to live in my decluttered fantasy world...

Ok, so maybe that title doesn't make sense to you...yet. But I hope it will soon. In my decluttered fantasy everything I own is beautiful, has a place in my home and everyone who uses it puts it back for the next person to use without having to be told. I know right here you are thinking, "yup, total fantasy world lady." But, it can happen! It can be done, at least the first 2 are in my control. I am struggling with owning only things that I think are beautiful and useful to me and my family (Ok, so right now that's just me and DH, but one day...)

How do I get there?? From here? The same way you eat a mammoth. One. Bite. At. A. Time. (Did you read that story in college too? I hope so, I can't remember the name of it but it's actually an elephant in the story.)
Only my problem is not a mammoth, it is however a mammoth problem!
We moved to this house officially in June 2014. I have tried to make it a beautiful and relaxing place for us to be after work or wherever. Yet, I only feel this way in a few rooms.

Our Living room is great and I try to keep things put away and picked up in there.
So, right now(without running to clean it up) this is what it looks like. And part of my dining room.

Ok. Not too bad, but it still needs some work. For example, in the foreground you will see the closet doors and the shower curtain that belong in the bathroom. But, we are doing work in there so I'm excusing that for the moment. There are dog toys on the floor, but that is a constant battle. Shoes that I am responsible for even though I'm working on making the entry way an easier place to put things when we come inside. And the pillows and covers on the couch could be nicer looking. But, I'm not ashamed of this room. It's where company can sit and chat. I have a few papers on the tables that should be moved, but meh. I'll get to it I suppose.

There it is! Those things that I should be doing, but for some reason I'm not doing them yet. Those little things start to add up around us and make our houses look tired and then make US tired. Who wants to live like that? Nobody WANTS to, but a lot of people feel like they have to, when they don't.  I'd love to be able to live in a tiny house. Maybe 600 sq. feet? But, I am not there in my own life yet so it's a life goal for me. Maybe one day I can release enough things to do it! I love this one because it has stairs and a place for guests. I would put a murphy bed in the back bedroom and have an extra space in there when nobody needed the bed. There are pictures that show you this on there website. But, I digress.

This is my decluttering/cleaning method. I grab an empty laundry basket and walk through the room looking for things that I don't like, need some repairs, or just don't go in that room. Then I put them in the basket. I go to the next room and do it again. I usually can only do 2 rooms and then I need a break. I put all the things in the basket that I don't like, need repairs or just don't go in that room.
Then I take all the things and look at them on the floor (usually it's the living room.) I decide if I should keep it and what it is doing for me or DH. If nothing, it goes in the donation box. If I think it's helping us or just needs repairs I might put it in the maybe pile or the pile to go to my sewing room for needed repair. Then I take what's left in the basket and run around the house putting those things away where they should have been previously but weren't. This gives me time to think about those maybe things. I like to come back to it again, usually I decide it can go away. But sometimes I make a nice spot for it and it stays. When I'm done with that I put the donation box in my truck so that the next time I'm in town I can drop it off at the thrift store.
In February I filled up the backseat of my Truck with stuff that I no longer wanted or needed. I sincerely hope that someone can find a place for it as most of it is still useful (except knickknacks, but they were ok I guess.)

I do have to mention that this is an ongoing process if you continue to bring stuff into your house. If anyone uses something they should be trained (especially myself) to put it back when they are done. It only takes a couple of seconds to maintain this, but if you put it somewhere else it might take hours to track it down. Do you really want to spend your time this way? I don't, so I keep at myself with this task of putting things in their 'home'.

I hope this process helps you. If not maybe you can find a better way to declutter your home. I usually can get 2 rooms done in about 15-20 minutes. Just do a counter space or a drawer at first. I wouldn't do more than 15minutes. It tires you out in a weird way to think about all your stuff.
Sometimes, I even take a nap on the couch if I feel like it. It's kind of my thank you to myself. Plus, you can choose what's important to you in life as well and what's not. I don't think that shopping is important, I'd rather thane stuff TO the thrift store. (Ok, DH says to put that I DO like to shop but only at craft stores. I have to admit that is true. I'm working on it! Nobody is perfect!)

I'm going to go declutter my craft room now. Bye for now readers.

What are you decluttering today? Do you have a different method that you use?

New additions to my wardrobe.

In conclusion of the week of Project 333 I'd like to show you what I added to my capsule wardrobe.
I did go shopping at the goodwill and I found some awesome things.
Remember that my colors are Navy, Mint and Pinks. I really like pink and I'm using pinks, multiple, because they all seem to go well together and it gives my closet some more options. I use Raspberry, blush, true pink and shade in between. On to the pictures. Some of these pictures look kind of bad, but look great in real life. Like the first one, for example, this is a linen mint skirt it does not seem to photograph well.

I bought 2 linen skirts. Different colors and styles, but I LOVE linen. I found 8 shirts that match my colors. Since most of these clothes were pretty inexpensive, in spite of goodwill changing it's pricing policy, I will give them all a try and see how they work for me. I also found a fun pink belt. I am working on my Spring capsule starting in March and some of these will be featured there. Stay tuned for that coming March 1. I'd love for you to join me on Project 333. Less stress to getting dressed!

I hope you enjoyed this week as much as I did. I can't wait to see YOUR wardrobe choices.