shabby apple giveaway

this giveaway has ended and winner has been notified. in order to make your monday mood a little better and because my last giveaway just ended, let's jump right into another giveaway, shall we? 


this time you can win a $50 gift card to the lovely shabby apple website!!!


if you haven't heard of shabby apple yet, go visit their website and be blown away by all their wonderful vintage inspired dresses. they even offer vintage inspired swim suits now. 


here are a few of my favorites

to enter the giveaway here is what you need to do:


(mandatory entry) 


like shabby apple on facebook
visit their website and leave me a comment telling me what item you would spend the $50 on 
be a gfc follower of the forge (if you already are please follow another way)
leave your email in your comment


(for additional entries you may)


subscribe to the forge via email 

follow the forge via bloglovin'

like the forge on facebook

follow the forge on twitter @theforgestyle

follow the forge on instagram @theforgestyle

follow the forge on pinterest
tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link in your comment

post this giveaway to your facebook page and leave me the link in your comment

you must leave a separate comment for each one you do!

and for all of you who just can't wait to order some awesomeness from shabby apple you can click on this lovely button right here and use discount code theforgestyle10off to receive 10% off your entire purchase (good until June 22nd). So what are you waiting for??

This giveaway is sponsored by shabby apple and the winner will receive their gift card directly from Shabby Apple. No purchase necessary. Must have a US shipping address in order to enter. Must be over 18. Giveaway will end on June 1st 2012 at 12am EST. One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random using random.org. Winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be selected. The Forge and Shabby Apple are not responsible for lost or undelivered emails.

good luck :) 

winner of the clutch giveaway is Janelle at Photography4TheCreator.
congrats and thanks for entering everyone! 

style files: striped maxi dress

dress: tjmaxx, jacket: zara, shoes: chloe, earrings: bought in germany, lipstick: maybelline fuchsia fever, watch: michael kors

what a busy week we've had. sometimes i feel like i don't even know where the time went. i cleaned out my closet and donated about 3 big bags of clothes to goodwill. there is still more stuff i want to get rid of but for now it's a good start. i organized everything i kept but that's a whole other post on its own...

the weather finally came around again too and we are in for a gorgeous weekend. my brother and sister-in-law are coming over tonight because they won't be able to make it to Logan's birthday party next weekend. yes, next weekend my little baby turns one!!! i doesn't even seem real to me! 

last year at this time i looked like this YIKES!! 

tomorrow i'll be doing the same thing again as well, going to pike days yard sales all day and hoping to score some goodies. 

i'm looking forward to next week with 4 amazing off days for the hubs, a baseball game, my mom coming in from germany and a birthday party on sunday. and now i'm off to ikea.

yes, life is good :)

diy: neon and gold fashion bracelet

yup, another diy today. i am seriously dragging this week with the hubs gone and having to do everything myself. at the end of the day all i want to do is curl up in bed, have some tea and watch tv. you know what that's like, right?

so anyway... while i went through my stash to make the earrings last week, I found some left-over gold chain and neon pink mason line that I had bought for a completely different project (haven't gotten to that one yet).

so I decided to make a bracelet...

you'll need:

larger size gold chain

neon mason line from your local home store (about $2-$3) 

a lobster clasp

some hot glue 

any tool that will help you open the chain links

measure the chain around your wrist take at least three times that length in doubled up mason line (so 6 times the length of your chain). 

loop the string through one end of the chain as you can see in the picture.

slide the loop to one side and start threading it through the chain links from underneath. i eventually added a tiny bit of hot glue to the end of my string so it would stop unravelling. that helped tremendously and also finishes off the string nicely. 

you want to go through each chain link from underneath and then stick your string back down through the loop you created. It's really easy to do just hard to explain ;) 

at the end of the chain I just tied a double knot and left some extra string. you can of course also cut it all off. Attach a lobster clasp to the other side and you are done. this seriously only takes about 15-20 minutes. super easy and super cute :) 

giveaway reminder

just a little reminder that you can still enter the giveaway for this lovely color blocked neon clutch.
it ends on friday at midnight ET. winner will be announced on monday :)

so go click on the giveaway button in the top right corner!!

good luck!

one of those days #3

today was one of those days...


where your toddler awakes at 7.30 on the dot and you are sending prayers that he will change his mind about wanting to get this day started

where those prayers aren't answered and let's be honest, there are more important ones to be answered anyway

where the rain and general grayness of the last few days is starting to get a little bit depressing

where a yummy breakfast makes things a lot better

where nothing really happens all day and you start asking yourself if you should make an effort and go somewhere?

where you decide that a nice warm bath at 1 in the afternoon is just what is needed for the little mister and his mama (including lots of splashing and bewildered stares at that mini watering can from target - what does it do?)

where a naked babe in a clean, white towel is just about the most beautiful thing you've ever laid eyes upon

where for the rest of the day you have to keep smelling that perfectly clean little head every few minutes

where this mama's cooking skills are once again being tested by one very picky eater

where a surprise visit from a certain brother in law who wants to use your internet makes you feel a little less lonely

where you decide that bath time gets moved back to evenings, after dinner, for the very obvious reasons...

where books are being dragged all over the room, cleaned up and pulled out again and again and that little person sitting in your lap wanting to read them makes you want to burst with love

where wet, open mouthed, good night baby kisses say: you may not be getting out as much as you'd like, you may feel like you're cut off from the world but really, you're right where you're supposed to be, taking it all in and not missing a second of it.


yes, today was one of those days.

style files: summer neon greens

dress: on, cardigan: express, shoes: madeleine stuart (tjmaxx), watch: michael kors, ring: bossy sprockets on etsy 

did you all have a nice mother's day weekend? 

mine was rather uneventful since the hubs worked all day sunday and then went on another road trip. i was left with a really sweet card and my present that had already been delivered and much anticipated during the week. 

so i made my own mother's day breakfast and shared it with the boy who, lucky for me, decided i would make a great mom. and man does he love pancakes and do i love him :) 

diy: geometric earrings

i thought i'd share this tutorial on how to make some geometric earrings made from polymer clay. i originally came up with this as a contributer post for love stitched so you may have seen this already over there. the neon trend is still going strong and I've been accessorizing with it like crazy. there are so many cute items I would love to own but don't have the money for. so instead, i went though my stash of jewelry making supplies (i am a bad craft hoarder) and pulled out some earring backs and fimo modeling clay i picked up on clearance a few months ago. with some different craft paints i created these cute little geometric post earrings all during one nap time, hey, this mama's got to be efficient :) 

here is what you'll need:

modeling clay (i used white and painted it but it is even quicker if you just buy your favorite color)

earring backs

a small sharp knife

paint

paint brushes

hot glue gun or other strong glue

the earring backs i already had on hand turned out to be too big for the small shapes i wanted to make so I had to cut them down first (big big pain). make sure you buy the smallest ones you can find. all they need to hold is a tiny dab of glue. 

then just go ahead and form a small ball with the modeling clay, about 1/2" or even less in diameter. use your knife to cut away small chunks of the clay with the knife leaving smooth planes all across the shape. save your scraps to use for the other stud. 

once you're done making the shapes stick them in the oven as per the directions on your package of clay and bake them. mine took 30 minutes at 265F. Once they have cooled you are ready to paint. i used some regular acrylic craft paints and patio paint as well. it will take a few coats of paint to completely cover the shapes. let everything dry really well. i painted the base color first, let it dry and then attached the shapes to the earring backs with some hot glue. it doesn't take very much glue at all so be careful! then I painted parts of my studs with coordinating colors for a cute pop of color. 

once the second color is all dry you are done and ready to wear your new earrings :)