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Happy weekend to you all! It’s been a great week over here and I have really enjoyed all the comments this week, particularly on the fun bun tutorial. You guys are the best! Keep those comments comin’!  This weekend we’ll be attending the Symphony Show House Speakeasy party; I’m so proud of Simon for organizing such an amazing event! Oh, did I mention that we’re going to the happiest place on earth? Yup, it’s true!  Simon got all inspired from my AltSummit high and he pulled the trigger on attending a real estate conference. He is kindly taking me ‘n Jude along for the ride and while he networks, we’ll be riding the teacups. Any tips for us? I haven’t been to WDW since I was a wee one.

From the archives:  Why my husband is cool.

Darling illustrations.

Wow – Joe’s Jeans is doing colored denim in 55 colors. Read that again: fifty-five!

My favorite site for makeup tutorials that always look amazing.

What’s on your schedule for the weekend, m’dears?

Have I mentioned how much I love my OKC blogging pals? Well, now’s your chance to join up with us!  If you’re a blogger in the Oklahoma City metro area, join us next Thursday, February 9th for our 3rd annual quarterly whatever Blogger’s Night Out!

Location:  The Makeup Bar on Western.
Details: We’ll have food, drinks, and fabulous prizes (including goodies from The Makeup Bar, an original painting by local artist Erin Cooper of Pippin + Pearl, and a surprise from Stella & Dot).
Time: 6:00pm
RSVP: Would you drop me a line either via email or by commenting on this post if you plan on coming? Bring a friend, too – the more the merrier!

You might also enjoy reading:

Blogger’s Night Out – The Very First One
Blogger’s Night Out – v2.0

I’m happy to welcome star Stella+Dot stylist Sara Michael as a Pencil Shavings Studio sponsor! Interested in sponsoring us? Check out all the info on our policies by clicking here.

Gird your credit cards – Stella & Dot has released an all-new collection and it couldn’t be more fabulous. Full of exotic inspiration and delightful attention to detail, there isn’t a piece of it that isn’t stunning. Here are my top picks from the latest collection.

Campari coral necklace // Capri chandelier earrings in coral

Stackable Gem Ring // Tassel necklace

Geometric Stone & 12k gold hoops // Aqua teardrop pendant

Right before she got sick at Christmas, Mom told me she wanted to buy Jude an honest-to-goodness big-kid bed for his Christmas present.  I totally jumped at the offer because I’d been wanting to do something like that for him. Ever since we moved him out of his crib, he’s been sleeping in a West Elm daybed that we’ve had since we were newlyweds. And to be fair, it worked. But I wanted something a little more boyish, a little more (sob!) grownup.

Enter the Land of Nod’s Clark & Addison Bed. I researched tons of beds and I knew wanted something slightly modern, and definitely something colorful. It’s hard to tell from the above photo, but it’s actually navy blue. I love how tall the frame is but I also appreciate its simplicity. This is the perfect modern touch to his otherwise eclectic room. I had ordered it right before Christmas and then it was delivered before I headed to Alt Summit. More than anything, I’m extremely impressed with the quality. This bed can withstand a whole lot of abuse; it is ridiculously sturdy.

I’m happy to see how the room has come together. It’s a wonderful mix of estate sale finds (the campaign side tables and ginger jar lamp), Pottery Barn Kids (drapes & dresser), Williams-Sonoma home (the greek key rug) and Ikea (Expedit bookshelf & polkadot duvet). It’s whimsical and kid-friendly without being childish.

More and more I think how glad I am that we stumbled on those campaign side tables. Sure, they’re beaten up, but they’re perfect for storing all our favorite bedtime reads. Is there nothing more delightful than cozying up in bed with a book at the end of the day?

Isn’t that a darling happy boy all curled up in his bed? He loves his big boy bed so much. Thank you, Mom & Dad!

Spring is in the air and I’m proud to announce a few new designs that have been added to the shop!  Click on the photos for direct links to the listings.

Continuing in our vein of customization, allow me to introduce the Rothko Monos. Inspired by bold and unusual color combinations, each case is fully customizable by choosing any 3 of our offered colors and the initial of your choice. It’s a totally new spin on the classic & traditionally preppy idea of a monogram.

Up next is our whimsical & cheerful Mermaid Lagoon series. I love how these turned out. I’m in love with the contrasting colors and delightful scallop pattern.

And finally, a gorgeous pattern I’ve been holding onto for a few months now. Inspired by exotic tiles and detailed stucco work, there isn’t a color combination that this doesn’t look amazing in.

I’m also happy to announce the arrival of our Tough upgrade.  While customers tend to love how slim and streamlined our regular cases are, there’s lots of others who have been asking for added protection for their phones. I get it – I’m a mom whose little boy loves to play games and watch Netflix on my iPhone, so added protection to the front screen is definitely a welcome addition to my lineup.  The Tough upgrade is only for new orders; you cannot add it to existing iPhone covers. When you choose to upgrade your new iPhone case, it includes a silicone lining that hugs your iPhone as well as the polycarbonate outer shell with the design printed on it. Click on the listing below to see detailed photographs of what the Tough case looks like.

Here in the next week I’ll also be adding brand-new melamine collections, so keep an eye out! I can’t wait to show you how they turned out!

Number 1 most FAQ lately? “How on earth do you get your hair up in a bun like that?” My dears, I’m here to help you out.

I’m sure you’re no stranger to the variety of fun bun hair tutorials that are floating ’round the fashion-and-beauty blogosphere lately (see The Beauty Department for several good ones if you have long hair).  I’m a particular fan of Liz Stanley’s (Say Yes to Hoboken) sock bun tutorial as I’m still growing my hair out and needed, shall we say, a boost to my bun. Ha. But I found myself getting frustrated because the socks were a wee bit unwieldy; I couldn’t ever get consistent results despite liking how it looked when I finally did get it right. And keeping it all pinned together was, again, difficult.  So when I stumbled upon the (terribly-named) hair donut (UGH) at Ulta one day, a lightbulb went on. Aha! Way easier than the sock!

While I have only ever seen them in real life at Ulta, you can find hair donuts (GAH! Again with the name!!) readily available online at Folica and other places. Google ‘hair donut’ and the options are endless both in size and in color. Don’t be confused when you order the size; to get the bun size like mine, I use the 3″ version. They come as big as 6″ which is ridiculously large. I like the Conair version (branded to be a “Ballerina Bun Maker”) because the material is pretty sturdy and holds up better than other ones I’ve tried, despite the fact that it’s brunette in color and clearly I am a blonde.

Let’s talk a minute about my hair so you can get an idea of what I’m working with in the photos below. My hair is ridiculously thick and you can see in the above photo that it’s now grown out below my shoulders. I can probably get the same result sans-donut if I tease it a LOT, but I like the consistency of the donut, so that’s what I’ll use ’til it gets long enough on its own.

Step 1: Get that hair UP! Think cheerleader as you pull it up in a high ponytail. Any type of thin hairtie will work. I use these. Adjust as necessary. I don’t want the ponytail to be too severely tight, so I usually adjust the strands around my face, and make sure that while it’s still sleek, it’s still a little bit full.

Step 2:  Tease the living daylights out of your ponytail. This step is KEY. If you want it to have the thick, full-looking texture (similar to this now-famous girl, as seen at Alt Summit), you must tease it within an inch of its life. I use a bristle brush or a rattail comb to get the desired effect. I tease it so much that it can stand straight up on its own. Literally. I also like to tease my husband with it too. Erm, wait. That sounded weird. I mean I like to make him laugh with how funny my hair looks standing straight up. Ok, moving on.

Step 3: Add the donut. You basically put it on kinda like a scrunchie by pulling your ponytail through the donut. Then tease some more. Yes. MORE.

Step 4: Start to wrap your hair around the donut. Because of the donut’s scratchy texture, it should hold pretty well. Keep wrapping it around and tuck the ends into the base.

Step 5: Using your old-school hairpins (I like these by Bumble & Bumble), use them to hold the bun in place. Need an excellent tutorial? Check out Reagan Breinholdt’s hairpin tutorial here. You will never want to use another bobby pin again. I swear. Plus hairpins don’t hurt your head the way bobbies do.

Step 6: Smooth any stray hairs and you’re good to go!

Whaddya think? Are you rockin’ the fun bun these days?

Getting new retail (or restaurants, for that matter) in Oklahoma City gets people pretty excited. Known historically as a city of people who are more than willing to travel for fashion, it’s long been the norm to have to book it to Dallas to get the good stuff. The internet has changed that, but sometimes there’s nothing better than going in-store to feel fabrics and getting to try on a load of stuff.

Unless you have a 4-year-old in tow. In which case, get thee to the internet. Quickly. And preferably with free shipping, natch.

With the development of the Classen Curve and subsequent arrival of our Whole Foods (squeal!), sometimes I look around and think that I can’t believe how much this city has changed in the past ten years. NBA teams! Hipster groceries! Modern architecture! And now our Anthropologie has arrived.  I received an email a few weeks back from the Anthro PR people inviting me to the opening party this past Thursday night. I about spit out my iced tea and then emailed a hasty reply (OMG! YES YES YES YES YES!). And then in true Pencil Shavings form, I strategically planned my outfit.

I gotta say, Anthropologie is killing it this season. There are so many good finds and the line for the dressing room was literally 45 minutes long. Since I was child-free, I grabbed a handful of clothes I’d been eyeing and meandered toward the line.  I’m madly in love with all of the gorgeous primaries this season; the perfect shades of yellow, flame red, and cobalt blue are nothing short of perfection.

I wish I could find a photo of the yellow scallop silk blouse that I grabbed, and just in time, because it was clearly the crowd favorite that night judging by its repeat appearance in the equally-long checkout line.  I had seen Caitlin Creer in the same blouse at Alt, and then was kinda sad when I couldn’t find it online. It was my one lone purchase of the night and totally worth standing in line to check out for 30+ minutes.  However, check out that gorrrrrrgeous green Court dress by Moulinette Soeurs (bottom left photo above). I wish to high heaven I had pulled the trigger on that dress. There isn’t a body that wouldn’t look amazing in that. It is that good, y’all.  Another favorite find were the Joe’s Jeans Cavalier skinny pant. They’re super soft & very stretchy; even though they’re definitely a skinny jean, they are ridiculously flattering even on my curvy, pear-shaped frame. I’m putting them on my list for sure.

Here’s some of my other current Anthro faves.

dresses: Cynthia Rowley Citric dress // Conspicuous Shell Dress
tops: Washed Chambray Buttondown (another OKC crowd fave) // Maeve Fresh as Air top (gorgeous in kelly green in-store)
skirts: Maeve Nubby Stripes skirt // Maeve Buttered Tweed skirt

Big thanks to the Anthropologie team for inviting me!  I am so glad you guys are here to stay!

As I wrap up this week of Alt Summit posts, I find myself looking to what’s next. What is it I want to do? Where do I want to go? Opportunities are popping up everywhere I turn. I’m learning to say no to the things that don’t mesh well with my brand. And I’m excited about new collaborations coming in the future.

Right now there’s a gorgeous box (courtesy of Smock Paper!) of business cards sitting in one of my lucite trays. I find myself picking up that box and sifting through the beautiful cards over and over again. I think those are my favorite souvenirs from Alt.

Happy weekend to you all! I am so thankful for each & every one of my readers!

One of the recurring themes at AltSummit was “stop thinking about it & just do it already.”  Because frankly, if you don’t do it, then who will?

And as silly as it sounds, the first thing that came to mind was the idea I’d been tossing around in my head to throw a fancy party. A deck-out-to-the-nines dress-up party. You know the kind – odds are you’ve thought about it, too!  Bust out the sequins & glitter, put on those shoes you never have an occasion to wear them to. Heck, even put on that heinous old bridesmaid dress (appropriate since Bridesmaids was nominated!) and let’s give our acceptance speeches as we check out all the fab fashion and toast to the winners.  And Oscar night seems the perfect time to do it.

So mark your calendars & save the date for February 26th, OKC peeps. If you’re not local, why not consider throwing your own? We can have a fantabulous Twitter party along the way!

Ok, so I lied yesterday. I said I was going to talk about my favorite business card designs, but we had a slight issue w/ photos, so I’ll have to reshoot them today.

Moving on.

Today is all about new-to-me blogs that you should be checking out. This is by no means a definitive list of the amazingness I met at AltSummit! Also? If you attended Alt Summit, would you do mea  huge favor & comment on this post w/ your URL? My only complaint about AltSummit is that they didn’t give us a directory of all the attendees. Wouldn’t that have been helpful?

Little Pincushion Studio – along with fellow Virginians Petals in Prose, Art.Fashion.Furniture, Tribal Times. (the cutest girls you’ll ever meet – and the nicest, too).

Maiya – Design. Art. Robots. What else is there?

I LOVE Style&Pepper. Plus, I can’t wait to show you her business cards.

Best wardrobe of Alt Summit award goes to Mara with A Blog About Love.

Separated At Birth Award goes to The Alison Show. Y’all, she gave glitter nailpolish out with her business cards. This is my girl.

Blue-Eyed Yonder has the most gorgeous branding ever.

You can’t not love a guy who goes by “Uncle Beefy.”

These girls need no introduction. I absolutely adored everything they’re about.

Again with the fabulous branding – Michelle Edgemont is wicked talented.

There ya have it – and like I said, AltSummiteers, add your link to the comments below!