Orla Outfit of the Day: Happy Halloween

OOOTD:

Orla Kiely for Uniqlo Linear Stem Tank Top

Forever 21 Vest

J. Crew Distressed Denim Shorts

Birkenstock Arizona Black Oiled Leather Sandals

Gap Belt

House of Harlow 1960 Sunburst Button Earrings

Yay, the weekend is finally here! And it's Halloween - happy Halloween everyone :)

This owl necklace was a present from my Mom, and I've been really into owls lately because my son has recently become obsessed with Harry Potter and talks about Hedwig all the time :)

I've been loving wearing this vest lately because it's still quite warm where I live, but I love fall/winter clothes so much and I feel this vest can still give me the look of outerwear and keep me cool at the same time.

I actually wore this outfit last weekend to a friend's pumpkin-carving party, and I decided to make Jack Skellington cake pops for the occasion.

I've been making cake pops as a hobby for the last couple of years, and honestly, they're still super hit-or-miss for me. I'm still learning how to get the consistency of candy melts just right, and the decorating is always a challenge.

But the results are always fun to look at, and they taste yummy, too :) I've only ever used boxed cake mix, and people are always so surprised when I tell them that. But yup, just your regular 'ol $1.50 box of cake mix that you can get at your local grocery store. There's already so much involved with making cake pops, so I find that just using a cake mix makes things SO much easier.

My favorite cake mix to use is strawberry, and I always mix it with vanilla frosting. For these Jack Skellington cake pops, I used white candy melts and piped on store-bought black icing for the face.

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Halloween tonight!

Candy Corn Nail Art

Photo from my Instagram. Follow me @iloveorlakiely :)

Nail polish colors: OPI Angel with a Leadfoot (white), Butter London Silly Billy (orange), Nicole by OPI Hit the Lights (yellow)

One of my favorite hobbies for the past couple years has been painting my nails. I probably have about 150 bottles of nail polish, and I paint my nails maybe 2-3 times a week. This week I decided to go for a candy corn look to celebrate Halloween, and it's by far my most complimented look. I've gotten tons of questions on how I did it, and it's actually probably one of the easiest nail art looks to do. It's often called gradient or ombre nail art, and all it takes are latex free foam wedges, white nail polish (as a base to make the colors really pop), your favorite nail polishes for the actual gradient, and  a brush and nail polish remover for cleanup. My favorite nail art YouTuber is Elleandish, and she has a  wonderful video on how to create this sponge gradient look, which is what I used to paint my nails. So if you're curious on how I painted my nails or if you want to recreate this look yourself, check her out here :)

20% off Orla Kiely Shoes

Orla Kiely's UK/Worldwide site is offering 20% off the entire Autumn/Winter 2015 shoe collection for Clarks. On top of that, they are also free shipping now through November 1. Happy shopping, everyone :)

Free Shipping from Orla Kiely UK/Worldwide

To celebrate the launch of their new courier services, Orla Kiely is offering free shipping now through November 1 from their UK/Worldwide site to the following countries:

UK Mainland
Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands & Islands, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles
Republic of Ireland 
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden

Unfortunately, the US is not on the list, but if you happen to live in one of the countries listed above, then definitely take advantage of free shipping :)

20% off Orla Kiely Little Owl

Now through Saturday, October 31, save 20% on Orla Kiely's Little Owl Quilted bags and accessories. My favorite pieces from this collection are the reversible backpack and tote in Moss & Grey. Check them out below, and shop the entire sale here.

Orla Kiely Warehouse Sale This Weekend

If you're going to be in the London area this weekend, make sure to stop by Orla Kiely's warehouse clearance sale! See details above.

Orla Kiely Spotted: Kate Middleton Visiting Chance UK

Photo courtesy of Daily Mail

Kate Middleton spotted wearing an Orla Kiely Wool Crepe Sunray Pleat dress while visiting the children's charity Chance UK

Orla Outfit of the Day: A Tiny Horror Story

OOOTD:

 Wildfox Tiny Horror Story Sweatshirt

J. Crew Factory Distressed Denim Shorts (previously worn here)

Birkenstock Arizona Black Oiled Leather Sandals

Orla Kiely Tulip Stem Zip Messenger Bag

 

Yay for Tuesdays! Mondays are always a rough day for me because it's so difficult to readjust my sleep schedule even after just two days of sleeping in (and I use the term "sleeping in" loosely here because sleeping in for me means 7 am - on the weekdays I'm up by 5 am). Also, I am obsessed with The Walking Dead - the only show that can get me to stay up late. Which I do every Sunday night because I also watch Talking Dead afterwards :) And usually I can't sleep a wink Sunday nights because I am stressed about going back to work...and I'm stressed thinking about zombies.

I was thrilled to have found this Wildfox sweatshirt at Nordstrom Rack recently because I'd been wanting it ever since I saw Mindy Kaling wearing it. She is one of my favorite actresses and I love her style!

Photo courtesy of The Mindy Project Style

Hope everyone's enjoying their Halloween week so far!

New Orla Kiely Herb and Plant Pots at Amara

These Orla Kiely herb and plant pots are now available at Amara. Originally, I was only able to find these pieces at Bloomsbury, but now they're available for purchase within the US from Amara's site. The herb pot set includes three different prints, while the plant pots are available in the Big Spot Flower print in three different sizes.

Big Spot Herb Pot - Set of 3

$70

Big Spot Flower Plant Pot - Small

$27

Big Spot Flower Plant Pot - Medium

$34

Big Spot Flower Plant Pot - Large

$42

Orla Outfit of the Day

OOOTD:

Orla Kiely for Uniqlo Multi Car Print Shirt (previously worn here)

Citizens of Humanity Dylan Drop Rise Crop Jeans

Gap belt

Birkenstock Arizona Black Oiled Leather Sandals

I've admittedly been wearing these jeans and my other pair of loose-fitting boyfriend jeans a ton lately because, well, I've gained a bit of weight and they're basically the only bottoms that fit me right now. I appreciate the kind words of my family and friends for saying they haven't noticed a difference, but really I have been resorting to some of my old tricks of wearing Spanx, larger clothing, high-waisted pants, and generally sucking in my gut haha.

My overall goal is to lose ten pounds, which would put me back at a weight where I can actually fit into all my clothes again (as much as I love shopping, I really don't want to have to replace all my jeans for bigger sizes. You know how it is - once you find some jeans that you love and make you feel great, you want to wear them forever). So my weight-loss plan consists of hitting the gym three days a week, mainly focusing on cardio, and cutting out my number one vice - sweets. This has proven to be a major obstacle for someone who has such a sweet tooth!

Orla Outfit of the Day: Atlantic

OOOTD:

Sundry Atlantic Long Sleeve Tee

Citizens of Humanity Dylan Drop Rise Crop Jeans

Birkenstock Arizona Black Oiled Leather Sandals

Gap belt

Dogeared Hummingbird Necklace

Orla Kiely Multi Stem Leather Iris Bag

I put together this super causal outfit last weekend for lunch with a friend and then some errands.

This was actually the very first Orla Kiely purse I bought for myself during a trip to London with my husband in 2010.

I love this shirt because I actually live near the Atlantic ocean. Oh, and I like the scalloped design of the waves :)

Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

14% off Orla Kiely Autumn/Winter Collection

To celebrate the 14th anniversary of their website, Orla Kiely is offering 14% off the Autumn/Winter collection. Sale ends tomorrow! Happy shopping, everyone :)

Orla Kiely Wild Meadow Cosmetic Bags at Target

After months of not seeing any new Orla Kiely cosmetic bags at Target, we now finally have a new collection featuring the Wild Meadow print in gorgeous shades of light blue and olive green, which is probably one of my favorites yet. Fans were so bummed when it seemed that the Orla Kiey cosmetic bag line at Target had been discontinued, so fans can now rejoice that the collection has been revived. The price points and styles are the same, except missing from this collection is the weekender (maybe that'll be released later???) I am SO happy that Orla Kiely has decided to continue her collaboration with Target's beauty department - these cosmetic bags are so versatile and appeal to anyone from beauty junkies to planner addicts. I've personally used these bags to store anything from stationery supplies to nail polishes to even my son's small toys when we have to take them on the go.

I'd been visiting my local Target stores for days in search of these cosmetic bags with no luck. My husband even went on a search for me yesterday, only to find completely bare shelves. I figured Target was just clearing out space for this new collection, and sure enough, these cosmetic bags appeared online this morning. So definitely check out your local Target today for these bags, or you can purchase them online if you don't have a store near you. Which bags are your favorite?

Pencil Case

$9.99

3-Piece Set

$16.99

Valet

$29.99

Train Case

$24.99

Double Zip Organizer

$16.99

Orla Kiely Big Spot Small Flower Mugs

Orla Kiely has added a new design to her collection of coffee mugs - the Big Spot Small Flower print in the colorways Apple, Ochre, and Orange. See each cute design below :)

Apple

£8.50

Ochre

£8.50

Orange

£8.50

Orla Outfit of the Day: Go Gryffindor

OOOTD:

Harry Potter shirt from Hot Topic

Merona tank top (underneath)

AG Stevie Petite Slim Straight Jeans

Toms shoes

Orla Kiely Textured Leather Mini Bay Bag (Thursday Purseday post here)

My son just turned three last week and asked for a Harry Potter-themed birthday party. So I decided to go with Gryffindor colors, even though I'm a Hufflepuff at heart :)

Nail polish colors: Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez Hit the Lights and OPI I'm Not Really a Waitress

I painted my nails to mimic the striped Gryffindor scarves :)

Photo from my Instagram. Follow me @iloveorlakiely :)

I also made Golden Snitch cake pops for the occasion. Making cake pops is a hobby of mine that I'm still trying to perfect. They're often hit or miss as far as the decorating goes, but they always taste delicious!

When I was trying to think of how I wanted to display them, my Mom came up with the great idea of putting them in a cauldron.

The pops are made from butter pecan cake mix and vanilla frosting covered in yellow candy melts and golden sprinkles. The wings are made from fondant.

My husband also had this amazing bakery make these Harry Potter-themed cupcakes. The bakery is called For the Love of Cake, and they're the same bakery that made the Orla Kiely cupcakes for my 30th birthday :)

And here's the birthday boy, who picked out a Harry Potter cupcake.

Happy Sunday, everyone!