DIY Dress-Up Trunk Gift Idea

As promised…here we go.

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So every time my God daughter’s birthday rolls around, I always strive to come up with a gift idea that’s really special. Special to her likes and special to what she’s currently into. Because let’s face it kids go through their phases.

I spoil her on the regular, BUT her birthday is cause for some extra special spoilage. 😉

I was toying around with the idea of buying her a Dress Up trunk. But the more I researched, the more I became discouraged with the quality of these so called “trunks.” They were simple flimsy cardboard, and well that just wasn’t going to cut it for my little Soph.

So I decided to create my own Dress Up Trunk; personalized with costumes that would fit her little personality.

Here is the finished wrapping:

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I used these decorative keepsake boxes to act as my trunk(s). They are sturdy, have a lid, are perfect for storage and can just be left out in a playroom on their own. And they are cute as a button.

I ended up having to pick up a smaller one to hold all the accessories because the big one just wasn’t enough. Yes I splurged a bit. Once I get an idea, it kinda spirals. I just can’t stop myself. 😉

The top gift wrapped box is actually her Disney Princess Birthday Train “3” Doll. 3 is Aurora a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty. It’s a tradition I’ve started with her, I get her one every year. My God mother did it with me and now I get to pass along the tradition.

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Here are the outfits I chose to include:

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How freakin’ cute is this! (I love the tutu!)

Some pretty dresses (because every little girl wants some fluffy princess dresses), A chef set (she loves to pretend to cook), and A Wonder Woman costume (her favorite superhero.)

A tea party hat, purse, and white glove set with feather boa and pearl set; because we play tea party sometimes.

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A purple tutu and an assortment of shoes.

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Accessories included:

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Left to Right: Feather Boa, Beaded Necklaces (she loves her beads! she uses them for everything! Even pretend spaghetti dinner #multipurpose) A princess crown, Chap sticks in fun flavors, headbands, rings, coin purse, sunglasses, bracelets, princess wands, light up princess wand, and a brush.

 

 

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Purple was a bit of a color theme, because it’s her FAVORITE COLOR! (And she will tell anyone who will listen all about it…at that decimal!) Since the outfits didn’t really have purple in them, I went all purple on the accessories and accent pieces.

Her little shocked smile when I brought out her gift at her Birthday party was the best. I got a bunch of videos and pictures from her mom recently of her playing with everything. They are the best photos ever. I am obsessed. That was my ultimate thank you, to see her having a fun night playing dress up with her mommy. She even sent me a video of her putting on the chap stick I got her and smacking her lips together like any grown girl putting on lipstick would. It was the cutest thing ever. I had to include them because she watches me put my makeup on and always wants to take it and put it on herself, especially the lipstick. She puts it on and goes “Kissy!” Lol. So cute. It’s adorable.

*Extra Fun Tips:

When gifting any kind of purse or coin purse you should always put some money in them for good luck. So I placed a dollar in her little purple purse and some coins in her personalized coin purse.

Where I found these products:

Her accessories were found in Dollar Tree-Deals; Jewelry, wands, sunglasses and headbands.

The pretty purple crown was ordered from Party City when we had a little “Purple Party” for her on her actual birthday.

The princess pretty dresses and shoe set was found in Christmas Tree Shop, along with the coin purse, chap stick, and brush.

The Tea Party Set was found on Amazon as was the Wonder Woman Costume and Chef Set.

The decorative boxes were found at Telco; a discount store.

*Hope this was helpful!

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This gift was really fun to create for my God daughter. She’s only three and she likes to play pretend, and I don’t see that going away any time soon. If you ask me dress up trunks are a perfect idea for little girl birthday gifts, because playing dress up never goes out of style. Even I still feel like I do that when I get all dressed up to go out with friends or to a special event. Putting on the makeup and deciding on an outfit and how to accessorize it perfectly. It’s fun!

So if you have a special little girl in your life, and you’ve been wracking your brain for a gift just as special, look no further.

Let me know how it turns out. Or if you want any other ideas! I’m all ears. Comment down below!

-<3-

*All photos are my own.*

#crappycellphonepics

Yellow. Blue. Red. Look

You ever have an event coming up and instinctively begin planning an outfit to wear for it in your head? Sometimes it’s based on pieces you already have in your wardrobe. Sometimes it’s based on inspiration you come across. And sometimes it’s completely fictitious and you basically think of it out of thin air. And then- the hunt begins.

For me the hunt is the worst part of fashion; the worst part about being a woman. Because you hop from store to store trying to look for pieces that fit this fashion vision. A vision that doesn’t necessarily exist.

I’ve wanted to try this yellow, blue and red color scheme out in an outfit for a few years now. And I finally got the chance to play!

My vision was to wear a yellow dress, with blue heels and red accents; nails & of course lips. (You guys know I LOVE a red lip.)

The dress was a surprising find. But I gave up hope on the blue shoes for a while, until recently one day I came across a pair of ankle strapped sandals and I instantly fell in love.

The heels were actually bought and worn for an entirely different outfit and I actually wore the yellow dress once before styled differently. But as the pieces of my dream outfit slowly began piling in place, I finally took my latest invite to wear this dream outfit of mine.

Let me break it down for you. *In crappy, edited cell phone pics. :/

Full Look all pulled together:

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Close-ups of my makeup:

I basically used a lot of bronze colors, golds, whites and browns, filled in my eyebrows, applied mascara, and I used a navy blue eyeshadow as eyeliner on top and bottom. Then I used a red lip pencil (with a berry undertone) and a matte bright red lipstick over top. Bronzer, Blush and highlighter were also in effect in this look.

(How flawless does my best friend look??? #BrightLipsOnPoint #BrightLipSistas)

My accessories:

I love gold accessories. I think they complemented the pale yellow color of the dress nicely. I also chose the mirrored “diamond” rings to complement each other. And now that I think about it all the detailing in my outfit was silver; my zipper up the back of my dress, my shoe buckles and my purse zipper. So the mirrored accents on my jewelry tied all that in.

I skipped a necklace this time and went for some really cool funky peacock feathered earrings that hung down and dressed up my hair in the process. I love how the greens and blues of the feather complemented the yellow and the red.

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Ignore the after hours makeup mess. lol. I was just trying to get the earrings in. haha.

 

I also added a blue clutch to match the shoes and a taupe cardigan to match the underlying layer of the yellow eyelet dress.

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My clutch is actually double sided. The other side is black, which I didn’t mind too much even with such a bright outfit, because the soles of my blue heels are black. So it all tied in. And let’s be real I made sure the blue side was on display to match the blue heels.

Clutch Essentials:

I’m a big purse kind of girl. On a regular basis, I usually carry a huge purse or bag. My purse is essentially my life in a bag. So how does a girl like that downsize her sack bag, into a clutch? Here’s how I did it.

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*First choose a decent sized clutch, and just take the basics.

Money

ID

Keys

Lip products (for touch-ups)

Hair ties

Hand sanitizer

A mirror

Pill case with Tylenol & Tums 

Packages of Pepto Bismal & Claritin

Granola bar

Emergency Pads/Liners (#girlprobs #noshame)

Oil absorbing sheets

Gum

Band-Aids

Tissues (not pictured)

My Catholic saints, rosary and pray rock- treasures that come with me wherever I go.

*Tip: Leave the flats or flip flops and sunglasses in the car.

* I know this seems like a long list, but I fit everything and had a little wiggle room. #missionaccomplished

My Hair: 

For my hair style I went pretty simple. I washed my hair, and left it in a top knot after applying products; curling serum, curling mousse and hairspray. I let those products take and dry a bit as I did my makeup. When I was ready to start my hair, I took it down and found it dried in a scrunched formation. Which is what I wanted. Then I blow dried it and added some dry shampoo to the crown for volume along with more hairspray before curling my hair with my curling wand. After that I shook the curls loose by tipping my head over and running my fingers through my hair. Then parted my hair on the side, swept my curly hair to the side and used an clear elastic to put it into a side pony tail. I opted for the clear elastic, because you couldn’t see it, and my curls didn’t get squashed by a big old hair tie. After curling a few front pieces to frame my face, I secured any bumps or flyaways with some bobby bins and Voila! Done.

**I really loved how this look turned out. The dress was a pale yellow, with a unique eyelet detail and so I opted for a neutral taupe cardigan this way the bold red lips and bright shoes didn’t clash. There is certainly a variety of color here, but when blocked a certain way, I really think a look like this can work.

So is there a certain look you’ve been wanting to try out, but haven’t. 

Three words. Go. For. It.  

*All photos are my own.*

-<3-