Crazy Domestic: challenges

Showing posts with label challenges. Show all posts

1/26/11

Love it or Lose it Challenge, week 4 of 4

Hello ladies! Katie P here, from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge, for the fourth and final week of Love It or Lose It! Did you get through all your items??

I have a confession.

I saved my two least favorite items for the last week because I honestly was dreading wearing them. What does that say about those two items?? And honestly, if I was just participating in Love It or Lose It, not hosting it, I may not have actually worn them. But I promise you, I did!

Item #1

Why I like this top:

It's black & white satin.
I like the shape of the collar.
It's a really well-made shirt.

Why I don't wear this top:

I've pretty much sworn off button up shirts. They just don't fit right on my body and I never, ever feel comfortable in them. Also, this one has slightly puffy sleeves/shoulders, which never looked quite right to me.

The Verdict:

One reason I was hesitant to wear this shirt was because I live in frigid Chicago and it's hardly the short-sleeve shirt wearing season. But I put a black cardigan over it, and guess what? I actually really like it now! The cardigan covered the puffiness of the sleeves, and since it's made so well, it lays very nicely. Who knew?

Item #2

Why I love this dress:

It's a cute black turtleneck sweater dress, with little belt loops at the waist. What's not to like?

Why I don't wear this dress:

It flares out not at the waist, but slightly lower, so it clings a little bit at the hips. And even though I'm not a curvy person, it still emphasizes every detail. You can see in the picture, it's not quite as smooth at the hips as I would like it to be.

The Verdict:

I did wear this dress all day, and though I'm not 100% convinced it's still a keeper, I'm going to hold out on it. I really believe that with a pair of Spanx, the smoothness issue can be completely worked out, and then I know I would love this. Do I own Spanx? Not yet. Did I manage to buy them before this challenge was over? No... So I'm giving myself one month. One month, and if I don't buy Spanx, I'm getting rid of it. But for now, it's getting one appeal!

Recap

Considering I thought I was saving the worst for last, I'm really surprised I ended up liking both of these items enough to keep them and promise to wear them again!

Full Month Recap

Overall, this was a pretty productive month for my clothes! I managed to wear 9 items that I hadn't worn in over a year, 5 of which will live to see another day, and not just in my closet, but out in the world! 4 items have lived a good life but it's time to pass them on to charity to let someone else love them. And even better, this whole challenge even got my husband to go through his closet! Bonus!!

How did you wrap things up? Did you make it through very many items? Link up below, or leave a comment letting me know how many items you love again, and how many items are off to charity!

***

Megan and I want to thank Katie for hosting this fun challenge! It felt so good to go through my closet and rid over 70 items!!! Please take the time to visit her site Food, Wine and Mod Podge and let her know how fabulous you think she is!

1/19/11

Love it or Lose it Challenge, week 3 of 4

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Hello ladies! Katie P here, from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge, for Week 3 of Love It or Lose It. How did your week go?

For a rundown of Love It or Lose It, check out the rules here.

I had a pretty good week myself. I worked two Love It or Lose It tops into my clothing rotation, and made some headway! Now here we go!

Item #1

Why I like this sweater:

It's lightweight, so good for spring months.
It's got a cute pink argyle detail.

Why I don't wear this sweater:

Since it is lightweight, I recall the ends of the sleeves stretching out a little bit. It's also a little short, but that's the story of my clothing life.

The Verdict:

I wore this shirt on the weekend with a cute white-with-teensy-little-pink-polka-dots long cami underneath, which matched the pink in the argyle perfectly, and solved the length problem. And the thinness issue? All in my head. It happens sometimes. Love it again!

Item #2

Why I love this shirt:

I love this shirt so much. When I bought it, it was the perfect length, the perfect fit, and the row of sequins along the collar gave just the perfect amount of sparkle without appearing bedazzled.

Why I don't wear this shirt:

This shirt has just been loved a little too much. The black has faded, there is a little hole in the back from when my cat jumped on me, and after so many washes, the length has shortened. Basically, it's just time to part ways.

The Verdict:

I knew before even putting it on that it was time to move this out of my closet. It served me well, but I don't wear it anymore because it just isn't nice and classy anymore. I did try it on for one last hurrah, but changed before leaving the house. So in a way, still Love It, but time to Lose It.

Recap

Not a bad week! I realized I was overlooking a great little sweater, and finally came to terms with parting with an old love.

As a fun twist, the hubby decided with all this closet-cleaning that maybe he too should take a stab at it!

Even MORE clothes for charity!

How did your third week go? Did you lose steam, or did you power through a whole stack of items? Are you rearin' to go for the final week? Link up your stories below!

1/12/11

Love it or Lose it Challenge, week 2 of 4

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Well hello! Katie P here, from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge! How did Week 2 of Love It or Lose It go for you? If you’re just joining us for the first time for this challenge, you can go here for the full rundown!

This week, with all the New Year’s resolution motivation flying around, I felt particularly adventurous and chose three items for the week.

Item #1:

What I like about this jacket:

It came with a suit that I absolutely loved. In fact, it was the first suit I ever purchased. I felt unstoppable in it. But over the years the pants got a little too tight (and with pinstripes, even a little too tight looks awful). I still held on to the jacket though, to wear as a blazer with nice jeans.

Why I don’t wear this jacket:

I rarely find myself needing to wear a blazer with jeans, and it’s not the nicest material (being my first suit purchase, it wasn’t very expensive).

The Verdict:

Lose it. 100% gone. It’s been so long since I’ve worn it, that I see now how poorly it fits, and probably how poorly it has always fit. But since it was my first suit, I didn’t know any better! Hopefully it will make some other girl happy as her first suit before she too knows any better.

Item #2!

Why I like it:

I love argyle.
I love grey.
Enough said.

Why I don’t wear it:

It’s a wee bit low cut for me, and a little short. But that’s it. Wait, why I was I overlooking it again?

Problem solved!

Cream lace cami does the trick perfectly! Love it again!

Now on to the last item, #3!

Why I like this top:

It’s long. And I’m tall. I feel like I said this before, like last week…

Why I don’t wear it:

Exactly the same reason I don’t wear the other long top I decided to lose just last week! I like the concept of the top so much (length, ruching up the sides, etc.) but in reality, it is just not flattering.

The Verdict:

No pictures necessary, it’s time to part ways!

This week, two pieces found their way to the charity bag, and my closet got a little bit more space. But I also got one piece back into my clothing rotation!

How did week 2 go for you? Did you make some room in your closet? Or did you reunite with a long lost love? Link up your triumphs and tragedies below!

1/5/11

Love it or Lose it Challenge, week 1 of 4

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Hello ladies, Katie P here from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge! How did your first week attacking your closet go?

(If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, click HERE for the details.)

My first week went pretty well. I chose two tops: a grey button-up cardigan and a blue casual shirt.

Item #1:

What I like about this sweater:

I love that it’s grey. I love grey in the winter.
I love that it’s soft and warm.
I love that the button hole side of the sweater has a flap over the holes to cover the buttons up.
And, most of all, I love the zip up pockets.

Why I don’t wear this sweater:

The zip up pockets.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know. I love the idea of the zip up pockets, but in real life, after putting this sweater on and wearing it for about an hour, it looks like this:

At the point of taking this picture, I had decided that was enough, goodbye sweater!

…and then my husband walked into the room.

Me: “This is the first sweater I’m trying on for Love It or Lose It!”

Husband: “Why? I love that sweater on you. It’s one of my favorite sweaters on you. At least top 10% of your wardrobe.”

Me: “Oh… What about this lumpy part? The part where the pockets bunch up and create unnecessary bulk? That’s not attractive!”

Husband: “I don’t notice it. I just think it fits well everywhere else. And if that part bothers you so much, just cut out the pockets underneath and sew it up.”

He had a good point. I hadn’t thought to just remove the part that was giving me grief!

Lo and behold, no more pockets:

Salvaged, and with a fix that will actually make me wear it more!

Now on to Item #2!

Why I like this shirt:

It’s long. And I’m tall. And they make women’s pants too low. I just feel more comfortable in long tops.
The ruching on the sleeves.
The little nubs along the neckline.

Why I don’t wear this shirt:

Honestly, it was a grab and go shirt. AKA, I didn’t try it on. I know, I know, cardinal sin! But I liked the concept of the shirt so much, and I was already in line (a very long line) to check out, and I didn’t want to get out. So I bought it, got it home, and honestly, it’s a little tighter than I prefer. But long shirts are so hard to find that I for some reason kept hanging on to this one.

The Verdict:

Well, no pictures necessary, because it really is too tight. It’s just not flattering. I could probably go in public and not have trash thrown at me, but I certainly won’t be turning any heads. At least not in the classy way. So hopefully some tall skinny teenie bopper will find it and love it the way I wanted to.

To wrap things up, this was a pretty good week. I had one item that found its way back into my rotation of clothes, and one item that found its way to the charity bag. 2 items down, 7 to go!

How did your week go? Were you able to sort through any items in your closet? Any surprises? Feel free to link up your posts to your first week below!

12/29/10

Homey Goodness Challenge: Week 5 of 5

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Each Wednesday in December, we will post Becky's Homey Goodness Checklist right here on Crazy Domestic and ask that you pick 1, 2 or several tasks from the list to complete in your home. Then, blog about your successes (and failures!) and link up your posts to our Homey Goodness link party. It will be an ongoing party for the entire month, so you can add as many links related to this challenge as you would like. Ready to start?

Here is the Checklist:

(you can download one for free on THIS site)

Here is our button, take one if you want it:

And here is our link party:

12/28/10

Love It or Lose It- A Challenge for Everyone!

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Let me take a moment to introduce myself! I'm Katie P, from Food, Wine, & Mod Podge. I live in the bitter cold depths of Chicago with my hubby and my kitty. When I'm not at work, I'm always crafting and cooking, often with a glass of wine in hand. But this month, I'm straying a bit from my three loves to share a little challenge with all of you!

First, I’d like to get something off my chest: When I get ready in the mornings, I look in my closet and think, "I have nothing to wear!" yet my closet is full! I have a lot of clothes... seriously. I actually make my husband keep his clothes in the second bedroom. He does it without complaint and I love him for it. A couple times a year, I do try to clean it out and get rid of things that I don't like or don't fit anymore, and I donate them to charity. But every time I do this, I catch myself still holding onto plenty of items that I don't wear often.

So I came up with a plan: Each day I am going to wear 1 article of clothing that for some reason I won't part with. At the end of that day, I will decide either that I love it and can't imagine having gone so long without it, or I will lose it and donate it to charity. And it occurred to me that I might not be the only one who hangs on to unworn clothes, so that’s where I turn to you, blogging ladies! For the month of January, I challenge you all to join me!

Heres How:

Start by going into your closet and pulling out all the items you are certain you want to donate, to get them out of the way.

Next, pick out some items that you haven't worn in a while, but that still fit and are in good shape. In other words, don't pick out the leather pants you used to wear in college but hang on to for sentimental reasons. Pick out things like that wool sweater you remember being unflattering but is in good shape so you keep it anyway. Or that shirt you used to love but the last time you wore it, you remember it feeling a little short, so you haven’t put it on since.

This challenge will run for four weeks, so make sure you pick enough items to be impactful, but not so many that there's no way you'll make it through them all. I decided on 9 pieces: some that are good for work, some that are good for the weekend.

On Wednesday, January 4th, we'll meet right here on Crazy Domestic and link up our posts on how we did for week 1- we will see what everyone wore and what is being kept and what is being donated.

We'll do this each week for four weeks, and at the end of the challenge we can tally up how many items are getting a second chance at life, and how many we all donated to charity!

So who's with me on this? I can't wait to meet up next week to see how your first week went!

...now, if you'll excuse me, I have a complicated relationship with a cardigan to work out.

12/22/10

Homey Goodness Challenge: Week 4 of 5

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(you can download one for free on THIS site)

Here is our button, take one if you want it:

And here is our link party:

12/15/10

Homey Goodness Challenge: Week 3 of 5

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(you can download one for free on THIS site)

Here is our button, take one if you want it:

And here is our link party:

12/8/10

Homey Goodness Challenge: Week 2 of 5

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(you can download one for free on THIS site)

Here is our button, take one if you want it:

And here is our link party:

12/1/10

Homey Goodness Challenge- Week 1 of 5

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Occasionally on Crazy Domestic we'll take a break from our workshops and throw in a little challenge for anyone who wants to join. Megan and I decided that since December is a crazy busy month for everyone, our challenge this month should be a simple one.

When Becky's Homey Goodness Checklist drew so much attention on our link party in October, we thought it would be a fun little challenge to help make our homes just a bit cozier this holiday season.

Here is how the challenge works:

Each Wednesday, we will post Becky's Homey Goodness Checklist right here on Crazy Domestic and ask that you pick 1, 2 or several tasks from the list to complete in your home. Then, blog about your successes (and failures!) and link up your posts to our Homey Goodness link party. It will be an ongoing party for the entire month, so you can add as many links related to this challenge as you would like. Ready to start?

Here is the Checklist:

(you can download one for free on THIS site)

Here is our button, take one if you want it:

And here is our link party: