When I moved into the new place, I bought a little bulletin board from target, and I had been trying to figure out what to do with it. I had a few Polaroids & random things hanging from it, and then I decided what better thing to do than make a little inspiration board?

There are two main ways you can go about making this, the first being that you can literally just print/ cut out whatever you want. Magazine cut outs, pinterest things, WHATEVER YOU WANT.

It's your life, pick out things that inspire you, things you love, or that generally give you a warm & fuzzy feeling when you look at them. & then tape or pin them to your board & you're GOOD TO GO.

But if you wanna get a bit fancy, then you can handwrite it out. (or watercolor or do calligraphy or whatever your talent level allows for. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the plain handwriting stage) I got plain paper from hobby lobby and cut each page I wanted in half, for more of a poster feel. I cut some even smaller, depending on what was going on there.

I scoured my pinterest boards for things I wanted on there, and then I went for it, using a simple calligraphy marker and colored pencils, both things I already had. (but can be found for cheap) On a couple of them it took a couple tries, but WE GOT IT! 

I've only added a few quotes for now, but will be doing more, don't worry.

You'll want to keep your inspo board somewhere you see it all the time. Mine is by my desk as a motivator.

Now that you know the super easy way to get inspired, GO DO IT!

xo,

kae

Easy DIY Gel Manicure

Ever wanted to get a salon gel manicure without actually having to go to the salon? Don't worry, ya girl's got ya covered. In my June faves post I mentioned the diy route that I've tried a couple of times & while that certainly makes me no expert, it's something that works for me. (maybe this is kind of a no-brainer diy, but we gotta help each other out, am I right??) 
SO, here's the WDAC way to a gel mani, in five (or four!) steps:

First things first for any good manicure: moisturizing & massaging your hands with some good cuticle cream. This helps to soften the cuticle and nail for an easier process, plus it helps with the whole salon experience, if we're being real. 
The first time I tried this I used store bought acrylic nails & I absolutely love the look & feel of them. Unfortunately the glue ended up BUSTING after a few touch ups and I haven't got around to the store for a new tube, so this time around I did everything on my natural nails. Lucky for you, it works both ways! It's all about preference. I personally love the look of oval/almond shaped nails, so I'll use the fakes when I can. Either way, you'll need to file down the nails first. (If you're using acrylics, glue the nails on & file after)
Once that's done it's time for the most simple part: the actual painting! You'll polish your nails with the color of your choice, just like normal. I normally do two coats even when I'm not doing gel because I feel like it just helps with staying power & finish. Then it's the FINAL STEP:
There are a lot of gel top coats/ polishes out there & I'm sure most of them are good, but I'm an Essie snob so I stuck with what I know & used their Gel Setter Top Coat. So much shine! When the color is dry you just swipe this over everything & let dry. GOOD. TO. GO.

Have you tried an at-home or salon gel mani? I've only tried the at-home, so maybe I'm a bit biased. Tell me which one you like better!
xo,

Genius business idea {Where you at, Mark Cuban}

There is a growing issue amongst the fashion industry that must be addressed immediately.

Bralettes and bandeau bras are gorgeous, feminine and a bit of a necessity for certain summer fashions. That's nothing new.

What else is old news? The er, "well endowed" ladies are pretty much excluded from the bralette bunch. It's a travesty, really. 

Even my beloved VS, who never lets me down, has disappointed me time and time again when it comes to this mission. Honestly, is it really so hard to get a little support? 

SO. This is what I propose:

All the pretty bralettes and bandeaus you can imagine, in any size. This way, the affected parties will no longer have to think of impossible ways to diy this piece of essential fashion. 

A new era, with no heartache, only celebrations. What do you think?

Now, if I could only find an actual designer to collab with.... 

PS. Need this diy'd? Get an old cami with a built in bra. Cut off the fabric under the bra. Wear over actual bra.

See what we have to deal with?? 

Easy nail polish storage

I'm forever adding nail polishes to my collection, which means that said collection can get less-than-organized pretty easily. 

Up until recently I kept all my polishes haphazardly in a drawer, and before that everything was crammed into a cosmetics bag that was waaay too small. 

Luckily, for Christmas I got a Caboodles bag that was perfect for all my polishes. It's spacious and I even ended up having room left over for the inevitable new bottles.

I also wanted to make it easier to see the colors, so I did this cool lil trick I found on pinterest awhile back. 

All you need is a toothpick. That's it. Dip a swab of color to put on the lid, let it dry, and voila.

If you wanna get really fancy with it, you can even organize it all by color. I, however, decided to keep with the "throw it all in" trend. Whatev.

And there ya go! A super simple way to keep all those polishes in check.

A place for the magic

My lil workspace is officially all finished! I love blogging + writing from here. It's crazy how much a desk and some pretty things can make a difference. 

One of my favorite things about it is the fact that my record player is right next to the desk. I love putting on an album and working to the music.

I wanted inspiring things hanging from the wall. My mom does this cool thing where she takes the front off of Christmas cards and uses them as gift tags, and that gave me the idea of framing the fronts of pretty cards. I'm kind of a greeting card hoarder, so I had plenty to choose from and I decided to pair them with a couple of other wall hangings.

The drawer is quite unorganized right now, but that's what drawers are for, right? 

I use the handy magazine holder {from Target, of course} for notebooks and my blog planner. Also, I added a little more to my cute pen holder with some washi tape. 

I like having a couple of magazines sitting on the top of the desk for inspiration, and a cute little knickknack in the corner.

I might add or change things as time goes on, but for now this is where the {sometimes} magic happens. I think it's pretty wonderful.

Pinspiration: DIY Mug

Well folks, the holiday season is upon us. I wonder how many variations of that sentence I'll say between now and Christmas Day. Probably a lot. I love making homemade gifts for people because it's fun and (when they turn out right) I think people genuinely enjoy them. So this year I've been scouring Pinterest, like always, trying to find ideas that on my level of creating. (Let's just say I'm no Martha Stewart.) One project I've heard so much about in the past is the good old Sharpie mug. I had been intending to try it for awhile, but it just never happened.
So I finally thought, why not? I knew it was probably a good idea to try out a test mug for myself before buying a ton. (Because let's face it, everyone would be getting one.) The pin that I got my inspiration from was this one.

via 

I decided to go ahead and do it all in black Sharpie so I wouldn't have to worry about the color fading. I figured a regular Sharpie would work just fine, but just to be safe I bought one made to write on glass. It was $6 at Hobby Lobby! And this is a Dollar Tree mug. Since I made this one for myself, I decided to put a Taylor Swift lyric on it. (I know, big surprise.)

After I got the mug decorated the way I wanted it, I put it on a cookie sheet and popped it into the oven on 350 degrees for thirty minutes. 

Foil optional

I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome! Even though most of the pins I had read had been successful, I was still a bit skeptical since I had yet to do it myself. But it came out well, and I even (hand!) washed it to make sure the writing would stay.

I think this is such a fun gift because you can personalize it to fit whoever you're giving it to, and it's super quick. Who doesn't love that?