DIY: American Flag Nails

Since Fourth of July is next week, I wanted the DIY to have something to do with that. I thought about different possibilities, but I chose these nails. Like most of my DIYs, I found this on Pinterest. There were a couple variations of them that I saw, but I chose one similar to the one that I used. I changed a few things to make it my own, like using the paint pen for the stars. Try it yourself for next Wednesday!


Before I start the instructions, I would like to add a quick note! Please vote in the poll that is in the upper right side of the blog! I want to hear what you guys think. Also, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram!


Materials:
-Red nail polish
-Blue nail polish
-White nail art pen
-Silver paint pen
-Top and bottom nail polish coat

Instructions:


Step One: Remove any nail polish you were wearing. File and shape nails. Apply base coat. Remember to let your nails dry between all of these steps!


Step Two: On both hands, paint your pinky, thumb, and middle finger red.

Step Three: Paint the other two fingers blue.

Step Four: Apply a top coat to all of your nails.


Step Five: Using the white nail art pen, paint stripes on the red nails.

Step Six: Use the silver paint pen to paint stars on the blue nails.


Step Seven: Apply another topcoat and let dry.


Step Eight: Go to your 4th of July party and show off your nails!

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Rows of Lace

I have some exciting news! Simply Daring now has it's own Facebook page, so please Like it! I will post on there whenever I post on the blog to let you know when to check it. You will be my new favorite person if you Like or Share the page.:) Thanks! The link to it is here, but I also put it under the "About Me" and "Contact Me" tabs.

abercrombie kids tank, American Eagle shorts, 

Old Navy sandals

You can probably tell how much I like lace. I have so many lace shirts or shirts with lace detailing, it's ridiculous. It has simple elegance, and it's fun at the same time! The rows of lace on this shirt were very eye-catching to me. I put my hair up in a topknot and added my favorite denim cutoffs and black sandals. If you haven't already, check out my Lace Pocket Shorts DIY! Courtney took these beautiful pictures.  

I don't know about where you are, but Arkansas is HOT right now. It's insane, it has been over or at 100 degrees all week. In June! What is this?!

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Vintage Violet

{the store}

If you have been reading my blog, you probably know that I'm in love with one of my local vintage stores, Vintage Violet! It's such an amazing store. They always have the cutest clothes and jewelry! Also, they usually have all sorts of unique vintage furniture and home accessories. Stephanie and Leea, the girls who own the store, have a talent for picking you out clothes that look great on you. Their signature item is probably their cutoff shorts, which are on my wishlist at the moment. The girls cut, dye, bleach, and sew patches onto the shorts to make each pair perfectly unique. 

{their amazing cutoffs}

{just look at this}

{vintage necklaces= perfection}

I highly recommend that you check out Vintage Violet. It is on College in Fayetteville, in the same building as Maude. If you don't live there, check out their Facebook Page because they will ship. Everyday, they post pictures of shoppers modeling their cutest items. You can see me wearing Vintage Violet here and here. If you shop there, please tell them that I recommended the store to you!:) 

{couldn't resist going in there without buying anything}

{new shirt with the studded shorts}

{even the shopping bag is presh}

I need help getting more readers for the blog! Please share Simply Daring with your friends and family. I appreciate every one of you who reads it! Thanks!

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Blog Inspiration

For this post, I thought I would share some fashion bloggers that I like with you. I don't follow many blogs, but I do love these, so please check them out! I'm going to have a quick outfit post before I start talking about the blogs. This is a super-easy look featuring my floral shorts! As you know, I love shorts. These are one of my favorite pairs! I just paired them with a simple tank and a summer-y scarf. The color and pom-poms on the scarf really stood out to me! Outfit pictures taken by Courtney.

Gap Tank, GapKids shorts, Old Navy

scarf

I would love if you did one of the DIY's from the blog an sent it to me! You will be featured on the blog if you do. There are more details about that in my previous blog spot, so check it out!

Now for the fashion blogs:

Cupcakes and Cashmere is probably the first blog that I started to follow. I absolutely love it! Emily has an amazing sense of style, and I love every single one of her outfits. But, she also posts about beauty, home decor, cooking, and how to's. She is where I got the idea for the "Five Things" section.  I highly recommend checking her blog out. You won't regret it. 

{picture from her blog}

A Blonde Ambition is another great blog! Leslie is a local girl near where I live. This is great because I get to see all of the cute finds she posts from local boutiques. She has noteworthy trend watches, outfits, and style advice. You really need to check her out, especially if you live in Arkansas!

{picture from her blog}

Saucy Glossie is the last of my favorites! Lindsey lives in New York City, I'm so jealous, and she has the street style perfected. But the best part is, she is a blogger on an average budget! She shows you how to find great pieces at stores like T.J. Maxx. Lindsey finds all sorts of bargains and still looks perfectly polished and put together! Check Saucy Glossie out!

{picture from her blog}

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Five Things

{with my family at my baptism}

I am going to start a new feature of a collection of five things or moments from the week before.  They will be things I've done, things I like, things that inspire me, etc.  It will be one of the only times when I share details about my personal life and I will do this every week or two. The most important thing I want to share is that I was baptized on Sunday!! I'm so glad I took this step to proclaim my faith in Jesus Christ. Some of my family came in town for that, and I was lucky enough to spend time with them. Also this weekend I went to the Colbie Calliet, Gavin Degraw, and Andy Grammar concert, which was wonderful! Enjoy my pictures!:) 

{morning cross country runs}

{new bracelets; cross bracelet a gift for my baptism 

and gold one from Kansas City last weekend}

{adorable backpack that I use for

everything}

{yes, that's my arm, feet away from Andy

Grammar. no big deal}

Announcement! I want to see if you make a DIY from my blog! Email me a picture of it (simplydaringblog@gmail.com) or put a picture on Instagram using the hash tag (#simplydaring). You will be featured on the blog if you do!

Love,

CLAIRE
simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Studded Denim DIY

Although this is only my third DIY so far, it is by far my favorite! I have been wanting to stud denim cutoffs forever, and am so glad I finally did it. I bought Levi shorts and cut them to the length that I wanted. These are basic instructions for studding denim and you can use these instructions whether you want to stud yours the way I did or differently.  I apologize for posting this a day later than I said I would! I had a very busy week and there just wasn't time for me to write a post yesterday.  I hope you love your shorts as much as I love mine!

Materials:

-Denim Shorts

-Studs (I used about 170, and I purchased two packs of 100 gold 1/4" studs)

-Flat tip screwdriver

-Disappearing Ink Fabric Marker

-Ruler

Instructions: 

Step One- Use your fabric marker and ruler to mark where your studs will be. I made mine 1/2 an inch away from the front of one to the front of another.

Step Two- Stick the prongs of your stud through the denim where it's spot is marked.

Step Three- Turn shorts inside out. Hold the stud so it doesn't move around and become crooked.

Step Four- Use your flat tip screwdriver to push down each of the prongs.

Step Five- Repeat with each of the prongs.

Step Six- Go over all of the prongs, and make sure they are all pushed down.

Step Seven- You're done!

{my finished shorts}

{what Courtney did to hers}

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Vintage Florals

Target shirt, Grey Dog Skirt, Vintage Violet 

Earrings

I love going to vintage stores and sorting through all of their racks of clothes. When you find a piece you love, you can immediately tell. I found this skirt doing exactly that at Grey Dog. I'm a big fan of floral prints, and I had been looking for something new, so this was perfect. I like the rest of my outfit to be simple with a print like this. I chose to pair it with a white v-neck, sandals, earrings, and with my hair up in a bun. I encourage you all to go look through one of your local vintage stores to find a piece for you! Pictures taken by Courtney.

  

Announcement!! Simply Daring now has a page on Instagram! Go follow it! We will be posting whenever we post on the blog. Please give us a shout out and tag us in it to spread the word of the blog! We will follow you! The username is @simplydaring 

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

Weekend in Kansas City

This past weekend, I enjoyed a quick getaway to Kansas City. My family had the last minute opportunity to get free tickets to the X Factor auditions, so away we went. They gave us floor tickets and our seats were only 7 rows behind the judges, Louis, Brittney, Demi and LA! The show was amazing and we saw so much talent. The whole process, including the things you don't see on TV, was very interesting. If you ever get the chance to see something like that, I recommend that you take it! 

 Besides seeing the show, I met up with a friend that lives in Kansas City and went shopping at the Plaza. I loved going into the stores that we don't have and shopping around there! Some of my favorites were Urban Outfitters, H&M, Anthropologie, J.Crew, American Apparel and Free People. I'm including some pictures of things that caught my eye in those stores. I hope you enjoy!

{blazer & scarf at J.Crew}

{denim shirts with brights at J.Crew}

{dip dyed shorts at Urban Outfitters}

{dotted jeans at Anthropologie}

{graphic sleeveless button down at 

Anthropologie}

 PS- Some of you that follow me on Instagram have been asking me about the studded shorts I posted a picture of. The DIY for those should be up this Friday! 

 Love, 

CLAIRE 

simplydaringblog@gmail.com

DIY: Tank

Today's DIY will be how to turn an old t-shirt into a cute new tank top! It's very simple, and you will love the results. I found this idea on Pinterest.  For your t-shirt, you should use one a couple of sizes too big since you will be cutting a lot of it off. I just used one of my dad's old shirts.


You will need:
- Big old t-shirt
- Scissors (Fabric Scissors work better, but you will probably be fine with regular scissors)

Instructions:


Step One- Cut off the crew neck, sleeves, and bottom. Look at the picture for guidance.

Step Two- Decide how low you want your neckline to be and clean up the edges.

Step Three- Turn the shirt to the back. Make a deeper racerback, and then cut a pretty deep V.

Step Four- Take the bottom edge of the shirt that you cut off. Cut off the seams so that it will be only fabric. This should leave you with a long string. 

Step Five- With one of the ends of the string, tie a a couple of inches from the top of the V.

Step Six- Wind the string around and around.  Double knot it at the other end and cut off any loose ends.

Step Seven- To make the hem high- lowish, lay your shirt sideways and flat. Then, starting at about 4-5 inches from the front center of the shirt, start diagonally cutting down until you reach the back. You’ll want to cut straight for a bit at the front center then start creating the diagonal or else you’re going to get a weird arrow shape.

Step Eight- Enjoy your new shirt!:)

Love,

CLAIRE

simplydaringblog@gmail.com