I love Fridays, they mean it’s the weekend. I’m always so exhausted on Fridays and this one is no different than the rest. After a Monday in NYC and a full week of work, I’m ready for a bit of rest. If you’d like to check out some of my images from the IFB Conference you can check my Flickr stream. I didn’t take a ton but I got images from each panel, I’ll add descriptions soon I promise.

This Friday my fabulousness is something I just did a video blog for, for AffordableScarves.com. It’s the Paisley Square Scarf and I used it to do a tutorial on how to tie a scarf in the muffler style. It’s a nice quality cotton scarf with a bit of metallic shine to it and a great pattern. But I don’t have to tell you, the video will.

Have a great weekend!
dwj

Since I knew I was going to be snowed in, I decided to make a recipe from Cooking Light that my husband raved about last month, a Tourtière. A fancy word for that’s a lot like a pot pie made with ground pork. First of all, I didn’t even know they made ground pork but it was in the same section of my grocery store as ground chicken and to my surprise, ground lamb (I want to figure out something to make with that too).

This comforting, tasty dinner is made with ground pork, carrots, onions, celery, potatoes and pie dough (although I forgot the pie dough this time and used the same pizza crust pastry I use for my breakfast braid – if you do that it cooks up in half the time). What made me curious about trying this out was the blend of spices used to season the meat. I’ve never cooked meat with cinnamon and cloves before, but it was fragrant and delicious.

Since Puxsutawney Phil says we have 6 more weeks of winter, you may want to try cooking this up for a cold winter evening. A seriously yummy take on a fatty chicken pot pie.

Click the link above for the recipe and check out the images below of my step-by-step on cooking the dish.

Remember my Gift Guide in December? I featured a Necklush scarf. They’re fabric scarves that are made of multiple bands of fabric and can either be a scarf or a necklace. Sweet, huh? I adore the Necklush and would love to buy a Kelly green one but I am so on a budget that it’s not even going to happen anytime soon. So to my surprise, I came home to a box that had my own mint green Necklush-like scarf in it for me!

Salina, a reader and friend made me my own scarf after she read the Gift Guide. How cool is that?!

I heart green!

Of course I had to ask her how she made it so that I could do it myself. I HAD to know, it was just so fantastic! She made my scarf out of T-shirt/jersey fabric that (she sewed one end together so it was a continuous loop), but you can use a T-shirt. I suggest using a T-shirt that doesn’t have side seams, if you have two side seams you’ll have to cover two ends instead of just one.

The steps are pretty easy and I’ve got visuals (of course) to go along with it:

1. Cut 1 inch strips starting at the bottom of your shirt working your way up to the arms. I used a rotary cutter but you can use a really sharp pair of scissors or fabric scissors. You want the cuts to be clean and even. I lined my fabric up with a T-square before I cut…but I’m that anal.
2. Take each band of fabric and STRETCH! I would put one piece behind my neck and stretch it across my knees or even put it in the arch of my foot and stretch my leg out. You want to stretch it so the material curls up around the edges.
3. Keep doing that to all of your strips and then line them up with the seam(s) matching.
4. Take one of your bands of fabric that you’ve stretched and wrap it neatly around the seam(s).

Easy peasy! I was bored over the break and cleaning out my closet and I had a bunch of T-shirts from Target that were fading and I was going to get rid of, so instead of tossing them I made scarves! I sat in my bedroom and made six scarves and I ended up giving them away to my girlfriends. I loved it and I have been wearing my scarf constantly. THANK YOU SO MUCH, SALINA! {You’re a 5 star chick, LOL} Perhaps I’ll convince my girlfriends to send me a pic of them wearing their scarves so you can see my handiwork in action and send me your pics if you make one too {dwj@theartofaccessories.com}. Definitely a fun DIY project to do, and I know you’ve got a T-shirt or two at home waiting for this project.

And don’t forget the NEW Gift Guide in time for Valentine’s Day: www.theartofaccessories.com/lovelyguide

So the question that I’ve been getting a lot lately has been, how do you keep your makeup from melting in the summertime? I get asked that A LOT and today I thought I should share with you three things that are key to my summer beauty routine.

First, I have to say that you have to be realistic about your beauty routine in the summer. A full face of foundation will not work when it’s 95 degrees outside and 100% humidity. Your makeup routine has to change as the seasons change (a moisturizing liquid foundation in the winter, a more sheer light tinted moisturizer in the spring/summer). So what do I suggest?

Step 1: PRIME

I start with a great base of Nurturing Force® Wellness Aloe Vera Skincare Blot Out Offensive™ shine + oil control cream. It’s a moisturizer, primer and shine combatant all in one. This sets a nice base for whatever I’m putting on my face for the rest of the day and it helps block the shine. I apply it mainly to my t-zone and around my nose, where I’m the oiliest.

Step 2: CONCEAL

Instead of a heavy face full of foundation or even tinted moisturizer I choose to conceal wisely applying concealer underneath my eyes and to any other uneven area. My favorite concealer is 3 Custom Color Specialist Creme Concealer/Foundation. It’s a creamy concealer that I can also use as a foundation or blend with my own moisturizer and make a tinted moisturizer when I want sheer coverage. It’s really great to blend to the coverage that you want, so you can use as much or as little as you want. What’s also fabulous about 3 Custom Color is that the Creme Concealer/Foundation can be used in their refillable palettes so you can get your three shades because I know throughout the year I’m light, medium and dark. No one is ever the same color all year long.

Step 3: POWDER

This is just the basics to keep you shine free. Of course you can add bronzer or blush and mascara to this, but this is the base that will really set you up for a shine free day.

Those are my three beat the heat tips. What do you do to stop the shine?
dwj

What an interesting week this has been! YAY for Friday and YAYfor the lovely weekend weather we are supposed to be having! I plan on going to Eastern Market on Sunday morning and browsing blissfully. So today’s Friday’s Fabulousness is something I’m very, very, very excited about. The first reason? It’s The Art of Accessories FIRST EVER PODCAST! Forgive me, this is my first one and it might be a bit rough but I promise it will get better over time. The other reason I’m so excited? I interviewed celebrity makeup artists Sam Fine!

I met Sam Fine a long time ago, about 1998 when I was in college and he was promoting his first book, Fine Beauty.

From the moment I met him I knew that the world of makeup was going to be so much fun!!! I even had the pleasure of attending the Sam Fine Beauty Tour (check the picture below with Sam and my sister Anne after the class ended) in 2002!

So I was super excited to get to chat with him over the phone. Sam gives some great tips about how to update your routine, how to make your makeup last and his upcoming instructional DVD (I CAN’T WAIT!). So make sure to listen to the podcast by downloading it by right clicking the Podcast link. And make sure to leave a comment so I know what you thought of it!

Have a fabulous weekend ladies!
xoxo,
dwj