Another day and another Stoney Clover blogpost. What else is new. But, today I am sharing some design inspiration for the Loveshackfancy x Stoney Clover collab! This collaboration is so good you guys. I am loving all the bows and feminine details. Today I am sharing some ideas on how you can customize your LSF pieces. I am particularly obsessed with this woven totewith the cute Loveshackfancy letter! How cute right?
So many cute combinations and I think the LSF patches go great on some of their other bags. So try and mix and match things to create your own unique combo!
Let me know your favorite combination in the comments! XOXO Miranda
This post has been asked for quite a bit! Today I wanted to share my progress on my office in my new apartment. Sadly with COVID going on there are a few things I am planning on getting that I just can't get at the moment. I am planning a large IKEA PAK system for the empty wall to complete the "cloffice" feel. But, so many of you wanted to see things ASAP so I am sharing a little progress update! Once the PAK system is in the space I'll finish hanging decor and give a final tour.
For now I wanted to share what is done! Or at least pretty much done. First up is my desk space. Even not during a pandemic I work from home. So it was important to me to have a space to do work. Normally I work on the couch or something which I know is probably not the best. I've been trying to work at my desk most of the time! I got a comfy chair so it makes it way easier. This desk is from IKEA and I've had it for a while. It is around $100 which is such a good deal. It has a ton of storage and can be customized. You can pick different desk tops and legs based on your preferences.
If you follow me on Instagram you know I am a planner girl. I love my planners, pens, and stationery. So, as you can see my desk reflects that! I have all of my current and future planners displayed on my desk. The main planners I use are Simplified Planner and Erin Condren planners.
My pens are very coveted. Ask my co-workers because I get very mad when my pens go missing! I've collected pens for so long. I have a ton of pens from Disney trips, London, and all of my travels. Plus I have a ton of functional pens that I use in my planners and a ton of highlighters of course. I've linked my pen storage and some of my pens below. My Mildliners are probably my favorite highlighter I own! They come in a great set and they are perfect for school or planning. A while back my boyfriend took a trip to Asia and brought me back a TON of pens. So I have all of those displayed and organized as well.
I ordered some super cute roses from Saaya Rose. They last 365 days so they are a great gift idea or decor option if you want flowers in your space! Plus you can customize the color of the rose and box to make it perfect just for you. My Beauty and the Beast notebook is from the parks. But, I've linked a similar option on ShopDisney. I believe they still have these available in the parks though!
I reuse a lot of decor that I've had for years. But I will do my best to link what I can still find. An example of something I've had is this little picture display rope. It hangs on the wall and comes with cute gold clips to hang photos. Here I used it to display my Disney post card prints. I collected a bunch of little postcards to use as decor during my past few trips. I found a bulk of them at Disneyland! This helps save money because normally prints at Disney are $100+. Where the postcards are about $5-10 each. I also displayed a cute old Stoney Clover postcard and a card from a local PA shop featuring Jim from The Office!
I love these pin boards! They were a heart shape bullet board from the Target dollar spot years ago. As you can see they make the perfect pin display board! I have a good chunk of my pins displayed here. Some of my more limited edition pins I have kept with the packaging for safe keeping. But these boards are fun to display the pins from my childhood! Most of the pins on the bottom board I've had for years.
I've got a lot of stuff, can't you tell? I always see so many bloggers with spotless spaces without any clutter. That just isn't me friends. I have a lot of keepsakes, gifts I've been given, and just memories! Pretty much every knick knack in my space has a story. Naturally I had to stay true to myself and include all of these items in my office! On the left you can see two post cards I framed that I got while I was studying abroad. One is from London and the other is from Paris! I love adding touches like this to a space because it makes it super personal.
Here is my custom clothing rack! My boyfriend actually made this for me out of pipes. Maybe he can make a tutorial if you guys are interested. But, he assembled everything then painted it white. The nice thing about making your own rack is you can customize the size, height, everything! Plus it is super sturdy, a lot better then some of the other pre made racks. Hey whatever works though! I love having a clothing rack to not only store clothes but display them. I've had a clothing rack in my room since college. Mostly because my dorm rooms never had enough closet space, oops.
Chuck had to get in on the photoshoot! He sometimes hangs out in here while I work. There is usually always a toy laying around somewhere.
Another view at my clothing rack. I plan on changing out these clothes seasonally! Right now there are a lot of pinks and bright colors for spring and summer. During Christmas I plan on showcasing tons of cute sparkly holiday dresses! While during fall it will be all of my cozy sweaters and Halloween pieces. That is the one fun thing about having your clothes on display. Even if you don't wear them everyday you can still look at them.
This lamp is old from Target on top of a really old side table from IKEA! I love re-using old pieces I've had in other spaces. You don't necessarily have to buy all new stuff each time you move. Re-use your stuff and make it new!
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peak at my office! This is just a first draft if you will so stay tuned for the final product. That will be whenever IKEA decides to open up or I can get a curbside pickup time slot! Until then I am loving my cute little space. Shop more details of my office below.
Tie dye for spring? So not ground breaking but I am so here for it. Legit everyone is going insane for tie dye. I'm not sure who started this trend but it is amazing. I am loving all the rainbow pastel goodness. I've rounded up some cute tie dye styles at all price points. Some are as low as $30! Such a good deal. While others are custom made on Etsy or higher end. I even found a cool tie dye mask because friends don't let friends wear ugly boring masks.
Are you on board with the tie dye trend? Let me know in the comments!
It is memorial day weekend! Just when we thought the sales couldn't get any better, they do. I've listed a ton of sales going on this weekend. I will update this as I find more good deals throughout the weekend!
WAYFAIR | We've gotten most of our furniture for our apartment from Wayfair! They are running a ton of promotions this weekend. Great time to refresh your home now that we are spending some much time there!
Currently in my Amazon cart! I've been shopping for a lot of home items plus I am getting into making bracelets. My whole life I've been a crafty person so I love this new bracelet trend. I am working on creating some of my own just for personal use. But, I also love supporting small shops that make bracelets too.
A home item I am eyeing is this gold towel rack. Our bathrooms don't have a hand towel hooks so I desperately need something like this! Plus it's gold so it fits the aesthetic of course. I've also linked our new black out curtains. They work great and have made a huge difference in our bedroom. Also eyeing these cute pink bins! I'm always looking for new ways to get organized so for sure eyeing that!
What is in your Amazon cart? Let me know in the comments!
Customizing Stoney Clover bags is one of my favorite parts of the brand! You can really create whatever you want. From letters, destinations, to symbols they have it all. I've created a few super cute combinations for you to gain some inspiration for your next SCL purchase. From backpacks, to duffles, to pouches I've created some samples of designs I'd create!
Currently I am really feeling the ombre monochromatic letters. I created this on the purple acai duffle and the hibiscus clear flat pouch. So cute right? I am kind of obsessed. I am also loving this mango backpack with the rainbow letters! Such a cute combo.
As always Stoney Clover has great quality and has super cute travel accessories. You can stock up and get excited for your next future trip post quarantine. I think we could all use a little trip after all of this blows over.
What is your favorite combination? Let me know in the comments!
A new Stoney Clover launch is here! This time it is a gorgeous collab with one of my new obsessions Loveshackfancy. They created pretty dainty hand painted prints for this collection. I picked up this super cute backpackwith the plane patch and bunny patch. Then a pencil pouch and luggage tag. Are you picking up anything from the collection? You can see more details on the Stoney Clover brand on my recent post Stoney Clover Shopping Guide.
Happy shopping! Let me know if you pick up anything in the comments.
Hello everyone! In today's Sew Cute Home post I am going over how we found our apartment. I want to preface this post by saying we apartment hunted during the Coronavirus. So our challenges may be different compared to you if you are referencing this post later! We for sure had some additional obstacles due to the crisis. But, we still managed to find a great place so I wanted to share our tips and tricks to finding our apartment.
APPS
Apps and websites are a major resource when finding apartments now and days. The main websites and apps we referenced were Apartments.com, Apartment List, and Zillow. When we were looking for our Chicago apartment in 2018 we mainly used Zillow because we weren't looking for larger buildings or complexes. In Chicago most listings are on Zillow as they are individual property owners or smaller three flat buildings. For our current apartment we were looking in the Chicago suburbs which mainly has buildings and complexes which are listed on more apartment focused sites like Apartments.com and Apartment List.
My personal favorite app I used was Apartment List. This app is essentially Tinder for apartments. You can heart apartments, give it a thumbs up which is a maybe, or thumbs it down and rule out that property. Fare warning though, when you heart an apartment it sends your contact information to that building. I did not know this ahead of time! So I was bombarded with calls and emails from these properties. I'm sure there is a way to change this in the settings but I wanted to throw that out there as that was a mistake I made! The great thing about this app is though all of the details you get. It tells you pretty much everything about the property! What units are available, prices of the units, amenities, additional monthly fees like parking, and more. In my opinion it gave the most well rounded info of all of the resources we used. It also gave me a super easy place to check out the buildings on our list. The app also allows you to basically create a wishlist. Then it shows you perfect matches and matches that you may have to compromise on certain features. This allows you to see what's in your price range and meets everything on your list!
Apartments.com is also a great website to reference! You can map out an area you want to search on a map which I found super helpful. We were considering multiple cities so this was a great way to search without having to individually search each city.
To help keep our thoughts organized my boyfriend and I created a Google Doc spreadsheet. If you know me I am a very organized person. I am all about charts, lists, and planning. This spreadsheet was actually super helpful to us! I've removed the information for privacy reasons, but this can show you how you can track all of your prospect buildings you are considering. We wanted one place to see all of our options and see the total costs for move in fees plus our monthly cost. Essentially this helped us budget to know how much each property would cost per month. Then it also helped us compare features, space, and other factors while making our decision. Another great advantage to creating a sheet like this is everyone can edit and see it! If you are moving in with roommates or a significant other everyone can add and work on it. Then everyone is on the same page and can weigh out all of your options.
A category to note that was important to us was the level of finishes. Some buildings we looked at had three levels of apartments. Partially finished, standard unit, or fully renovated units were common at most of the buildings we considered. So it was important to us to add this to our sheet so we can compare what we are getting for our money. Are we getting a partially renovated unit for the same price as a fully renovated unit in another building? These are questions we asked ourselves while outweighing our options.
OVERALL TIPS & TRICKS
Go in having a prioritized list of what you are looking for. What are you willing to compromise on to get what you want? For us we really wanted a two bedroom so I could have an office. Some two bedrooms were out of our budget so those buildings were automatically out. Maybe you really want amenities or a certain location. Layout these deal breakers ahead of time so you know what to look for and what to pass on.
Create to a budget and stick with it. At some points we wanted to extend that to get certain features, but in the end we found the best balance of price and features. I look at it as would you rather have extra money to maybe eat out or do other things in your budget OR have a really nice apartment and not be able to do anything extra. If you are okay without eating out, shopping, etc. that is totally cool! Personally I like having the flexibility of not overextending myself when it comes to monthly costs.
Consider all of your monthly costs added to the rent. The rent may be lower at one building but are there a ton of hidden fees? Are you paying for parking, what utilities are included or not included, does that building require insurance, etc. We've found out that a lot of these places have hidden fees! For example the first unit we applied for said free parking. Turns out it was free parking for one car. We have two cars and were getting a two bedroom unit, in my mind that didn't make sense. Plus the parking was an outrageous monthly fee for being in the burbs! So we ended up passing on that unit. There were other problems that building I will get into below!
Create some sort of spreadsheet or list to keep track of your favorite units. As shown above we created a spreadsheet and I thought it was super helpful. When apartment hunting you are looking at multiple sites and listings and it's hard to keep track. If you keep everything in one spot it is much easier to organize all in one document.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Thankfully we moved into our place and had no real issues! Prior to move in we physically were not in our unit. This was mainly due to the coronavirus. They were not giving in person tours to units. We did take a Facetime tour with the property manager which was super helpful. Prior to deciding on our current place we did apply for a different property. We were pretty set on this property, applied, and were ready to go. Once we got the lease we realized there were a ton of hidden fees we did not know about. The reviews said there was a trash concierge fee of $20 a month, so we asked the property manager about this when we spoke with them. She said the reviews were false and they didn't have that. Turns out the did have that fee and she pretty much lied to us. That really rubbed me the wrong way. We specifically asked a question and they lied about it. Then the property said there was free parking. Turns out there was free parking for one car, but we have two cars and were getting a two bedroom. When we asked why we had to pay for the additional car they went on a whole rant about how they are missing out on millions of dollars in parking because they don't charge you for one car. It was a very rude response in my opinion. To top it off during our application they raised prices in the rent. So we thought we were signing on at one price, but they raised the price in the middle of our application. That made the price go up for our unit. On their website it discloses they can raise prices daily. They for sure lived up to that! So be aware of those disclosures because rates are constantly changing at these larger complexes. Between the extra parking fee, the extra trash fee, and them raising their rates while we were applying we got a bad taste in our mouth. This is when we decided to walk away from the property.
Although we lost our application fees I think it was the right decision. I was already annoyed and I hadn't even moved in! From this I think we learned if it doesn't feel right you need to walk away. You don't want to be somewhere for 12+ months and be annoyed. Plus we kind of learned to trust some of these reviews. The reviews at the first place were half good and half not so good. But our current property most of the reviews were great! So far we've had a great experience.
Hopefully this post helped you a bit if you are currently or going to start looking for an apartment! It isn't an easy process but if you find a great place it is worth it. XOXO Miranda
I've made a recent discovery that Walmart has some super cute home finds! They have a line at Walmart that is super on trend with gold accents and mod vibes. I picked up both my desk chair and a cute bench from this collection. This collection features so many cute finds to spice up your home right now. From a new desk chair for your home office to a cute accent lamp. There are so many cute things to check out at Walmart. I've rounded up some of my cute finds in this post!
Have you bought any home items at Walmart? Let me know in the comments!
The new Stoney Clover Tropical collection is here! I am legit obsessed with all of these colors. But I opted for the clear flat top pouch with a monochromatic purple look. I am also holding out for the mini backpack as those haven't launched yet. If you are looking for some cute colorful travel accessories for summer, or really anytime, look no further!
Are you picking up anything from the collection? Let me know in the comments!
Stoney Clover has been an obsession of mine for quite sometime. Now lot's of people are hopping on the Stoney Clover Lane train and I am here for it. They deserve all the attention because their products are seriously the best. I use them every time I travel, which isn't a lot recently. BUT once I get back into the travel game I can wait to use them all again. So in this post I wanted to go over all of my Stoney Clover products with you! From what I use them for to my recommendations I'll share it all.
OPEN TOP POUCH| My open top pouch is from the Lele Sadoughi x Stoney Clover Lane collection. It was mainly created as a headband holder but can be used for many purposes! Currently I use it to display my favorite Lele Sadoughi headbands of the moment. I keep it out on display so I can see it everyday. This is a great item to purchase during quarantine in particular because you can use it right away! Displaying this on your vanity or in your room would be so cute. When traveling I put my headbands and other accessories in here. You could also easily use this as a makeup bag because it has a mirror inside which is a great feature.
MINI POUCH| The mini pouch hands down is one of my most used pouches. I have a few styles one of which I will talk about below. My main mini pouch I use is my plane pouch. I keep all my plane essentials in it to have easy access during my flights. I'll pop the pouch in the back pocket of the seat so everything is right at my finger tips. In this pouch I keep hand sanitizer, medicine, extra headphones, lip balm, and other random essentials. Creating a plane pouch is awesome especially for longer flights. If you had kids you could make a mini pouch for each of them to keep their plane essentials in even! I also have a mini pouch I keep in my purse. It is the pink patent one you saw above. In this more everyday use pouch I put a mini deodorant, tissues, lipstick, lip balm, extra medicine, etc!
CLEAR MINI POUCH | A recent addition to my collection is the clear mini pouch. I love their clear pouches because it makes it so easy to see everything. Right now I am using my clear pouch in my everyday bag. I keep my lip products and hand sanitizer in the pouch and throw it in my purse. This lets me keep my hand sanitizer contained incase it leaks! You could also easily put makeup or skincare products in here for travel.
DUFFLE BAG| Stoney Clover makes a great duffle bag! Not only are they cute and colorful but they hold a ton. Let's be honest I see a lot of not so cute duffles at the airport. These duffles are a major upgrade! My duffle is from the Loveshackfancy collection which I'll talk about down below. It is a great weekender bag or for a carry on. It fits under the seat or in the overhead bin in my experience. I've used it for a short weekend trip and it held everything I needed. It has a shorter strap or the crossbody strap. So lots of options on how you want to carry it!
TOTE BAG| Okay guys.... I freaking love Stoney Clover's new tote bag. This had been in the making for a while and I am so glad they came out with these. I have two tote bags one from their limited edition Cozy collection then a grape tote from their core collection. These bags have so many uses. From carrying random things in and out of the car, I use them to carry packages to the post offices (Poshmark life), I've used them as work bags, and as a carry on! I'm telling you if you want to invest in one Stoney Clover true bag I highly suggest the tote bag.
LARGE POUCH| My large pouch is another SCL item I use every time I travel. In this pouch I keep all of my makeup and other products. The large pouch holds 2 small pouches so I usually put 1-2 small pouches to separate my products. One small pouch I keep my makeup and brushes. Then the other I keep my hair brushes, dry shampoo, and other hair items. You could also easily throw everything into the pouch if that is more your style! The large pouch is a great add on to your SCL collection if you already have the small and mini pouches. If you are a Disney gal the large pouch also holds Minnie ears. So, this pouch would be great to pack for Disney in!
BACKPACK | I am still in the process of customizing my backpack! Luckily I got mine from one of their online sample sales so it came blank. But, I've collected a few patches I want to get put on there! It's just a matter of me gluing or getting them sewn on. At the moment it may just have to be glue. But I love their backpacks as well. They aren't super structured so they would be great as a gym bag to throw clothing into. I've used mine mainly as a work bag or a carryon. The great thing about the backpack is that you can really customize and put a ton of patches on them. I love the destination patches on backpacks. It makes it fun and customized for your favorite places.
TSA POUCH| A newer product for SCL is their TSA pouch. I haven't had the chance to test this pouch out in the wild. But, it's been sitting on my bathroom counter looking cute for a while. It holds a ton! I feel like more than you'd think. If you don't have pre-check I'd highly recommend getting this pouch plain so you can use it as your TSA bag during security. I have pre-check so I don't have to worry about this. But I still love a clear pouch moment!
FLAT FAUX LEATHER POUCH | This is a great pouch to use as a clutch or in a bag. If you have a big tote like a designer tote bag this is great to help organize it. Throw small essentials inside and throw in your bag and you're good to go. I also think this flat pouch makes a great gift. I gifted one as a graduation gift with one of their location patches for the school she was attending. Makes for the perfect customized gift.
SMALL POUCH| The small pouch is one of my most used pouches. One of the great things about this pouch is that it can be used in so many ways. I've used it as a pencil pouch for my work bag, as a makeup bag for travel, or to just organize essentials in a backpack. This size allows you to really customize what you use it for. It also can fit great into the large pouch. I normally use 2 small pouches in the large pouch to make it more organized! If you are just starting out with Stoney Clover I for sure recommend the small pouch to be one of your first purchases.
LELE SADOUGHI x STONEY CLOVER HEADBAND | Some of my most worn headbands are my Lele x Stoney Clover headbands. They are legit so comfortable! I know headbands can get uncomfortable but I can wear these all day. The collaboration combines Stoney Clover signature colored nylons with Lele Sadoughi headbands. Legit a match made in heaven. If you are debating a Lele headband I highly recommend getting one of these. Also a plus is the non embellished headbands are pretty affordable compared to other Lele Sadoughi headbands.
LOVESHACKFANCY x STONEY CLOVER COLLECTION | The Stoney Clover Loveshackfancy collection is one of my favorite collabs they have done! Loveshackfancy prints are gorgeous so obviously they make Stoney Clover bags that much better. They are actually launching a new Loveshackfancy collection later this month and in June. So get excited people! I bought a duffle and pouch from the last collaboration and I am obsessed.
One of my favorite parts of Stoney Clover are the collaborations they do with other brands. From Disney, Eloise at the Plaza, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Loveshackfancy, and Lele Sadoughi I've shopped them all! Most of these pieces are exclusive to particular retailers which makes them even more special. While I was in LA I visited the Beverly Hills Hotel to pick up pieces from the collaboration. At Disney I always take a trip to the Orlando Four Seasons hotel to pick up a few new pieces from their Disney collection. If you are ever in NYC be sure to check out the Eloise store at The Plaza Hotel. They have the cutest pieces available! Stoney Clover is constantly coming up with new collaborations so be sure to check out their Instagram page to keep updated.
A: I discovered the brand in about 2017. One of the first things I bought were their bracelets with acrylic charms and Liberty fabric ties. I loved them! Then they started making pouches more and more and I hopped on that train. Now here we are a few years later and I am obsessed. I think I loved all of the color and fun the brand brought into the world. I am a very colorful person, I don't like boring black travel accessories. So I was drawn to their bright colors and fun take on travel organization.
Q: What products would you recommend starting out with?
A: I think my top two recommendations to get into the brand are the mini pouch and the small pouch. Those are my most used pouches from Stoney Clover. They are very versatile so you can really get your monies worth out of them! I know the brand can get expensive once you add patches and everything so I also recommend getting your pouches plain to start. You can always add patches later on. But the small and mini pouch really allow you to test out the pouch idea and see if it works in your system or organizing. Whether that be for traveling, at home, your everyday bag or whatever use you desire!
Q: Are you on Stoney Clover Lane's PR list?
A: I am not on Stoney Clover's PR list. Pretty much all of the Stoney Clover I have I purchased myself with my own money. Stoney Clover in general doesn't do a ton of paid social media posts with bloggers. They did send me a little fun package of goodies for International Women's Day which was so nice! But, other then that I have purchased all of my Stoney Clover Lane products on my own. I do interact with the brand a ton on social media and have built a relationship with them, but that is just because I truly love the brand and the products! It is all not sponsored :)
Q: Where can you buy the Disney collection?
A: You can purchase the Disney collection exclusively at the Four Seasons Resort in Orlando. They are sold at one of the gift shops in the resort. You can visit the property without being a guest, just tell the security guard out front you are visiting the gift shop. From the lobby turn down the hallway on the right and go all the way down to the kids shop! They are constantly getting new products and changing things up. You can only purchase the collection there due to it being exclusive to the hotel. However, you can call the gift shop and order over the phone and get it shipped! During your next Disney trip I recommend heading to the hotel in the morning to check out the collection. I did this on my last trip and it worked out well!
I hope you found this post helpful! If you have any Stoney Clover Lane questions feel free to comment them down below or DM me on Instagram. I can legit talk about it all day long so happy to give suggestions or answer questions.
Shopbop is having a great sale this week! Some of my favorite brands are included like Stoney Clover Lane, Lele Sadoughi, and Loveshackfancy. This is a great time to pick up a Mother's Day gift or pick up something for yourself. There have been so many sales during quarantine but I think this one is really good!
Here are some of the pieces I own that are currently on sale:
