Sand and Sunflowers (and a Birthday Boo!)

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Today is Boo’s birthday! 

Booboo - thanks for telling me you like my hair anyway, even though I know you hate the fact that I keep cutting it short. And thanks for driving around for 40 minutes to find that field of sunflowers we passed earlier in the day, just so I could take a few photos. And for being in the photos with me. I know you hate that, too.You have to admit, though - it was worth it. Wasn’t it? For all of that, I’ll have to make you some special birthday blondie bars. Or maybe cupcakes. Or maybe both :) 

Happy birthday, Boo!

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dress: Ruche

vest: Old Navy

glasses: Warby Parker

sandals: Shoemint

bag: Ona Bags

swim top: Abercrombie

swim bottoms: American Apparel

Henry Darling Handmade

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I went on a Spoonflower fabric shopping spree a while back. It’s addicting.  And I have a problem. But really, I just could not pass this print up. I mean, it is titled "Henry in gray". And the pattern is Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges dress. Henry Darling. Fate? I think so. 

And yes, Henry approves. 

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dress: handmade // pattern: Darling Ranges by Megan Nielsen

necklace: shopHollyDolly (coming soon)

bracelet: gift

sunglasses: Warby Parker

socks: Urban Outfitters

sandals: Swedish Hasbeens // Modcloth

Camera Woes

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You know what my biggest problem is with my camera? ISO. Specifically, forgetting to turn the ISO back down after having it turned up the night before. 

Doh. 

Always check your ISO, people. 

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dress: handmade // Megan Nielsen Eucalypt

vest: Old Navy

sandals: Seychelles

In My Life

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» Please welcome InfiniEight as HollyDolly’s newest sponsor! Check out her Etsy shop - it’s filled with some pretty adorable jewelry. I especially love this and this

» In preparations of new items being added to the shop (soon, I promise!), I’ve placed a bunch of things on sale to make room. Check them out here

» Things I want : this dress, this dress, and these pants

» They winner of the Trust giveaway has been announced here! And don’t forget to enter the Uncommon Goods giveaway here

» Are you on Instagram? Follow along! My username is : hollyjollydolly

Details

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Last weekend, on a really really really rainy day, we made our usual trip to Crompton Collective to update my shopHollyDolly case. I completely replaced everything with the first batch of my new items. I’ll hopefully be rolling out these new items in the Etsy shop in the next few weeks. But if you are in the Worcester area, you can stop in at Crompton to get the first look.

See that shorter, dainty necklace I’m wearing in these photos? Just a peek at what’s to come!

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details3shirt: ASOS

shorts: American Apparel

short necklace: shopHollyDolly (coming soon)

long necklace: Little Pancakes

name bracelet: gift

lion bracelet: Jewelmint

flats: c/o Old Navy (pop-up shop)

GIVEAWAY : win $50 to Uncommon Goods!

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Remember that awesome wood clutch that I was carrying in yesterday’s outfit post? Well now you have a chance to win a unique and handmade gift yourself from Uncommon goods! They have graciously offered the chance for one of you to take home a $50 gift certificate. Pretty sweet, yes?

Whether you want to get something for yourself, or pick up something for a loved one, there are sooooo many possibilities. Hey, you could even get a start on your christmas shopping (they have some perfect stocking stuffers!). And there are plenty of amazing things under $100 (see here). 

So, just fill out the form below for your chance to win! Giveaway will run for one week. The winner will be selected at random and announced in this post. 

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wicked

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If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that this past weekend Boo and I went to see Wicked at the Boston Opera House. The tickets were my anniversary present from Boo (someone listens to my hints). It actually was my second time seeing the show (the first was about 6 years ago in NYC), and I can definitely say that it is by far my favorite musical ever. Ugh, so so amazing. Anywho, I thought it would be a good night, and a good outfit, to give my new wood clutch from Uncommon Goods a whirl. 

If you have never heard of Uncommon Goods, they are an online retailer with some of the coolest collection of products. They strive to for uniqueness, and feature a lot of handmade goodness. Really, if you are looking for a unique gift (that is also affordable), you should check out this site. Before I was contacted by Uncommon Goods, I had already been a customer, and have received gifts from there as well. I’ve actually also been eyeing this bracelet for a while now. 

But back to the clutch. I love that it is not only handmade, but it is handmade form recycled and reclaimed wood. The natural vibe gives it a casual feel, but can easily be dressed up. Plus, it was just the right size for the essentials - my phone, my cards, and my lipstick. The only things a girl needs for a night out :)

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P.S - I was provided this clutch in exchange for a review. But all opinions are my own. 

P.P.S - Stay tuned tomorrow for a fun giveaway with Uncommon Goods!

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vest: Old Navy

dress: Target

purse: c/o Uncommon Goods

necklace: shopHollyDolly (coming soon!)

sandals: Seychelles

Summer Still

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As much as I’m looking forward to booties, sweaters, and pumpkin spice lattes ….. I have to remind myself that it’s still summer. And I’ll kick myself later if I rush into fall and don’t take advantage of the last bit of these warm months. So while we still have sunny 80 degree weather, I’m going to try and squeeze in as many crop tops, sandals, and beach days as I can. Because you know by the time December hits, I’ll be begging to have these days back. 

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crop top: American Apparel

skirt: H&M

sandals: Lulu’s

Trust GIVEAWAY

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You guys, I have something really special for you today! If you know me, you know how much I love finding new local handmade designers and businesses. Handmade is the best. Today, I have Tanya here. She is the designer behind Trust - a small jewelry business based out of Plymouth, MA. She specialized in antique keys, but has some other really cute items as well! I’m going to let Tanya tell you all about herself and her business, and then don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end!

Without further ado…..

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The trust collection is a production of vintage, rustic treasures inspired by some of my favorite things: traveling, love, individuality, living, and uniqueness. My intention is to bring these things (my favorite things and the most important things to me) into each and every hand created piece. 

As my father is an antique dealer, I spent my weekends growing up at flea markets and working antique shows. My mom had me sorting vintage button colors, shapes, and sizes as a toddler to keep me occupied. I always thought the antique keys were so special and my dad let me keep whatever I wanted to because he enjoyed seeing me enjoy his passion. I always had an excitement for rummaging if there was a box of junk jewelry with spare earrings, mismatch brooches, I was in my glory. I rummaged through boxes and boxes of vintage buttons and keys…and I still do! I get excited about small things like that and I wanted to put it to work!

I’ve collected a lot of antiques throughout the years and I always kept every key I found. I knew someday I wanted to do something with them. It all came about in the Summer of 2010. I spent 3 summer’s on the island but 2010 was my first. I moved to Martha’s Vineyard which is one of my favorite places in the world. It is such a special place to me. I was working at a small boutique, the best boutique i know: Citrine on Main Street Vineyard Haven. Emma, the owner taught me all about beading and jewelry work and told me I could sell any jewelry I made in the shop. I started creating designs out of the antique keys that I collected. The horizontal key was my original design. I then incorporated beads and feather and buttons and other trinkets I found. I put a few designs in the shop and they sold right away. I kept creating, kept designing and using inspiration from my surroundings. I’ve always enjoyed reusing and recycling old items into something new. I think its a beautiful thing. So if I back track…the trust collection was inspired when I was just a kid…I just didn’t know it! Props to my inspirational parents…we will always share those memories!

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The keys:

I have so many keys! I can’t even begin to explain what I look for in my favorite keys…I actually don’t even know! I have a couple that I have kept that have all different meanings to me but I want other people I love to have special keys. When someone appreciates a key or sees something special in it, its like a wave of admiration. I like to pair keys up with special people in my life. All of my friends and family who I have given keys to are picked out accordingly! They probably don’t know that but i do!! I have my grandfathers antique key on my key chain. I wear a plain small key a lot. Its simple and I like simple and sweet and my favorite key. I think that is why I was instantly in love with it. If anyone looked at it they wouldn’t see anything special about it. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out as anything special to someone else but to me it did.  In some things, I do believe that being simple is a beautiful thing. I might make up the meaning of a key for me but that doesn’t mean it is the actual meaning. I think that all keys have their own stories and their own past. The door the keys go to could be any where in the world right now which I think is really cool because we have no idea where it is or what it is. I think it is really cool if you can make up your own meaning and symbol and attach it to something. 

Each design in the trust collection is an individual. The designs can be replicated and the keys can be matched to another in the best way possible but as each key is one of a kind, there is no promise one will be identical to another.

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Thank you Tanya!

And now you guys have a chance to win the “Bow" key necklace shown above! Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will run for a week, is open internationally, and the winner will chosen at random and announced in this post. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway