DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS - ok so I'm late

So, I know I'm late on this. Very, very, late. But how CUTE are these Christmas tree ornaments!?! They come in 8 paper templates in brightly colored paper that you cut and fold yourself. Easiest DIY ever. They're officially called Cut-and-Fold Paper Polyhedra Ornaments, but I think the name makes it sound more complicated than it is. And I think assembling them would have a kindergarten-craft-time sense of fun to them.

Of course they make perfectly bright Christmas ornaments, but I believe they would look equally fabulous hanging up around your pad year round!

xoxo Cristina

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THIS WEEK ON:: NICOLE RICHIE (BANGS!)

It's here. Again. That craving for a haircut and style that are incompatible with my hair and always will be (read: thick and curly). It wouldn't be the first time I've taken a Nicole Richie photo into the salon and said "I want this." Her fringe is a fabulous accessory and ups the chic factor in every one of her looks. But for me they have more of a 5th grader affect. I have done bangs before, and I rued them every day that I had them. But now that they're finally grown out, I kinda want them back! It's reading leblogdebetty, gets me every time. In fact I tweeted about it and Betty favorited my tweet! Eep! I've even started a Pinterest board called Bangs... I know. I've got it bad.

xo C

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source: justjared

SHOES! Gold capped YSL ones...

I wish I could find a more eloquent way to put this but... I died. I'm so looking forward to seeing these on everyone's feet in the near future. And for the high street outlets to produce gold capped shoes! Speaking of sparkle, I removed my ombre manicure last night and it was. so. hard. Do any of you ladies have tips for removing glitter nail polish? I had to soak my nails in nail polish remover (like you do with acrylic nails) and it was still impossible! No matter. I'm already planning my next glitter mani, sans ombre effect this time!

xo C

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SNEAK PEEK

Hi m'dears, here's a sneak peek of my latest posts on coco+kelley, Young Sophisticates, and Camille Styles. Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas weekend!

xoxo Cristina 

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source: leifshop, vogue, westelm

MERRY & BRIGHT (with vintage light bulbs!)

Merry Christmas everyone! Just popped on quickly to wish you a very happy Christmas wherever you are, and also to gush a little bit over this diy bulb wreath! Danielle made it herself using vintage bulbs (what a find!) I'm for sure trying this out next year. It looks pretty simple!

I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends and lots of yummy food! (I certainly did).

xoxo Cristina

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source: designlovefest, thompsonfamily

My FIRST DIY FILE! Ombre Glitter Manicure

Here's my attempt at the ombre glitter manicure I swooned over on Alexa Chung. This also marks the very FIRST DIY File completed by yours truly! Usually I use DIY's by other rockstar bloggers, but this time I dove in and gave it a try myself!

I used Essie's Vanity Fairest nail polish as my basecoat. I chose a barely there base to let the glitter stand out, but I think bright colors could be a lot of fun too! My glitter coat was Sephora by OPI in Sparktacular (it was the closest I could find to Deborah Lippmann's Birthday polish).

My first step was to cut and file my nails as best as I could to create that salon look. Then I added a couple of coats of the Essie light pink coat. (I had to ask my brother take the photo of me painting my nails, as I only have two hands! He rolled his eyes and obliged. Thanks Joey!)

Then I added the glitter JUST to the tips of my nails (photo on the left). After that dried, I added another layer of glitter, building up the coat at the tips and then bringing some glitter down towards the cuticles to create an ombre/fade effect (photo on the right).

The last step was to add Essie's top coat "No Chips Ahead" just to keep the glitter from chipping or flaking off. It's my first time trying this top coat so we'll see if it does the job!

Hope you enjoyed my first DIY!

If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen it coming. Oh! And if you all are on Twitter send me your Twitter names as I'd LOVE to follow you! It's a fun way to continue the conversation on and off the blog, so please leave your names in a comment below and I'll find and follow you!

xoxo Cristina

( @FUJIFILES )

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STYLING GUIDE:: DSquared Pre-Fall 2012

DSquared is always spot on with their styling. Their collections are usually quite basic, not too cutting edge, but that works in our favor! I like to find similar pieces at Zara and use DSquared as a guide for styling, especially their Fall/Winter collections for layering. I'm also in love with the hair and makeup. Perfect for a holiday party, or even just to add a ladylike flair to your typical tee and jeans look. I'll for sure be trying the eyeliner soon.

On a separate note, I have a thing for Barbara Palvin. She's just the most feminine beauty.

xo C

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source: tfs

Glittery Bags are NOT just for Christmas

You guessed it. I want this for Christmas. But can I wear a glittery green bag year round? Can I wear a glittery green bag to the grocery store? Undecided. As I've said before, when making purchase decisions I do my research. How do other girls wear it? How does it look in real life (as opposed to the product photographs on the web shop). Below you'll find Betty, of the impossibly cool blog leblogdebetty. You'll see that the bag is actually a lot smaller than you (well I) expected. I think that makes the quantity of bling palatable for day. Don't you? It's settled then. Green glittery bag functions night and day Christmas and non-Christmas. Now onto price, and can us non-Parisians even acquire the Lancaster Paris bag??? YES! Thanks to Nasty Gal, who I'm pretty sure read my mind because they now have the "disco" bag in both blue and green in their New Arrivals. They're $178 with free shipping... I'll have to mull over that number a bit. And ponder possible outfit combinations. But consider this a Christmas wish.

What do you think? Is it too much glitter for a daily purse?

(Is there even such thing as too much glitter?)

xoxo Cristina

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source: lancaster, leblogdebetty

GLAM GIFT GUIDE

Are you all enjoying Christmas week?? I can't believe it's just 5 days away. Non-stop Christmas songs, way too many desserts and lots of online gift shopping complete with express delivery? Yeah. Me too. Here's my last-minute gift guide if you're still shopping, or if you're wondering what to get me ;)
My top pick for gifting is the monogrammed mugs! I've been eyeing them forever and finally got myself one (and my boyfriend!). They're functional, personal, adorable, and $6! The perfect gift.

1. Sleeping Mask (a la Breakfast at Tiffany's) $15

2. Black Crystal Flute $20

3. Agate Trivets $17

4. Starburst Earrings (love the asymmetry) $72

5. Framed Butterfly $40

6. Mongolian Fur Pillow $129

7. Tubular Burst Sculpture $372

8. Record Bead Necklace $135

9. Monogrammed Mugs $6

10. Wallet $145

11. Sneakers $52

xo Cristina

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CATWALK STREET STYLE:: Dolce & Gabbana F/W 2011

In writing my post for Young Sophisticates on Dolce & Gabbana's F/W 11, I recalled all of the fabulous street style looks that resulted from that collection. There are repeat offenders, namely Anna Dello Russo and Denni the chicmuse, but then there was also Beyonce's big reveal! That green glitter dress has also been a particular favorite on  magazine covers in the last few months, and it's easy to see why. If I could wear any dress this holiday season it would be that green mermaid one - for obvious reasons (green, sparkle, Christmas, I could go on). I would also note that Denni's wearing her Prada pumps with every outfit. Now that's what I call an all-purpose shoe!

What do you dream of wearing for the holidays?

xoxo Cristina

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source: styletao, stockholmstreetstyle, thechicmuse, elle, style.com

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

If you're not yet equipped with a coordinated set of Christmas decor, click here to find out how to make what you have work! Plus my picks for pink Christmas tree ornaments.

If you haven't yet tried the paillettes trend made popular by Prada, click here for a boatload of glittery party looks, plus my outfit inspiration for your next soiree!

And last but not least, my first post on the fabulous blog Young Sophisticates! Where I talk Dolce & Gabbana and the star prints that are everywhere at the moment.

Pink Christmas decor, sparkly party outfits, and Dolce & Gabbana stars? 

I'm clearly in the holiday party mood!

Hope you're all enjoying the season :)

xo Cristina

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THIS WEEK ON:: KATE BOSWORTH

My favorite thing about KB's style is the laid back, effortless feel to all of her looks. When defining my own sense of style 'effortless' is right at the top of my list of desired traits. I'd like to think that my clothes don't wear me, and that's always a consideration when trying new trends (especially in a crowd of non-bloggers). It can be really difficult to define your style and keep shopping focused when we have so many fabulous examples of different styles on blogs that influence us daily, and sometimes I worry that my look is kind of all over the place. But I take comfort in the fact that, in this post Kate can be seen in a beautiful 1950's lemon lace frock AND an Olsen-esque all-black maxi look too.

I'm fully aware that Kardashian waves are in right now, but how natural does Kate's hair look in all of these pics? Even in her most formal looks she keeps her hair naturally down or simply pulls it back and away from her face. I think that definitely adds to her effortless appeal. Unfortunately if I let my hair down with such little styling I'd have a fro on my hands. But the point is, less can be more when it comes to hair. Oh, and makeup! That is, if she even wears ANY. Maybe just a bit of mascara to frame her best accessory: those mis-matched eyes.

Perfection, no?

xo Cristina

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source: justjared, tfs

SHOEMINT VS. STEVE MADDEN

Shoemint's Edith & Steve Madden's Viktoree

Ok, what's going on here?

Following my post on the Shoemint Edith pump I found them to be, sadly, sold out! I've added myself to the waitlist but in my state of shopper's regret came across these "Viktoree" pumps by Steve Madden! From my understanding Shoemint shoes are designed by Rachel Bilson and stylist Nicole Chavez and manufactured by Steve Madden, the Shoemint website even says these shoes are named after Rachel's grandma?... so I'm not quite sure why the same exact Shoemint shoes are for sale on SteveMadden.com for $50 extra? On the one hand I'm thrilled that I'm still able to get the sold out Edith (albeit they're much more expensive) but on the other hand I'm confused as to who is designing what, and is there a difference in quality between the two? But mostly I'm just happy that the Edith is still available for $50 more dollars, in case you're feeling really desperate.

For now I'm going to hold out on the waitlist because in my experience Jewelmint has shown that old favorites come back in stock (and on sale!) quite often. Also the 20% off of my first Shoemint purchase will make the Edith $64, making it a $66 difference between the two brands. Definitely worth the wait I think!

xo Cristina

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