Hottest Holiday Fashion Trends

The holidays are just around the corner, and that means it's time to start thinking about your seasonal wardrobe. This year, skip the traditional red and green colors and opt for something a little more fashion-forward. Check out that will keep you on-trend all season long. Check out our top picks below!

Item #01: Sequin dresses

Sequined dresses are a popular choice for a holiday party! They add a touch of glamour and elegance to any outfit. Simply pair it with black tights and booties or knee-high boots, or go for a bold look by pairing it with gold accessories! The Sequin look is sure to make you red carpet ready! Find your sequin dress here!

Item #02: Black & white outfits with red accessories

In any situation, wear black pants or a classic black skirt with a white blouse and top it off with some festive red accessories to really make your outfit pop. This look is perfect for any holiday event! Snag a cute red purse to add a pop of color here!

Item #03: Metallic skirts and dresses

If you want to add a little sparkle to your holiday outfit, go for a metallic skirt or dress. This trend is especially popular for your next party! It's a great way to stand out from the crowd. For an even bolder look, try this trend with metallic pants!

Item #04: Velvet outfits

Velvet is having a major moment right now, so why not jump on the bandwagon? We love velvet pants, blazers, and even shoes! They'll keep you cozy all winter long. Check out these super cute velvet loafers!

Item #06: Faux fur coats and accessories

Fur never goes out of style, so invest in this timeless staple before it's too late. A faux fur jacket is a great way to translate this trend from winter into the holiday season. Just make sure you aren't wearing the same exact coat as everyone else, so switch up your accessories!

Item #07: Lace Dresses & Skirts

Lace is another popular fabric choice for the holidays. It adds a touch of elegance to any outfit.

Item #08: Plaid pants and skirts

Add some fun pattern mixing to your look with plaid pants or skirts. Pair with your favorite t-shirt and blazer to give a more edgy look.

Item #09: Statement necklaces

During the winter season, statement necklaces are must-haves. You can wear them with almost any outfit throughout this time of year, weatherable at going to a holiday party or just running errands.

Available in a variety of styles, colors, and materials, statement necklaces are a must-have for any fashion-savvy woman.

Item #10: Turtleneck sweaters

The turtleneck sweater is coming back in style this year, and we're totally here for it! A thick turtleneck will keep you warm winter long—perfect for those long holiday office parties or your next family dinner.

We hope you enjoyed this roundup of our favorite holiday fashion trends. What are you most excited to wear this season? Let us know in the comments below! And don't forget to shop our collection of stylish women's clothing while you're here. We have everything you need to get your wardrobe ready for the holidays!

Tips For Small Business Owners Part Four: How To Handle Creeping Competitors

By Toni Hetrick

I’ve spent considerable time deciding whether or not to write this post.   This topic arises frequently in different social media groups that I belong to, and from what I see, the stances vary.  Initially, when I see someone’s post they describe the way in which they’ve been approached and then ask for advice on how to answer/handle such situations.  I’ll take this opportunity to voice my opinion for what it’s worth, and offer you the reader, the opportunity to open conversation on the topic in the comments below. 

First I’ll provide an example so that you know for sure what I’m speaking of.  Imagine that you are a crafter.  Your specialty is anything vinyl (t-shirts, signs, decals, etc).  When you decided to begin your business, you spent a significant amount of time researching all the avenues of the business.  You have money invested in equipment and merchandise and have learned from your own successes and failures.  Yes, you viewed hundreds of hours of youtube tutorials, but you performed those searches on your own, you didn’t simply ask someone, “hey how do you do this?”  Now imagine you are approached by someone and they blatantly tell you they want to start a business doing the same exact things you do, and they want to know your secrets.  Let’s say you are set up at an event, and that person picks up item after item asking, “Where did you get your blanks; where do you purchase your vinyl; where did you find this image?”  At what point is this person no longer simply curious of your trade?  At what point do you seal up like a vault?  What do you say to someone in this situation?

Here are my thoughts.  I am all for helping people out.  I would eventually like to do tutorials on different items that I feel I’m very confident in creating, to provide assistance to people at the beginner level.  HOWEVER….. I have worked so very hard to get where I am, that I also find myself feeling defensive at a certain point.  Just like in the example above, I’ve spent thousands of dollars on supplies and equipment in addition to hundreds of hours of research.   I’m not going to just hand over all my information.  To the people who feel it’s acceptable to approach a stranger or even an acquaintance and tell them that you basically want to copy what they do, have a little respect. 

I also understand that the crafting world has experienced a bit of an explosion over the last few years.  Especially with the popularity of tools such as the circuit and silhouette, so many people have begun making their own items and in turn starting their own businesses.  I salute you all and LOVE shopping from small businesses.  Because of this surge in crafting, each and every one of us has to keep up to date on what’s popular and adjust accordingly.  There will always be competition and I’m fine with this.  But if you are trying to compete with another business, please stand out on your own.  Take the initiative to do some research on your own.  Perhaps the techniques that I use to make something, work great for me, but not for you.  Again everyone is different, but I want my company to stand out and be as unique as possible.

Now for what I consider one of the most difficult tasks, how do you respond to such questions?  Personally, I try to stay cordial with everyone.  I don’t want to argue with someone if I don’t have to.  Frankly, who needs extra stress in their life?  Insert the famous, “Ain’t nobody got time for that” quote.  I prefer for people to only associate good interactions with my business.  For me, I would keep my response minimal and perhaps a bit cheeky?  If someone asks where I get my merchandise or blanks, I may say something like, “I purchase from several companies.  If you do a little digging you can find decent companies to buy from in bulk.”  I feel that was short, somewhat informative and yet I didn’t provide info on where I actually get my merchandise.  As far as the techniques used to make something, again vague responses would be my method.  “As far as technique, it really varies on what I’m making and how I want it to look.”  Hopefully, the spy catches your drift and realizes they aren’t going to get much info from you.  I suppose if that person persisted in attempting to interrogate I would just have to politely yet sternly let them know how hard I’ve worked that I can’t share that information, they’ll have to do the research on their own. I mean Colonel Sanders recipe is still a secret after all these years, right?

I understand this post may not have been incredibly insightful, however I’m hoping it helps provide confidence to like minded individuals that you aren’t alone.  The next time you find yourself in this situation, perhaps you’ll remember this post and feel more comfortable with the interaction.  As always, thank you for visiting the website.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.  If you liked this post please click on the heart to show some love. 

Tips For Small Business Owners Part Two: Greeting & Communication

By Toni Hetrick

In the last blog post, I covered some helpful tips to make you look like a pro at vendor events.  I hope you enjoyed it. If you missed that post, you can find it here.  While writing that particular post, I felt like I could go on for a while with one specific topic.  I then decided to make a separate post for that topic alone, to provide more detail as I feel it’s been a prevalent part of my business growth.  What I’d like to discuss further is greeting and communicating with your potential customers.

This is a small setup for my Frugal Fashionista, however this was our first time attending Wine Down Weekend in Huntingon, PA. Next year will be much bigger.

In the event that you are new to my page, I’d like to give you a little background on myself.   I am Toni Hetrick, aka The Frugal Fashionista. I have had my own business for close to 14 years.  I do not have a brick and mortar storefront. The majority of my years in business, my sales have been, from what I refer to as “vendor events”.  These are small local events, most often held at churches, community centers, fairgrounds, convention centers, etc. I wish I would have kept count over the years as to how many I’ve attended but unfortunately, I didn’t. 

I would, however, consider myself a seasoned veteran of such events. I have attended SO many, and have taken away a great deal of knowledge and observations. Over the years my business has grown to now include a website, social media accounts, and a blog, all while continuing to attend vendor events.  Not that this is a detailed background, but I feel a little better sharing that with you so that I have less chances of someone saying, “who does this lady think she is???”, and “how does she know???”. 

Now onto the topic at hand…..  I have found that simply greeting an approaching customer and finishing with a smile makes a world of difference.  For the longest time, I didn’t want to jump on a customer as soon as they approached my area, fearing that I would make them uncomfortable and they wouldn’t want to stop at my booth.  I’m sure many of you have encountered a very pushy salesperson at one point or another. You might as well spray some sort of repellent on me with those tactics. Nope, nope, nope! Instead, I found that there are people who are comfortable asking questions and then there are people who aren’t.  You just need to create a friendly environment where people know they won’t be attacked.

 I experimented at one event where it seemed to be a common thread that people were just milling around.  Not really shopping. I decided to try to talk to every person that passed my table in a non-aggressive way.  I would say, “Hello, how are you today”. From this, people would look up, make eye contact and usually respond with, “Fine and you?”  My response was usually, “I’m great. Let me know if you have any questions”. I’m pretty sure the conversation could not be any more simplistic.  This approach made a significant difference. I greeted them, but also allowed them to not be bothered and pressured into purchasing something. I could not believe the number of people that then stopped, looked at my merchandise and continued to carry on a conversation.  

I felt as though I had discovered magical powers.  In just a few seconds’ time, I was able to make a person feel comfortable and relaxed enough to stick around for a while.  Even if they don’t purchase anything you now have the opportunity to introduce yourself, your company and everything that you offer.  This is huge! Marketing is expensive, so why not do as much as you can with words and in-person interaction for FREE?? I believe that this impression lasts longer than a Facebook Ad that you scroll past, wondering how in the world that got into your feed.  A greeting costs nothing. You have nothing to lose but perhaps an awkward moment once in a while when someone doesn’t respond to your greeting. Perhaps give this 10-second tactic a try at your next event and let me know what you experience. As always thank you for visiting the blog.  Comment below if you would be interested in more blog posting such as this one, with helpful tips for a new business.

DIY Fabric Softener Recipe - How to Save Money on Your Laundry

DIY Fabric Softener Recipe - How to Save Money on Your Laundry

By Hannah Hauser

Ever read your receipt after a big shopping trip and wonder at how much of your hard-earned money you just spent on seemingly nothing special? This happens to me all the time - I mean, really, how can a few shopping bags cost so much?! It’s crazy how prices continue to rise, but last time I checked, my paychecks weren’t getting any bigger. So I started looking at some of the things I bought to see where I could cut back a little bit and save some money, and I found out I can make my own DIY fabric softener for half the cost with only three ingredients!

Why You Should Be Making Fabric Softener Now

Let me start by saying that for YEARS, I did laundry just fine without using any fabric softener at all. My husband was the one who first suggested making a change, and I’ll be honest - I was reluctant. I had been washing my own things since high school, thank you, and as a true creature of habit, I just didn’t feel like changing up my laundry routine. 

I was comfortable with buying whatever detergent was on sale, throwing all my laundry in the wash (sorting be damned), and measuring out an approximate capful of detergent. Dump it in, hit start and forget it until the washer sounds the come-get-your-shit-it’s-clean alarm. Throw it in the dryer with a dryer sheet or two and leave it there for…. days? We won’t get into that.

So the idea of adding fabric softener to my lazy yet mostly effective routine just sounded incredibly… domestic. I somehow imagined fabric softener as laundering on a whole new level: I was afraid of turning into a Laundry Connoisseur. 

You probably know one - that person who ALWAYS separates whites and colors and actually uses different spin cycles for different items. They know what temperatures to run, and what Borax is (HINT: it’s not that comedy you watched once). They are the person you call frantically when you get a stain on your favorite shirt because they will be able to tell you - drawing from some sort of 1950s domestic housewife gene - exactly how to treat it, and you do the thing and breathe a sigh of relief because It. Always. Works. 

So despite my fears of becoming more domestic, I decided to give fabric softener a try. I picked one with the nicest sounding scent and added it to a load of towels.

I wish I could tell you there was a night-and-day difference when I smelled them after drying. But I really didn’t notice anything special with that first load - except that they didn’t smell old or musty. That was enough for me to keep using it, and the more I used fabric softener on my laundry, the more I began to notice a difference in the overall softer feel and slight scent boost in my things.

Now I’ve become accustomed to using fabric softener along with my regular laundry detergent. My new problem was that my preferred fabric softener (Gain Moonlight Breeze) was EXPENSIVE! Like, unsustainably so. Not good when you’re trying to pinch pennies wherever you can.

So my husband and I decided to try making our own fabric softener. Turns out there are tons of recipes out there, and we took bits and pieces from several to make our own. This version only uses 3 ingredients and takes about 2 minutes to mix up. This recipe makes about 96 ounces.

DIY 3-Ingredient Fabric Softener Recipe

1 15 oz bottle of conditioner

3 cups distilled white vinegar

6 cups water

You’ll also need:

A large mixing bowl

A whisk

A funnel

A 96 oz jug or storage container

1. Combine the conditioner and vinegar together in the mixing bowl. 

2. Whisk together to avoid fizzing and to better break down the mixture. Whisk until well-blended - there should not be big chunks of conditioner. 

3. Add the water to the mixture, stir, and pour via funnel into the storage container. 

I use an old Gain fabric softener or vinegar bottle to store it. You’ll want something with a lid so you can periodically shake the fabric softener just to keep it mixed well. I usually shake it every 1-2 loads to keep it fresh. After shaking, it’ll be mildly fizzy but that is normal.

I use one capful or approx. ⅓ measuring cup per full load of laundry. Experiment with the right amount for you - it may vary depending on your water, machine or laundry load.

Homemade for Half the Price

That’s it folks! Talk about going domestic - I’m all about it now! And it saves me money! Here is the cost breakdown:

Vinegar = $2.69 for Great Value brand (large jug)

Conditioner = $1.06 for Suave Essentials conditioner (strawberry is my current favorite!)

So for less than $4.00, I can make the same amount of fabric softener when I used to pay $8-10 or more for the name brand stuff. Half the price?! Yes, please!

Try out this fabric softener recipe and let us know how you like it! Or if you have other money-saving tips or laundry recipes to share, leave us a comment below!