Hair how-to: The braid from our spring catalog

So you guys have been telling us how much you love these awesome tresses from our spring catalog but that you aren’t totally sure how to recreate the look. Well, fear not: We’ve enlisted our head stylist extraordinaire, Lisa, who was on set at the Paris shoot, to give us a step-by-step tutorial on how to make that pretty braid.

360-degree style: Marketing maven Lauren gets a braid makeover.

“Before you get started braiding, use a little hairspray so your hair isn’t too slippery. As you go along, be sure to keep the braid loose. Don’t worry about making it too perfect—the messier, the cuter, we say!”

“First, create a deep side part and start your French braid from there. Remember to keep it loose.”

“Continue the braid down the side of your hairline, being careful not to poach too much hair from the center region of your head.”

“Once you’ve rounded down to the nape of your neck, you can start incorporating the hair from the center of your hair into your braid. Make sure to save a section on the opposite side of your head to be braided later.”

“Once the nape of your neck is complete, you can start working your way up the opposite side.”

“Finish off with a standard braid, again keeping it loose.”

“Tie the end with a rubber band.”

“Tuck the end underneath the overlapping original braid and secure with a bobby pin. Go back and add texture by gently rubbing some breezy fly-away pieces into the braid. Don’t forget that you can redefine the shape of your braid with bobby pins when you’re finished.”

Voilà—braided bliss!

Holiday Treat Tutorial: Red Velvet Reindeer Cake Balls

by Lauren Romo (Madewell)

The table at my friend’s second annual Cookie Exchange Party.

Tired of bringing your tried-and-true chocolate-chip cookies to holiday parties? Well, I recently found myself in the same position when I was invited to a gal pal’s annual Cookie Exchange Party. Feeling uninspired by all the cookie recipes I came across—some were too complicated, some too boring—I finally decided to buck the trend and try Red Velvet Reindeer Cake Balls. The verdict? They look ridiculously cute, taste insanely delicious and couldn’t be easier to make. In other words, steal this recipe ASAP.

Ingredients

1 box red velvet cake mix
1 16-ounce container cream cheese frosting
2 12-ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 large bag thin pretzel twists
1 bag Sno-Caps or Holiday M&Ms

Directions

1. Prepare cake mix according to box. (Tip: I substituted applesauce for oil in mine, which makes for an even more velvety result.)
2. Remove finished cake from oven and let sit for five minutes.
3. While still warm, crumble cake into a large mixing bowl. (Caution: the middle may still be hot.)
4. Stir cream cheese frosting into cake crumbles with a fork until well mixed.
5. Using an ice-cream scooper or melon baller, form mixture into balls. Shape to your liking.
6. Set cake balls onto foil- or wax paper–lined pan.

Decorating

1. Pour one of bag chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl.
2. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir chips and repeat until all chips are melted. (Tip: I prefer to work with one bag of melted chips at a time.)
3. Drop one cake ball at a time into melted chocolate and rotate with a fork until fully coated. (If chocolate begins to thicken, simply pop it back in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir.)
4. Place chocolate-coated cake ball onto foil-lined pan, place a Sno-Cap or M&M on as a nose and stick in two broken pretzel pieces as antlers.
5. Repeat until you have a complete herd of little reindeer.
6. Let chocolate dry (or pop them into the refrigerator if you’re short on time).
7. Enjoy!

Happy cookie-eating campers Jocelyn, Johanna and yours truly.

To D.I.Y. For: Gearing Up for Halloween

So as you can tell, we really got into the Hallow’s Eve spirit this year. Super-stylist Christina had a great idea to break out the mini-pumpkins, candy corn and ghosty marshmallows and create a true union of Madewell and Halloween (Hallowell? Made-oween?). Anyway, here’s the result, as showcased by the always-game Romo:

Are you doing anything (witch)crafty this weekend? (This includes costumes, of course.) Take a couple photos and send them to us at madewell.musings@madewell.com. We’ll post our favorites right here on the blog on Monday, Halloween day. Till then—keep it spooky.

Fall Adventure: Apple Picking in Warwick, NY

by Lauren Romo (Madewell)

Ah, it’s autumn—the season of crisp air, soft sweaters, fall foliage and, of course, apple picking. If you haven’t made a date with your local orchard, I have to tell you: You are missing out on a quintessential autumnal experience, not to mention the freshest and most delicious apples you’ll ever taste.

Marie and me feeling psyched about McIntosh season.

For the second year in a row, I took a trip to Masker Orchards—located about 45 minutes north of New York City in Warwick, NY—with my friends (and former roommates) Brittany and Marie. We intentionally planned our trip for early October, when the McIntoshes are super ripe and the temps are pleasantly cool, but much to our surprise, the day warmed up to a balmy 80 degrees. (Too bad—I was really looking forward to wearing my Cableknit Crewneck Sweater.)

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The Ultimate NYC Staycation

by Lauren Romo (Madewell)

With summer winding down and fall quickly approaching, my friend Mollie and I decided to use a long weekend as our playground for an epic New York City staycation. The result? Countless tweets, nonstop laughter and four thumbs up. Here are the highlights:

FRIDAY: Yankees Game—Bronx, NY

The weather was gorgeous on Friday night and the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2. Full disclosure: I’m not a baseball fan (plus, it’s finally football season!), but the new Yankee Stadium is beautiful, and I can’t imagine a more New York–centric way to kick off the weekend.

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Top 5 D.I.Y. Ideas by The Girls of Honestly…WTF

by Lauren Romo (Madewell)

Over here at Madewell, we love a good afternoon spent crafting (also known as a “crafternoon”). So when planning tomorrow’s Fashion’s Night Out soirée for our Lower Fifth Avenue store in New York, we knew there’d be no better way to spend the evening than by D.I.Y.-ing with our blogging gal pals from the style site Honestly…WTF. Designer Erica Chan Coffman (left) and stylist Lauren Kolodny (right) have an eye for killer style and constantly inspire us to break out the glue guns, scissors, needles and thread to make our own jealousy-inducing pieces.

In light of tomorrow’s festivities—where E and L will be giving firsthand lessons in making bow ties and collars out of Madewell denim—we had them pick their top five D.I.Y. projects. Get your creative juices a-flowin’ now and don’t forget to come out and craft with us at Lower Fifth Avenue for Fashion’s Night Out.

1. D.I.Y. Nail Art: At first, doodling on our nails seemed like a piece of cake, but we actually ended up using over 12 different nail pens, 15 polishes and a half bottle of nail polish remover to get this tutorial just right. Despite suffering from massive headaches, we were finally satisfied with the outcome. No pain, no gain, right?

2. D.I.Y. Wrap Bracelet: This has been our most popular D.I.Y. to date. It’s extremely easy, inexpensive to make and, honestly, who doesn’t love a wrist full of colorful arm candy?

3. D.I.Y. Minaudière: D.I.Y.-ing is all about being resourceful. So what do you do with that empty sunglass case after losing your favorite shades over the summer? Drill a hole through the top, add a drawer pull and make a minaudière, of course!

4. D.I.Y. Tepee: I’m not sure that people believe us when we say we built a 24-foot tepee from scratch. 400 yards of canvas, 150 buttonholes, 40 carved willow pins, 36 stress patches, 20 spools of thread, 6 smoke flaps, 21 hand-peeled poles and several weeks later, a full-size tepee was indeed built by yours truly. It was hands down the most rewarding and challenging D.I.Y. to date.

5. D.I.Y. Spike Comb: We were immediately inspired to make this spiked hair accessory after spotting it at Paris Fashion Week. We surprised ourselves as we weren’t prepared to love the end result as much as we did. It’s a bit severe but totally fun, easy to wear and proof that fashion is all about taking risks!