A Dusky Pink and Orange Outfit for Spring + DIY Paper Beads

Today I am sharing a recent outfit that I created with a new dusky pink tank that I purchased last August. I was happy to find this new top because I was able to put together a new "trio" - a top, bottom, and topper in matching/blending colors - when I added it to my wardrobe. I already had a cardigan (from 2021) and pants (from 2022) so the tank completed my trio.

I can break the pieces into three color formulas for creating outfits:

-A modern twin set - tank & cardigan;

-An inner column of color - tank & pants;

-An outer column of color/"suit" - cardigan & pants.

For this spring outfit, I decided to style my new tank using the "modern twin set" color formula by pairing it with the dusky rose cardigan. You'll see that the cardigan is a deeper shade of pink ("dusky rose") than the tank ("dark dusky pink"), but they are very similar in tone and coordinate beautifully. To offset the femininity of the color and style of this top half, I added my black straight leg jeans and black Adidas sneakers (both also new in 2024) for a more casual, sportier vibe.

OOTD 5/2/25

Next I decided I wanted to add a print scarf with both pink and black to serve as a bridge piece linking the colors together. I think the deep muted pink and black would look great together without a linking piece, but as a Color Integrator rather than a Color Blocker, I tend to like a print that ties my colors together. I had several different options, but this vibrant multi-color tropical flower scarf jumped out at me as a cheerful way to welcome the warmer spring sensibility of May. That appealed to me, but I really wasn't sure how the dominant orange color would look with the muted pink of my top and cardigan. When I put it on, though, I decided it looked rather fabulous! Unexpected, for sure, but somehow just hitting the spot where the combination is visually interesting/unusual but not quite yet into clashing territory...at least to my eye. I added a bold pendant necklace in a gold tone to amp up the brightness factor to match the intensity of the orange scarf. This gave me a balance of 2 muted (top and cardigan), 2 dark (pants and sneakers), and 2 bright (scarf and necklace).

Although I've been wearing a lot of new DIY memory wire bracelets lately, I have not stopped making paper beads! In April, when I had some time off work, I glazed a big set of paper beads that you will be seeing in bracelets, necklaces, and even earrings in the coming months. Today's DIY bracelet stack started out with a set of three paper bead bracelets I made to coordinate with a scarf in a similar color palette to the one I'm wearing (shown below). I supplemented the paper bead bracelets with black glass, green glass, mixed pink quartz, and magenta agate bracelets for a very colorful arm party to celebrate the beginning of May. (In Minnesota, I think of May as the start of true spring and always look forward to it.) {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

I don't have page-to-bead images for the first paper bead bracelet in magenta and green-teal (second bracelet in stack), but I remember well that the paper was an image of a neuron in an issue of The Economist. The second paper bead bracelet in light orange, pink, and black (fourth bracelet in stack) started out as this full-page drawing related to oil and the Middle East, also in The Economist. You wouldn't expect a news and business magazine to have good paper for making beads, but it goes to show that you can find amazing paper all over the place. I didn't modify the paper in any way before rolling it into these nice stripy beads.

And it just so happens that the last paper bead bracelet (second from bottom in stack) is also from The Economist, this time a whimsical and colorful cover that presents Joe Biden in the guise of the Tiger King. Very silly, very awesome. I painted with green over the white text (and the address area in the corner, which I've further obscured for this post), and added more red paint to the logo. Before rolling, I also covered the yellow bits with black marker because it wasn't in my color palette. I love how the striped beads have a tiger-like vibe to them.

My DIY earrings are simple bead soup stack earrings I made to coordinate with the scarf I'm wearing.

For a more feminine take on orange + pink, check out Di's fabulous floral shirt dress outfit here.

We had a gorgeous view from our balcony in early May with the trees/bushes outside going into bloom, bringing on the "May flowers" to follow our "April showers."

White Flowering Trees, St Paul MN - 5/1/2025

High Bridge in Spring - St Paul MN - 5/1/2025

Do you ever wear pink and orange together? Are you experiencing "May flowers" in your area?

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