I’ve been wanting a tulle skirt (a la Carrie Bradshaw) for forever now! So consider my excitement when I came across this wonderful DIY for a tulle skirt (via ConsiderMeLovely‘s instagram) I couldn’t WAIT to give it a go.
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Nov 17, 2012
How to Bantu Knot Out [Video]
One of my favorite Instagrammers (@creolelioness) recently posted this picture of herself rockin’ a FABULOUS Bantu Knot Out and I just couldn’t resist sharing it.
I love everything about this look. Her hair looks soft, full and is just all-around fab. Almost makes me want to grow my hair back out. Almost!
- Her face is beat!
I just HAD to have her share her secret with you guys. Check out the photo step-by-step…
She was even nice enough to put together a tutorial video for you guys. Check it out!
Thanks Carlyne for the great tutorial!
Follow her on Instagram & Twitter.
Jun 7, 2012
What I Wore Today
This past Saturday I made my first–and unfortunately, my last–trip to The Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturday. On the first Saturday of every month, The Brooklyn Museum opens it’s door to allow New Yorkers an opportunity to experience art and culture for free. Well, in true New York City fashion it has morphed into quite the fashion show. People pull out all the stops and leave no stone unturned.
Since this was my first time going, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as far as what other people would be wearing, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a simple play on the new color blocking trend. Taking full advantage of summer–and my new blonde hair *big smile*–I opted for a neon palette.
I ended up having my picture taken by quite a few sites–one of which was Ebony.com, so there’s no telling how many places this outfit is floating around. But a special thank you to Claire from The Fashion Bomb for featuring me on her site again. Her readers always show me so much love!
What do you think of what I wore to First Saturday?
Apr 26, 2012
DIY: American Flag Shorts
You’ve seen these shorts on everyone from Kylie Jenner to Solange. You could go out and buy them for $68 from Topshop…or you could make your own! I opted for the latter.
In case you missed it, I recently added a “Shop My Closet” section to my blog. (For all of you who have been asking to get your hand on pieces from my closet.) Well, I recently sold a pair of striped Forever 21 shorts that I never got the chance to wear because they were too big. The customer asked if I’d be willing to customize them for her, so I figured why not give these American flag shorts a try. I’ve been wanting to try it for months now anyways.
Here’s how:
Things You’ll Need – a pair of shorts, a paper grocery bag, an American flag bandana, scissors, needle & thread (or fabric glue), straight pins & an ink pen.
Using a paper grocery bag, trace & cut out a “template” of the area of the shorts you want to cover. Using your ink pen, lay the template over top of the bandanna and trace out the shape. Cut it out.
Next, place the newly cut out pieces of the bandanna on top of the shorts and then pin them in place with your straight pins. Hand stitch* the fabric in place. (*You can also use permanent fabric glue.) Once, you’ve secured the fabric in place…you’re done! Simple and to the point. Feel free to play around with the direction of the stripes. You can also cover the zipper section if you want. It’s all up to you. HAVE FUN!
As an added detail, I decided to add gold pyramid studs to the front and back pockets.
All done!
See this style on some of your favorite celebrities…
Mar 19, 2012
What I Wore Today
Today is a double treat! A DIY & “What I Wore Today” in one!
Some of my veteran readers might remember this denim jacket I acid washed a few years ago. I’ve been playing with the idea of turning into a vest for some time now and finally got around to doing it at about 3am this morning. Luckily, I didn’t ruin it in my sleep deprived induced delirium.
I was a pretty simple thing to do. I simply grabbed a pair of scissors and cut* the sleeves off and added studs to one shoulder.
*I started a hole with the scissors and then ripped the rest in order to give the sleeves a distressed look. The rip will inevitably move away from the seam. When it does, simple cut close to the seam with the scissors and then continue ripping.
I also had to hem (hand stitched) about an inch and a half worth of fabric from the sides in order to make it fit closer to the body.
STYLED…
Mar 16, 2012
DIY: Newspaper Nails [Video]
I recently came across this really simple nail art DIY and decided to give it a try. All you need is nail polish (obviously), a newspaper and rubbing alcohol. (I also used graphic art clippings from a magazine.) A had a pretty decent final product. Although, I think I’ll try it again later when I don’t have the pressure of this incomplete paper that’s due Wednesday looming over my head. I ended up rushing through it because of that.
Check out the tutorial…
…& my final product!
Hate it or love it?
Mar 12, 2012
DIY: Neon Clutch (Revamp)
Not all DIYs have to start from scratch. A couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Beacon’s Closet and got a couple of really good thrift store finds. (Beacon’s Closet never disappoints, in case you didn’t know.) Among those finds was a grey clutch. I loved the shape, size, and textured pattern, but what I especially loved was the $10.95 price tag! The only thing I didn’t love was the color…(it reminded me of the purses my grandmama used to wear to church). Good thing there’s nothing a good can of $6 fluorescent spray paint can’t fix!
Check out how I transforemed this clutch
Start by covering with tape (I used ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape…it doesn’t leave sticky residue) any portions of the clutch you don’t want to get paint on them*; specifically the metal detailing.
*I initially covered the entire top flap because thought I might want to leave it grey (or some other color). Ultimately I decided to paint it all one color.
Next, just begin spray painting. You will need several coats in order to get a variant, opaque finish. Be sure to let each coat dry for about an hour.
When opened, I covered the top portion of the clutch with a towel to keep the inside lining from getting spray paint on it.
After it dries, remove the tape & you’re done!
STYLED…
Top – sundress (repurposed); Pants – Necessary Clothing; Leather Jacket – Cherry Bomb (Atlanta); Pumps – Charlotte Russe; Earrings – Forever 21
Mar 4, 2012
DIY: Denim Clutch
While most people my age (especially those living in a city like NYC) spend their Saturday nights out at bars, partying until the wee hours of the morning…I spend mine on my living room floor up to my ears in hot glue and scraps of fabric. And I have a great time doing it!
Last night was no exception. With Lifetime Movie Network playing on the “big screen”, I decided to pull out some old scraps of denim* I had lying around and make a clutch. (*currently working on neon clutch that’s perfect for spring/summer…stay tuned!)
This DIY requires a little bit of sewing, but don’t freak out. I am far from anybody’s seamstress so I kept it super simple.
Things You’ll Need…
1) Denim Pant Leg 2) Scissors 3) Needle & Thread 4) Hot Glue Gun 5) Closure Fixtures
I started by taking the leg portion of a pair of jeans left over from a previous DIY and cut it open along one of the seams.
Next you choose the dimensions of your clutch. I chose to make mine a medium sized clutch (about 8×6). Fold in the sides of the fabric and hot glue them down and then fold up the bottom portion and glue down the sides (only the sides) of it.
I then hand stitched up each side of the bottom portion for a little extra durability.
Fold over and glue down the edges of the top portion. Again, hand stitch the corner edges to secure in place.
If you wanted, you could stop here. It’s a totally functional clutch at this point. However, I wanted to give the denim a more finished look so I added on a few fixtures. I took all the closures from an old knock-off “Coach” clutch that I had from high school that was buried in a box in my apartment. Funny story…when I cut the fabric open to remove all the fixtures, it had remnants of “Louis Vuitton” fabric hidden inside. I laughed until I cried.
Anywho…attaching the magnetic closure button is really simple. It has two prongs that simply stick through the fabric and fold down in the back. You can use scissors to cut small holes if the fabric is too tough for you to poke the prongs through.
Now comes the “hard” part.
I snapped the fixture closed to make sure that I had every thing lined up properly. Once I had done that, I simply hot glued the portion of the flap with the other half of the magnetic closure on it to the top portion of the clutch. I, again, hand stitch for added security.
Once that was done, it was time to add the buckle to the outside of the clutch. Again, the easiest way to the this is to buckle it and then hand stitch where it lands. Luckily, I could use the holes created by the sewing machine in whatever sweatshop created the Foach wristlet, so I didn’t have to worry about poking through the leather.
Adding the wrist strap was a last minute edit. You know the deal…glue and then stitch. DONE!
STYLED…
Click each photo to enlarge
Happy DIY’ing!
Feb 11, 2012
DIY: Studded Shorts
Is it summer yet? No? Oh, well. It’s never too soon to start preparing. I’ve spent this week* working on a pair of studded shorts that will be perfect for summer.
*This DIY can be done in one day. It took me several days because I had a million things going on and I had to wait for the studs to arrive in the mail. (I ordered them from Amazon.)
I started by making a trip to what felt like every single Goodwill in NYC. I was specifically looking for “mom jeans” and you would be surprised how hard it is to find “mom jeans” in a size that most people are before they ever hit puberty. lol. Anywho…I finally found a pair that fit me in the waist they way I wanted them to.
$9.99 at Goodwill (25th St. & 6th Ave.)
I know you’re laughing right now at the fact that they’re too short. STOP! IT’S NOT FUNNY! Lol.
The first thing I did was cut the jeans into shorts. I wanted the final version of my shorts to have a cuff so I cut them about 4 inches longer than the length I wanted.
And then I simply cuffed them twice.
Next I pinned the cuff down with straight pins to hold them in place while I placed a small stitch every couple of inches.
Once that was done, I decided that I wanted to give the shorts a quick acid wash to give them a bit of different look. See this previous post for instructions on how to acid wash.
After the acid wash was complete (and the studs came in the mail), I simply started to add them on to the shorts. Get creative with the design. You can do just a pocket, across the entire back and/or the entire front…whatever you choose. I decided to do just one side of the back and the smaller inside pocket of the front.
The studs are easy to apply and take very little time. Simply stick them through the fabric and fold over the prongs. You can do that with your fingers but if you want to make sure its really snug (or if your fingers start to hurt like mine did) use the edge of a quarter or even a key to fold down the prongs.
And just like that…you’re all done!
I also put rips on one side and studded the inside of the pocket so the studs show through.
I absolutely love these! I pranced around in them for hours before finally forcing myself to take them off. Lol. However, they were really difficult to photograph. Took me forever to find the right lighting and it’s still not perfect. But I promise to wear them the first day it’s warm enough to wear shorts and get you guys some really awesome photos. Scouts honor!
Jan 15, 2012
DIY: Coffee Filter Lamp
Lately I’ve been doing fewer fashion DIYs and a lot more DIYs that have to do with home decor. I guess it’s a sign that I’m getting old, because all I think about is how bad I wanna decorate my own home. Anywho…a couple of months ago I made a chic little coffee table lamp using a lamp base I purchased at Goodwill and a few packs of coffee filters. It’s a very simple, cheap project that will add a lot of personality to your space.
Start with a plain lamp shade*. I recommend white (or a very light color) so that a fair amount of light can diffuse through both the shade and the coffee filters.
*Keep in mind that adding the coffee filters to the shade will add volume to it, so you want to choose a shade that is slightly undersized for your base. It will even out in the end.
Next you will want to prep your coffee filters. This is the most time consuming part, but turn on a good movie and the time will fly by. (It took me about 400 coffee filters). You also don’t have to fold them all at once. You can fold a few, glue them and then fold a few more.
Fold the coffee filter in half 3 times…
Fold once more than pictured here
After you have folded the filter 3 times, create a fold about half way from the tip. This will be the portion you glue to the lamp shade.
Now the fun part! Using a hot glue gun, simply start gluing the filters to the shade.
You don’t really need to worry about doing it in a completely uniform way. Have fun with it! You’ll figure out what you like best as you go along. Start at the bottom and work your way to the top. Once you reach the top, make sure you’re placing the filters so that the tip is face down or else they will stick up over the top of the shade.
3 hours and $15 later, I have a beautiful bedside lamp perfect for reading!
Lamp base – $4.99; Lamp shade – $7; Coffee filters – $.99/pk
My bedroom where I added the lamp. Pictured without shade here.
FUN FACT: If white doesn’t work for the space you would like to use this lamp, try dyeing the coffee filters by soaking them in tie dye ink!
About Me
Blake, Editor-in-Chic
Law student. Blogger. Southern Belle turned Concrete Jungle Princess. Taking the world by storm...one blog post at a time.
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