DIY
DIY: Big Tub of Balm to Small Tub of Balm
I have an affinity for large tubs of things. I love tubs of champagne. Tubs of ice cream. Tubs full of puppies. And tubs of lip balm. However, after carrying around a giant tub of Josie Maran’s Argan Balm for weeks and then trying to stuff it into a small clutch bag with no success, I realized maybe I should think about downsizing. Unfortunately, Lady Maran’s (sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of Game of Thrones) nourishing all-purpose balm doesn’t come in mini size and I was forced to take matters into my own DIY hands.
So, in what is perhaps one of the most simple DIYs — except for maybe this one — I will now show you how to take your giant tub of awesome goop and turn it into a clutch-friendly travel pal!
You will need: an small, empty container (I found mine at the local drug store). A giant container full of your favorite balmy goodness (as you can tell, my favorite is Josie Maran’s Argan Balm. And a spoon, which you hopefully already have in your kitchen.
Take your spoon and carve out some balm from the big container. Make sure you start small so that you don’t overflow your small container and end up with a greasy mess.
Using the back of the spoon, smoosh down the balm into the smaller container. Once you have enough in there, use your finger to smooth out the top.
Now take your new itsy bitsy container of balm and put it into the smallest bag you own! TA DA!
DIY: Stuffed Fur Stole
Having worked in the fashion industry for several years now, prices rarely surprise me. Clothes are expensive these days, but accessories take the cake for several months worth of rent. I still roll my eyes at a pair of shoes well over 1K and find the price of a Birkin bag to be ridiculous, but I normally know what to expect upon walking into a store like Barney’s. However, I was slapped in the face by a price tag a few days ago and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.
I saw the above photo of the unstuffed animal stole on style.com during Paris Fashion Week and began a feverish online hunt to track one down. Countless Etsy sites offered up similar faux stoles, but I wanted that one. I decided to put the fuzzy friend on the back burner, certain that its online presence would turn up eventually. Well turn up it did but at a price that not even I, lover of all things stuffed animal, could justify.
The stoles are by Vika Gazinskaya and can currently be purchased on Moda Operandi for the hefty sum of $2,000. That’s right, the lemur stuffed animal — which they call a raccoon — that looks so much like the fuzzy friends you snuggled with on a nightly basis as a kid costs as much as a nice studio apartment in NYC.
So what does one do when they can’t afford the real deal? They DIY. Behold three options below that cost next to nothing.
First, we have our stuffed animal hat. Though I have yet to figure out how to secure such an accoutrement on my head, I’m positive that this look will have me street style snapped in no time. Tommy Ton, meet me in 10?
Then we have the Teddy Bear stole; a personal favorite of mine. Notice how my well-worn teddy balances gracefully on my shoulder? She looks like she’s having a much better time than that $2K plush racoon/lemur. Plus she’s versatile and can double as a snuggle buddy and/or pillow.
And last, but certainly not least, we have the real animal. Finn’s longer body wrapped perfectly around my shoulders and his legs even dangled like the fox scarf pictured above. If you don’t have your own dog or cat at home, I fully support you borrowing one off the street that goes well with your outfit.
DIY: Tom Binns Painted Swarovski Jewelry
I’ve mentioned it a zillion times and I’ll mention it again: I Love Tom Binns. No, not the man himself (never met him), but his jewelry is hands down my favorite on the planet. He has a series of different collections – you’ve all seen me getting serious wear out of his safety pin bracelets – but it’s his painted swarovski crystal collections that have recently tied down my fickle eye.
Now, these beauties you see above are a bit steep for my bank account (they range between $600-$2,200) so I took matters into my own hands. I bought a bunch of cheap “crystal” necklaces, rummaged through my extensive nail polish collection for some bright colors, sat down in front of the tv and painted my very own Tom Binns inspired necklaces (and earrings!).
Jump on the DIY wagon and do it too! Here’s how:
Supplies:
- Cheap crystal necklaces you won’t mind painting (try this one or this one)
- Nail polish – preferably in bright neon colors
- Pick your colors and get painting! Try not to get too much on each crystal and keep a steady hand. Second coat is optional, though I prefer it.
- Let your colorful jewels dry!
- Wear them in every ridiculous way possible.
DIY One Stars + Another Giveaway!
Converse are a kind shoe I can never have enough of, so when Target approached me about sending over a pair of Converse One Stars to decorate however I wanted, I obviously said yes. While there was a kit with all kinds of glitter, fabric markers, sequins, etc, I realized that I loved the simplicity of the shoe and wanted to keep them that way. So what did I do? I grunged them up just a wee bit by adding three spikey studs to each shoe. I love that there’s now an unexpected surprise in my simple white sneakers and that they could probably double as weapons if I wanted them too.
Well, it doesn’t stop there. Target would love to send one of you splendid readers a Target gift card and a decorating kit in the hopes that you will decorate your very own pair of Converse One Stars as well!
Target.Gift.Card.
WOWEE!
Just like my last giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment below but this time I want you to tell me one place that you would love to travel to someday…
I’ll announce the winner on Thursday!
puncture…
…et voila!
»· The Art of the Bouquet ·«
I’ve always admired the way my Mom can just throw together a bundle of flowers and make the most beautiful bouquet. I’ve never been successful at the art of the bouquet and thus stick to one or two types of flowers when putting together “arrangements.” Well not anymore mis amigos, not anymore. This past weekend I put my Mom’s teaching skills to the test (sidenote: she actually is a teacher) and had her show me the ways of floral arrangement mastery. Read below for the step-by-step guide:
You Will Need:
- flowers – DOY!
- a vase – double DOY!
- clippers – triple DOY!
- patience…
Step 1: Lay out your flower choices and pick your vase, or vah-se, however you want to pronounce it. Wildflowers are big in Connecticut right now so we went with a colorful, long-stemmed bunch.
Step 2: Start by putting your main/focal flowers into the vase. These are the flowers that are going to take up the majority of your arrangement. When making a long-stemmed bouquet make sure you can see some of those purdy stems poking out of the top of the vase – if you’re making a short bouquet the stems don’t matter as much.
Step 3: Fill in those empty spaces with bigger, fuller flowers, interspersing them throughout the arrangement. (This was kind of trial and error for me but I used lilies and hydrangeas).
Step 4: Pick up the entire arrangement and give it a good floof, kind of like what you would do to your hair if you wanted to give it more volume. And there you have it! the art of the bouquet at your fingertips!
