diy: tom binns necklace

 I was going through my jewelry box the other day and found the necklace that I wore to my prom. Unfortunately, since it was made out of very inexpensive materials some parts oxidized and turned black and green. However, the piece has so much sentimental value that I knew I had to find a way to wear it again. 

Do You Lilac It?, Make Mine Mango, Turning Heads Red, Elephantastic Pink

 I searched around for something to cover up the discoloration and thought nail polish would do the trick just fine. So I grabbed a few complimentary colors and started dabbing a little onto the stones.

In ten minutes I wound up with this. I'm really satisfied with the design and I love how I was able to keep such a nostalgic piece but also add a bit of fun and whimsy to it.

altoids tin jewelry box

 Every time I finish a box of Altoid's I never know what to do with the leftover tin. It seems to nice to toss in the trash so instead they remain in my room collecting dust. I decided to turn them into something practical so I gave it a few coats of paint and turned it into this. It's perfect for storing earrings and bracelets but I currently use mine to store various hair pins and barrettes.

 You'll need an empty Altoids tin, some acrylic paint, paintbrushes and some rhinestones. I painted the lid with two coats of pink paint and the base with two coats of champagne paint. Afterwards I freehanded some flowers and hot glued a rhinestone onto the center. And an optional step would be to add a piece of felt on the inside to protect your jewelry from damage.

Feel free to create any design or customize it any way you want. 

crochet accessories part 2

So in addition to crocheted hair accessories I also made some floral pins. You can use any pattern but roses are my favorite (I used a pattern similar to this) so I made a wide variety and decorated them with ribbons, pearls, chains, beads and a variety of other materials.

You don't have to make just flowers either, I also made a butterfly (like this one) and a star (not pictured here). Feel free to be creative and adorn it any way you want.

For the backing of the flowers I just cut out a piece of felt and poked two holes into it. I then inserted a safety pin into the two holes and hot glued the felt to the back.

If you don't want to use hot glue you can also sew the safety pin onto the back. The backing is not as visible with the method, but it is a little bit more time consuming. 

You can attach these accessories to your bag, scarf, hat or anywhere you want.

I think these accessories add some fun and color to plain bags and garments. Hopefully these inspire you too! Enjoy!

crochet hair accessories

The crochet trend has been super popular this summer so I'd thought I'd put my own spin on this trend. I am only a novice so I didn't want to get into any project that was more than I could handle. I decided to start small and make some accessories, and that's how I came up with these flowers. I got my patterns from this book but I'm sure you can find tons of similar patterns online. 

I actually used embroidery floss instead of yarn and a size 4 crochet needle so they would be nice and tiny. I used a flower pattern that I found in a book, but any pattern would work. After I finished crocheting I hot glued a pearl in the center to add some glamour and elegance.

Then flip the flower over and hot glue a bobby pin onto the back, and it's ready to be worn! These only took me about 20- 30 minutes to make, so it's a really quick and easy project. You can wear a sole flower or a cluster of them. I think they would be cute either way.

And for those that prefer headbands, you can make those too! Here I made two roses, one slightly larger than the other, and several leaves. I also hot glued some rhinestones into the center of the rose, but you could also use pearls like earlier if you prefer. Then I just arranged the leaves and roses into an arrangement I liked and hot glued them into place. Enjoy and have fun! 

perler beads

When I was younger I used to play with melty (or Perler) beads all the times and make little rainbows and flowers, but I just recently discovered how fun these could be. I was feeling crafty one day but being a broke college student, I did not have much money. So I went to Michaels and found this Little Mermaid bead kit on sale and decided to try it out, and I'm so glad that I did. 

Flounder + Ariel

Making these brought back fond childhood memories. Basically what you do is place different colored beads on a pegboard to create a design, and when you're done you cover it with wax paper and then iron each side for about twenty seconds. Then you just let it cool and you're done. 

Kerropi + Hello Kitty

You can turn them into magnets, keychains or use them for other decorative purposes. I've even seen some people use them to make coaster, picture frames and hair clips. After I finished the kit I went out to buy more beads and started making more characters and designs. It's fun and relaxing, and if you're ever bored and need an inexpensive activity you should try them out!

Link from Legend of Zelda