I’m 30. I work in marketing in a shopping centre in Perth. I’m a professional creative who has learned strategy and gets along quite well in my career. This blog is my outlet for all things non- work related
I like to think of myself as a pretty trendy woman. I listen to Triple J, I wear big sunglasses, I’ve been known to put my hair in a bun. And I craft stuff before it becomes cool.
Take these shoes, for instance. I made these years ago, before they even thought of putting patterns on shoes! You could get them in black, white or grey. That was it. I was the cool kid walking around with an autumn leaf patterned shoe.
(I wore them once. They were actually really uncomfortable. That’s why they look brand new. But my point is still valid.)
I was into beading in the early 90’s, not the late 90’s. Yeah, I’m that cool.
I had a spread sheet of URL’s linking to craft projects to try decades before they invented Pinterest. Cool as ice. (I actually only just threw it out).
What’s my next big prediction? I’m going to lay it all on the line and say… I’m seeing a resurgence in wool based crafts and personal woodworking.
For me anyway!
Now, want to know how to decorate your own shoes if you can’t find the right patterns in the store??
Fabric pens, canvas shoes, glitter pens, lead pencil.
1-2 hours depending on the intricacy of your design.
$40- $50 depending on how many colours you use.
Draft out your pattern on a piece of paper first, fabric pens are unforgiving if you make a mistake. I actually made a template of the leaves to make it easier.
Transfer the basic pattern onto the canvas using light lead pencil lines.
Put down the colour, starting with the lightest colour first. This will make sure there’s no bleeding through to the lighter colour.
I decided to make use of all the accumulated notions hanging around in my sewing box for this quick and easy headband DIY. I’m all about being thrifty lately, and I also love to have something in my wardrobe that absolutely no one else will have.
Make this headband and you’ll have people commenting and asking where you got it, and you’ll just have to say, “I made it myself!”
Black thread, needle, milliners mesh (you can find this in the hat section of craft stores), matching brad, thick black elastic.
30 minutes.
Approx $10
Take your mesh and fold it into two figure eights. The loops on the first 8 will be small, the loops on the second larger. Pinch the returns in your fingers and make sure the loops are even.
Take your brad and insert it through all layers of the mesh, then fold back the edges of the brad to secure the mesh. Trim off any excess.
Measure the elastic around your head, cut, and hand sew the ends neatly together with the black thread and needle.
Take the needle and thread and attach the figure eights to the elastic, making sure that the join of the elastic is at the bottom and will be hidden when you put it on your head. Sew small stitches underneath the first layer of the mesh and you won’t be able to see the stitches in the finished product.
I like to wear this headband when I’m in a vintage mood, or when I’ve ended up in all black and want to add a bit of whimsy to my look.
A long, long time ago, in a shopping centre far away, a girl purchased a loom band kit because they were cheap and she was sure she would be able to find something to do with them.
The loom band kit defeated her. All she could produce were brightly coloured chunky bracelets that were fit for a ten year old and not a discerning young woman like herself.
She couldn’t bring herself to make a key chain, so, fingers stinging from the harsh plastic of the loom, she put away her kit with shattered dreams.
Okay, that’s enough of that. As you can see, I picked it up again. This time the loom could be damned. That thing hurts your fingers! So, I Googled finger looming and found a way to do a fish tail braid using two fingers.
I’m not a fan of the chunkiness of a loom bracelet, so I wanted to soften the look with a bead of some sort. It look a little playing around, but I came up with a way to incorporate a circular object as the key piece in the band.
The gold ‘o’ might look familiar to you? It’s a letter from my alphabet kit that I spray painted gold. You can really use anything that is circular, or that has two holes in either end.
1 x circular bead, elastic loom bands in the colour of your choice, an ‘s’ ring (these come with the loom band kits), two fingers.
Under $10.
30 minutes.
This is the key component to the bracelet. You have to thread a band through the circular bead and anchor it on your two fingers in a figure 8.
Put on two more bands in a figure 8. You don’t have to use a figure 8, but I think it gives you a tighter weave.
Take the left and right loops of the bottom band and pull them up and over your fingertips, making a ‘v’. The bead will shift with the band, but that’s supposed to happen.
Add another band in a figure 8 so you always have 3 bands on your finger. Pull the bottom band up and over, add another, etc, and repeat until you have HALF the length of bracelet that you want. When it’s long enough, stop adding more bands and pull the last two over the fingers, securing the last band with the ‘s’ ring.
Reverse the band and repeat steps 1-4 from the other side of the bead. Tie off and secure with the ‘s’ring to make a loop and you’ve got your bracelet!
It’s been a Kmart Australia week this week! I picked up this clutch for $10 the same time as I picked up my stags.
I find that when I’m doing a fashion DIY it’s a lot easier to prettify an already existing piece than it is to start from scratch. Kmart Australia have an great selection of well-priced clutches that you can attack with spray paint, glitter, beads, etc.
I find that homemade bags always have a slight feel of “handmadeness” about them. I put it down to the fact that you generally have to jam a bunch of fabric and liner underneath the needle of the sewing machine and hope for the best.
Either that or I was doing it wrong…
Clutch, gold spray paint, painters tape.
1 hour.
$25
Decide what pattern you want to spray onto your clutch. I went for two racing stripes. Zooom!!
Use the tape to cover over all the parts of the clutch that you don’t want sprayed. Make sure to press down all the tape edges firmly, I didn’t and I had some sneaky spray get through.
Spray away! Wait for it to dry, and then peel off the tape.
I’m taking mine to my work Christmas party tonight. Gonna paint the town gold!
I have a tongue in cheek poster on the wall in my office, given to me by my extremely respectful workmates. I was undertaking a crochet class at the time, and I came back to work the morning after the first class to find this taped to my monitor:
So I kept it. I’m proud of who I am. I go to a coffee shop and do nanna crafts with friends. You wanna go?
I didn’t think so.
Since starting the blog I’ve learned some cool stuff and met some amazing people. I’ve even done some things I never thought I’d do, like attending a cooking class and making a YouTube video.
And I’ve made some amazing friends. Don’t laugh, I’ve got a crochet hook in my bag and I’m not afraid to use it.
One of those friends, Adelle from Where The Styled Things Are, gave me the idea for this project. She’s the nice-girl of the fashion blogging world. She’s always ready to share, with never a bad word to say about anyone.
She’s the creator of the Pretty Little Package project, aimed at stamping out online bullying, and she runs the Perth WA Bloggers Facebook page in an effort to unite Perth bloggers together.
See, she’s so nice. I sometimes wonder why she’s friends with me?
1 plastic headband with a design cut into it (makes it easier to secure the pom poms), flowers (mine were from Spotlight), assorted sized pom poms in two colours, scissors.
Approx. $15
Under 2 hours.
I used the pom pom creating method I tested in ‘Forking Pom Poms’ and made an assortment of pom poms in green (to imitate the leaves) and pink (to match the flowers). I trimmed the green ones lower than the pink so they didn’t overwhelm the flowers.
Arrange the flowers and pom poms along the headband, eyeball where you think things will look best and then photograph so you don’t forget where they go!
Wind the stalks of the flowers through the design of the headband, making sure that there’s nothing hanging below to poke the wearer in the head.
Weave the tails of the pom poms through the design of the headband and tie off with a double knot then trim short.
I’ve had a couple of people ask me how I make the ribbon flower that turned up on one of the fascinators from my recent workshop.
The good news is it’s pretty easy. You just have to keep a loose grip on the folds and not be too worried about getting the sides even the first time, you can fix that all up later.
This is just like doodling little flowers with figure eights in a notepad.
I’ve try to explain it clearly, but I may have failed miserably so the photos will provide another layer of instructions. Like an onion, or a parfait.
Please excuse my scrotty nails and stubby fingers. I'd probably rather show you my toes than my fingers, but I haven't mastered the art of gripping a piece of ribbon between two tootsies.
Pinch the ribbon between your fingers with a bit of a tail.
Make the first loop and secure under your thumb loosely. Make sure the ribbon isn’t completely parallel, but turned outwards slightly.
Following the angle of the ribbon, make another loop over the top of the original one.
Do the same for each spoke of the wheel until you have 6 or 8 petals.
Secure with a button, a bead, or whatever takes your fancy.
Once it’s done you can secure it to your fascinator with either some glue or a small stitch. I used a clip from a leftover project that can be found in the millinery section of the craft store.
Then I tortured the dog. For someone who's more than happy to pop up in most of my project photos, she took against being a willing model. Yellow must not be her colour.
I love a headband. They’re perfect for those days when you really don’t know what to do with your hair. Stick something shiny in it and it distracts people from the fact that you really couldn’t be bothered that morning.
The great thing about headbands is that they’re really easy to make yourself. All you need is the ability to thread a needle or use a hot glue gun.
I love the smell of a hot glue gun in the morning.
I’ve decided to go a bit OTT on this project and make something a little bit larger than I normally would because it’s spring racing season.
You can shell out quite a bit on a fascinator and then end up standing next to someone who is wearing the exact same dead flamingo on their head, and all of a sudden your fashion decision starts seeming less avant-garde and more off- the- shelf.
With this project, not only will you get a bespoke headpiece but it won’t cost you the earth. There are so many options out there for embellishments; you are only limited by your imagination (and the lack of actual dead flamingos on the market).
I’ve gone for three types of band in this project, so there’s something for everyone (and every dress!). Each project should take approximately 45 minutes, depending on the amount of embellishments you choose to use.
PROJECT 1: THE BOHO BAND
Materials: 1cm black elastic, 1 string of beads (15-20cm long, you can find these in craft stores pre-strung), 2 decorative beads, 1 earring tassel, matching small beads, jump rings, black thread and needle.
Step 1: Sew one end of the elastic to one end of the string. Once this is done, thread it around your head and cut the elastic and sew to the other side of the string. You want to cut it a little bit tight so that it stays on.
Step 2: Take your earring tassel and your beads and jump rings. Put a bead on a jump ring and attach it to the tassels.
Step 3: Sew the tassel onto one side of the beads.
Step 4: Sew the decorative beads onto the edges of the elastic to cover over any threads.
PROJECT 2: THE SIDE BAND
Materials: 2 cm black elastic, 3 larger embellishments of your choice (I went with a sprig of beads from the florist section, an iron on patch and a metal jewellery embellishment), 6 beads, black thread and needle.
Step 1: Cut the elastic to the size of your head, once again a little bit tight so that it stays on. Sew the ends together so you have a loop.
Step 2: Arrange your embellishments in the position that looks best, keeping in mind how it will look on the head. Take a photo so you remember what the positioning was.
Step 3: Sew each embellishment onto the band with the black thread.
PROJECT 3: THE FLORAL STATEMENT
Materials: A round base (you can get this in the millinery section or craft stores), flowers (there are so many choices), 2 complementary ribbons, hot glue gun.
Step 1: Cut a few 6cm pieces of the ribbon and put aside.
Step 2: Lay out the flowers on the base to get an idea of where they will be placed.
Step 3: Glue the first flower. I went with one right in the middle and built up the rows in circles around the first flower.
Step 4: Take 1 piece of ribbon, put both ends together and dab with glue. Place it at the base of the first flower. Do this 4 times, alternating colours of ribbon.
Step 5: Glue the next row of flowers on, making sure the ribbons are pointing upwards.
Step 6: Put another row of ribbon around that row of flowers, and continue until the base is covered.
Tip: Take any pieces of ribbon that don’t look quite right and glue them to the flowers to make a double loop.
I’ve never been a fan of chunky necklaces and earrings. I find I can always feel their weight, my body never gets used to them.
Which is a pity, because they look really, really cool. So I decided to push down my crazy and make one!
I picked up a chunky gold necklace from Lovisa for $9.99 and some Chinese frog closures from Spotlight for $5 (in the specials bin).
I already had a stack of beading supplies stored away in a shoebox, but these items shouldn’t cost you more than $10 all up.
What you’ll need: 1 x chunky necklace 2 x sets of Chinese frog closures 1 x packet of coloured beads 1 x packet of jump rings 1 x pair of flat nosed jewellery pliers
Time: 1 hour.
Approximate cost: $25
Open the jump rings and thread the beads on, then fasten around the frog closures in the pattern you choose. This is the longest step in the process, tiny beads and big fingers are not friends.
Tip: The tightness of the fit will depend on the diameter of your jump rings. I chose a snug fit and pressed them closed firmly so they didn’t just all fall to the bottom when I was wearing it.
Lay out the necklace and decide which format you want to lay the frog closures in. I put the edge closures two rings in, and then halved the distance for the larger closures.
Tip: When you finally attach and lift the necklace, the natural curve will make the gaps between the closures look different. Take this into account when deciding where to place them.
Attach one jump ring to the necklace, and one to the frog closure, then join with a third jump ring.
Tip: You can use more than one jump ring to join the two together and achieve a longer hang. Remember that the amount of jump rings will make the closure swing one way or another, though.
Thanks to my photo assistant Taryn this time around for her pointing and shooting.
Another thanks to the fifty or so people who chose that moment to walk through the corridor we were shooting in. I chose a quiet spot so people wouldn’t see me!
I had a Hermione moment when I looked back at these photos. Is that what my hair looks like from behind? Needless to say, I’ve booked myself in for a haircut this week!
Well, stop looking at the hair and look at the lapels. Aren’t they sexy?
I got the idea when I walked past a Tree of Life store. There were some really bright lapels on a khaki shirt, but I didn’t want to pay the price tag so I dreamed up a DIY.
Tree of Life have an amazing jewellery range, so when I decided against the shirt, I found some really bright woven bracelets (that were on sale!). I had this dark denim chambray shirt hanging in the closet that, while not khaki, would work in my budget, so I picked up the bracelets. $4 later and I was ready to get sewing. I still had 4 hours of work left…
The DIY itself is simple. Get a matching cotton thread and sew it on. I just hand stitched carefully around the border, making sure the orange thread only showed in the orange weave.
Because the bracelets were woven I couldn’t remove the ties on the end, so I just folded them back and secured them with some more thread underneath the bracelet. At least I won’t have to worry about it unravelling!
I love it because the bracelets provide a pop of colour to the shirt, I got to choose the colours myself, and it only took about half an hour to make.
Photos are courtesy of Mother, because I actually wanted to be in the photos for once.
I’ve been working on my photography lately and am starting a course soon, but I used one particular technique in these photos that I picked up from a Craftsy course I have been watching.
Zoom in and step back. That’s how you get the blurred background. Neat, hey?
When I was little I remember my mum had a watch that you could change the faces on, go with whatever colour fit your outfit at the time. I loved to play with that watch!
It just made so much sense to me, you have one watch but so many options. The ingenuity of the 90's.
I've made my own version here with some little glass jars I found at the discount store and a necklace that I had lying around. I never really wore the necklace because I didn't like the charms on it, but what I did like was the copper and silver of the chain, going with the theme of having more choice with the necklace.
There were 8 jars, and I filled them with stuff from all around the house with the aim of getting the largest range of colours I could.
I used sugar and chilli spice mix from the kitchen. I found an old purple eyeshadow and some concealer in the bathroom. And from the craft room I took some beads, glitter, heart shaped sparkles and a peacock feather.
The next step is to jam the lids in nice and tight, then fix a jump ring through the hole in the top of the lid. You can then swap and change as many times as you need when deciding on your outfit in the morning!
The cost of this project was just $2 for the glass jars, and the rest of the stuff I already had in the house! Plus, if I ever get sick of a colour, I can just refill as needed.
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