The new look!

   So all day today I have been working on my blog's new look. I wanted to get it set in stone and make sure I liked everything before I tried harder to make this place more popular and have more traffic. In my dreams I would have hired one of those super nice blog designers but of course being a broke DIY kinda person I settled with the help of a lot of PicMonkey and a bit of Pixlr ;)
   At first I was really excited and pleased with how it all turned out but now, after two people have told me they really liked it before.. I'm not so sure. So basically I'm just wanting your opinions! If you liked it better before or if you have any constructive criticism please be honest about it!
 
   Hope everyone has a wonderful week! :)

I love thrift shopping.

   Hello! :)
   Today I took a trip to a thrift store with my sister and dad and I am sooo happy with what I found! Thrift stores are always fun cause one week you go and you find tons of stuff and the next you leave with nothing. But today was one of those days where I had to let go of a few of my great finds and just pick my favorites. Here is what I found!

   So the vest was about to be left on the rack but I figured for 1.50 I might as well. And the shorts are super cute. Just in need of a few alterations. I've been wanting to get my wardrobe ready for this fall and winter now, while I have a whole lot of extra time (I'm even in the middle of crocheting myself a scarf ;) ). I'm imagining wearing tights with at least the tan shorts (they are actually darker in person and more fall-ish). And I love any and all sweaters for fall and winter so these things were great :)
   I saved the best for last... :)

   So at first glance they are already worth 3 euros in my opinion...  But what I found out makes them soo much better! They are really nice looking shoes and I was curious how much they were originally sold for. I looked the brand up online and found that they no longer sell these exact pair of shoes anymore but that all of their women's shoes are between 119-201 British pounds. Just to give you an idea.. 150 pounds is equal to $234! I am soo happy I found them and took them before anyone else did! This find made my day :)

Tutorial: peter pan collar and open-back bow shirt

   Whenever I have somewhere to go and I can't find anything in my closet that I feel like wearing, my solution is usually to diy something (assuming I have the time to do so). Although I practically never finish it in time. But the other day I wanted a new outfit and this is what I came up with! If you saw my last post, you kind of already saw it. But here are some better pictures and the tutorial I promised! Here is a picture of the shirt that the tutorial is on.

    So let's get started!
You'll need...
- A tank top that fits normally as a guide. (NOT those super tight ones.)
- Some fabric for the main part of the shirt
- A bit of different colored fabric for the collar
- Lightweight fabric for bow
- Pins
- Tracing or parchment paper & pencil

1. Lay tank top onto folded fabric. (The front of the tank top needs to be folded into the front. Folded down the middle basically.) The middle of the tank top needs to be aligned with folded edge of your fabric like in the picture above. Add a 1/2 in. seam allowance all around and then cut!
2. Do the same for the back.
3. Sew the shoulders together like in the picture.

4.The pictures pretty much speak for themselves.
Tip: you can do one side, then fold the paper in half, and trace it onto the other side since the paper is see-through. That way it is symmetrical.

5. Follow what the pictures say then turn the shirt right-side-out and iron the collar down. Now sew, very closely, along the edge of the neckline. Now the collar is done but depending on the size and fabric, it may stick up a bit like mine did. I just sewed along the bottom edge of it, connecting the edge to the shirt.

   For the rest...
If you saw my last post, then you know I originally had a different idea for this shirt. So, for the middle picture, this step is pretty useless. But I did it in mine, and I thought I would explain how in case you decided to do it differently or something.

The rest is pretty simple! Just hem the edges correctly and such and then you're finished!

Since I was originally planning on doing something else, the tutorial might be a bit confusing.. If so, just as me your questions and I will be more than happy to try and help. Let me know if you give it a try :) Thanks for visiting!

Oh and I'm not really sure but wouldn't this make a good maternity shirt?  Just my guess.

Linky parties: Homemaker on a Dime; Serendipity and Spice; Alderberry Hill; Lines Across; Sumo's Sweet Stuff; Craft-O-Mania

I love projects that end well.

   As my title simply states.. I absolutely love when I start project (sewing ones in particular) and they end just as I would have liked or better. When I sew things, half of the time they don't end up working. So when something turns out great, I am super excited! Which explains how I feel right now!
   I was on pinterest today and I saw this pin. I really love this kind of style and so I was inspired to make something similar. Though, I drifted pretty far from my original idea, I am still really happy with the outcome! Basically I was planning on making the same thing but sleeveless and with a rounded peter pan collar instead of the pointed collar. But I ended up measuring badly and forgetting I was working with a not-at-all stretchy fabric and I had to make a few changes. You can see how it was a bit awkward and unflattering.. (This was before I added the bows on the front..)

   So after a little tweaking, this is what it turned into!  (and I decided to ditch the front bows.) Oh and don't judge me. I finished this pretty late and took these pictures around 4am here...

Shirt - diy
Shoes - Target & diy
Purse - diy
Watch - thrifted

   And I am pretty happy about the shoes as well! I have had these for years and I liked them but they really weren't my style.. But now I really love them :) And ps. I absolutely adore acrylic paint.

   Tutorial coming soon for the shirt! :) Tell me what you think of everything!

diy salt clay feathers

   I have wanted to do this project for a while now. In the past, I wasn't a huge fan of wearing jewelry but in the past few months I've been having fun with it. But spending $20 on one simple necklace isn't something I enjoy doing. So of course making it works wonderfully. Here is a recipe for salt clay that you can make with stuff around your kitchen. It's easy to use and cheap as well.

I used a knife before I realized foil would be easier.

So my oven's temperature is controlled with numbers 1-8 instead of normal degrees.. So I never know how to set the temperature correctly which caused me to burn these a little bit.

       The only tip I have is to wait a while to put in metal rings or anything to make them jewelry.. When I painted mine, they got a little softer which makes them easier to break.. I didn't wait long enough for it to dry completely and ended up breaking the earrings I was planning on making :/ But If you wait, I'm sure they will be fine!

   I am hoping to use some of these for a dream catcher and some other crafts. But we'll see! Let me know if you have any questions!

diy book page wallpaper

   Hello!
   It feels like it has been a while, though I think it has just been two or three days.. Despite the fact that I have very few people who actually follow my blog, I want to post regularly and often.. I had two projects planned that I wanted to post about but unfortunately they didn't turn out. Apparently mod podge doesn't work to hold together those cute doiley light fixtures and apparently you shouldn't trust me with a hammer and nails and some wood... But I had time to fiiinally finish my book page wall! I am so excited! :) So I thought I could use this as a post until I found a more creative and fun project.

   If you want to try it is super easy and cheap. I used four (and barely any of a fifth) old books which cost about 10-12 euros all together. And about 20(?) glue sticks. Which ya is alot... but it is easiest to find here and it's convenient and doesn't smell terrible. So in all I would estimate that I spent less than 20 euros.
   Here are a few tips...
    - Tear the pages out of the books and mix them together before you start. That way your wall has an even amount of pages from each book. Also, if you are planning on using pictures, place them all in a separate pile so you can add them when you see fit.
   -  Start from a corner. And stick with it. Go in rows horizontally from that corner and once a row is done just start from that corner again but below the pages you just did. If not, you will get little spaces like in the picture below. Not doing so won't end up being a huge deal I don't think, but it looks better not to.

   - Apply the glue on the pages rather than the wall.
   - For the edges simple use a sharp pair of scissors or a rolling blade. But for the pages near a corner or edge, apply the glue to the wall. That way your page won't stick somewhere you don't want it.

I have had the majority of the wall done for quite some time now and I haven't had any problems with it coming of or anything. Well I take that back. My sister is apparently a very violent sleeper; she has managed to take off a few pages while she sleeps. But for me, it hasn't been an issue. If you need to take it off, there will be a little bit of paper residue left but I think with some water and a sponge, it would come off easily.

Ya I know.. I hate that radiator :/

   I'm soo glad to finally be done with this :) Let me know if you try it out!

easy, no-crocheting, diy doily rug

    I have been wanting to make a rug for my bedroom for quite some time now. I have awful laundry room looking kind of tiles in my room and I hate them and I would love to cover them up as much as possible. I have started making rugs several times but either stopped cause they weren't working or simply cause I decided I no longer liked them. This doily rug that I made though is perfect! It doesn't exactly cover up the floor much but it is super cute and perfect for my room.
   I have seen doily rugs on pinterest before and I absolutely love them. But of course you have to know how to crochet and then you have to spend hours and hours making it.. And well, I am very impatient and so a doily rug always seemed to be out of my realm of capabilities. But after looking for different kinds of rugs I could make, I kept stumbling over the doily one. And then I had an idea of how to make a fake one! Of course it doesn't have the same charm and elegance of a real crocheted doily, but to be honest, my feet are just going to be stepping on it and making it dirty. Even if I had the skills, I wouldn't want to use them making a real doily for my feet considering how long it would take. So in my opinion, this alternative is perfect! :) And the best part.. It only took me about five hours! Which to me still seems kinda long but compared to the other rugs I have tried in the past, it's pretty good.

   Ok so the only thing you will need is a bunch of fabric and a sewing machine! You're going to start by making a base, and then you're going to wrap the base.

   For the base...

   It gets super messy (which is perfectly ok!) so I outlined what the shape is approximately so you could see it better. And all you do is sew a little line where they connect (the yellow lines in the picture).

   You can keep doing the same pattern or you can change it up however you would like! You can also change up the thickness of the strips to get different looks. Basically the only rule to follow here is to go by layers, starting from the middle.
   Ok so now that you have the base of your rug finished... (or before... as you can see in the last picture I was too impatient to wait :P but waiting is probably better in case you want to change something.) You are going to want to make a wholeee bunch of fabric strips. Mine were about an inch or so wide and 50 inches or so long.
   Once you have done that, you are basically going to use this knot over and over again to wrap the whole rug. I am not sure what the knot is called but here it is!

   I made this two colors so it was easier to follow but you will just use one strip! But ya, you just repeat that a million times and that's all it is! Super simple and easy. (and oops for messing up the numbering :/ )
   Again, go by layers, starting from the middle. When it comes time to switch from one loop to another, here is what I came up with that helped hold it together better...

   Once you're done with one strip, just knot the next strip over the ends so they are tucked inside. At the end you will have a few ends that poke out, just tuck them in somewhere.

   A little while later this is what you will have! :)

   If there is any confusion at all, ask as many questions as you would like in the comments. Let me know if you try it out! If you email me a picture, I'd love to share it on here!

Linky parties: Homemaker on a Dime; Serendipity and Spice; Alderberry Hill; Lines Across; Sumo's Sweet Stuff; Craft-O-Mania; I Heart Nap Time