Upcycle Large T-shirt into Dress!

Have you ever gotten a free shirt that was just waaaay too big for you? Here's an idea to put it to good use! You need a shirt that's 3 or 4 sizes bigger than fits you. For example, if you usually wear a small, get an XL or XXL shirt. Now, you can make the t-shirt into a cute strapless dress! Follow the easy steps below:

There are two (or more!) ways you can style the dress. Dress it up with a cardigan and belt, and you have a cheap and cute dress. When you pick a shirt, just make sure the collar fits around the area under your arms.

Have fun wearing your new upcycled dress!

DIY Shopping Bag Wall Art

I haven't had time to post lately, unfortunately...I've been busy with graduation and senior activities. Speaking of, I'm so glad summer's finally here for me and I get to relax and hang out with friends. I'm also thinking about dorm decorations for next year, which brings me to today's DIY. I used an old paper shopping bag to make some cool modern wall art. The bag I used was from the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. I am a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's works, and I love art museums, so this was a great way to commemorate my time there.

All you need is a cool shopping bag you like, from a vacation or destination, or that simply symbolizes memories you have. Cut it to fit the frame (I used a 8x10 frame), and stick it in. I like the sleek black poster frame for this project.

And there you go! Some cool wall art to spruce up your living space. :)

DIY Wired Headband

I originally got the idea and tutorial for a wired headband here.
What is it with me and headbands lately? This DIY, however, is not a floral headband for once! It is really easy to make if you have a sewing machine, but unfortunately I don't and ended up spending an hour or two on it. I think it was still worth it though! It looks super cute:

Now pick a cute fabric and get started!

DIY Spring Headband (Part 2)

I loved the last headband tutorial so much that I couldn't stop making floral headbands with all my extra fake flowers from past projects. Here is another variation of a floral headband, using smaller and more flowers.

Use flowers like these, that are more abundant per stem and smaller.

Pull the flowers off the stem.

Cut most of the stem off so all that's remaining is the part that attaches the flowers to the stem.

Hot glue the main stem to the top of the headband with a line of glue.

Hot glue the smaller stems coming out of the main stem so that the flowers are all in line with each other.

Continue doing this until there is only about an inch and a half remaining on each end of the headband.

Now you have a beautiful flower crown!

Love, Sam

DIY Spring Headband

As spring progresses, I feel the need to wear florals and bright colors. Here's a DIY for a headband that will spruce up your outfits for the season! I stopped by the Dollar Tree and got materials for this super cheap and easy-to-make spring headband. All you need is:

- Fake flowers (can be bought at the Dollar Tree)
- Headbands (also can be bought at the Dollar Tree)
- Ribbon (ditto)
- Hot glue & gun
- Scissors

Pull the flower off its stem, and take the spiky green plastic part off too.

Glue the fabric flower securely to the rest of the stem, since this is what keeps the flower together.

Cut most of the stem off, then hot glue it to the headband.

Glue another flower on, then glue ribbon to secure the flowers in place.

Wear it outside!

Hope you enjoy this quick DIY.

Personalized Glass Mug

I've always loved the idea of drinking out of a mason jar. It just seems so much cooler than using a plastic water bottle. Although, I do know that it is much less practical since they break so easily. I found a mason jar with a handle at the craft store, and immediately thought about all the yogurt parfaits and fruit drinks I could put into it. Here's a cute way to personalize your mason jar:

Simply take out the metal circle piece from the lid and trace that circle on a piece of scrapbooking paper. Then draw your first initial letter (or anything else) onto another piece of patterned paper. Cut these shapes out. Glue the initial to the circle and "laminate" with packing tape on both sides. Cut the tape so there is a small circle border around the shape. Then, simply insert the circle on top of the metal circle and place inside the lid. Screw the lid on to make the paper keep its shape.

Store fruit or a parfait to go!

DIY Boutonniere for Prom!

If you're a senior in high school like me, I can almost guarantee that you're excited for prom. If not, then get excited! But even though prom is super fun, it can be extremely expensive! Girls have to get a dress (which aren't cheap!), boutonniere for a date, and perhaps a ticket and meal too. Why buy a boutonniere, which is basically just a small bundle of flowers, for $20 or more when you can DIY it?!

Materials:
Flowers, one main color (to match dress) and smaller accent flowers--these can be fresh flowers or fake ones; I chose fake because I'm making this far in advance to prom and don't want the flowers to die.
Tape, floral or masking (doesn't matter what color, we'll cover it up!)
Straight pins
Ribbon
Scissors

Here are the steps, in pictures:

Keep reading to finish the tutorial!

DIY Spring Tank from Old T-Shirt

With spring here (or coming and going in intervals), I've been starting to think about more summery and hot weather outfits to wear. Recently, I've bought a circle skirt, maxi dress, and spring shirts to wear. But as always, I still have a ton of old t-shirts that I'm not particularly eager to wear. That's why I've been researching ways to refashion old shirts into more attractive spring/summer clothes. Here's an idea for turning an old t-shirt into a tank!

Simply find an old t-shirt with a design you don't mind wearing, and cut off parts of the collar, sleeves, and bottom hem.

I achieved the final product through a lot of trial and error, and you may have to do that too since everyone's body shape is different and different cuts may look good on different people. 

Henna Tattoos

My school does a cool thing every year called Global Village, where students display, perform, or demonstrate aspects of their culture or any culture. It is a week long event that ends in the festival on Friday, and each country sets up a booth with lots of yummy multicultural food! Today was Henna Day.

Henna is a dye that comes from henna trees, and is traditionally used in Arabic countries, India, Africa, and other regions for tattooing in both men and women. Sometimes it is used in wedding traditions or simply as part of social and holiday celebrations.

I got to try applying henna onto people's hands. It was hard at first but the results turned out well! I borrowed some henna and took it home to try on my family.

A simple design with a ring

Just applied

When it's this dry and starts you crack, you can wash it off

Final result!

If you want to try this, you can buy henna in cones from cultural stores or online.

Source: sabanaboutique.net

Search 'henna tattoo patterns' online for ideas.
Happy tattooing! :)

DIY Elastic Hair Ties

You know those hair ties that have been in style recently? The ones made of the flat elastic that cost somewhere around $12 for a package of 5? Well, I bought a few packages of those before I realized that it was so easy to make my own. I simply went to this Etsy shop and bought a bulk package of the elastic material (called fold-over elastic) and cut and tied it. There are some great deals in this shop--I got one yard of five different colors of elastic for $2.75+$2.00 shipping. I can make about three to four hair ties with each yard of elastic, which means I could potentially make 20 hair ties for less than five dollars! You can even make stretchy headbands, hair ties with beads, and other neat things with it.

When I first got my package, this is what the elastic looked like:

After cutting, tying, and using a lighter to seal the ends (bring the flame close to the elastic, but don't touch it!) this is what my elastics looked like:

These make cheap and beautiful gifts, and look great on your hair and wrist.

Have fun making, and hopefully you'll never have to spend another dime on store-bought elastics again!
P.S. If you know me, please ask about buying some hair ties from me!

More DIY From Old T-Shirts

There is an infinite number of things you can make with t-shirt strips. I recently found out that there is even such a thing as crocheting with t-shirt strips to make rugs! Although I don't think I have quite the amount of stamina or old t-shirts it takes to make a rug, I did make some smaller projects with the same material.

My sister's bowl

My coaster

In both of these projects, we braided three strips of t-shirt scraps together and then used hot glue to adhere the sides. When you begin the braid, sew or glue the ends of the three strips together. To create long lengths of strips, cut on a whole t-shirt and spiral the cut around the t-shirt. This should create a seamless length. I began by using a needle and thread on my coaster, but realized it was too tedious and didn't look as good as using hot glue. For extra help, here is a great tutorial on making coasters with t-shirt yarn.

Enjoy this DIY!

DIY Headbands From T-shirt Scraps

My sister and I made these cute headbands from old t-shirts--a great way to upcycle used clothes (which I have too many of!). I followed this YouTube tutorial to make them. They are so cute and quick to make.

I made a thicker one and my sister made one that was a bit thinner.

Try this with colored shirts, as well as combinations of colors! In the future, I'd also like to try putting beads in the knot.

How to Create Matte Nails with Steam

If you're like me, you like painting your nails for fun sometimes. Personally, I've always liked nude/pale colors--less is more, right? Recently I experimented with mattifying nails using steam, a great look if you want your nails to be a little more toned-down. It's super quick and easy. Just paint your first coats of polish on, and grab a pot of water!

Here are my nails before mattifying:

Now boil a pot of water. When steam starts coming out, you're ready!

Paint on either a top coat or another coat of the color you've been using. Quickly, hold your hand over the pan for a few seconds, rotating your hand so the steam hits all angles of your nails.




See the difference!

Tips:

• Make sure to rotate your hand while it's over the pot. Some of my nails ended up being part-matte and part-shiny because I didn't do this.
• Don't leave your nails over the pot for too long because water will condense and bubbles will form. Hold your nails over the pot for a few seconds, then remove your hand so that steam can dry, then repeat.
• Don't burn yourself! 

In this tutorial I used Revlon Nail Enamel in Elegant and Sally Hanson Diamond Strength in Flawless (clear).