DIY: Tie-dye stockings / Halloween Zombie stockings

DIY Tie-dye Zombie Stockings

A few weeks ago, my friends and I had a Crafternoon party where we fiddled with food dye and stockings. Our plan was to make ombre stockings and tie-dye stockings. The ombre stockings didn't turn out great, but the tie-dye stockings turned out AMAZING. Well, at least in my opinion. So here's the how-to! 

Materials:
Nude nylon stockings
Food dyes and various colours (my advice is to get primary colours and then mix these colours to create more colours!)
Vinegar
A pot of boiling water
Gloves (if you don't want to end up with funky fingertips like I did)
Rubber bands

Steps:

1. Twist your stockings lengthwise until you end up with a ball-like mess. Secure the ball-like mess with a rubber band. Or you could think up more interesting ways to twist your stockings for a more unique tie-dye look. 

2. Add vinegar to your pot of boiling water. This helps to ensure that your stockings remain colourfast. I didn't follow a formula for the ratio of water to vinegar. To me, this is creative craft, not a science experiment. 

3. Bring the water down to a simmer.

4. Add the desired coloured dye(s) into your pot of boiling water. (P.S.: It is highly recommended that you mix 2 different colours if you want the tie-dye effect like the one I have done. My friends and I started out with a pot of pink dye, then added blue to create purple. I popped my stockings into the pot of purple dye thinking that it would only give a purple tie-dye effect. But woah, surprise surprise! It turned out with an amazing diffused red and blue look.)

5. Leave the stockings in the pot for about 5 minutes (or longer if you want more colours to seep into the twisted bits). Sing a song while the stockings simmer in the pot. Alternatively, you can chant "Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

6. Remove the stockings from the pot. Let it cool off for a bit, unravel it, then rinse it with water until the water runs clear.

Drying out our products

7. Lay it out to dry.

8. Wear it with pride.

Like a zombie

That's how simple it is! Honestly, I can't guarantee the same results, but do let me know how your stockings turn out if you do end up trying this.

x g

Tips: DIY Dolce & Gabanna inspired floral sunglasses

Dolce & Gabbana inspired DIY floral embellished sunglasses

It is a well-known fact that tutorials for the Dolce & Gabbana inspired DIY floral sunglasses have been done to death all over the Internet. So, instead of doing re-inventing the wheel, I thought of sharing some tips and some of the ideas that I have for this DIY project.

Tip #1: Pick a pair of sunglasses with thicker frame so that there is ample area for you to glue the flowers. A cat-eye frame is a plus because placing the flowers on the top tips of a cat-eye frame gives emphasis on the flowers.

Tip #2: Play around with placement of the flowers on the sunglasses using Blu-Tack to have a good idea of what the end-product will look like. This also allows you to wear the sunnies and decide if you actually like the look!

Tip #3: Use flowers of different sizes.

Tip #4: Try using metallic roses for a different look! 

Tip#5: Don't stop at flowers/roses. Think big, think fruits and animals. Think Anna Dello Russo's gold crocodile sunglasses. Now that's another DIY idea!

Half-frame floral look. Not a fan.

Tried a full floral look and decided it was too much for me

Gold roses

So there you go, my tips for creating your very own DIY embellished sunglasses. To be honest, I haven't glued the flowers to my sunnies. Those flowers are stuck to the sunnies with Blu-Tack. It's so hard to decide on the one that I really want! But I have to say that I have deviating towards the one with the gold roses! 

Have fun! xx

DIY: Flower Crown

Flower Crown

Back view

This is another Rookie-inspired DIY project that has been on my to-do list for FAR TOO LONG. And now, it's done. And now, I'm happy. And now, I am itching to make more.

Crochet roses

I made this flower crown using crochet roses that I made in various sizes, felt, a plain headband, and ... lots of glue. Perhaps next time I will make one using really big, plastic flowers.  Now let me put on this flower crown and a white tutu, and then leave for an imaginary afternoon tea in my imaginary secret garden. x

P.S.: The photos were taken before I dyed my hair pink. My hair tips are still pink!
P.P.S.: Someone asked me about how I achieved the original black and blond ombre look in a comment on my original ombre hair post. I can't help you at all because a friend did it for me! I simply provided the dye and the hair. :P

DIY: Bejewelled clutch

Bejewelled Clutch

No secrets inside

This is the perfect type of DIY-with-your-TV project. I promise that you will not even notice the hours fly by. Just make sure that you don't get too close to the project because the smell of the superglue might get to you.

Materials:
1 x sunglasses case
1 x cosmetic bottle cap
Gold nail polish (or another colour of your choice)
Lots of tiny rhinestones
Superglue

The cap

I got the tiny rhinestones from eBay and if I remember correctly, they cost me less than $10 in total. And the sunglasses case was $2 from a dollar shop. The cap was literally free because it came from a beauty product sample.

Steps:
1. Glue the rhinestones all over.
2. Paint the cap with gold nail polish.

3. Glue the cap on the top of the clutch.
4. Put on red lipstick and your favourite pair of heels. Go out and party. Take this clutch with you.

Now all I need is an occasion to use take this clutch out. xx

DIY: Detachable Collar

DIY Detachable Collar

Finally, a DIY-related post. 

This detachable collar was inspired by a tutorial featured on Rookie here. If you're not reading Rookie then you are missing out on something good. Anyway, the collar is from the same XL chambray shirt that I thrifted eons ago. Oh yes, I used the shirt to make a skirt here and now I've made a fun collar from remains of the shirt. I'm very much like the hunter that utilises every single part of a kill - skin, meat, fats, bones and all. Waste not, want not.

The shirt-to-skirt DIY

So here's the skirt that I made from the same shirt. Ah, I looked so happy wearing it then. But just to let everyone know, I have a very fickle heart. I stopped loving the skirt a while ago and have given it to my friend. Perhaps it was partly due to the fact that it was part of the 30 X 30 wardrobe challenge I did last year. Wearing the same item repeatedly certainly has the tendency to make it fall out of favour.

The original shirt

I think I still have the sleeves and some other remnants of the shirt lying around... I can probably make a couple of bows and random stuff out of it. We'll see! :) 


xx

DIY: Pom Pom Cardigan

This is what happens when one feels the sudden urge to add more colours to one's life (and sees a pack of craft pom pom lying on the table).

Materials:
1 pack of craft pom poms
1 plain cardigan
Needle and thread

Steps:

1. Decide where you want to place your pom poms

2. Sew them on!

I've worn this cardigan to uni a couple of times and someone commented that this cardigan reminded her of Dorothy the Dinosaur. =_= I just want to be clear - that was not my intention...............

Dorothy the Dinosaur (via)

Anyway, I still have a couple of the pom poms left and I'm thinking of using them to dress up some plain hair accessories or something. We'll see! 

DIY: Polka Dot Nails

I was instantly inspired when I saw this tutorial here a few days ago. This DIY nail design is so easy to do! My polka dots are rather large as I used a plastic knitting needles... That was the nearest thing to me when I wanted to get the 'dotting' done. 


By the way, how lovely is that shade of robin egg blue? 


x

DIY: Turban Knot Headband

I made this red headband a while ago based on this item that I saw on ASOS. The ASOS website always provides me with endless inspirations for creating fashion-forward knitted projects. If I were crazy, I'd make one in every colour of yarn I have. 

DIY Inspiration: Very 70s 
(via)

***


Materials:
1 ball of 8ply yarn of your choice
A pair of 3.00mm knitting needles


Pattern:


Cast on 27 stitches
Row 1: k2, *p1, k1; rep from *, end k1
Row 2: k1, *k next st in the row below, k1; rep from *
Row 3: k1, *p1, k1; rep from *
Row 4: k2, *k next st in the row below; rep from *, end k1 



Repeat Rows 1 - 4 until the headband measures approximately 70cm long. 

Before casting off, tie a knot at the centre of the work and then wrap the headband around your head to check that it fits well. Once you're satisfied with the length, cast off.

Bind seams. 


***


Enjoy! 

DIY: Two-tone brogues

I'm totally in love with this pair of black & bronze brogues that I whipped up a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to create a two-tone look on a pair of brogues after seeing several similar DIY projects appearing throughout the internet for the past couple of months. My chance came when I saw a pair of black brogues on sale for just $5 at Rubi shoes! Sometimes I just can't believe how lucky I am! 

Before

After

I completed this project in 2 nights. I applied several coats (approx 6 - 7)  of the paint so that the black no longer shows and the paint starts to give an opaque metallic look. By the way, this is the perfect DIY project to do while watching TV shows. There's no concentration required at all. I love it when I can watch shows like I Love Lucy while creating stuff. 


Here's the how-to:

Materials:
Fabric paint
Paintbrush
A pair of brogues


Steps:

1. Paint in the areas that you want to paint.

2. Repeat with several layers of paint until the original colour of the shoes no longer shows!

DIY: Coffee Sleeve (inspired by Jimmy Choo)

Yes, I made the coffee cup sleeve that I talked about a while ago. I made it using just a small bit of the faux snakeskin that I have from an XL skirt I thrifted 2 years ago. That's the same fabric that I used to make my snakeskin and studded clutch. I don't exactly have a tutorial for this project, but I'll just share with everyone how I made it.

I cut the original sleeve that came with the tumbler, put it on a piece of paper, then traced the shape out and added about 0.5 cm to the ends. Then, using the paper pattern, I traced out the shape on my faux snakeskin fabric. 


Following that, I cut the faux snakeskin fabric and then sew the dotted ends together with a straight stitch. Finally, I trimmed the seam to make it short (as seen in the second picture) and used a zig-zag stitch to secure the seam. That's all!

♥

My re-usable and insulated tea tumbler will never be the same again. :) Also, I still have a bit of the faux snakeskin leftover! I wonder what else I can create with the leftover... 

Image of Jimmy Choo's Coffee Sleeves via here

Image of inspiration board created using Polyvore and can be seen here