Be right back

Some thrifting finds from Albury/Wodonga: Brown ankle boots and vintage knitting books. (No, I did not buy the lamp)

Yes, I am still alive and kicking. The lack of posts for the past few weeks was definitely an unplanned hiatus. But I will be back in Sydney in a week's time and everything will be back to normal once I get my hands back on high-speed Internet connection and pull my shit together. x

New shoes, old shoes and DIY shoes

From left to right: New burgundy hi-top sneakers, old (and cheap) moccasins with a broken sole that ended up in the bin, DIY Chanel-inspired flats (as seen here) that got so very worn and also ended up in the bin, DIY Charlotte Olympia-inspired Kitty flats

Close-up of DIY Kitty flats

After creating my two-tone brogues, I still have a huge amount of the 3D fabric paint left. So, what better way to make good use of it than to make another shoe-related DIY? The DIY version of Charlotte Olympia's Kitty flats has been all the rage on the Internet for a while. I made mine using the 3D paint I have and a pair of $1 flats I bought during a sale. 


Come to think of it, I have actually been wearing this pair of kitty flats for almost 6 months! The back of the flats are very worn now because they are essentially cheap $1 flats and I walk with my heel down first. It will probably end up in the bin very soon.


xx

Oh lord, what have I done?

The semester is drawing to an end and everything has been going fine (as in ok and only just ok) so far. So, last Saturday, I thought to myself, "what better way to celebrate the survival of another semester than spending money to fulfill my materialistic desires?" Behold, a picture featuring the full glory of my finds. Perhaps I have gone a tad too far.

Burnt orange wool hat with brim, Dotti, $9.95
Olive green wool bowler hat, Dotti, $5.95
Leopard print beret (with a furry texture *squeals*), Dotti, $.9.95
Black bag with gold bow detail, Dotti, $9.95
A set of 3 headbands, Factorie, $1
A set of bracelets in ethnic-inspired colours, Factorie, $4.95
Striped cotton jersey dress, Factorie, $4.95
Floral dress, Cotton On, $10
Faux fur coat, Cotton On, $20
Sunglasses for a DIY project, Cotton On, $2
Buckle bracelets in black and beige, Cotton On, $2 each
Faux leather brown laptop sleeve, Cotton On, $2
Burgundy Hi-top sneakers (*without* hidden heels, unfortunately), Rubi/Cotton On, $10

When I become an old spinster, I shall be known as the Hat Lady.

I am really really going to miss shopping in Sydney when I return to Singapore.


xx

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: Chanel-inspired ballet flats

This DIY project really makes me want to LOL. I don't usually type LOL on the internet, but this time, I really have to because it's exactly what I was doing while working on this DIY project.

I bought this pair of nude/beige ballet flats at an outlet shop for just $2 yesterday. Yes, $2, just $2! I was really lucky because this was the last pair for my size! But, when I tried it on, it was TOO PLAIN for my liking and I decided to do a DIY with it. For some reason, the image of the classic Chanel two-tone ballet flats immediately came to my mind. So, I grabbed some sticky tape and my trusty black Sharpie, and this baby was completed in less than half an hour.

I wouldn't normally DIY a pair of shoes because, let's face it - they wear out and they are NOT CHEAP. But hey, this pair of flats only cost me $2 and the DIY is as easy as doing 'Colour By Numbers'. So, with nothing to lose, I took a leap of faith and got on to put my idea into action (which, by the way, is something I should do a lot more often).

I'm not sure if it's the (shameless) idea of the project itself, my courage to do something like this, or the smell from my black Sharpie, but I was literally giggling to myself while making this. So, I hope you'll have fun too!


Materials:
1 pair of beige/nude flats
Black Sharpie
Sticky tape
Nude/beige ribbon (optional)


Steps:

1. First and foremost, test an area of the shoe with the black Sharpie. I know Sharpie is supposed to work on  virtually all surfaces, but it's better to play it safe. I tested my Sharpie on the under side of the flats to make sure that the ink comes out really black and stays permanent when dried!

2. Put sticky tape at the back of the flats as shown in the picture and colour the strip at the back with your black Sharpie. Do this for both flats.

3. Put sticky tape across the front of the flats, and make sure that both left and right side matches!! Then, colour the top of the flats with black Sharpie.

4. If your flats didn't come with a nude/beige bow, you can make one of your own and then stick it to the flats to complete the Chanel look. I was lucky that my shoes already came with the nude bows! :)

There you go. That's all. Wasn't that simple???


Also, I'm not sure about what you think, but my friend thought the shoes turned out looking like a Malayan Tapir...............................

P.S.: I wanted to post this later this week, but Polyvore stuffed my blog posts up when I was creating the inspiration poster on the website last night. So, bah, I decided to post it up today because I think some people might have seen the inspiration poster last night...


Image of the Chanel flats from here
Inspiration board created using my Polyvore account here
Image of the Malayan Tapir, which, by the way, is in the danger of extinction, is from here

From the streets of Bangkok - 4

Painted sneakers!? Nah! They are printed ones. Ok, so this is not exactly something made by the artists of Bangkok, but I thought that it's actually a really good idea for painting your own white shoes! I'm not too sure why, but the idea of wearing something that looks like a watermelon on your feet seems to be rather popular. A quick google led me to several links tutorials on how to paint your own watermelon sneakers. 

Watermelon sneakers in Bangkok, around 250 Baht before bargaining.

Oh, and not forgetting how Vans also have their own version of the watermelon plimsolls!

So, if watermelon is your favourite fruit... you can add this project to your DIY list. It can't be too difficult. Just paint the sides of the gum soles green, the canvas body red, and finally add little black dots all around the red body. 

From the streets of Bangkok - 3

First of all, I apologise for this very late post. It has been more than a week since my last post. I've just moved to a new place in Australia (where I am studying) and it takes forever for the new Internet to set up. Damn.

PAINTED SNEAKERS! These designs on these hand-painted pictures look as though they were printed on. But no, you can be absolutely sure that are indeed hand-painted because the artists were just sitting right there painting other shoes! They were spotted in a corner of the Chactuchak Market and there were so many designs to choose from! I was really tempted to get one for myself but I have already overspent for that day.

I wasn't too sure about the prices of each design but apparently the prices start from 260 Baht.

If you were to ask me if I regret NOT getting one of these pairs of lovely shoes, I'd say no. It mostly because I have always felt that DIY items have a much greater sentimental value when it is made on your own or given as a gift from someone. It's just a personal thing. Nevertheless, I still feel that this is a great inspiration for people who plans to paint their own plain ol' sneakers.  

Check out the designs that they have! I really like the one with Spongebob's big smiley face (centre, left) and the one with the big heart between Mickey and Minnie (bottom, right ). Start your sketch on a paper now and start painting soon!