Junk to jewels~ Black Bow

Following on from my last post. I finally got around to fixing up my 'maid style' hair piece, unfortunatly I forgot to upload the photos.I will show you the adjustments I made in my next blog post.

I did however upload the photos I took of my new bow. I cut this bow off a rather ugly beanie which I found in my cupboard. The bow was sparkly and rather cute (If a little lopsided) so I snipped it off.

To keep it from going wonky in my hair (See original appearance of bow below) I added a couple of black stitches to encourage it to sit in a real bow shape.

This may seem very simple to all the craft savvy people out there, but you might be surprised at the number of times I have heard my friends say "I had this old jumper in my wardrobe with these cute buttons/bows/flowers on it, but it had holes in it. So I threw it out.'

What??? Potential cool hair thingy thrown away!!!! Shock! Horror!

Anyway, back to being serious. Here is the bow sewn into it's proper shape.

See the difference? No? Perhaps this photo will give you a better idea:

 

Personally I think it makes a cute hair piece (I slipped a bobby-pin through it, but a hair clip/clasp would work as well).

Nailpolish Flowers

I was walking through our main shopping area and I stopped at some 2 dollar shops/cheap shops. Feeling creative, I bought some black hair combs and a plastic bouquet of tacky flowers, hoping that with a lot of time, thread and nailpolish I could turn them into something worth the $4.50 I spent on them.

When I got home I opened my craft box and noticed I still had a decent amount of lace left.  Placing my shopping goodies to the side I made: 

I was feeling pretty happy with it,I had simply wrapped lace around a comb and sewed it in place.Then I tried it on...Chrysanthemum told me it was very 'maid' like....and as much as I love Downtown Abby, I'm not prepared to become one of them.

After testing out several nail polishes on scraps of lace,and considering tearing it off completely, I decided to put it to the side and try something else:

This is the result of snipping off four plastic flowers and coating them 'neatly' in nailpolish. It worked fairly well considering how simple it was.However after consultation I decided the freshly dried flowers would look best on a headband,Take 2:

Unfortunatly I still wasn't happy with the result. I realised that a thick double layered headband wasn't going to work. I needed a skinny one...Cue frantic searching through my craft boxes/bags for an appropriate headband. One failed to turn up, and as the shops don't re-open till Monday, I'm going to have to wait until then to finish it off.

Incase you were wondering, here is the original flower bouquet in its full tacky-ness.

Watch this space!

Flower themed hair piece

I was searching through my hair decoration box for something to go with my new Bat Man shirt (Yellow and black) when I realised I had NOTHING to match it. With this in mind I watched several You tube videos on how to make flowered headpieces.

Unfortunately they all seemed to require a glue gun (Which I don't have) or they looked distinctly Bride/wedding themed which is not the look I was going for. I realised I was going to have to make it up as I go along.

 

Here are my instructions on how to get the headpiece I made: 

You will need:
 Some random fabric scraps, a headband, thread, a needle, lace,nail polish (coloured or clear)or a sharpie, and scissors.

 1. Cut out 2 big circles of fabric and one little circle, I used the base of a cup and cut it out jagged. It won't matter how neat you are as you won't see the edge in the finished product.

2. Take the first circle and scrunch it up into a remotely flower shape. Sew it tightly so that it will stay in place. Repeat with the second circle . The third circle needs to be rolled up to resemble a bud with a couple of stitches through the centre.

 3. Sew the two big circles together however you think they look best. Then place the fabric bud in the centre and stitch it all together firmly.

 4.Take the lace and place it around the edge of the fabric so that it forms a frill. Sew it firmly.

 
5. Cut off any loose threads and arrange the flower neatly. Take a nail polish, if you like the orginal colour of the lace then I suggest using a clear polish however I decided to use Midnight Fever ($2.00) which I found at a local chemist.The polish stiffens the lace so that it will sit firmly against your head.

6. Carefully paint the lace with polish until the whole of the lace is covered. Allow the flower to dry completely before moving on to the next step.

6. Take the head band and after deciding where you would like the flower to go, sew the flower in small looping stitches to the band. 

This step is very fiddly, especially if your headband has teeth. However the finished product is well worth the effort.

   

7. Tie a knot in the thread and cut off all loose strands. For extra firmness I would suggest adding clear nail polish to the stitches, but it works fine without. You now have a one of a kind headpiece.

Enjoy!

My gothic/cute shoes

I am doing a blog post dedicated to my two favourite pairs of shoes.I Love Shoes. They can make or break your outfit.

Every girl knows that your outfit is only as cute as the shoes that your wearing. Therefore, here are my most fabulous shoes!

Black heeled shoes go with jeans, leggings or smart black skirts. They also create a mature look even if your wearing something casual on top.

 I got these shoes from ALDO, and if your looking for these shoes in particular they are called 'NAUMANN' and are simply the MOST comfortable shoes I have ever owned.

Silly shoes are fun and creative. I purchased these for around $20.00 but with a little imagination and a hot glue gun they wouldn't be hard to replicate. The brand of this shoe 'Instep' has some cool silly shoes at relatively cheap prices, I find them perfect for jazzing up a boring outfit.

 I'd also like to suggest cheap shoe shops, like Dimmies, King Kong, Crazy Clarks and any shop that sells cheap plain shoes. These shoes are very boring and tacky but splash some paint and glitter on them and they are definitely worth $10.00.

I can't possible be the only one who thinks retail therapy is the best medicine?

On another topic, look at this cute flower clip I made a little while ago:

I will do a post on how to make this hair piece sometime soon.

Fabric Painting

Over the School holidays my family decided we needed to do something creative. Naturally the large quantities of fabric paint at the back of the cupboard pointed my vote in the direction of T-shirt painting.Usually when I fabric paint items of clothing they do not turn out very well, but this time I loved it!




Of course my younger brother's attempts were more along the lines of "Cover every square inch of fabric in paint and see what disgusting colour you create", but mine turned out quite well.




Here I am wearing a white Ottobre T-shirt (Made for me by my Mother) with gathered sleeves. I fabric painted it with black butterflies and white sparkly antennas, using a cut out from a birthday card I was given a couple of years ago.





The skirt (Also made for me by my Mother) is in truth a ruffled petticoat with black leggings underneath. I particularly like the way you can see the outline of the leggings through the skirt, but it isn't completely see-through or revealing.





I chose to wear deep pink Elizabeth Arden lipstick and a light coating of Sumptuous lifting mascara (01 Black). The lipstick is a slight contrast to my outfit, but it is not too bright for a quiet outfit. The mascara outlines my eyes and makes them seem bigger and brighter.

Hair accessories

I realized that in my last post I only skimmed over hair accessories, so, I have decided to expand upon this topic. Hair, as any girl will know, can make or break your outfit. All important hair clips, ribbons and styling will, and can, make a world of difference.


For those of you who don't wish to break the bank on hair clips, I advise you to make your own. They can look just as good, and often better, then any store bought trinket.


At your local 'Two Dollar' shop, you can be sure to find some kind of cheap headband or a pack of Bobbie-pins for next to nothing. Better yet, if you have been given some, or have been handed them by younger sister/cousin who you don't want to be disappointed when you don't wear them. These cheap nick-backs will come in handy to add a flare to your outfit.


1- Remove (rip,tear,cut) any decorations attached to the hair piece, but don't throw them out! After all you may be able to dye them black/white and use them later.

2- You will need some super glue, ordinary glue just won't do the trick. I use my Fathers (After all, It's not like his going to miss a couple of drops), but if your Dad doesn't have any, your local hardware store should have some.

3- Purchase a small quantity of cheap (but pretty) fabric, beads, or, if you can get hold of some, pretty black or white flowers with a beaded center.

4- If you couldn't find any ready made decorations, lay out your fabric, then fold it in half. Cut out 5 petals (or however many you would like)and glue the two sides of each petal together. Once these are dry, glue all the petals together to create a flower effect. Finally glue a small ring of beads in the center of the flowers and adjust the flower until you have the desired effect.

5- repeat the fourth step until you have as many flowers as you wish.

 6- When you finished decoration is dry, glue it in the desired point on your headband, elastic, or bobbie-pin.

Wear as desired.

 This was my first try, (Remember, the superglue needs to be dry BEFORE you put it in your hair! :)


Or,if you don't wish to make your own, have a look through any thrift shops you come across, you never know when some perfect hair accessories will turn up out of the blue.