Totoro Cosplay

Lately my outfits for halloween/cosplay have been furry creatures (Jake, Cheshire Cat, and now Totoro) and with all of them I turn regular outfits in their color into my costume. It typically involves thrift store finds, markers, sewing ears and a tail, and a little (or a lot) of makeup. Either way it's always fun. The best part is most of the costumes can be worn as part of a regular outfit!

For this particular one, I sewed a tail and ears, then pinned the tail to the back of my cardigan and used wire to attach the ears to the head band and hold them up. Add a few boomerangs to a cream colored tank top and BOOM! I became Totoro.

It was super great to connect with those who also were Miyazaki fans. And if they didn't understand who I was, they were all "nice cat costume!" and I promptly turned away as they did not deserve my attention. JK! I just said thanks; trying to describe who Totoro is was too much effort. More details on my first comicon to follow!

TTFN!

Ugly Christmas Sweater DIY

I've noticed lots of sites have been popping up to supply the perfect "ugly christmas sweater" which I feel takes away all the joy from finding these in thrift stores; not to mention, who wants to pay $30 for an ugly sweater? What really makes them great is that they were originally designed without the intention of being ugly, and they've eventually retired to thrift stores across the nation once their owners have realized their fashion disaster.

I went with Zack last night to find sweaters for the party tomorrow night. We found the most hideous amazing sweater vest for him, but nothing quite right for me. So I decided to make my own. I snagged the green sweater for $4, and spent another $2 at the dollar store for the creepy santa ornament and the gold garland. $6 and an hour later BOOM! My masterpiece.

POSSIBLE MATERIALS

• Sweater
• Sewable ornament(s) that's flat on one side
• Garland
• Pompoms
• Yarn
• Needle and thread
• Scissors

I would NOT suggest glue. Not even liquid stitch, given the nature of sweaters it'd probably give you more hassle than convenience. I'm not so great with a needle and thread but it doesn't have to be perfect. The hat on the santa made it super easy to work with, so I suggest a bit of cloth on the ornament if you can. I might add some pompoms later  to fill up the sides, but I'm cool with it the way it is.

X = where I tacked things into place with needle and thread

DIRECTIONS

1. Try on the sweater and pin where the main attraction(s) will go. Take off sweater.
2. With a needle and thread, tack objects into place.
3. Be festive.

Are any of you sporting "ugly christmas sweaters this season? I'd love to see! Link it up in the comments below :)

TTFN!<3

Thanksgiving Centerpiece DIY

Super quick and easy DIY to add a final touch to your thanksgiving decor. Most if not all of the stuff you might already have!

YOU WILL NEED:

• twigs
• leaves
• pine
• ribbon
• optional: gold spray paint

INSTRUCTIONS

1. gather all the nature you'd want to include into your centerpiece. I wanted to make sure I had all of the colors of fall!
2. depending on the size of the table, brake the twigs to the size you'd want. I ended up using a total of about a dozen twigs and kept them around two to 3 feet in length.
3. If you're using spray paint, split the amount of twigs in half and give them a nice coat of spray paint. Wait a couple minutes, flip 'em over and spray the other side.
4. After your golden twigs dry, layer the twigs into a bunch, alternating between gold and brown. 
5. Using about three feet of ribbon, wrap it around the bunch twice, and tie a pretty bow
6. using the leaves and the pine, stick them all throughout the leaves until you are pleased!

As you can see, this would look fine with just the twigs, or just twigs and pine; especially for a christmas centerpiece. This idea is totally customizable and didn't cost me a dime! If you found some pinecones, you can spray paint them gold and use them as place settings for a little something extra :3

 

Hope you like this little DIY! let me know if you've tried this or had a centerpiece DIY of your own!

TTFN <3

-Avé

P.S. - Dont let your dog chew up the material

Happy Thanksgiving!

DIY: Nail Polish Box

My sister and I have quite the nail polish collection. If I were to guess, probably around 50 to 60 polishes. We have all of our stuff in a reusable bag and a plastic container all sorts of jumbled up....lame sauce! I usually decide as I go when I paint my nails, so that means I paint the base coat and then think "mint polkadots would look so rad with this color!" and as my nails are drying, I'd attempt to find the mint and eventually mess up a nail or two.

This nifty little box solves that issue and makes painting my nails a breeze! The shoe box I used was for flats, so it's narrower than the average shoe box (allows for a maximum of 21 polishes). The average toilet paper roll fits most polishes perfectly. For this project, you'll need a shoe box, 5 or more toilet paper rolls, a glue gun, and scissors (optional: paint). Cool thing about this project is that it will cost you NOTHING! Except patience. I had to wait for my family to go through enough rolls...

D I R E C T I O N S :

1. Paint the insides and outsides of all the toilet paper rolls.
2. Cut the tubes in 1" increments. 1 tube = 4 little rings
3. If you have different size tubes like I did, situate the rings before you glue them in the shoe box. Then glue the bottom of the rings one by one and place them accordingly.
4. Organize your polishes however you'd like, then paint a little swatch of the polish in the corresponding ring. This allows you to put back the polishes in the right ring. 
5. Once you have all the rings filled, you can paint the lid to match the swatches. This way, you don't have to lift each polish to find the right color. 

Done! Wahoo! Time for a manicure :D

TTFN!<3

DIY: Simple Lace Headband

I had some left over lace scraps and found a cute way to use 'em! for this super easy project, you will need:

• 18" - 22" of lace trim (or ribbon)
• a hair tie
• scissors 
• needle and thread or a sewing machine

Directions:

1. Measure the lace trim around your head. The ends don't have to reach each other but make sure it reaches to the nape of your neck, keeping in mind seam allowance. My lace piece was 22" total.
2. Fold the lace end around the hair tie and sew back and forth a couple of times. I used a straight stitch back and forth about five or six times. Repeat for the other end.
3. Trim the excess near the stitch. DONE! 

For the skinnier lace trim I used some left over elastic instead of a hair tie. I try not to waste my scraps. Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

TTFN<3

DIY: Kitty Car Freshener

A few months ago I got my first car (with a little help from mom n' pops; thanks!). I got those little packs of trees to keep my car fresh, but they only last a week or so each....And I'm not too fond of having to keep buying more. So here's my little kitty for my car!

everything you could possibly need for this project

Materials

• Felt
• ribbon
• liquid stitch/fabric glue
• essential oil
• scissors
• chalk
• pins

my choice of scents

You can also use...

• any scrap fabric (if it's thin, use cardboard in the middle to hold it's shape)
• perfume
• cologne
• body spray
• fabreeze
• needle and thread
• glue gun
• elastic (instead of ribbon)

On to the kitty cat!

For the kitty, I first layered two pieces of felt. I kept them together until all of my pieces were cut out. I traced a 4'' diameter circle using a ribbon spool. Then I added the ears. Pinned it together, and snip!

For the face, I cut out two circles for eyes, two triangles for the inside of the ears, a smaller triangle for the nose, six skinny rectangles for whiskers, and a "3" shape for the mouth. All the pieces were still doubled, so I had a set in pink and a set in blue.

Using the liquid stitch, I glued the two kitty head pieces together, and then glued the face on using the opposite color set. Once the glue is dry, I cut a slit big enough to string the ribbon through (18" to 24" will do) After that, I used roughly 20 drops of essential oil on each side. That's it! ready to hang!

I named my car Freddie :3

These photos were taken right after I dowsed it in essential oil, so you can still see the drops. They disappeared after a couple of hours, but the scent was just as strong. Now every time I open my door, I get a whiff of tangerine and lychee, *yummmmm* It's been about a week and a half so far and the scent has yet to fade. I'll report back when I have to add some more essential oil.

The best part about it is you can use scraps and don't have to buy a thing! Even if you do want to splurge, it'd run you about $3 for materials, and anywhere from $5 to $15 for the essential oil. Also, I love that this is reusable!

I think I might make a Green Lantern logo for my brother, and maybe Jake for myself. Let me know if you try this out! I'd love to see :D

***UPDATE***

Today, August 17th I finally had to re-saturate my kitty. That's a total of 52 days of tangerine goodness in my car! The freshener shows no signs of wear or melting. :)

TTFN<3

DIY: Ombre Canvas Shoes with Sharpies

I've been wanting to alter these plain Jane canvas shoes for quite some time, and I've finally found a fun and easy way to add some color. Just in time for summer!

You will need:

• Canvas shoes
• Rubbing alcohol
• A sponge, cotton pad, or dropper (something to drip the rubbing alcohol onto the shoe)
• Your choice of Sharpies
• Tester fabric (optional)
• Newspaper
• Bowl

Inspect your shoes if they're not new. Make sure they're relatively clean! I had to wash mine. They'll be fine in the washer machine with a couple of old towels. Remove the laces, get your stuff and head outside for this super fun craft! (if not outside, A well ventilated area is cool too)

What colors and fades do you want for your new kicks? I recommend a tester fabric because I found out later on that some colors don't spread at all, and some colors spread into other unexpected colors; although the surprise outcome is part of the fun.

To get colors to fade, color across the shoe with one or two colors, and immediately drip the rubbing alcohol over the color. To do this I poured some rubbing alcohol in a bowl, used the cotton pad to soak some up, and squeezed the pad over the color. The more rubbing alcohol, the more it spreads. You don't want to wait too long to drip the rubbing alcohol, because the sharpie ink could dry permanently. 

~ Color and drip, color and drip... ~

The teal in the middle didn't spread well, so I went back over with a blue that did

A few tips: 

• If you want to go back over a section, try to wait till it's a little dry at least. If you color on parts still really damp with rubbing alcohol, you'll dry out your marker.
• If you must and you're impatient like me, then go ahead. When the marker appears like there's no ink coming out, then grab a scrap sheet and color till it's revived.
• The ink spreads in all directions; experiment with other shapes and patterns if you'd like!
• Sharpie.com goes into greater depth about this technique.

Once you're all done, leave them out to dry over night. Once they're completely dry, the ink will stop spreading. Don't be afraid to go over a few spots if you feel like it! I did a OOTD post earlier with these shoes, if you want more pictures. I think they came out pretty great; I want more!

Let me know if you make these and how they turned out for ya! Hope you liked the tutorial; feel free to post any questions.

TTFN <3

DIY Beauty: Greek Yogurt Hair Mask

When my fro is looking tired, dry, and down right deprived, that's when I know it's time for a mask. I've tried one with a mayo base, but it was too drippy and it smelled (although the benefits were almost worth it). I did some searching and I know yogurt is another popular base, but I couldn't find much on Greek yogurt. Since that's all I have, I decided to give it a shot.

For this mask, I used:

• 1 cup of yogurt. I found that the the Greek yogurt's superior thickness worked great my thick curls. However, Greek is not mandatory. Yogurt in general has lots of anti-fungal bacterial that will naturally cleanse your tresses. Also, the protein in yogurt strengthens your hair, which helps your curls stay curly and controls fly-away frizzies. This is a great mask for the summer because it's cool and soothing; also great for soothing an itchy scalp.
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil for shine and moisture. If you're not going with the egg, I'd go with 4 - 6 tablespoons.
• 1 egg for shine and moisture. This is optional. I found with this mask shine is not the main goal, like the mayo mask. I get weary when I use an egg because I freak out at the thought of scrambled eggs in my hair if the water's too hot when I rinse it out.
• 5 drops of vitamin E to help heal damaged hair and promote hair growth. How you may ask? In short, vitamin E is important to the cell membranes in your hair follicles in order for hairs to grow properly. Yay science!
• 3 drops of rosemary essential oil, which also promotes hair growth and just smells great! 

*I have extremely thick hair that's about medium length, and this was barely enough; so adjust the amounts to suit your hair :) *

Wear the mask on your hair in a plastic cap for thirty minutes to an hour (no more than two hours, though!) and rinse in the shower under cool water. Then follow up with a mild shampoo and conditioner and continue like you normally would for your routine. If you don't have a plastic cap, you can use a regular shopping bag and use the handles to tie it snuggly around your head. I used my Jane Carter Solution shampoo and conditioner and then my shea butter mix I made myself. 

The results from this mask are still in effect several days later! It made detangling my hair a breeze, helped define my curls, and has kept my hair soft days later without having to apply anything else (I usually find my hair craves the shea butter mix almost every day; it's been five days :O). My hair felt extremely clean and fresh; more so than with just shampooing. Any natural products I make contain vitamin E and rosemary and I can honestly say I think they're helping with the hair growth (I'll talk about this more when I tell you lovelies about my shea butter mix). After this mask my fro was so huge it was too intimidating for work; I pulled it back :P

I will definitely be doing this mask again; I'm glad it worked out for me! Let me know if you try it too!

TTFN <3

DIY - Secret Compartment book!

You will need:

• A book
• an exacto knife
• a glue gun
• a glue stick
• felt or a thick fabric
• ruler
• marker

1. open the book about 20 pages in and decide your margins. An easy guide would be to reference your cuts around the text. (ie 1mm away from text)
2. using the exacto knife, carefully cut out pages a few at a time until the pocket is as deep as you'd like it. I applied heavy pressure until I got towards the end. If any of the pages rip (common with older books) use the glue stick to patch things up
3. hold the book as straight as you can and glue the inside with the glue gun. By gluing the inside rather than the outside edges, it looks more believable. Glue on the outside is a dead give away!
4. Measure and cut out a piece of felt using the template described in the video. Glue down the bottom first, then the edges.
5. Take the next four pages or so closest to the compartment and glue them together, and then to the edges of the compartment. 
6. Use the exacto knife to cut out a flap to enter the compartment. Voilá!