DIY Embellished Friendship Bracelets The weather is warming up and my wrists are feeling rather lonely and bare after hiding under long sleeves all season long. But after digging up last year’s DIY friendship bracelets, I realized they desperately needed sparkly and shiny upgrades. Today we’re showing you three easy ways to embellish your friendship bracelets, making them all grown up . . . To add rhinestones, you’ll need:a chevron friendship bracelet (tutorial found here)5-6” crystal rhinestone chain (last used here)1 yard of embroidery flossan embroidery needlea pair of scissors Thread the needle with embroidery floss and tie the end into a double knot. Stitch the floss between the first two rhinestone links, pushing needle out the middle of the bracelet. Continue stitching between the rhinestone links. Your friendship bracelet is sparkling and finished! To add studs, you’ll need:a chevron friendship bracelet (tutorial found here)5 3/8” brass cone studs (last used here)a pair of small, sharp scissorsa screwdriver
DIY Luv Aj Handpiece When the lovely Amanda Thomas of Luv Aj offered to show us how to DIY her signature handpiece, we were ecstatic! Not only are we huge fans of her jewelry, we’ve been dying to adorn ourselves with this ring and bracelet combination. Thank you for the awesome tutorial, Amanda! This season, the best seller in the entire collection was the Polished Pyrite Handpiece. You’ll need: Now that you have all you need, let’s get cracking. Now for the bracelet portion- everyone’s wrist is a little different so you can ball park the length. So now we need to attach all the smaller chains together: Open up one of the smaller jump rings and loop the shorter piece of chain and connect the jump ring on both ends. Don’t close the jump ring yet though, we need to add the two longer strands of the thin chain to the same jump ring. Grab the thick chain you cut for the bracelet portion and find the middle. Repeat the same step on the other side. Voila!
DIY Turband DIY Gretchen Jones Necklace A couple of months ago, while visiting New York, we met the lovely Gretchen Jones and were fortunate enough to spend an entire day crafting in her über charming Brooklyn apartment. Not only is she […] DIY Woven Chain Bracelet Chain link bracelets, with colorful threads woven through them, have been popping up here and there. We adore Aurèlie Bidermann‘s Do Brazil bracelets and thought it was about time we graduate to the ultimate “grown-up” friendship bracelet. […]
DIY Bow Tie A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated FNO by DIYing bow ties and neckties from scraps of denim at Madewell – because honestly, who isn’t borrowing a bit of inspiration from the boys this season? Today we’ll be showing you, who may have missed the event, how to DIY a bow tie with luxurious, Dolce & Gabbana-inspired velvet. Before you know it, you’ll be well suited and ready to channel your inner Marlene Dietrich! You’ll need:a 6″ x 3.5″ piece of velveta 0.75″ x 2.5″ piece of velveta 1″ pin backa glue guna rulera pen Start by drawing a vertical line and a horizontal line, dividing the rectangle into 4 equal quarters. Flip the piece over, while still pinching the backside, and place a drop of hot glue in the center. Place another drop of glue on the front side and fold the fabric closed. Turn the bow on its backside and glue the tip of the velvet strip to the center. Glue a pin back to the back of the bow. Your velvet bow tie is finished! Boy, oh boy . . .
DIY Studded Sneakers Studding sneakers has been on our DIY to-do list for awhile now. But the idea of hand piercing hundreds of holes through thick canvas was daunting enough to allow such procrastination. Enter E6000, the crème de la crème of adhesives. As you probably know by now, it’s our secret weapon for quickly and effectively attaching metal to fabric. So after the recent release of Vans‘ brushed twill pastel Authentics, we thought it was the perfect summer shoe to adorn. So grab some glue and let’s get studding! You’ll need:a pair of sneakers150 – 200 brass cone spikesE6000 adhesivea disposable container or popsicle sticktoothpicks Start by squeezing a small amount of E6000 into a disposable container or onto a wooden popsicle stick. Press the spike into the sneaker, holding it in place for a few seconds. Continue adding spikes along the shoe’s baseline and working upwards in horizontal lines. Arrange the spikes, without glue, into awkward spaces before attaching them.
DIY Woven Chain Bracelet Chain link bracelets, with colorful threads woven through them, have been popping up here and there. We adore Aurèlie Bidermann‘s Do Brazil bracelets and thought it was about time we graduate to the ultimate “grown-up” friendship bracelet. With a curb chain bracelet and some embroidery thread, we’ll teach you how to make your own woven chain bracelet. You’ll need:a curb link braceletembroidery threadtwo bobby pinsa pair of scissors Cut 2 sets of 15 strands of embroidery thread, with each strand measuring four times the length of the bracelet. Lay the second color (blue) over the first color (coral). Repeat the steps until you reach the end of the bracelet. (top images from here and here, rest of images by Honestly…WTF) DIY Sliding Knot Bracelet After visiting the Mediterranean twice this past year, I’ve come to embrace the ubiquity that is the evil eye symbol and have since integrated it into the jewelry repertoire. Today I’ll be showing you how to make a sliding knot bracelet with an evil eye charm, which is thought to protect against negative energy and evil powers. And whether you’re superstitious or not, this is a super simple method which can be applied to any connector or charm! You’ll need: Thread 4 inches of cord through one side of the charm. Fold an inch of the tip down over the parallel cords. Thread the tip through the opening of the left loop. Push the coil to the right and pull the tip until the knot is tight. Thread the other end of the cord through the opposite side of the charm and create the same zig zag. Coil the tip around all the cords three times and thread the tip through the loop. Push the coil to the right and pull the tip until the knot is tight. Melt the ends with a lighter.
DIY Net Bag After crushing hard on this vintage net bag spotted by Phil Oh on the streets of NYC, we knew we had to attempt to DIY it. Sprucing up a reusable cotton bag from the grocery store with some hardware and carabiners? Sign us up! In just a few simple steps, we’ll show you how to make our rendition of the net bag – perfect for a stroll in the park. Supplies Lista cotton net bag (also available at Whole Foods)2 carabiners (if you can’t find gold carabiners, you can spray paint them)8 sets of 1/4″ screw postsa flat head screwdrivera pair of scissors Start by cutting each of the straps down the middle, creating 4 loose straps. Carefully pierce a small hole through each mark with the tip of the scissors. Push the screw post set through both holes and tighten with a screwdriver. Add another set of screw posts about an inch of the way down for more support. Your bag is finished! Attach keys, charms or pom poms to one of the carabiners and you’re all set!
DIY Braided Hex Nut Bracelet We’re nuts for nuts. Is there a more versatile and inexpensive DIY component than a hex nut from the hardware store? You can imagine our excitement when we first discovered Philip Crangi’s Giles & Brother Hex Collection. Honestly, nuts braided into jewelry is WTF genius! With a few items that we always seem to have lying around, we tackled the technique and made our own spine-like braided hex nut wrap bracelet. You’ll need:3 strands of cotton butcher’s twine cut into one yard pieces18 small brass hex nutsa bit of dexterity! Gather the 3 strands of twine and tie a knot at the top, leaving about 2 inches of slack. Keep your thumb at the base of the braid, holding the nut in its place. Repeat the steps, by threading the rest of the nuts to the outer pieces of twine before they are crossed over. The bracelet should wrap around your wrist at least two or three times. Good luck!! (top image from here, rest of images by Honestly…WTF)
DIY Ombré Denim Dip dyed ombré denim has been popping up here and there and not only do we love the look, it’s super easy to do yourself! We’ve combined Tory Burch‘s dip dyed jeans and Miss Unkon‘s ombré 501s as inspiration for a pink infused DIY that could be done in a jiffy. Start by rinsing your shorts with water. A bottle of RIT liquid dye amounts to 1 cup; you’ll dye your shorts with the lightest shade first and darkest shade last. Pour 1/3 of the cup of dye into 2 gallons of hot water and mix. When dyeing dark denim, you will want to use less water for a darker dye. Ring out the excess dye and add another 1/3 cup of dye to your bucket. It’s that easy: ombré dip dyed denim shorts! DIY Floral Lampshade A couple of weeks ago while in London, I paid an obligatory visit to the third floor my favorite and one of the most iconic stores in the world: Liberty of London. After pulling bolts and bolts of Liberty fabric from the shelves, I eventually walked away with enough DIY supplies and material to hold me over until my next British stopover. It also didn’t take me long to whip together an incredibly simple DIY, upon my return, using a couple of sweet floral prints. This floral lampshade is a breeze to make and a fantastic way to utilize fabric without having to use a sewing machine! You’ll need:one yard of floral fabric plus 1/6 yard of fabric for trima metal lampshade framedouble sided fabric tapeneedle & threadscissors Start by finding the crosswise grain of the fabric, which is perpendicular to the selvedge edges, which are always the outside edges. The lampshade frame used in this tutorial measures 8 inches in top diameter, 14 inches in bottom diameter, and 11 inches in slant height.
DIY Proenza Schouler Scroll Necklace Were you blown away by Proenza Schouler‘s entire Fall 2011 Collection as much as we were? The juxtaposition of digitalized and geometric Native American inspired prints with decorative, Victorian-like statement necklaces was all kinds of genius. And of course, the jewelry had the wheels in our DIY minds spinning ever since. Erica of PS I Made This recently made a beautiful version of Proenza Schouler’s scroll necklace in white and today, we’re tackling a version in black . . . it’s all about the yin and the yang, right? You’ll need: The hardest part of this project is finding decorative mouldings that are small enough to use. Lay the mouldings on a wooden block and carefully drill holes through each marking. In a well ventilated area, spray an even coat of flat black paint over the mouldings and charms. Connect each piece with a jump ring using the pliers. Your Proenza Schouler inspired necklace is finished! Scroll-ed! (top image from here, rest of images by Honestly…WTF)