DIY: AMcQ pearl embroidered skull tank

This is the first {and might be the last} 
skull-related project on this blog:

that's because normally I'm not much of a "skull person".

Which is kind of strange, since I {heart} so much 
Alexander McQueen's creations.

But hey: I'm not perfect {just very-very close - ;) }

I saw this tank top on the Neiman Marcus site and almost collapsed at the 695$ price tag.

left pic: www.neimanmarcus.com - collage by moi

Wearing it {of course, duh!} with my
DIY McQueen razor triple leather bracelet
I made last week! ;)

details - left pic: www.neimanmarcus.com - collage by moi

Supplies needed:

{and let's do the math:}

- a tank top (I used an old Gap basic t-shirt)
- beads and pearls (4 different sizes)
- small piece of lace (yes, I used an old lace underwear... So what? It was clean!)
- needle and thread
I believe even if you have to buy everything you can fit into a 20$ budget

...But because I used everything I had on hand... 

mine was 100% free.

Extra needs for this projects: a couple of rainy afternoons... 

...and this is how I made it:

1*  take a screen shot of the detail and printed out on a full page

2*  then pin the paper onto the lace and cut the desired shape

3*  now, pin the lace onto the shirt 

4*  and sew the outline with a medium zig-zag stitch

5*  with a water removable marker, draw the outline of the skull onto the lace

6*  start with the bigger beads along the lines

7*  and then fill up the areas with the small glass beads

8* ... two rainy afternoons later... the skull shows its "face" {pun intended}

Now it's time to sew my armholes!
1* pin
2* best-thing-ever-sewing-jersey: my twin needles!
3* looks legit!

I could make it into a tank top, but I kind of like the "muscle-t" idea. I'll stay with it!

xox, d.

trashcan gets a stylish makeover

If your trashcan could talk, 
what would it be saying to you?

You might have figured out by now that I have a hoarding problem 

... a hard time getting rid of things,

therefore I could think that if mine would talk would say something like:

Oh well, my trash can was a bit bitten up, 

being in plywood and not being treated too well over the past decade...

If your trash can get to be in plain air and visible, 

it better be pretty, right?

Yep, time for a makeover!

Check the before and after pictures of my trash can! 

cooooool, right?

Because there's a lot of black and white in the decor, 

I decided to stay with the same color palette.

This is another case of "just two coats of paint"

to give new life to something old.

1* the top was the most damaged part.

2* a good sanding job (after removing 3 bits of hardware, the leather handle and the rubber gasket at the bottom)

3* a coat of primer

4* added a line of white acrylic paint

5* applied the vinyl letters

6* and two coat of black opaque spray paint

7* removed the letters (and almost had a heart attack because some of the spray paint did go under!! - almost a major crisis of crafting fail!)

... get my patience, a little paintbrush and some white nail polish to fix it.

(you can still see from the first image that it is not perfect... whatever.
...Next time I might just buy white vinyl letters and get over it!)

xox, d.

DIY MNZ 5 superballs necklace

This necklace is a fun, 

colorful,

and definitely playful one!

It will take 10 minutes to make, 

and {last but not least}

less than 5$!!

left pic: MNZ - collage by moi

f-o-r   r-e-a-l

What you need:

Go to the closest toys store and treat yourself with 4 small superballs and one slightly bigger.

Do you have some leather cord? I thought so.

And a drill, for that we have dads/husbands/brothers ;) !!!

1* Because I didn't have a way to keep the superball in place while drilling, without the risk of drilling into my own fingers, I taped the superballs on the corner of a scrap piece of wood.


2* After the drilling, this is how it's going to look like, powdery and smells like burned plastic!


3* There now you have 5 giant rubber beads!


4* Tie a knot at about 2/3 of your leather cord.


5* Pass the leather cord into your rubber beads/ superball


6* Tie another knot


7* Repeat for 4 more times and... voila'!

Tie a knot on both ends of the leather cord and you're ready to sport your new necklace !

have fun! 

xox, d.

DIY quote on pillow

" I knit so I won't kill people."

...if you're a knitter (or a crocheter)

you know how much this quote is the truth, right?

... perfect quote for my knitting spot!

I saw this tote bag on Pinterest and I had to repin it right away.
{made by AstorKnot on Etsy ... this is screen printed on canvas}

I never did any screen printing (although it's on my 'to-try-list')... but I figured I could achieve quite a similar look making a freezer paper stencil (my first attempt with freezer paper, btw!)

So here I am:

because I have a laser printer, 

I had to print the quote on regular paper.

(freezer paper works on ink jet only)

I used the font Helvetica bold - size 200.

Then I taped the printed paper onto my cutting mat, the freezer paper on top of it, and started to cut out the letters with the x-acto knife.
Next step: I cut every line of the quote 1" over and 1" under the letters, since I liked the letters nicely squeezed into each others.

Then, pressed the stripes onto my canvas...
(dont' do this late at night, or you might press "I kill so I won't knit people" and you have to do it all over again... LOL!!!)

... Time to mix up some fabric paint using blue, white and a bit of yellow and a touch of red and get the colors ready!
Next morning... peel your freezer paper gently...
Iron on reverse.

Few seams and a zipper later... ta-duh! My knitting pillow.

Perfect on my knitting corner.

...and because my s-daughter learned to knit and she's all about sparkles and purple... I made her one, too! check it out here!!!

xox, d.

thank you, Pinterest

Thank you, Pinterest!

...because you're so addicting, it would really suck

to close down my account!!!

It is with joy and relief that today while logging into my Pinterest account, I found out that they are taking care of these issues, and their terms of use are undergoing a big change, and the new and improved terms of service, Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy will go in effect starting on April, 6th 2012.

Lately the blogland was overflowing with articles 

about Pinterest's terms of use which were kind of scary.

Many of us, {aka the Pinterest addicts} 

pinned this image on our boards fom www.knoed.com

and this one from linkwithlove.typepad.com :

happy Saturday, y'all, and have a great day 

full of {P}interesting things!! ;)

xox, d.

DIY Pucci neon chain belt

Neon + chain + tassel... 

= ok, I'll make it!

I saw online this pretty neon Pucci belt...

and the DIY light turned immediately on!

pics on the left from: www.mytheresa.com

Not that I'm lacking of neon belts ... (check here for more ideas and tutorials!) but I really like this one with the chain and the tassel.
Best of all... again, I'm using things that I already have:
* neon yellow ropes (previously seen here!),
* chain

...and even if you have to go out and buy everything... the whole thing will be way less than 10 bucks!

Here's the shopping list:

Woven chain link belt tutorial with neon rope:

1* most important part!!! inside the nylon rope there is another thick material that keeps the rope sturdy... pull this out! This will make the rope thinner and softer.

2* weave the rope into * the chain, leaving about 1/2" at the beginning

3* leave a couple of chain links at the end without the rope, and cut the rope leaving the extra 1/2"

* 4 glue the excess rope around the chain link and onto the other side of the rope, on both ends of the belt

*5 attach the lobster clasp at the end of the side with all the chain links woven with the rope, using the split ring

... and this is done! {warning: the woven part it's tedious, since the rope will get tangled...)

Neon nylon tassel tutorial:

1* fold in half a piece of cardboard of double the length of the desire tassel
(my finish tassel measure 21 cm / 8-1/4" long)
2* place a piece of the nylon mason twine on the crease of the cardboard and tape it
3* wrap the cord around the cardboard
4* place some glue on the top - the side with the rope taped on the cardboard
5* tie a double knot
6* cut the end of the wrapped rope - on the side where the cardboard is open in the middle
7* use the cord that you tied a knot on the top to wrap around and tie another double knot
8* open up a paper clip
9* slip it inside the "head" of the tassel
10* wrap the metal wire once
11* spray paint and drill a hole in the plumbing end pipe cap
12* pass the end cap into the wire
13* insert the lobster clasp and wrap the wire around it - cut the excess wire
14* for an neat look, use your rule and the rotary cutter to cut the end of the tassel perfectly even!

...got tassel?

xox, d.

keep in touch! 

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DIY McQ razor triple leather bracelet

I stumbled upon this bracelet from 

Alexander (the Great) McQueen. 

It's made out of brass and leather and retails for 66$: 

I made my own DIY version for... nothing.

Here they are: side by side!

pic on the left: www.polyvore.com 

I had everything {just needed some time}.

I knew.... somewhere I knew I had something... must be hidden somewhere in one of these boxes...

whooooaa! Found! 

I use to love this charm... it's {hem} very vintage.
{I was a teen at the time it was given to me.}

And hey, it's sterling silver! (ok, tarnished sterling silver)

Cleaned the charm, and start looking in the drawer where I keep all the buckles.
And here they are: two straps belonging to some sandals that don't even exist anymore!
Perfect: soft white pearly leather. ... My wrist is getting ready for summer!

I sew the second row on the straps (make sure to use a leather needle) and cut the excess length, the total length of the bracelet is 23" (including the charm).

I believe the few steps are pretty self-explanatory, right?

....free McQueen... sweet!

xox, d.

spring has sprung!

 Happy Spring!

Technically, the first day of spring was yesterday. 

But I like to keep it on the 21st of March, 

since I'm so bad at remembering dates!

I took these pictures this morning, in a gorgeous sunny day.

The air smells delicious and the flowers are blooming everywhere in the front yard! (and so the weeds...)

And like every spring, I did a little of spring-cleaning (on the blog... does it count?)

You might have noticed few different things:

* took off the floating side bar (why did I even put it there? I never liked it!)

* took off the long list of link parties. Don't hate me, ladies! 

I don't have time to party anymore, but the page with all the blog buttons divided by day it's still there! ...but my blog looks neater.

* I moved up the "follow me with bloglovin ... thing". 

I read on many blogs that Google will turn off Google Friend Connect... I still have it on the side bar... but: just in case: click on the picture below and add me on your reading list! 

(pretty, please?)... thank you!

* I started to add to my reading list all the blogs that I follow; the good thing is: you can make groups... So my groups are: DIY, Fashion, Style and ...uncategorized.

But it's pretty cool that I'll be able to do my reading divided by section like in a real newspaper!

This is how my DIY list looks like (still growing.... eheh)

Are you in the list? Am I in yours yet??? ;)

... And last but not least... Looks like I'll be able to get back to make stuff on a regular basis!

It really feels refreshing like Spring ;) !!!

xox, d.

DIY free hand Marimekko

The Crafty Basement has a very convenient kitchenette.

Not for cooking, which I don't do in a real kitchen, anyway, but for the crafty necessities.

It has a nice deep sink very much needed to rinse paintbrushes, and that kind of stuff.

picture on the left: www.marimekko.com

Needed soap. 

In a nice soap-dispenser and soap dish.

Found a not-so-nice very-boring white set for 5.99 E. 

Need customization.

I thought that giving a splash of colors would be the way to go, and since I love the Marimekko poppy (unikko) print I would give it a try.

Using the Pebeo Porcelaine 150 colors that I already had... 

I'm turning white into poppy...  

that's the DIY's math!

I know, the colors aren't the exact match...
{but I'm using my leftovers from this soap dispenser I made a while ago,
and my coral accessories for the powder bathroom...}

here's the how-to:

make a free hand Marimekko poppy print

in5 easy steps:

1- with the yellow-orange, make random polka dots (and ovals)
2- paint the red petals of the first and the third row of dots
3- paint the pink petals of the second and forth row of dots
4- paint the black pistils and stems
5- bake in your oven for 35 min at 300 F

... and you've got poppies!!!

xox, d.

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DIY vinyl cuckoo clock

Finally: done!

I stayed up late last night because I had to finish it!

I found the clock mechanism (for 6 €, about 8 $)

... which means that this clock came up to 23$ give or take.

And with this, I officially enter my project into the:

some close-ups details:

what I did:
* cut out the shapes of the images
* printed a word document with numbers 1 -2 - 3 - 9 (font: Helvetica - size: 400)
and use the printed paper as my trace lines to cut the contact paper
* unlimited measuring and pencil marks on the wall
* spray painted the seconds' hand of the clock in red
* hang the mechanism
... et voilà!!

Wish me luck on the contest!
And don't forget to visit the other participants!

xox, d.

typography challenge: WIP

The Typography challenge is almost up 
and all I've done so far is 
browsing and pinning for inspiration... 

But I finally found what I needed wanted to make!

it will be sort of like this...

image source: apartment132

it was sold for  $77, but at the moment the online store is under construction:
and I don't even know if they will still make these.

This will be great for my very very empty wall: 
even Lucky thinks that it's way too much white up there!!)

This is clearly one of these projects where the silhouette machine would come oh, so handy.

but I don't own one.

Instead, I have my hands, scissors and my trusty x-acto knife.

and a printer, too.

I bought some vinyl letters and some black vinyl contact paper.
$$$ spent: 15.

(still on the hunt for the clock mechanism...)

I will cut out the big numbers since they are big enough and easy to cut.
I opened a word document and printed out 1,2,3 and 9 using the Helvetica font - size 400.

And the birdie? Yes, it's the Twitter logo.
My vinyl clock will be a cuckoo... ;)

Stay tuned if you are curious to see how it will look like!!

xox, d.

DIY organization: all these beads and findings

While I was moving I showed you how I was organizing all my beads and findings, remember?

(it's HERE... in case you missed it!)

Anyway... That was working before, since all these boxes were inside a cabinet. 

A bit of a pain, every time I was looking for something specific, everything was getting out and about.

Well... Now I changed it and it's much MUCH better!

Here it is: my new and improved storage for beads and findings!

Love the fact that looks like a city skyline!

A trip to Leroy Merlin later, (it's like Home depot, with a french name!) and I found some tiny drawers organizers (these are meant for screws, nails and other "men" kind of things) and I ended up coming home with four. (hem...)

Big, pleasant surprise: these are sold as a set, but they are made of 12 single components and can be slide in and out creating a unit with the size you like...
I'm saying goodbye to all these random boxes and give all these pretty beads and findings a new and improved home!

I decided to go 'by color' rather than 'by category': 

before I had semi-precious beads in one box and sequins and beads in the others. 

But I believe that organizing by color will be easier and neater. 

Here how my shelves in the "soon to be ready" Crafty Basement in their "before and after" shot:

Lllllllove it!

xox, d.

DIY organization: use a library card

Few years ago I went to an auction.

Like a real one, not an Ebay kind of thing.

Totally awesome!!

...And I came home with a library card.

42 tiny drawers for 90$... Big score!!

Of course I knew that these 42 drawers were meant to be filled with 

my craft supplies...

And the olive green color that I was so not crazy about...

has grown on me.

I wanted the tags to have an "old feeling", so I hand wrote all of them with a trace-letter...

of course to find out later from my husband that I could have done that with my printer by simply downloading the font... oh well. 

Sitting on top there are my auntie's old sewing machines... also green (still in working condition):

she used to make all kind of clothing and even her own shoes during World War II ... 

The luggage at the bottom of the cabinet belong to the big one "portable" sewing machine 

(you have no idea how heavy it is, it's all metal...).

...Anyway the big news is: 

THE BASEMENT IS ALMOST READY!!

Another couple of days for the lighting (as you can note from the pictures).

xox, d.