minted

I went impromptu shopping the other day, the best kind of shopping I think because I always seem to find something good when I'm not really looking for anything in particular. I'm talking about this minty knit from Sportsgirl. It's such a perfect colour, I've fallen in love. This will definitely be a staple to brighten up my winter wardrobe.

And no you don't need glasses, I went a bit photoshop crazy and decided to quadruple myself (the same effect as my 'new' header, read: old header reincarnated. I got over that colourful block type one I had before quicker than a bee on speed (?!?!))

[wearing: Sportsgirl knit, DIY painted jeans, Therapy boots via The Iconic, COS necklace]

accessory lust

Lusting over these gorgeous accessories that will liven up any wardrobe. Need them all!

Zara gold ankle strap sandal

Zara white sandal

Zara pink sandal

Zara blue colour block sandal

Asos mesh gold tipped collar necklace

Mania Mania Mystic necklace

Gala Curios gold-oil pyramid ring

Deadly Ponies bone ring

Acne Jasper bronze silk & leather pouch

Katzi Oyster bag

Deadly Ponies Mr Hutch duffel bag

Acne Beau bag

midnight velvet

 So how do I avoid working on important uni assignments? Procrastination in the form of sewing! I came home from the Ellery sale yesterday and all I could think about were peplums, so rather than forking out a few hundred dollars I'd rather keep in my pocket I thought I'd try my hand at replicating one of the tops there. I was going to do a toile, but they always seem like a waste of time and fabric... I found this beautiful midnight blue cotton velvet in my collection, it's got a very small pile and feels lush and thick, exactly what I needed to hold fairly stiff gathering.

It's a pretty basic design, two sideless bust pieces with darts running down the front and a peplum. I left the hem raw to get a good fraying effect, similar to the Ellery ones, and added an invisible zip and a couple of hook & eye clasps down the centre back.

I'm looking forward to giving this piece a work out soon, probably will be wearing it with a bra though, just in case I twist the wrong way and flash some poor unsuspecting citizen.

Wearing with: Country Road jeans, H&M cuff, vintage bracelet and watch, necklace from Vietnam

paint pants

All my creative energy had been bottled up inside me for so long until I finally got around to doing a long awaited DIY painted jeans project yesterday! So so simple I'm not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, but I guess it's true that the best ideas are the ones you leave brewing for a while.

I bought these jeans from Primark when I was in London in February. I'm sure most people know about the craziness of Primark and how you just don't bother trying to line up for the change rooms, so it's all a bit of a lucky dip sizing-wise. Thankfully these jeans were a perfect fit, although for £11 it wouldn't be much of a loss if they didn't!

Materials:

Any odd pair of jeans (light colours work best)

Acrylic paints

Textile medium (I used Chromacryl)

Paint brushes (various sizes)

Instructions:

No prep required, but if you are using brand new jeans it's probably a good idea to put them through the wash first to get any excess dyes out.

Lay your jeans flat on a surface with newspaper or a drop sheet underneath, slot extra newspaper inside the legs so the paint doesn't seep through either side.

Mix up your acrylic colours with textile medium in separate disposable tubs/bowls (the medium should come with instructions, mine said to use 2:1 parts paint to medium).

If you plan on using light colours or not covering the entire fabric with paint put down a thin base coat in white or any background colour you like.

Then, go nuts! But not too nuts, you should try and just stick to a few complimentary colours and have a theme going (mine was inspired by lush tropical rainforests). It's really easy to go overboard with the paint so step back every now and then to think about your work (sorry if I sound like your 8th grade art teacher!).

If you're not very artistically confident and are lucky enough to know an abstract painter, get them involved! But I'm pretty sure anybody can whip around a paintbrush as I've done, so don't be afraid.

Hang the jeans up to dry. When the paint's completely dry iron the jeans under a tea towel or scrap fabric on the hottest setting to set the paint. Hand wash them in cool water to make sure the paint doesn't run (if it does though, there's basically nothing you can do except try and set the paint with the iron again). If you're paint runs it means you haven't used enough textile medium, so my advice would be to try and wash it all out and start from scratch unfortunately.

Wearing with: Style Nanda top, COS necklace, DIY perspex cuffs (as seen HERE), Windsor Smith Loren heels.

copper dreams

Obsessed with the newest addition to my necklace collection; Kirrily Johnston inspired bengal choker (see tutorial HERE!) I think it goes so nicely with this terracotta pleated dress.

Wearing with Asos dress, Topshop Ambush boots and DIY leather belt

kirrily bengal choker DIY tutorial

What you need:

5 copper capillary couplings (I used 20mm ones but you can either go bigger or smaller, like the three 15mm ones shown here, depending on what look you want)

2 copper capillary end caps (the same width to match your couplings)

Metal polish (I used Brasso)

Earring hooks, clip fastening, jump rings

Clear gloss spray paint (can be either enamel or acrylic)

Minuscule drill (to make holes in the end caps)

Jeweller's pliers and clippers

Scissors

About 2m of black shock cord

Thick cotton thread

Hot glue gun

(Materials sourced from Bunnings Warehouse and jewellery supplies stores)

Start by polishing up all your copper using the metal polish and an old cloth rag, wear gloves otherwise you will have black hands. Once they are all shiny and nice, spray all pieces with the clear gloss paint, this protects the copper's shine and stops it from discolouring (copper goes green with age). Give the copper several coats (making sure you spray from a distance or else the paint will form drips).

Drill a small hole in the centre of each end cap (the hole shouldn't be much wider than the earring hook wire you will be feeding through them).

To make the end caps:

Thread through your earring hook so the wire is poking through the outside. Thread on a little metal bead (not sure what you call these things exactly). Using the pliers, twist the wire around to form a small loop, cut the excess wire and nestle the cut end into the metal bead so you can't see it.

Attach a jump ring. Repeat these steps with the other end cap.

On one of the end caps, attach the fastening clasp (these things also have a name I'm unaware of!).

Get your shock cord and measure it around your neck to the length you want. I used large couplings and needed 3 widths of the fatest shock cord I could find. Cut three pieces of cord all at the length you want.

To whip the ends: wrap the ends of the shock cord in your cotton thread to bind them together. Trim the ends. I also used a lighter to melt the ends of the cord so they wouldn't fray, but be careful not to set the rubber inside the cord or your cotton thread alight!
Make sure your glue gun is extremely hot and place a blob of glue on the end of the cords and immediately push on the end cap, holding tight until the glue has cooled (don't put the glue in the end cap because it will squish out and make a mess when you push in the cord).
Repeat on the other side.

Voila! There you have a beautiful statement necklace, a near replica of Kirrily Johnston's Bengal Choker, at a tiny fraction of the cost!

DIY Bengal bracelet coming soon

HCMC treasures

Thought I would photograph some of the jewellery I brought back from Vietnam recently. Got a little carried away with the mirroring effect as you can see. My favourite piece would have to be the breast plate in the first picture, it's so simple yet can pull an outfit from drab.. to FAB instantly (sorry so cheesy!!). I've never been a big fan of statement jewellery, but Vietnam converted me.

All of the jewellery was from Ho Chi Minh City, some of it came from this cute little store in Vincom shopping centre called Miss Ni (not sure if that's the correct spelling) and some of it from the Ben Thanh markets where there was one tiny stall each for the gold and silver. Desperately wanting to go back to find some more treasure!