Quilted Black Wallet Reconstruction

I fell out of the blogging world again! I'll spare you the excuses this time and get straight to point. I've been on a recon roll lately and with March as National Craft Month, it is just the muse I need.

I found this lifeless black quilted shoulder bag sitting in my sister's donation pile she left behind, unused and collecting dust. Although I LOVE quilted purses (reminds me of those Chanel handbags I could never afford), I personally find this purse impractical. Since I'm not a big fan of pull string type bags, I knew it was a perfect opportunity to put good use to it. I immediately grabbed my scissors, started cutting and threading away.

I'm not the type to always plan things out when I work on projects as I like to improvise and “go with the flow”. However, I knew I had a sense of what I was going to construct using this black purse. The rule I gave myself was to only use the purse pieces.

After intense hours of cutting, measuring, and sewing, this was the end result. I know what you're thinking, I sacrificed a shoulder bag for a puny wallet?! I like to think of it as putting something into good use, I saved that bag its misery! :)

Sunglasses case recon w/ small tutorial

In celebration of March as National Craft Month, I decided to focus more on DIY's and Recons! Which is totally fine with me because I haven't had time for a proper manicure! I originally tried to do a tutorial with this project, but for some reason it didn't work out...(hehe). So, this is somewhat of a tutorial but the photo process is lacking.

Sunnies are another one of my obsessions! I love sunglasses and I also love buying them, but not all of them have cases! Since I'm trying to not spend excessively, I decided to do a recon with what I had laying around. I came across a Fucci (Fake Gucci) sling bag that I got as a gift, sitting in my closet collecting dust. I saw it as a recon opportunity. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the bag before I tore it apart, but that's okay. :)

Since this is a recon, this is going to be an easy and a quick project because everything is already pre-cut. (which I love about recons!)

Step 1:

Proper tools are very important when it comes to crafting (at least in my opinion). I used a self-healing mat, rotary cutter, metal ruler and a sewing machine (not pictured here). You can also hand sew, if you have the patience.

Step 2:

Materials are just as important as tools, as you need them in order to create your desired project. :) (I included the Gucci wallet for comparison with the Fucci print. :D)

Step 3:

Sew on the border to: (1) make it look good and (2) to minimize the fabric fraying. If there is no border, then you can fold the fabric down to create a border.

Step 4:

Be sure to measure the dimensions of your sunglasses to make sure they will fit. Fold the fabric in half and sew according to what you measured with the wrong side facing up. The wrong side is the side that will be facing inside of the case (as shown in the photo)

Step 5:

Flip the case inside out, use and enjoy!

I hope this tutorial made sense and should you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Cosmetic Cupcake's birthday giveaway!

I'm so bad, I think this giveaway is ending in 3 hours or so. So here I am frantically advertising her giveaway, LAST MINUTE! haha....

Magazine Rack with tutorial

I got tired of watching my growing magazine/catalog stack in the corner. So, I've been on the hunt for the perfect magazine rack and just couldn't find "the one".

I was sitting my room watching television the other day and my eyes landed upon some boxes sitting in front the stand that I was planning to use in future projects. I had also just purchased a few items from a vintage shop that were packaged in a really neat paper bag. It was just the inspiration I needed.

This is a fun and DIY using most items that you would probably have in your home already. Its also a great way to be eco-friendly! I try to use items that I already have to save myself money.

Step 1:

Start with a cardboard box. Any box will do, mine just happen to have a lid with it. A good medium to large shoe box will do too.

Step 2:

Cut off the lid. If your box happens to be a regular shipping box, you can cut off the flaps.

Step 3:

After cutting off the lid, I placed the lid back into the box to make a backing/stand for it. (I hope this made sense, it is hard to describe this step and I'm sorry that I didn't take better pictures of this process)

Step 4:

Use some decorative paper, scrap booking paper, wrapping paper and or newspaper! (I would recommend to use several layers since its so thin). This is the really neat paper bag I got from the vintage boutique I mentioned earlier.

Step 5:

First, take the backing/stand and wrap the front side of it (the side that will be facing you) using your decorative paper with glue and or tape.

Second, also wrap the back side of the backing/stand. You can use the same paper print or a different one. I chose to use some old wrapping paper (inspiration from my Storage Box post).

If you are using the standard shipping box, all you need to do is wrap the inside first and then proceed to wrap the outside (You will be done after this step).

Step 6:

Continue to wrap the bottom part of the box (wrapping the inside first and the outside last). Place the backing/stand into the bottom box. Now I found that the backing/stand can hold well without glue but I chose to use a hot glue gun to reinforce it, just in case.

Step 7:

Place your completed handmade and eco friendly magazine rack at a desired location and enjoy!

I hope this tutorial made sense. I know the process images aren't that great. Sometimes when I'm doing these projects, I tend to forget to take pictures because I'm in deep concentration. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask questions and or contact me.

Swift Cheetah Manicure Tutorial

I have a simple nail design tutorial for you today! My apologies, I have been busy for the past few weeks. The weekends are the days I really get to rest and believe me, I do rest and get lazy!

I did this manicure a while ago, but never got the chance to post it up. I love having animal prints on my nails.The pros are that it is completely vegan and there is no hurting of animals involved! Yeah, I know I'm a nerd. :) I also did a fierce tiger nail design sometime last year if you want some more ideas for animal print manicures.

Step 1:

First start with a base color. I used Elf's Pearl, which is a shimmery white that almost looks silver. In my opinion, it is not a great color to use by itself, but great for nail designs.

Step 2:

Add some random dots which will serve as the Cheetah's spots. I used Rimmel's 521 Dazzle ( I think that is the name). It is a gold glitter, which I also use primarily for nail designing as I find the color too overwhelming.

Step 3:

Then add another set of random dots (about 3 as shown in the picture) around the gold dots. I used a black striping paint. You can also use black polish, but use it sparingly as you don't want too much polish on the brush when you're dotting. Just remember that these dots do not have to be perfect circles as we want to achieve an organic look.

Step 4:

This is the completed look after all the dots have been applied.

Feel free to play around with a color scheme. I just chose to use gold and black to achieve a realistic Cheetah look. Was the tutorial easy to follow? Please tell me what you think. :)

*Special shout out to Kat. I love the color combo of polishes you put together! Let me know when you're back in town and I'll "Hello Kitty" those nails for you! :) *