Copper and Teal DIY necklace

So I was inspired by a number of things for this project. Firstsly the necklace itself comes from something that I saw on 'PS I made this' and the colours were inspired by the the film Amelie.

I origionally wanted to use ribbon like the version on PS I made this, but when I saw this rope in my favorite mercerie in Montmartre, I knew immediately that It would be perfect. In the photos it comes accross as blue but in real life it is a bright greeny teal.

I'm really excited about this project because it's a really striking piece of jewellery which will brighten up my predominantly black oufits.

What you need: About 1/2 metre of rope
                        copper tubes which you can find in your hardware store's plumbing section
                        sticky-tape
                        clasp which has a catch big enough to fit around the rope
                        *scissors

Step 1: Measure the length of rope that you want. Wrap sticky-tape around the rope just before the point where you intend to cut it. this is so that it doesn't start fraying

Step 2: Slip the bent copper tube to the middle of the rope

Step 3: Tie two even knots next to the tube

Step 4: Slip the straight tubes on. One on either side of the bent tube.

Step 5: Attach your clasps to the necklace

Wear with pride!!!

Black and gold

I dont know if anyone else experiences this, but I tend to go through major colour phases when it comes to my wardrobe.  When I was about 15 that colour was brown: I had brown boots, brown jerseys, brown jacket, brown handbag brown t-shirts etc etc. Then in my last year or two of high-school that colour changed to grey. All my staples went through a colour makeover and grey became my new best friend.

I dont know if its because I'm a bit older now, or maybe it's just the ever-chic Parisiens who have inspired me, but all of a sudden black has completely taken over. I never used to be able to wear it before. Black always felt too depressing or too mature for me, but now it forms the base of all my outfits.

I'm trying hard not to go head to toe black everyday though. (don't want to be mistaken for an emo)

Last sunday, after brunching with some of my au pair friends at pierre herme (supposedly they have the best pain au chocolate in Paris) I passed by a shoe shop with a closing down sale. I found a pair of (no surprise) black oxford flats for a very reasonable 14,99 E and vowed to spruce them up a bit by painting them. I was a bit undecided about what colour I wanted so I did a bit of research and eventually decided on classic gold. Check out some of my très très chic inspiration.

I have seen loads of shoe makeovers on sites like craftgawker and pinterest and although they all look great, none of them are very specific about  which paint to use and wheather or not the look actually lasts. 

So I decided to take a bit of a risk to share with you what I have used and whether or not it works so that you can learn from my example. 

Ok so here is my DIY

What you need: 1 pair of, preferable cheap or old, oxford flats
                        12 washers
                        1 Marabu Brilliant painter (I chose this pen because it says its suitable for most
                       surfaces including plastic and leather so I hope it will work with my 'pleather'
                       shoes.*)

 Step 1: Outline the areas you want to paint.Take your time and be neat. I like the fact that with the pen you don't need to cover the other parts of the shoe to protect them from the paint, like you would have to do if you used spraypaint.

 Step 2: Fill in the areas with the pen. Make sure to always apply the paint in the same direction. Apply 2 coats

Step 3: Apply washers to the lace holes. If you want to you can glue them but it's not really necessary .

And there you go!

         

                                          

* please note that this project is an experiment and I will be updating with information about the paint. Whether it flakes, is water proof etc. so stay tuned before buying your supplies. 

First DIY bracelet

I was first inspired to do this project when I saw this post on Honestly WTF 
















Being the lazy crafter that I am, I didn't really read the instructions, (It looked easy enough) and headed off to my local bricolage (hardware) store BHV.
Having not read the intructions I did not realise that the hex-nuts I needed were, in fact the smallest ones, and instead I opted for medium sized ones. This error made it very difficult for me to braid the nuts onto my thin string and eventually I gave up plaiting.
I didn't want to waste my pretty golden nuts, though, so I just did the easiest thing, I strung them onto the string without braiding at all, and I kind of like the end result.

If you want to do it the fancy way check out the link above and remember to buy small hex nuts, otherwise you can take the easy route and follow my very simple tutorial

What you need: String (twine) -enough to wrap around your wrist twice
                         Hex nuts- as many as you would like
(if you want to get professional, get yourself a clasp from your local bead shop otherwise just tie your bracelet around your wrist)

step one: (only step really) string nuts onto string

Tie around wrist and wear with pride