Thumbtacks

Studs and spikes are  e v e r y w h e r e  right now and unfortunately, I can’t find any studs or spikes in the Philippines (except the ones that are on the shirt/bracelet/bag/shorts already)… I also tried looking for some online and I found something but it was just too expensive…

So I tried using another material: thumbtacks.

I first thought of this months ago.. as a joke.

Thumbtacks may seem unsafe (and most of the time they are) but after trying to figure things out, I found out that you can use thumbtacks on your clothes/bags/accessories in a safe way! It’s seriously just like studs and spikes, even the way you fasten it.

That bag is the first thing I tried the thumbtacks experiment on and it’s not that bad! (yes that row of gold circles are the thumbtacks haha)

Thumbtacks are definitely the new (cheap) studs. 🙂

Allison Harvard and Dominique Reighard for bench/

America’s Next Top Model has been one of those shows that I always watch every week. And last year’s cycle, ANTM Cycle 17 All – Stars, is one of my favourites because well, most of my favourite models were there!!

Allison Harvard and Dominique Reighard were two of the models that I would vote for if we can actually vote for them. And a few days ago, Bench/ announced that both of them will be part of the Bench/ family!!

My brother’s been in love with Allison Harvard for as long as I can remember and I’ve always wanted to meet both of them or at least see them in real life so when they tweeted that they’ll come here, I immediately thought of ways to get there. Our dad told is that we’ll go to Batangas last Friday and stay there for a night just when they tweeted that they’ll be at Trinoma! When our dad called we told him about it and then he said maybe we can move the trip and go to Trinoma on that day instead.

So yes we were able to go to Trinoma and we were able to see (and somewhat) meet Domnique and Allison!!! AAAAAAHHH

The venue was in front of Bench/ and it was kind of small… There were a lot of people and it got crowded. We waited for a while and when they finally arrived everyone just started pushing and screaming and then it got a little out of hand and then the bouncers and guards started pushing us and it got messy… for a while there I was in front but then sigh, they made us leave. But before that I got some really messy photos haha (also because I used my Blackberry and it’s not the best when it comes to photos)

That’s when I transferred because the guards made us move and this was the closest I can get haha (that’s behind the stage by the way)

That’s when they were about to leave, I wasn’t able to take a photo of Allison cause I ran to where they’re gonna exit already

Some of my friends won Meet & Greets and they had this! (I wasn’t able to take a photo of Dominique’s oops)

All is well though because I was able to make Dominique sign my planner (this was when I transferred behind the stage) 🙂

THANK YOU BENCH/

Yesterday was definitely a fun day. I was with my brother and his friends haha. We ate in Taco Bell and then we roamed around afterwards.

When we went to Powerbooks I saw this omg

Yes that’s I Spy DIY Style and they actually have a copy!!! They said that was the last copy and only 3 or 2 copies arrived so I immediately reserved this copy.

Yesterday was definitely a day I will always remember 🙂 🙂

05192012

Ever since I knew about tie-dyes and dip-dyes (for clothes… imagine tie-dyeing your hair omg) I’ve made it one of my life’s mission to find dyes in this country. I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to find some but one day my friend sent me a text that says she found dyes in National Bookstore so last Saturday I went to NBS at Market! Market! and bought several packets immediately!! Now I can do tie-dye and dip-dye!! (I feel like a D.I.Y. freak now but whatever D.I.Y. is fuuunnn)

AND I went to Fully Booked High Street and I saw this!!

That’s a book called FUCK The World and it’s seriously very entertaining. It’s filled with random signs from different places and they changed some words to “fuck” so that the definition will change too. Here are some pages from the book:

And coincidentally, it was “Free Comic Book Day” in Fully Booked so we got a free comic book and since I lost one of my favourite books (I know that’s weird but I seriously don’t know where my old copy went) I bought another one! (It’s The Carrie Diaries, it’s like my life plan written right there on that book haha)

That day was pretty productive.. 🙂

Denim Bow

Bows are everywhere right now! People use them as rings, hair clips, necklaces, and whatnot. I’ve been planning to buy bows but I always forget to do so and since I have so much spare time (and materials), I thought, why not just make bows? So last night I made my very first hand-sewn denim bow.

What you need:

Sewing materials (thread and needle), Scissors, used Denim*

*cut a square (it depends on how big you want the bow to be) and a strip around half an inch wide

What you need to do:

Measure 1cm on all sides, Pin it, and do a running stitch

It’s gonna look like that when you’re done sewing all sides!

Fold it 3 time in the middle so now it looks like a bow!

(you can also fold it twice if you want)

Wrap the half an inch strip of denim around the folds you made.

Sew the folded strip of denim at the back of your bow. Make sure the end is there and now in front.

Your bow will look like this when you’re done!

Now you can turn it into whatever you want it to be! 🙂

Cuffs and Collars and Pockets

Tomorrow is the Candy Style Awards and I am actually really excited. It’s been my dream to work for magazines for quite some time now and I thought, why not do something now? I thought the Candy Style Awards tomorrow will be a nice way to see how it is in that world and I immediately decided that I should give it a go.

Since that’s an event where we can celebrate fashion and all of those, I kind of panicked because I had nothing to wear. I don’t own a dress or flats or skirts or anything semi-formal so I tried to think of something. I thought an over sized t-shirt that will look like a dress on me will do and I’ll just add some designs, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a shirt like that. Since I only had 2 days left to think of an outfit, I looked through my dad’s closet to look for something, in there I found a long sleeved, white, button-down and with the help of my auntie, decided to customize it.

This is what the shirt looked like before I customized it:

What I used/ What you need: 

Newspapers, Gold/Bronze spray paint (normal paint can work too 🙂 ), Black paint, Paint brush (not the thick ones)

optional materials:

Folders or Cardboard (so that it won’t stain at the back), Masking tape or Scotch tape

What to do:

Start on the cuffs of the shirt, I honestly think it’s easier that way.

Wrap several layers of masking tape or scotch tape around the edge of the cuffs so that the paint won’t go over the cuffs of the shirt. (You can also put a cardboard or a piece of folder in the middle so that it won’t stain inside)

Then you can start to spray-paint or paint it! Be careful and make sure it won’t go over your tape.

Make sure you put paint on both sides and then let it dry.

Then you can work on the collar. Put tape around it too so that the paint won’t go over the collar. Let it dry after you pain on it. (*I am so sorry I don’t have a photo for this, I forgot to take a photo while doing this step, this will never happen again 😦 )

That’s how your shirt is suppose to look like after it’s dry.

For the pocket, put a piece of folder inside the pocket (make sure it fits just right). Put tape around the pocket and then paint it gold.

When the gold paint dries, you can now paint cheetah spots on it. It’s pretty easy, don’t worry 🙂 you can use the photo on top as your guide!

Let it dry.

After it dries, remove all of the tape and folders and this is how the shirt will look like!! 🙂

When I finished this shirt I was so happy. Not only because I thought no one will wear the exact same thing because I made it, but also because I know that I worked hard on it. Who knew making your own clothes would be fun?

 

Chain Bracelet

Since my love for Do It Yourself projects has returned, I immediately looked at my closet for anything that I can use to make something and I found my old accessories making kit. That thing’s filled with chains and threads and locks and charms, I actually forgot that it existed. When I found those, I immediately made a bracelet!

What You Need:

Scissors, Chains (make sure the chains are cut already, cut so that it can fit your wrist), Craft Cord (or thread for cross-stitching, that works too)

Pliers

Locks (any type of lock will do, but I prefer these)

What You Have To Do:

Measure 36 – 48 inches of the thread and then cut it. Fold it in half and then align the chains and then start inserting the thread through the holes of the chains, do something like a running stitch.

When you finish one colour, put another chain beside the one you made and then using another colour of thread, insert it through the chains. (Sometimes it will be hard to insert the thread so I suggest you use a needle or a safety pin to pull the thread through the holes 🙂 )

When you’re done with that side, do the same on the other side!

*You can use any colour for the thread, any pattern too! But for now I used the white-black-white pattern*

When you’re done with that side, that means you’re almost there! Now all you have to do is out a lock on it.

If you did what I did, you will have 4 chains and what I did was, I put all 4 chains on each end in a metal circle. After that I put the lock on one side, and viola! You can now lock your bracelet.

Here’s how it’s gonna look like when it’s done! 🙂

Do It Yourself

So last night, I was looking through the March 2012 issue of Candy ( http://www.candymag.com/ ) . And as I was about to put it down, I saw their list of “All The Best-est!”, this list shows all the great new websites and blogs that you should visit and among them is I Spy D.I.Y.

http://www.ispydiy.com/

I’ve always been into D.I.Y.’s and as of right now, I’m running a little short on money so that means no clothes or anything at all 😦 BUT with D.I.Y. projects, you can have new clothes and accessories for a waaay cheaper price! PLUS you’ll get to customize it! And in this website, I learned that you can do so much more with a simple cookie cutter or shoelaces or all of the things you wouldn’t have thought of!

See those things above? Those are all D.I.Y. projects by Jenni Radosevich, the owner of I Spy D.I.Y. and one of the most amazing people I’ve ever encountered (on the world wide web haha). It’s amazing what you can do and the possibilities are endless!! This website brought back my love for Do It Yourself projects and I (kind of) already started again.

So when you’re short on ca$h and you are dying to get new stuff on your closet or if you’re just bored or if you want to have fun but you don’t know how, always remember that Do It Yourself projects are always at the tip of your fingers. 🙂