DIY Tutorial: Rope Necklace

It's been raining and raining over here, and that's a good excuse to stay indoors to spend some quiet time with some DIY projects (with a cup of tea! I know, I'm such a granny). I made this rope necklace last weekend, and I love wearing it! It's colorful, chunky, and dresses up a plain tee.

 Can you tell that my favorite color at the moment is green? Heheheh.

The chains were from one of my old necklaces.

They look like a hybrid between chain links and braids. And they're made out of laundry rope!

Here's how I did it:

You will need:

Laundry rope (pick a fun color!)

Quick dry super glue

2 x end caps

4 x jump rings

1 x lobster clasp

Chain

Pliers to attach jump rings

Masking tape

Scissors (*optional)

*Note: I say optional because it's used for cutting the laundry rope, 

which I supposed could be gnawed off with teeth too :P

Lay out the rope so the short end is on your top left. 

Now, the following steps might seem tricky but I assure you once you get the hang of it, you'll be fine ;-) Just follow the pictures step-by-step as you go along.

There are 2 main knots that you'll use in alternate sequence, which I've creatively named Knot A and Knot B. We'll start with Knot A:

WOOT! Now we'll continue with Knot B:

Knot B done!

Keep repeating Knot A and Knot B until you reach your desired length.

Tape masking tape around both ends of your knots, and trim according to the height of your end cap.

Try putting on the end cap to see if it fits. If the rope isn't snug inside the end cap, simply add on 1 or 2 more layers of masking tape to fatten it up, like I did mine :D

Apply thy super glue!

Dab some super glue into the end cap as well, and pop the cap on.

Repeat with the other end.

Attach the chain and lobster clasp using the jump rings, and you're done!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did, and do leave me a comment if you have any questions.

Btw, I have this vintage dress hanging on Sha Nay Nay (my dress form), and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with the dress. I need to refashion it for sure, but not sure if it should be a maintained as a dress or divided in separates (a blouse and a skirt). 

Hmmm.... what do you think?

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Tutorial: Wooden earrings

Ok, you know I love my angled lines and geometry, so I couldn't resist making these wooden earrings! And guess what? No sawing needed, and definitely no fancy carpentry skills needed. The secret? Check out the simple material list below.

You'll need:

Scissors

A small bowl of water

Ear wire hooks

Ribbon crimps

Jump rings

Popsicle sticks

Yup, the secret is the good ol' popsicle stick! I'm using wide ones (the kind used by dentists), and you can even get them in colors from party shops.

To prep the popsicle sticks, cut the stick into half or thirds. Go slow, to prevent the wood from splitting.

Soak the sticks in the bowl of water for about 10 - 15 mins. 

Practice some dance moves.

While the stick is still wet, use the scissors to shape the earrings however you want it to be. You'll notice that because it was soaked in water, the wood will be easier to cut and will be less prone to splitting compared to being cut dry.

I wanted a simple chevron shape, but you can totally make it in any shape you want. Square, rectangle, triangle, bojangle.

Pat it dry. To quicken the drying process, just use your hairdryer :D

Attach the ribbon crimps, jump rings and ear wires. To strengthen the hold of the ribbon crimp, you can either use a multipurpose adhesive like UHU or even a pair of pliers. You're done! Wear it as it is, or... 

... decorate it with some paint! Either way, you'll end up with some cute statement jewelry.

If you like this tutorial, do share it :D And let me know if you make them!

Btw, do check out my interview on Two Girls Times, one of the sweetest and clever blogzines I've got to know lately. I talk about my love for making things and my idea of a good party, and why I want to clone myself into Dani Stahl... ok just kidding. Partly.

Teleport to the interview here.

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Tutorial: DIY studded hair accessory

The weather is getting incredibly hot and humid lately, and I've half a mind to shave my hair off! Unfortunately I will just look like a boy monk, so maybe it's a good thing only half a mind was involved in that thought, heh.

Studs are one of the easiest ways to take an outfit from regular to studtacular! Whether you like to go crazy with a fully studded jacket or just minimal with one studded accessory, I approve wholeheartedly :) Here's a simple DIY hair accessory that you can make in a jiffy.

You'll need:

A small piece of felt

Hair comb

2-prong pyramid studs

Multipurpose adhesive ie UHU

Scissors

Cut a strip of felt that equals the height of one prong to the other of your stud.

... not THIS stud ;-)

Cut the strip so it also equals the width of your hair comb from end to end.

Slather some sexy glue on it.

Stick the felt strip onto Ryan Gos--I mean, the hair comb.

Dab some glue onto the felt, and start studding the comb from the edge, prongs facing top and bottom vertically. Use your fingers to bend the prongs inwards (if it's tough, you can use a butter knife or even pliers). 

The idea is to latch the prongs onto the felt strip so it won't jiggle around :D

When you're done, the back of the hair comb should look like this, and the front...

... ta-daaaaah!

Enjoy your new DIY studded hair accessory! :)

p/s: Picture of Ryan Gosling from Handmade Ryan Gosling, the best thing for crafters to ever hit the Internet since the Internet.

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Fascinator fever

Okay, I don't think it's really a fascinator fever, but I really do enjoy making them! I found some nice felt and made some yesterday.

I've made a few fascinators before, and what I learnt from Threads magazine is that the base should be curved so that it'll sit on top of the wearer's head nicely. I've made flat ones before, and while it may work for smaller sized fascinators, it usually stuck out of my head in an awkward manner and would take me some time to position it before it looks ok.

With a curved base, it's amazing how easy the fascinator sits so naturally! 

And how do you like my croissant hair! Hahaha. I love it. Learnt it from Amy's tutorial after watching Karmin's Brokenhearted video (and that song kept playing in my head while I was combing the suicide roll lol!). 

Here's me thinking: "Hmmm, I think I'm gonna make my roll bigger next time... yeaaaa!"

I'll leave you with Karmin's awesome song! "D

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My new store is finally open!

Do come visit! Browse, share, and enjoy free shipping worldwide with the checkout code below :)

I hope you'll like what you see!

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Tutorial: DIY painted belt!

I did this video tutorial as a submission for ModCloth's DIY Boss Contest-- it's my first time shooting a video tutorial, and I had a lot of fun! That, and my back ached like a crazy old man by the end of the session. Well ok to be fair, mostly due to the DIY camera rig I constructed haha.

Here are some behind-the-scenes pictures

All shot in natural daylight-- the best kind of lighting! I was rushing to get all the shots before the sun went down.

I prepared a very rough storyboard so I had all the steps visually planned out, so that I would not waste time thinking on the spot (something I learnt from helping Lobak with his production of wedding short films).

To keep the camera on a lock shot, I disassembled one of our Ikea shelf/trolley thingies and made a rig for the camera. Love you, Ikea!

My nail polish stash. My favorites are actually IN2IT because the texture is not too thick, but I love the colors of the OPI Minis that my mother-in-law gave to me for Christmas-- it's the Nicki Minaj collection heheh. Thanks to Mel and Jean, I love Face Shop's line too, because of the texture and wide range of colors.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but I have a weakness for belts. Whether they are new or thrifted or handmade, from a retail store or a night market, I. LOVE. THEM! Any belt lovers here? :P

The whole video was shot on my Samsung NX10, a camera that I absolutely ADORE. I bought it during a clearance discount I chanced upon (wouldn't have been able to afford it at full price), and I don't think I've ever loved a camera this much. I chose a 30mm pancake lens for the bokeh because I absolutely love bokeh. I know, I'm loving so many things on this post LOL. Most of my recent pictures in this blog were taken by my NX10.

The video was edited in iMovie, and the music was composed on Garage Band (my other music projects can be found here). 

Editing took the longest time for me (and an extra cup of coffee), but it's also something I'm consciously trying to improve on. I think I really enjoyed this video tutorial because it's a combination of everything that I love: photography, music, fashion and art. 

FINALLY! You made it to the end of the post! Haha. Ok here's the video, let me know if you like it!

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