Good To Go

Some new things for summer:
MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Good To Go- buy here
Jackie sunnies from Urban Outfitters- buy here
Espadrille wedges from Steve Madden- buy here
I was so excited to get every single one of these things, absolute must haves for summer :)

The straw hat is from H&M last summer, which I resurrected by the way.   If you every squish a hat (under your feet during a 20 hour car ride to Tennessee :/) the easiest way to fix it is with a steamer!  I kept the hat for so long because I loved it so much and I knew I NEEDED to re-shape it one day, and it only took me a year to realize a steamer would do the trick.  At least I have it now!
Nails: Essie- Tart Deco
Toenails: OPI- Fiercely Fiona

 

©Olivia Joel- 2011

DIY: Nutty Bracelet

I've recently discovered the blog called Honestly, WTF, which has tons of awesome (and easy) DIY tutorials.  I fell in love with the simple braided hex nut bracelet.  All you need is 16 (or more) small hex nuts (Home Depot!) and some cotton twine, or I used yarn.
-Cut 3 one yard pieces of the string and tie them together leaving about 2 inches of string above the knot
-Next, braid the string for about an inch or two
-Then, you start to braid in the hex nuts (this is a little tricky) before you move the left string over the center one, thread a nut on the left string, cross it over, thread a nut on the right string, cross it over...and so on
-Once all of the nuts are braided in, just finish with another inch or two of regular braiding, tie another knot AND YOUR DONE! :)

Now you can wrap it around your wrist a couple of times and pair it some other bracelets to make a super cool arm party.

Decided to include Kiki in some photos because she is just so damn cute

:)

© Olivia Joel- 2011

DIY: Reconstructed Old Purse

Remember that American Apparel leather carry-all pouch I showed you while ago?  While I still am eager to buy one, I know in the back of my mind a simple leather pouch with a zipper is so not worth the $50-$60 they're asking for it.  I was set on making my own from some faux leather and zipper I bought online...and failed miserably.  It seems so simple (and it is) but I don't have a real sewing machine, just a little hand held one that doesn't sew through leather very well.  So...I had the genius idea of grabbing one of my old purses that I never use anymore, and reconstructing that into my very own cotton carry-all pouch.  What's even better is that the zipper is already on the bag, all I had to do was flip it inside out and sew it into a rectangle shape and VOILÁ!  A printed, not plain, pouch clutch!
Here are some before and after photos:

I loved the print of this purse and it already had a zipper...so this was the perfect purse to use

First, I cut off the straps

This odd half circle shape didn't work well, so I turned it inside out and sewed it into a smaller rectangle shape

And now it looks like this!

TADA!