Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category

My friend Leandra, of Man Repeller fame came to me with a little project idea… A pair of never hit production Chloe pumps crossed her path, and she had the Eureka! moment all of us crafters have had at one point at another: The “I COULD DO THAT” moment. So we had a little DIY for Duh-mmies date at my apartment and made a project!

The results are pretty stunning and their goodness is twofold: 1. They were the easiest things in the world to make and 2. They look SO LEGIT.

And no it’s not lost on me that she is wearing a pair of elegant Louboutin DIY’ed pumps and I’m in my painted Tom’s.  We are who we are. She’s one of the few friend’s I have that inspires me to wear heels to lunch. (And I gotta tell you, I think it works… Dress for who you want to be?)

Hit up Leandra’s blog to see more of the project… The inspiration, the fun with glue guns…etc… We used red leather tape from M&J, but we used the suede side.

And thats the money shot…

They are just too good. I must admit, I was skeptical about those Acne jeans when they first hit the internet and Leandra told me about them, but now I must say: MAJOR. I think I need to DIY those next.  And also, my photos look awesome, too… I wish I had the foresight to be in some!

Check out the rest of the collab HERE!

Just a little intro: Liz, my fantastic intern, is an amazing DIY’er. You saw her first project a few weeks ago, the Washi Tape art, and she is going to be sharing projects with us at Sketch42. And now, without further ado, the DIY, written and executed by Liz:

Many of us have free time with summer coming up, and what better way to spend a day with a friend than immersing yourself in a plethora of DIY projects! I myself have quite the extensive list of creative activities I’d like to attempt this summer and why not start with studding a pair of Converse sneakers?? I’ve forever wanted a pair of What Comes Around Goes Around Studded Converse Sneakers, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $195 on a pair of Converse kicks. So, on a leisure day with my sister, we decided to get in a dose of M&J style DIY. After a lengthy search for the specific pair of Converse I wanted to stud, we finally found success at a store called Grand Slam in midtown – I chose the AS Light Hi Top – they have a much thinner sole than the standard Converse that I find a bit sleeker. Next came M&J – with so many options, it was hard to decide, but ultimately I chose black, medium sized screw studs.

Supplies:

1 Pair Converse – any style
Multiple packs of studs (quantity depends how you would like to stud the sneakers)
1 Leather hole puncher (available for purchase @ M&J)
1 Ruler
1 Pen or marker

Step 1: Figure out the stud pattern. Though I initially wanted to stud mine similarly to the What Comes Around Goes Around version, I quickly figured out that the size of my leather hole puncher limited me to punch only up to 3 inches from the tops of the shoe, so I needed to come up with a new gameplan. I decided to make 4 straight lines of studs on the top part of the outer side of the sneaker.

Step 2: Using your ruler and marker, carefully make equidistant marks on the shoe, marking where you would like to place the studs. Being that I lacked the handy dandy assistance of a ruler, I used tape to give me a straight line edge.

Step 3: Now that you’ve delineated the exact placement of the studs, it is time to start punching. There are many different sized holes that the leather hole puncher is able to make. I recommend testing on a separate fabric to see which size hole will fit your specific studs. Once you have determined the proper size, using the leather hole puncher, start punching holes in the places you’ve marked. The studs I used were 1/2″ small spike with screw and I set my leather hole puncher on 3.5.

Step 4: Once you’ve punched all the holes, start screwing!!! No tools are necessary – simply screw in the studs through the holes and voilà, you’ve got yourself a brand new pair of kick-ass studded Converse.

There are so many different ways this project can be done. For my next pair, I am going to spraypaint silver studs in multiple neon colors and I’m going to stud the tongue of the Converse. I obviously wore my Converses that night and got so many compliments!!!

Ever since Lana del Rey came on the scene with pounds of fresh flowers on her head, floral crowns have been a thing. Then my friend Leandra, The Man Repeller, was all excited about wearing one at Coachella… And so, now I wanted one. But then I thought, DAMN IT, Coachella is over, and I didn’t go. So am I really going to wear a crown of flowers on my head for no good reason? No. But…. I know someone who would, AND COULD! Cookie! Is there anything cuter than a little girl with flowers in her hair? Of course there isn’t. I originally conceived of this post as a flower girl for a wedding post, Cookie is going to be one in my sister’s wedding in a few months, and a crown of real flowers would be insanely gorgeous. I was going to put her in a dress and take sweet photos. But then, after we made the crown, and put it on her with her regular clothes, I thought it was EVEN CUTER as a little mini-hipster, hippy girl child! She insisted on wearing it to school, and I brought my camera, so lets just say it was an interesting walk!

You need: A few yards of wire, and a yard of ribbon with rosettes attached.

The how to is very easy: Buy some wire, measure the head and twist a few strands of wire into a circle. Take the strand of rosettes, pop one of the rosettes throughout the wires and secure the edge with glue (you don’t even really need the glue), then wrap the ribbon around the wire, I chose to wrap very tightly and have the rosettes be on the inside and outside of the loop, but you could do it so that the rosettes are only on the outside of the crown. When you get to the end of the crown, take the last rosette, pop it through the wires and twist it through a few times so that it doesn’t come loose. You can add glue here too.

And now: Some gratuitous pics of Cookie modeling the crown! I have  billion cute photos from this 5 minute walk. Maybe Ill post them on my Facebook Page?

I know street style for kids exists in the form of Planet Awesome Kid, but I would love it if a serious street photographer made a blog with consistently beautiful photographs of kids being awesome! Someone do it!

And now I think I need my own flower crown too.

After seeing my Tom’s, the people at Remi & Emmy asked me to fancy up this little Paulina clutch for them… I obliged! I think it came out pretty cute, huh? The purse is a great size for running around town, and I think the splats are fun! See, now we are back to neon splatter, just needed a little break!

Have a great weekend everyone!