Jun 17, 2010 | DIY, Life
So I’ve decided to forgo my “DIY Links of the Week” roundup since I honestly can’t keep up with all the great stuff out there, and by the time I come across it I’m often late to the game. So here’s something new! First off, please allow me to share a couple projects that have been on my radar that are just plain awesome.
These are embroidered, people. Embroidered. EMBROIDERED.
And then I must have had shoes on the brain because I became a little obsessed with the shoe makeovers.
Blogger Nurinia from shares her tutorial on making ribbon-tied wedge shoes with removable ribbon. I love her idea for securing the ribbons, and how you can change them out when you tire of them.
ItsaboutSarah added lace and pearls to a pair of black heels to make these fantastic ladylike shoes. Think of how well this would work on a pair of beat-up plain thrift store pumps!
Speaking of thrift stores, they almost never have shoes in my size (which is a very popular size 7.5). But now I can start foraging for shoes that are too big for me, too! Cut out the toes of a too-large boot and shave down the sole to create a peep-toe bootie, just like Lions, Tigers, and Fashion Oh My! did. Oh My! And she made some DIY Miu Miu maryjanes.
So now here’s what’s new…I’d love to see all the projects you’ve been working on. Here is my first…
DIY ROUNDUP
Can’t wait to see everyone’s projects!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 16, 2010 | DIY
While I am still distressing over our lost family pet (now missing for over a week), the only thing I have been able to do besides put up posters, hand out flyers, and spend hours staring outside and waiting for the phone to ring…has been to watch reruns of Law & Order. They always find the missing person in the end.
And blog-land wise, the only thing I have been able to do on the computer is indulge myself in a blog I cam across called Tea Rose Home. The writer of it, Sachiko, is a stay-at-home mom with 3 children, and she blogs about beautiful items: ruffles, quilts, t-shirt makeovers, children’s clothing, and home decoration projects that add beauty and happiness to her life. I’m amazed at the number of creations she makes, and the feminine quality to each one. Plus her attitude (in the face of 3 rare disorders that have had her in and out of the hospital her whole life) is inspiring and uplifting. Reading her words about how much she loves her family, the happiness she finds in crafting, and her positive attitude has really helped lend me strength in this dark time. Plus, her projects are just beautiful – and she loves forming baskets into handbags – something I love as well!
I made this basket after seeing something similar in a Japanese magazine awhile back. It is real fur, sadly – a rabbit fur that I had bought a long, long time ago and had put in my materials bag to try and figure out what to do with it. In the years after I began to feel disgusted about using real fur, and so couldn’t bring myself to use it in anything. But I also couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, which would be so disrespectful to the life of the animal.
Muffin [our lost cat] loved it, and often pulled it out of my bag, playing with it, stroking it, and sometimes sleeping with it. So I put it on a basket, kind of like a good-luck charm. It’s removable for when Muffin comes back, and now sits on my desk so I can stroke it and remember how much she loved it, while I am willing her quick return.
A cheap basket from Michael’s which didn’t have a lid was transformed into this by cutting two pieces of foamcore that would become a hinged lid inside. I added hinges and a latch from the hardware store, securing the screws I drilled into the foamcore with hot glue. The latch I secured onto the basket with thin wire from the jewelry-making section.
I then hot-glued a layer of lace around the edge of the lid from a lace table runner I found at Goodwill for $1. (Come to think of it, Goodwill had TONS of baskets there too – I should have bought there instead of spending $6.99 at Michael’s. Next time.)
Finally, I wound a lace ribbon around the handle, and added some lace bows on either side. I then added a muslin liner, and my pretty bag was done!
Once Muffin returns and wants her fur back, I will probably replace it with a layer of pretty fabric, or some faux fur on top instead.
Have any of you ever remade a basket before? Hope this gives you some ideas – and for more great ideas for basket makeovers, check out Tea Rose Home and all the beautiful basket handbags Sachiko creates there.
xoxox
Carly
linking to Tea Rose Home link party No. 12 and Avid Accents Make My Style Monday #6
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Jun 11, 2010 | Life
It’s been a pretty awful week.
Our cat Muffin (the one I like to call the Spawn of Satan but in reality I am somewhat fond of her), has gone missing and the past four days have seen me plastering the neighborhood in posters, handing out fliers, walking the nearest 5 miles calling her name until I am hoarse, driving the back roads nearby multiple times, inspecting all manner of roadkill I see, posting on numerous online lost pet boards, calling local shelters (did you know shelters in my county CHARGE a person dropping off a cat $10 and won’t accept a found cat unless they’re paid????!), updating her microchip registration, and wading through thigh-deep fields and brambles searching for a cat that when curled up is smaller than your average rock. Of course (since I used to do volunteer work rescuing feral and abused cats when we lived in Hawaii) I am envisioning all the worst-case scenarios, have barely slept since she disappeared, and am jumping out of my skin every time the phone rings, or rushing outside every time I hear the smallest noise.
I’ve been ignoring all unrelated emails and neglecting this blog and can barely even think about fashion-y stuff or DIY right now.
I’m really sorry – I don’t mean to let you guys down or anything; I’m still here…just otherwise preoccupied.
Muffin, if you’re reading this, please come home!! I’ll even give you a whole wad of nice tissues to munch on, promise!!
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Jun 9, 2010 | Life
Hello everyone! As you may have noticed, there have been a couple things I’ve implemented here that I just wanted to let you know about…
1. Custom Domain
Yeah, I bit the bullet and bought a hosting plan. Blogger is soooooo much cheaper than GoDaddy!! Anyway, chicsteals.blogspot.com now redirects to www.chic-steals.com. No worries, you don’t have to update your links or your feeds; they all should work fine. But if you’d like to in order to save the hassle of redirection, feel free! (And my Alexa rank is thus messed up for a time. C’est la vie:-(
2. Total site redesign and no more Blogger search bar
To those of you who’ve said you like it, thank you! It’s taking me little tweaks here and there, and mistakes galore, but it’s getting there. If the site looks especially weird, please let me know what browser you’re using and I’ll see if I can fix it. I’ve also gotten rid of the Blogger-hosted search bar at the top and relocated it to the right sidebar, but most searches turn up with no results. (Google-powered, my bum. More like powered by a single hamster on a rusty old wheel.) So if you’re looking for something, the Labels links are in the lower left sidebar, or maybe Google it from Google’s home page with “Chic Steals” in the keywords. So sorry but I have no idea what they’re feeding those hamsters over at Google and why this isn’t working properly – I’ve filled out the spreadsheet with Blogger, who say that’s the official way to bring it to Google’s attention. See rant-filled thread here if you’re interested in other users who are having the same problem.)
3. Chic Steals Facebook Page
I’ve also officially created a Facebook page for Chic Steals and I’d love to have your “Like” vote. Please join me there if you enjoying FB’ing! (And please feel free to post your own projects, thoughts, videos, etc.)
4. DIY Blogs Linky-Links
On the left-hand sidebar. If you have a blog that features a lot of DIY tutorials and I haven’t included it in the links, let me know and I’ll add it in there!
5. Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunitites
If you are an entrepreneur, sell on Etsy, have an online store, want to purchase advertising space, or want to donate product, coupons, or giveaways to Chic Steals, please drop me a line! My rates are affordable and small business-friendly.
6. Upcoming Contest
So many of you responded to my survey last month that you wanted a DIY contest. Well, it’s in the works! I’m currently reaching out to online businesses to provide the prizes – so if you would like to donate a prize and get great exposure for your site, a contest such as this would be a wonderful opportunity. Please email me and let me know!
Well, that’s about it! Also, if you’d like to follow me on Twitter and read my random musings you can do so here.
Thank you for your readership, and if there’s more stuff you’d like to see, please leave it in the comments!
xoxox
Carly
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Jun 7, 2010 | Fashion
From now until Tuesday at noon, get 30% off all apparel, and 50% off all sale items at CharlotteRusse.com and in Charlotte Russe stores! Here are some picks I might just have to snag for myself:
xoxox
Carly
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