D I Y - MARBLE HEADBOARD

Hey guys!

Just a quick one from me today, but I'm going to share with you how I made my boring, basic Ikea headboard into a super #extra marble master piece!
It cost me just over £5, and took around half hour to complete. It makes my bed look super expensive and luxurious!

Apologies for the horrible wallpaper, it doesn't really fit the beautiful aesthetic of the DIY project. We're moving out so there isn't much point in me redecorating just yet.

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Here's what you need;

A head board (Duh... but you can do this with anything!)
Marble contact paper ; Here's the one I used (Marble Contact Paper)
Scissors
Hard Card/Sturdy Plastic
*Optional sticky tape*

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First thing you'll need to do is grab your headboard, this took me a while as it was screwed into the bed frame. Finally I managed to pull it off and placed it on my mattress to get started.

This is the contact paper I ordered from Amazon. The link is above. It's the perfect width for my headboard and 2 meters long so I have plenty left for future projects!

The contact paper is really simple to use. Once opened, there is a piece of sticky plastic holding the roll in place. I used this to secure the roll to one side of the paper to stop it rolling back up. Make sure you attach it to the back of the headboard around 2inchs in. As the back of the headboard won't be seen we don't need to cover the whole thing.

When securing the paper, you need to ensure that it is lined up with the bottom of the headboard. We don't need to over lap the bottom as we need to be able to put it back into place. Again, the bottom is not seen. Ensure to leave the top of the paper handing over the edge ready to stick down to the top of the headboard in the final steps.

If you need some extra help to ensure it stays straight when you're putting it down, use sticky tape to hold sections in place. Try and use one that wont leave a sticky residue. If it does leave a sticky mark though, don't worry; you should be able to wipe it down after the material is pretty durable.

Once you're all lined up, you are ready to go! It's super easy. Just peel back the backing. Ensure to do this inch by inch. I found it's the easiest way to minimize air bubbles. Now take your bit of plastic. Whatever you'd like to use, I used a Blackhead Peel Off Mask box at first, but it wasn't hard enough so I used my GAME rewards card in the end instead. 

 

Use the card to push towards the area where you are pulling away the sticky back plastic. This step helps to reduce the air bubbles and make the headboard look more authentic rather than cheap. Once the paper is down it's kinda hard to work with. So do try and go little bit, by little bit to get rid of those bubbles. Just to save yourself some hard work after.

 

Now, I missed a photo here but it's pretty straight forward. Now that the made base is down. You'll hopefully have left over contact paper at the top of the board. Before you think about it! Do not try and stick it like you'd wrap a Christmas present. You'll end up with creases visible at the top and we don't want that. Instead, use the scissors to cut a small line where the two corners meet. Fold the side stripe down, and then cover with the top area. This will mask the corner and give you a beautiful clean edge. 

And that's the end! Once you're happy with the result, attach it back to your bed and lounge in your new wonderful marble masterpiece!!
*adding your Stitch stuffed toy is optional*

Stephanie - xoxo 

 

D I Y - / / D I Y S O C K P H O N E H O L D E R

HEY GUYS!

Seeing as you guys really liked my previous post on how to make a crop top out of leggings, I thought I'd create another really, really, really simple DIY for you.
I've recently stated working out really hard, running/walking every day/gym/skating/anything I can do to burn a few more lbs off.

But anyways! I normally run with two phones, I have a Nokia Lumia, which has no apps at all :( So I can't focus on my running, but all my music is on there so I have this on me 100% off the time... But to ensure I get the rest out of my work outs I use Nike + (Nike Running) to show how far/how fast I run and how man calories I burn in the doing so.

My running bottoms only have one pocket, so I end up having to hold a phone in one hand and then a bottle of water in the other. Nightmare! So I've found a sollution and I'm going to show you how simple it is to create your own Sock Phone Holder!

Firstly, all you need is a sock and a pair of scissors. (Perfect way to use up your odd socks!)

Then you need to cut the toe section off the sock like so;

Then place the sock inside out, and pull it up to the top of your arm. One in position, roll the sock up from the bottom to ensure your pattern is showing!

Then put your phone in and enjoy your new funky sock!

I hope this was helpful! I am now off for a run around the lake myself with my bee phone sock :D
Let me know what you thought in the comments, and maybe show me your creations after?

xoxox

D I Y - / / C R O P T O P F R O M L E G G I N G S

Hey everyone!

Today, I'm going to show you how easy it is to recycle an old pair of leggings into a brand new Crop top! It's really simple, takes literally a minute and all you need is a pair of leggings and some big scissors.

Lets get going!

First, make sure you have the leggings you want, and a good pair of scissors.

I chose these leggings (H&M - £3.99), I spilt a little bit of bleach on them when I was cleaning, just straight onto the leg. These leggings work perfect because the legs become my arms. Meaning the bleach stain is now hidden in the inside of my sleeve.

Fold the leggings in half, this is to ensure an even cut. Select your plunge. I'm quite heavy chested to say, so I've decided to go for a soft scoop neck, but for a deep plunge 'V'; just make the cut further towars to elastic and cut in a straight line rather than circular.

And then you are all done! Wah - lah!

Now go out and enjour your lovely new crop top :D

If you like the tutorial please pass it on, and leave a comment :) I'd love to see any creations you may of made!

B E A U T Y - / / C R A Y O N L I P S T I C K

Bonjour everyone!

I haven't had much time lately to post because I've been working really, really hard on my final university projects. One week left, One week left!!!!

I promised my neice a longggg time ago that I'd teach her how to make her own lipsticks out of some crayons. Her mother doesn't want to  buy her make up from the store, as it seems a bit grown up for an 8 year old girl. So I thought making her own would be fun, she could choose everything she wanted, we'd know what was going into making it and she could choose the exact colours she'd like to have.

and an advantage to completing it this weekend is that it's mothers day! Kill two birds with one stone.
Spend some quality time with my beautiful neice making lipsticks, and also make some for her to give to her mother for mothers day.

I thought they came out wonderfully, I specially like the barbie pink shade we made for my sister-in-law.
Here's how we did it!

(Apologise for the terrible picture quality, my kitchen isn't very well lit, and it was dark once we had finished)

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We had to collect some ingredients from the local store first! They were really cheap to get, and the over all appearence is just like a MAC lipstick. So it'll over all be a huge saving! We needed to buy:

Crayons - I bought a pack of 24, they only cost £1.25. We bought the Crayola brand. Crayola crayons are non-toxic, so perfect for using on the lips. Crayons are mainly made out of Paraffin Wax and non-toxic colour pigments, two of the same ingredients found in general lipsticks making it crayons completely safe to use.

Coconut Oil - Coconut oil is used in making lipsticks for a few different reasons. One, to make the lipstick smell nicer, as crayons don't smell the best! Two, to make the lipstick thicker to get more use out of it and lastly, to make the lipsticks glossy instead of matte... If you'd like to create a matte lipstick follow the instructions stated later in this post.

Vaseline - Vaseline will stop the lipstick from drying our your lips. You can also use a bit of lipbalm for this instead if you don't have Vaseline.

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Additionally, you will need to use your cooker, a pan of hot water, and a smaller container to mix your lipstick in. It needs to be slightly taller than the water, but wide enough to put a spoon/mixer in side.
You also need something to put the finished products in!
Jewellery storage boxes are best, but you can use anything really, we used ice cube shapers and an old jam jar.

Right, Now lets get started!

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First, Choose your colours! We've gone for pinks and reds for my sister in law - Orange, red, yellow and purply blue for my neice - and orange, blue and black for myself.

Peel the wrappers off the crayons and snap them into small pieces (This makes it easier to melt)
Boil some water and place it within a pan on the cooker. Then put the small container you're going to use to mix your lipstick in the middle of the pan. Put it on a medium heat.

(Swapped containers after because this one was too skinny to mix in)

Use one tea spoon of coconut oil and place it into the container (only half a spoon if you would like a matte effect) followed by a dab of Vaseline. My boyfriend took my Vaseline to work with him, so used my Superdrug Lipbalm, it has a slight shimmer to it, so added a bit to the mixture.

Once those have disolved, add in your pieces of crayon and mix until they are completely disolved. If the colour is too light/too dark, add either white/black until you get your desired colour.

Now pore the mixture into your containers and place into the fridge for 10 minutes!

And wa-lah!!!

Enjoy your beautiful lipstick!!

(Let India pore the purple on her own, as you can tell)

F A S H I O N - / / R O X Y R E C Y C L E D S H O R T S !

As you can tell from my last post, I am right back into my surf planning! That time of year is coming back (The time of year where my mother will drive me down to the beach if it's warm enough for her to sit and have an ice cream) and I cannot wait to get back into the sweet, salty water!

I've been searching for new beach wear (can you tell my student loan has came in yet!) and I stumbled across something that really caught my eye. I try my best with the environment, I don't use carrier bags, I eat fair trade 90% of the time, I always recycle my plastics and cardboard but never had I thought about wearing them... and this is exactly what Roxy have done!

Roxy have created a pair of shorts made from a material called Repreve. Repreve is a recycled fiber made from old plastic bottles. I found this astonishing! I drink a lot of bottled water, at the gym and also while travelling to work/university on the bus. I'd say 1 or 2 bottles a day, after a week I would have enough plastic to make myself a pair of these shorts! It creates less pollution and doesn't take anything from the natural resources that we are slowly(or quickly in some cases) running out of!

Shop the LINE UP board shorts HERE!
I personally love the black with baby pink elastic waist line. The cut on the leg is slimming and the draw string makes it adjustable for those in between sizes !

Great addition to the Summer outfit collection, and also great all year around for the gym!