DIY | Metallic Tattooed Phone Case

Another episode of let's tattoo everything in sight with flash tattoos! I had some gorgeous tattoos from BlinBlinMe.com (not sponsored, review coming soon!) on hand and I figured since tattooing eggs worked out pretty well that I'd try tattooing a yet another phone case since I tend to change them up so much.

DIY | Tattooed Easter Eggs

Apologies since it's been quite while since my last post! I'm back with a quick & easy DIY on how to decorate Easter eggs using stuff from the dollar store that's also super fun to make with kids! I personally find the metallic flash tattoos really pretty but I don't think that I could pull it off on a daily basis. Another use for them is to upgrade your typical Easter eggs into something elegant and classy!

DIY | Felt Envelope Laptop Sleeve

I was gifted a lovely laptop last September when I started graduate school but clumsy me has been bumping it against walls and such because I tend to carry it by hand. I've been meaning to make a sleeve for it since forever to prevent scratches but haven't had the chance until this past Christmas break. I decided to bust out my cheap $20 sewing machine and was pleasantly surprised that it was so easy to use (the thought of threading the thing kept me away from it for so long lol)! Looking forward to trying out more sewing projects! :)

DIY | Geometric Pyramid Ornament

We haven't put up a Christmas tree in a while but it's still fun to make ornaments! These color-blocked ornaments don't require any special materials and can be whipped up in about 5 minutes. I actually learned how to make these in mini form out of the very same paper strips used to fold mini stars, but now they've been supersized!

DIY | Kate Spade Inspired Leather Bow Belt

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Endlessleather.com. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company.

Here's the fifth and final tutorial for Endlessleather.com! Another Kate Spade inspired project...I do hope you guys aren't getting too tired of these! If you'd like to see what other projects I did for Endlessleather click here, and click here for more Kate Spade inspired DIYs!

Kate Spade's really big on bows so I was inspired to make a skinny belt version of this leather cuff!

Kate Spade Locked In Leather Bow Bracelet | My skinny belt version!

DIY | Stenciled Logo Parody Tee

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Forest and Lakes. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company. 

The lovely Nina at Forest and Lakes sent over some plain white tees for me to play around with in return for a blog feature. Since Forest and Lakes is a wholesale apparel company based in China, I was initially skeptical about their website and products as a whole. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the shirts they sent me were of excellent quality. I got two white tees in adult size small and fairly well-made, seeing as they're not super thin and see-through like many others these days! While an adult small is still a bit large for my small frame, I found that the tees do shrink slightly after washing (which is actually perfect for me). I have no complaints about the products so far and I'm very pleased with Forest and Lakes.

I love how versatile white tees are because they go with just about everything and are the perfect canvas for DIYing! I did have a hard time thinking about what I wanted to do though and stumbled upon some of Brian Lichtenberg's Celine/Feline and Hermes/Homies parody tees. I love parodies but the Feline one didn't particularly speak to me since I'm neither much of a cat person nor affluent enough to justify a $50+ tee, so I opted to feature Celine Dion instead (~fangirling~).

DIY | Leather Cord Organizer

I'm lucky to be close enough to home to commute back on weekends for a good meal, laundry, and the creature comforts of being home. (#firstworld) Problem is, I gotta lug all my phone, tablet, laptop chargers...in addition to my earphones, external hard drive, portable battery pack, flash drives, etc. Something's bound to be forgotten so I desperately needed something to keep them all together...rather then throwing everything in my bag and spending hours detangling them all later.

DIY | Metallic Typography Notebooks

It's back to school season and I found myself wanting some fancy new notebooks to ease myself back into the study mood (cue groan).

Can you believe how expensive some of the notebooks are these days? I saw a 5-subject one going for about $4 and cringed...it didn't seem to be part of the back to school sale. I ended up finding a pack of 6 wide-ruled 1-subject notebooks for, wait for it...97 cents! SCORE!

I've been really into minimalism and typography lately so I decided to just keep it simple by just using the subject name. :)

DIY | Leather Wrap Crown Bracelet

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Endlessleather.com. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company.

Behold my fourth (!) project for Endlessleather.com! If you missed my last three tutorials and review of their products, you can find them here.

This time around, I made a different type of bracelet using one of their adorable crown charms. I also had a hankering for a blush-colored bracelet but never found one to my liking. Like all my other tutorials, this one is (hopefully) super easy and dare I say, somewhat Juicy Couture-esque (minus the velour and neon colors)?

DIY | Magnetic Wood Frame

I'm moving into my new apartment soon so I've been looking for some non-permanent ways to decorate the walls. Problem is, I get bored easily and can never settle on just one piece of wall art hanging there for a long period of time. I came up with this minimalist magnetic wood frame (made out of wooden paint stir sticks!) so you'll be able to change up your art, print, or poster as often as you want!

DIY | Leather Phone Strap

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Endlessleather.com. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company. 

This is my third tutorial for Endlessleather.com! If you missed out on the last two Endlessleather tutorials or want to read my review, you can find them here and here.

I have a habit of going out the door and not finding enough hands to hold my keys, phone, purse, etc... Of course I could throw everything in my purse but as I may have mentioned before, my purse is quite a dark abyss of mumbo jumbo. This leather strap is a great way to hang on to your phone, keys, camera, or wallet for quick access.

DIY | Interchangeable Studded Hair Combs

As you may know, I'm always a fan of interchangeable/multi-wear/multi-use things. I just love the idea of having one thing that can be non-permanently customized millions of ways! I got a couple clear plastic hair combs a while ago but couldn't decide on how I wanted to decorate them, so I turned my indecisiveness into a whole new project!

DIY | Leather Chain Crossbody Bag Strap + Turn Any Clutch Into A Crossbody!

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Endlessleather.com. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company. 

As promised, this is my second tutorial for Endlessleather.com! I purchased this lovely Kimchi Blue crossbody purse from Urban Outfitters but within a few months, I got frustrated because the chain began to kink up. I couldn't figure out how to fix it so I opted to replace it entirely. Sadly I couldn't find a strap that I liked, so I DIY'd my own with some chain and flat leather lace! This is a great project if you're frustrated by kinked chains, chain straps that dig into your shoulder, or simply find that your crossbody is too long for your liking. I'll also teach you how to make an instant crossbody out of any clutch!

Photo credit to Urban Outfitters | my kinked chain | DIY crossbody strap!

DIY | Leather Bracelets

*Disclaimer: This post is brought to you courtesy of Endlessleather.com. I received samples of their products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by their company. 

I received an e-mail from Endlessleather.com offering to send me a sample of their products in exchange for an honest product review. EndlessLeather is based in Germany with an amazingly huge variety of leather laces, cords, and accessories. I'll be starting off a series of DIYs using their products so stay tuned for more posts brought to you by EndlessLeather!

To be honest, I was at first skeptical about the website as it was foreign and I had no knowledge about the company...plus the website didn't seem legitimate. I'm pleased to say though that after some research and after receiving my samples, that this Endlessleather's products are of the highest quality and I think very highly of their customer service.

Here's a sampling of all the products I chose:

Left: double stitched | Right: recycled leather

Review: I chose a selection of double stitched and recycled leather cords, each 1 meter long, 7mm wide x 2mm thick. I was actually surprised because I wasn't expecting these leather laces to be such high quality. All of them were beautiful, stitched perfectly, and very durable. I got the double stitched in black, light beige, and powder, and the recycled leather in black, patent black, camel, beige, silver, and gold. Most of the colors were accurate compared to the pictures shown, although it'd be useful if they showed the cords to scale...I was expecting them to be wider. Oh how I wish they had the double stitched in mint!

Left: various findings | Right: leather clasp

I was also pleasantly surprised that their jewelry findings were also of really high quality; the sterling silver findings are super shiny and durable. Nothing flimsy here! I was a little disappointed that they didn't have more gold findings available but I was impressed with what I received. I chose two stainless steel crown charms, two gold lobster clasps, two gold cord ends, two gold spring rings, two silver spring rings, two silver lobster clasps, four square cord ends, three silver lever clasps, and a couple packs of silver jump rings. I have nothing but high praises to sing about EndlessLeather's quality.

Alright guys, so finally now onto the DIY! This is one of the simpler projects that I made using materials from EndlessLeather. You can't really go wrong with a classic leather bracelet. This also makes a great unisex gift; I could totally see both men and women rocking this!

DIY | Father's Day Bowtie Jar

I was asked to help think up Father's Day presents to give out to all the fathers at my church. Since I wanted to keep the gift simple yet meaningful, I decided on a jar chock full of healthy goodies: a dried-fruit-and-nut medley. To decorate the jar itself, I used ribbon to make it look like a little tuxedo with a color scheme of black and white.

Don't limit yourself to just Father's Day though; these also make great quick birthday gifts all year round or wedding/party favors!

DIY | Magnetic Phone Macro Lens

I love the picture quality I get from my the camera on my phone but hate how it lacks a macro lens. I've had my eye on those 3-in-one lens sets which includes a little magnetic ring for detachable lenses. I figured I wouldn't really use the wide angle or fisheye lenses too much since those effects could be achieved via filter, so I found a way to DIY my own magnetic macro lens!

Note: Before you do this project, make sure that using the magnet will not interfere with your phone's compass (which may rely on detection of the magnetic field) and do not use strong magnets (they may damage your touchscreen if placed too close).

DIY | Wood Block Photo Holder

I typically gift my mom a handcrafted card for Mother's Day, but this year I decided add on a photo holder so that she can reuse for displaying pictures all throughout the year. This is a sweet, inexpensive five-minute project that makes a great gift!

DIY | Gogo Philip Inspired Crystal Hexnut Necklace

Asos.com is one of my absolute faaaavorite sites to shop at (disclaimer: not endorsing, I just really love them) because they have such unique pieces and their fashions are always on point. I spotted this totally DIY-able Gogo Philip necklace, so I made this necklace from some extra hexnuts on hand from my last project!

Left: My version | Right: Gogo Philip Bolt Diamante Necklace

DIY | Rainbow Photo Filter

I'm not the best cellphone photographer in the world so sometimes I unabashedly rely on filters to make that not-so-great-looking dish look just a bit yummier. Other times, I'm just looking for something that'll make my picture more unique. Today I'll show you an old school alternative to downloading more photo-editing apps (guilty!) that produces a lovely gradient effect!

DIY | Mini Wire Crown

When I was in preschool, I suggested making paper crowns after naptime because I always wanted to be a princess (who am I kidding...I still do!). While I'd love to flounce around in a fluffy tutu and carry a fairy wand out in the general public, I doubt I can pull it off outside of Halloween without attracting strange looks :( Fueling my wire kick and obsessions with all things mini, this DIY is a cute way addition to your plain bun so we can all feel like little princes/princesses :)