Dirty Shiny Pretty

Musings on Dirty Shiny Pretty Life

Sep 28, 2011

A Touch of Lace- turn a boring dress into a lacy top

Original Dress. 
New top paired with black tank, jean shorts, and necklace I made.
I found this dress/tunic on sale for $5 the other day and while the shape didn't do anything for me I really liked the sleeves and thought it would be worth buying and experimenting with. I cut most of the fabric off, gave it a slight mullet hemline, added a lace panel to the back, and Done! Now I have a cute little sweater top that I can throw on with a pair of shorts or jeans as the weather cools down.

How to add a lace overlay

Supplies:
-dress or top
-piece of lace slightly larger than size you want it
-sewing machine
-pins 
-scissors

1. After I cut my top to the length I wanted I laid it flat and decided where I wanted to place the overlay. I then pinned it down



2. I sewed around the edge of the lace with a zig zag stitch.


3. Lastly, I cut out dress fabric behind the lace and trimmed the excess lace from the sides.





Sep 20, 2011

DIY Minauderie


A few months ago I came across a blog post (before I used pinterest so I can't recall the name) about turning a discarded sunglasses case into a clutch. I thought this was a clever idea and knowing I was going to be in two weddings over the summer I thought it would be a great inexpensive way to add some sparkle to my look. I received lots of compliments and everyone was surprised to learn the bag had been a sunglasses case. This is a great DIY because it doesn't take much skill or money, just a little creativity.  Now go rummage through your junk draws to find a case and try this yourself.

Supplies needed:

- 1 hard sunglasses case (make sure it's large enough to hold a night out's necessary items.
-spray paint
-decorative findings
-strong glue

1. Spray paint the case to help camouflage it
2. After paint has dried. Glue on fake closure if you want. I painted a large green plastic pyramid bead to look like a purse snap.
3.Working in small areas, spread glue and place findings.
4. Repeat step 3 until the case is covered. Make sure that you leave space around the edges so case can close.

This does take a little bit of time if you are working with small findings, and I'm not going to lie that I definitely lost a few brain cells from sniffing so much glue, but it was still fun.

Enjoy!


Sep 9, 2011

My parents went to Africa and I didn't even get a stupid t-shirt...totally joking


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Well, actually I didn't get a t-shirt, but I'm ok with that because I ended up with these beautiful beaded bracelets and necklace that are completely on trend right now.

My favorite is the large black and blue cuff
These pieces were made by local women my parents met while they toured around Cameroon, Rwanda, and Kenya for 17 days this month. Yep, my parents said Sayonara Sucker to me and took off on the trip of a lifetime. Actually, I'm really happy that they got to take such an amazing trip. They've been trying to organize one for the last few years, but the timing was always off. Then my sister decided to spend the summer in Cameroon interning for a human rights law group and LIGHTBULB! my parents decided it would be a great idea to visit her. When they came home my mom had almost 2000 photos on her camera. Here are some of my favorites:
Looks like Rhino Baby has a new friend. My family enjoys giving "unique" gifts that make me want to sleep with the lights on.
Big Booty Little Chief-gift from sister, Rhino Baby-from Dad, pinecone above Chief's head-from B
Now onto the real photos

Hungry Hungry Hippos!

My absolute favorite animal.
Dumbo!

Zebramania

Just a small snack.

Rhinos don't really camouflage too well.

I feel like some fire and melting clocks would make this a Dali painting.

Gorgeous. 

Brothers on the prowl.

Who you looking at?

Annual river crossing. Pure chaos.

Lion around in the road ;)