Manage me. I'm a mess. Maybe it's not my weekend, but it's going to be my year.

So, who could manage

1. Reading 10 chapters a week in textbooks,
2. Two quizzes every weekend,
3. 4 projects,
4. Oh and don't forget the normal things like midterms and finals too???

Not me! I think I'm drowning.

But I managed to squeeze in a DIY tonight after I got home from work at 10:30.

So I was inspired by this picture, which I've actually posted before:

This was the bag before:

I got the bag for $12 at a store in the pretty much the ghetto. Yeah, some lady even took my cart because she liked a pair of shoes I had picked out and put in the cart. Crazy people.

And this is the bag after!

I actually really didn't do much to it. I made a black bow out of some crazy mesh fabric and put a studded belt on it. It's probably just about cheater status easy!

Sometimes I really like simple things. I'm not sure why, but I really like this simple black top paired with a simple skinny black belt. I wore it to my mother's Semi -Fourth of July party. I guess I looked pretty unpatriotic but hey, it wasn't even on Fourth of July.

Oh and I wore these shoes, which I bought at the same store where I bought my bag for $6 woohoo!

Well, I must say, I'm thoroughly exhausted right now. Goodnight, Good morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening around the world!

Here's a night, and it shines. So be here by my side, and watch the stars. They're ours. Make a wish or just take charge.

So I...

• am super excited that I have a new bumper and fender sitting in my living room. It means I don't have to drive around in a ghetto smashed up car for much longer.
• have mixed feelings about starting school tomorrow. I'm just too much in summer mode right now.
• am not loving having to wake up at 5:30am for work or working/schooling a 12 hour day this entire week
• have a really large stack of clothes I want to to use for DIYing and wish I had more hours in the day to do them
• feel i should have accomplished more during my week of summer vacation!

Aside from my useless rambling, this is my latest DIY!

It was super super easy. I literally just took a rather plain top and sewed some bows to it! I think it would have perhaps looked even cuter if I had used some festive ribbon! Instead I just used navy quilting fabric. I also actually sewed snaps onto the bow and shirt so that the bows wouldn't get ruined in the wash!

Time is money, and baby money is time. Baby I got money. I want to make you mine.

So my latest DIY is an extremely simple one, but I decided to show a tutorial on it anyway. I basically turned some plain bangles into crazy Raggedy Ann ones.

Step by Step

Materials:

• bangles
• fabric cut into strips about half an inch wide
  

Take one of the strips and twist it around the bangle, starting at one end of the fabric strip and ending with the other when the two ends meet.

Tie the two ends together with a double knot and trim the ends.

Take another strip of fabric and twist it around a section of the bangle in a crisscross fashion. Tie the ends together with a double knot and trim the ends. 

Fini! Woohoo!

We'll end up numb from playing video games and we'll get sick of having sex, and we'll get fat from eating candy as we drink ourselves to death

Ok, so I really like these shoes from Steve Madden...

Steve Madden Quantumm $79.95

But I'm way too poor to buy them. So, I decided to make them myself! I started with a pair of American Eagle wedges that I bought at TJ Maxx for only $12!

Before:

After:

It was actually quite easy! I just used some elastic on the back of the fabric strip to make it ruffle! 

Too bad, I found these shoes as I was looking for the photo of the Steve Madden Quantumm shoe. I kind of wish I had used these shoes to make these instead. I guess there's always next time!

Steve Madden Florah $89.95

Yeah I'm lyin'. Damn you're fine.

I'm so sorry to anyone who has noticed the fact that I have been gone for a month. Being a senior in college can get a tad hectic. However, I'm back and have started doing one of my favorite things...DIYing! There's just something about it. Nothing makes me smile faster than shopping, but there's just something just so fulfilling about making things yourself...like seeing the fruits of your labor!

First of all, I finally got a new bag. I've been needing one for over 6 months now. The outside casing of my strap broke and I've just been watching the rubber bands, that are inside, break day by day. It finally got down to only two rubber bands holding the strap together and I realized my textbooks and laptop could go tumbling down with my bag the day the strap breaks while I'm carrying it. So, I went to TJ-Maxx and bought this Enzo bag for only $30 and basically made a huge bow out of fabric (because I'm so sickeningly in love with bows) and sewed it to my bag!

The second DIY I did was embellishing a shirt. I made little flowers out of zippers to put on the collar. I really didn't know what I was doing while folding and sewing the zippers but I think they turned out pretty nicely!

I must say, I'm quite proud of myself. I still have a huge pile of clothes to alter but at least now I feel motivated to sew!

Did you know that people being trained to work in sales for Whirlpool have to live in a house with only Whirlpool appliances for a month for training?

So, I was looking through my continuously growing, reference sized book of magazine cutouts and decided I want to start posting about why the pictures inspire me and the many DIY ideas that come from the pictures. The only problem is that some of the pictures are so small and the camera on my phone is not the best, but I'm still going to give it a shot!

Marc by Marc Jacobs ad

I love everything about this picture. I love how both the bracelet and the shirt are multicolored and they both have different color schemes but they look great together! I really like the draw strings on the shirt actually, so I thought about taking one of my collared shirts and flipping the collar inside out and threading a string or ribbon through it!

Topshop top

This picture is pretty blurry because the cutout was tiny but if you can see, its a wife beater with a man's bow tie on it. I thought it was a clever way to spruce up a white tank top!

I love the pearls and rhinestone heart on this bag! I really need a new bag because the handle on mine is broken! So, I was thinking I would buy a nice plain bag and decorate it like this one! I just need to find a large rhinestone heart. Maybe I'll add a bow or two also!

Tom Binns necklace

This one is really really really hard to see, but basically it's a pearl necklace with a bunch of safety pins on it! I love it! It's elegance and edge all in one necklace! I think I'm going to add some safety pins to one of my pearl necklaces now!

On a different note, I bought these shoes for my boyfriend yesterday. I think they're really cute and I want a pair now too! PF Flyers were actually a rival brand of Converse back in the day. 

Oh, and I wore this. I'm pretty fond of this jacket!

Rubbish jacket

Mossimo top

Neckin' Around

I'm a huge fan of basic clothing. I love plain solid colored blouses, tees and tanks in flattering cuts. Sometimes I crave something fun and embellished though. So, I was really excited when I spotted a trend of embellished necklines. Whether buttons, beads, gathered fabric, or menswear used to spruce up a top, these are all great ways of making a basic exciting! Here's a bunch of inspiring photos, and the best thing about them is that they can all be DIYed!

Anne Klein $59

This Shirt: Wooden ring chain neckline

What about?

• plastic or metal rings
• a crocheted chain
• a bunch of buttons

J. Crew $42

What about?

• scrunched ribbon in a different color or fun pattern

I thought this shirt was just so cool with all of the beads and charms around the neckline! I would love to make a toned down version of this but if you're bold, one to this magnitude would look really cool also!

Anne Leman $129 - shopcakeonline.com

What about?

• a bunch of bows at the neckline
• fabric flowers

I'm definitely going to try some of these ideas out on some of my basics! Not only will it be much cheaper than buying these shirts, but it will be almost free!

Earth Rock Meet Rock Music Fashion

http://www.gemmaredux.com

Wow. So I came across a necklace in a magazine a little while ago. I really like the asymmetrical chunky necklaces that have become really popular lately, but these necklaces aren't like most that I have seen. I love that they have beautiful and elegant stones held together by a mess of different chains mixing sophistication with carefree rock and roll.

These pieces of jewelry are beautiful. Of course they are! They're expensive! It's always the pieces that catch your eye that are out of your price range. The nice thing about these necklaces and bracelets is that they're messy, so we could easily turn inexperience into a perfect messy look. Kind of like how a kindergartners scribbles are much better looking than an adults.

So for making the necklace we would need:

Stone beads: Easily found at any craft store. They could be expensive or cheap.

Chains: Several different kinds. These could also be easily found at the craft store or at a secondhand or vintage shop. These could also be found for a variety of prices. At a secondhand shop it would be easy to find a huge variety of chains and for very little money. They could even be broken!

Needle-nose pliers: Definitely the smaller the better. They make ones especially for jewelry-making and beading. These are going to be your magical tools for making your mess of a creation.

Clasp: Don't forget this part! You'll need it to keep it on your neck or wrist of course!

Now go to work! Twist the chains! Pull them tight or leave them loose! There's no wrong way! Just make it messy!