Category Archives: DIY

July 2, 2011 · 6:20 am

Days 16 to 18

Day 16: Here’s a new piece I haven’t worn yet in the challenge. It’s actually a dress, but I thought it was too low-cut for work. Plus, it’s breezy and cool today, so I needed to layer. This cardigan isn’t part of my thirty pieces; I wore it for warmth. My bracelet is made from a bicycle tire! Most of the bracelets for sale were black (obviously) so I picked this one since it seemed unique. It’s made from a red tire.

Cardigan: Ross Dress for Less
T-shirt: Victoria’s Secret
Dress-as-skirt: Thrifted
Purse: Coach via thrifted
Bracelet: Punk Rock Flea Market
Necklace: Gifted
Sunglasses: Target
Shoes: Flexx

Day 17: I’m wearing the same pink top that I wore on Monday, but since I worked at home today and went out with non-work friends in the evening, let’s keep this secret between us. Even though I have a limited wardrobe this month, I’m trying to keep each week fresh and non-repeating. The outfit itself is pretty plain so I jazzed it up with a DIY t-shirt infinity scarf and a zebra-striped bag.

Top: JC Penneys
Capris: True Originals
Shoes: Timberland
Bag: Boodlebags
Scarf: DIY (I made it)
Bracelets: Boutique in Portland

Day 18: Here are my white jeans again. I wore them on the weekend, but no one from work knows that. I dressed them up with my boho top today. Even though it’s Canada Day, and not quite the 4th of July, I thought it was time to show a bit of patriotism. I’m in red, white and blue—even the wall and chair match.

Top: Metropark
Jeans: Lucky Brand
Bracelet: Punk Rock Flea Market
Shoes: Timberland
Sunglasses: Target
Earrings: Thrifted

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Tagged as 30 for 30, DIY, fashion, infinity scarf, polka dots, style, white jeans

June 22, 2011 · 6:33 am

Upcycling a Necklace

I bought a cheapie necklace on sale a few years ago and wore it only once. It was the wrong length, the charms weren’t in the right places, it just didn’t work. So, I thought about ways to change it. I like sculptural, asymmetrical pieces and figured I had nothing to lose by trying to change this long strand into something different. I grabbed a pair of needle-nose pliers and off I went.

Before

After

Here’s the necklace on me so you can see how it lies. I also wore it on Day 6 of the 30 for 30 challenge.

I hadn’t planned on making earrings but I had extra chain and charms when I’d finished the necklace so I grabbed a few hook backs from my craft supplies and ended up with three new pairs!

If you have a before-and-after story to share, tell me in the comment and link to your post if you have one.

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Tagged as DIY, earrings, fashion, jewelry, necklace, style, thrifty fashion, upcycling

June 8, 2011 · 12:40 pm

Tattoo Dress and Blue Tights

I am a woman of contradictions. I’ve said (many times now) that I shouldn’t wear clothes with empire waists. And here’s yet another item with such a cut. I take it all back. Rather than looking pregnant, I think this cut makes my legs look long. Lemons into lemonade. I also said blue tights were too Avatar, and here I am wearing them again. Never say never.

The pattern of this dress drew me to it. It’s a tattoo-inspired hearts-and-lovebirds design and I thought it fancied up an otherwise plain black dress. I like the fact that I’m wearing a $20 dress with $700 shoes. How’s that for a contradiction? Of course I didn’t pay that much for the shoes; new, that’s what they’d be.

In addition to saving money, buying second-hand leather goods aligns more with my philosophy. I don’t like buying new leather products when there are so many great vegan options out there (like the vegan bag) I’m using today.

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Tagged as DIY, dress, fashion, manolo blahnik, shiraleah, style, thrifty fashion

June 1, 2011 · 11:23 pm

Three Little Paintings

I really enjoy painting. I have since I was a kid, and I even minored in fine art in university. Lately, though, painting has taken a back seat to some of my many other interests. It’s tough being Jean of all Trades and having my fingers in so many pies!

This evening, however, I kept away from the television and brought out the paints. I chose acrylic for its fast drying time. I kept the paint flowing and worked on style and blending, not perfection.

I like creating painterly pieces and I wanted the bottles to have an element of whimsy to them and possibly even look like you’ve consumed the wine and can’t see straight. Or maybe they look like I drank the wine before embarking on this project!

I like deep yellows and blended a few colors together to come up with a marigold shade and some lighter yellow too. I thought that would be a good background for the richness of the bottles.

I painted the bottles with different tones too, so they look like glass. I didn’t try to make then photorealistic though. They float on a relatively flat plane (although I did add lighter and darker tones to create a sense of roundness).

Explanations aside, the main thing is that I had fun painting the bottles. I hung them in my kitchen (next to my wine rack) so I could take pictures for this site and for Etsy (I’ve posted them on my Etsy page so, yes, they are for sale).

Fortunately for me, they fit right into my kitchen where I’ll be keeping them on the wall until someone buys them.

I have a few other painting projects in mind. A coffee cup series is probably next. I also want to paint a giant enlargement of what viruses look like under a microscope, but I doubt people would want to hang those in their kitchens.

Do you paint? What type of creative endeavors are you interested in? What inspires you? Feel free to leave a comment and tell me about it.

Show Me the Monkey

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Today I started with an accessory—an amazing red monkey-head necklace from my friend Angie—and picked out my clothes afterward. I was so happy when Angie gave me the necklace. It was totally out of the blue. She made it for me because she knew I liked fashion (and monkeys).

It’s still feeling cool in the Pacific Northwest, so I wore a long-sleeved T and baggy cargo pants.

Top: Old Navy
Pants: Macy’s
Necklace: DIY by Angie
Shoes: Timberland

Sometimes the cuff on my pants unrolls—it seems like the buttoned tabs that holds them up are not evenly placed. What do you expect for $11? I might tack them with a couple of stitches so they don’t unroll. I will lose the option of wearing these unrolled, but I haven’t worn them that way yet, so I don’t have a lot to lose.

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Tagged as cargo pants, DIY, fashion, jewelry, style

May 28, 2011 · 10:56 am

No CAPS LOCK Please

dON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN YOU ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE cAPS lOCK KEY?

Me too! And that’s why I pried mine off my keyboard and have plans to turn it into a brooch. And no, it’s not polite to press people’s buttons. So don’t touch my brooch.

My solution might not be elegant, but it does raise a good question: Is there a need for caps lock anymore? If I want to type one or two capital letters, I simply hold down the Shift key. If I want to type a whole sentence in caps lock I first ask myself if it’s really necessary. If it is, I’ll usually highlight the words and change the font to “All caps.” That way, I’m free to change it back when I realize that the written equivalent of yelling at someone isn’t a good move.

Do to this in Word, highlight the words, right-click, and choose Font. In the Font dialog box, check the box next to “All caps.”

Recently, I found a few tech blogs where people were testing keyboard prototypes that didn’t have a Caps Lock key. That’s promising. I’ve seen smart phones that have a handy “.com” key on the touch keyboard. Nice!

There’s a way to remap a keyboard and switch the keys internally. Some people switch the Ctrl key and the Caps Lock key (thinking that pressing the Ctrl key accidentally doesn’t inflict as much damage. Or perhaps the remapping crowd uses Ctrl more).

Hat’s off to those of you who dare to remap your keyboards. I know I’d mess that up so I won’t even try.

What key would you prefer to have at the disposal of your left pinky? June 28th and October 22nd are International Caps Lock Days. How will you celebrate? Care to pry off a key with me this year?

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Tagged as caps lock, caps lock key, keyboard, style, technology

April 16, 2011 · 12:17 am

DIY T-Shirt Scarf

Do I have a project for you! Even if you don’t consider yourself crafty, you can successfully complete this project. And you’ll love the results. I recently joined a DIY project called Made This, Love This. The site was started by Indiana over at Adored Austin.

I’m so glad Indiana started with a simple project: an infinity scarf made from a T-shirt. Best of all—it’s no-sew. I’m inspired! You can find all the instructions at Made This, Love This, but here’s the gist of it:

Find an old T-shirt.
Cut it into strips horizontally (you’ll be saving the circular “tubes” that you cut from hem to armpits; the top half you can ditch).
Stretch the strips so they curl up (this way the edges won’t show).

That’s it! You’re done. The wider your shirt, the longer your infinity scarf will be. The longer your shirt, the more strands you’ll have. Anything works, but the results will vary. I don’t think you can go wrong.

I didn’t follow Indiana’s instructions to a T (pun intended). She recommends not cutting all the way through the side of the shirt. That way, the strands stay together on one side. I cut all the way through mine because I didn’t bother to watch her helpful video until after I finished my scarf.

I’m glad I didn’t keep my strands together though. Having them loose means I can mix and match. I found two T-shirts of similar widths (but different colors) and cut them up. Now I can wear one or the other or I can mix the colors together for a funky, colorful scarf.

Later, I found a much larger T-shirt and cut it up so I could have a longer scarf. It turned out great too. I can easily double it and it hangs loose. I’ve received so many compliments on my scarves and no one can believe I made them (let alone so quickly and easily).

You can make a scarf like this in under ten minutes. Try your own variations: use a patterned T. Mix together strands from a couple of different colored Ts. It’s up to you. And while you’re at it, check out the other scarves that members of Made This, Love This created.

Indiana’s DIY site will have a new idea every month. I encourage you to sign up and join in future projects.

Follow @jeaniebellini

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Tagged as crafts, DIY, fashion, infinity scarf, scarf, style, t-shirt scarf, thrifty fashion

March 25, 2011 · 10:04 pm

Boozy Boots: Refreshing Boot Shapers

Are the boots in your closet tipsy? Do you wish you were instead? If your boots have trouble standing on their own, here’s a sneaky little trick I learned recently. I saw a guest on the Today Show do this, so I can’t take credit. But I did road test it and I can attest to the effectiveness of a wine bottle boot shaper.

Before: crumpled boots

Step 1: Drink two bottles of wine
Step 2: Rinse out the bottles and place one in each of your boots
Step 3: Put your boots in the closet

During: giving wrinkles the boot

You might collapse after downing the second bottle, but your boots will stand at attention. Just be sure to rinse out the bottles before taking them to your closet. If there’s a bit of wine in them and you knock one over, you’ll mess up the carpet in your closet (and no, I’m not writing from experience…well, maybe).

: After: boots in a row

Boots (l to r): Me Too, Liz & Co., Wanted

This isn’t just about aesthetics. Of course we all want nicely organized closets; however, keeping your boots in good form will prevent wear and tear around the ankles. Falling over in a closet isn’t good for anyone.

Note: For those of you who don’t drink wine, there are probably non-alcoholic beverages sold in a similar-sized bottles. I personally can’t think of any.

Experiment with bottles shapes. I find I need a Riesling bottle for my narrow boots; wider, more casual styles benefit from a nice Syrah.

If you wear a different pair of boots each day, and don’t return any of them to your closet, by the week’s end, your front hall will be cluttered with boots and your boot closet will look more like a booze closet. People might think you’ve been secretly stashing wine. So tidy up, and put the bottles back in the boots so no one will have any cause for concern.

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Tagged as boot shapers, boots, DIY, fashion, style, wine bottles

March 6, 2011 · 9:02 pm

Cable-knit Pillow Project

I went to Goodwill this past weekend and got inspired. In addition to the Windows 7 skirt I fashioned from a gigantic men’s t-shirt, I made a cable-knit pillow from a sweater.

Here’s how I did it: Fearing the knit would unravel if I cut the fabric first, I flipped the sweater inside out, measured and marked a 14″ x 14″ section (of the front and back of the sweater and sewed it on three sides. Then I cut it and turned it right-side out. I used the sweater’s original finishing at the waist as my fourth side.

I bought a pillow form, slipped inside the casing, and sewed it shut with three non-functioning buttons. Well, I guess they function as closures for the pillow. They don’t function as buttons because I didn’t add buttonholes (who am I Martha Stewart?).

If absolutely necessary, I can always cut the buttons off and remove the stuffing, but both the pillow and casing are washable so, when needed, I can just throw the whole thing in the machine. That is, if you don’t buy it first. I added the pillow to my Esty shop, just in case someone finds it easier to buy this one instead of making one from scratch.

As always, I give this project an E for easy (I wouldn’t have it any other way).

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Tagged as crafts, decor, DIY, pillow, style, upcycling

March 6, 2011 · 7:50 pm

Windows 7 Takes Fashion World by Storm

Okay, maybe not exactly. Unless if by “Windows 7” I mean “Jean” and by “fashion world” I mean “her closet.”

I took a little trip to Goodwill this weekend and decided to get creative. I found a cute blazer from Canadian Chain, Smart Set, and snapped it up for $8.99 (partially out of a sense of nostalgia and partially because it really is a versatile blazer). Then I found a cream-colored cable-knit sweater for my pillow project. And then, I hit the jackpot: a black men’s XXXL (yes, that’s four x’s) t-shirt. Someone out there didn’t appreciate his Windows 7 t-shirt (obviously company swag acquired in a giveaway promotion-type thing). Well, it set me back $1.99. And now it’s a skirt. You can see how well it goes with my new blazer.

Blazer: Smart Set (via Goodwill)
Skirt: Former t-shirt (via Goodwill)
Necklace: Fremont Sunday Market street vendor
Boots: Liz & Co.

Here’s how I did it. First, I washed the thing thoroughly! Then, I cut off the sleeves, sides, and neck so I had two giant squares of fabric. I re-sewed the pieces together (along one side) and sewed a 2″ wide elastic band to the top (as an exposed waistband). I stitched the second side closed and left a slit in the bottom. The shirt was the right length so I kept the bottom hem as-is, but you could cut and hem it to any length you want.

I’m a lousy tailor so this (as with all my projects) gets an E for easy. If it were difficult, I wouldn’t have succeeded. I also don’t use patterns (a possible explanation as to why I’m no good with a sewing machine) so I had no idea how this would turn out. I was picturing something more A-line and flouncy, but I suppose that would require more fabric. I was pleasantly surprised to end up with a pencil skirt. I liked the nerdy, high-tech connection, so that’s why I chose a Windows logo, but you could do the same thing with a sports jersey, a t-shirt advertising a good cause, or your even favorite brew.