DIY: Glitter Shoes

As promised on my last post, I'll be posting on how I made my glittery heels. For this DIY, I was inspired by Dorothy and her Ruby Slippers. I had an extra pair of shoes lying around the house which I was no longer using since I ruined it from overuse. I used very few materials and the result was amazing!

Materials: Old shoes, Textile Paint / Acrylic Paint, Brush, Glitter, Tacky Glue, Clear Lacquer Spray Paint

Steps:

1. Make sure the shoes are clean from dust and dirt.

2. Cover the areas you don't want touched with masking tape 
and stuff the shoe with newspaper.

Paint the shoes with a white or neutral color so that 
the final color will look better.

Don't put on a thick coat of paint because it will 
make the shoes stiff. One coat is enough.

Let it dry for a few hours. 

 3. Paint on the second coat.

This will be the final color of the shoe and should 
be the same color as the glitter you will be using. 

Let dry.

4. Using a sponge brush, paint a thin layer of tacky glue onto the shoe.

Tacky glue is really thick stuff so try to spread it out, 
you don't need a lot of it. 

I worked in sections on the shoe rather than covering
 the whole shoe with glue.

5. Press the glitter gently with your fingers and shake off the excess glitter.

6. Allow your shoe to dry completely. This might take 1-2 hours.

7. Touch up with more glue and glitter if needed.

8. Using clear lacquer spray paint, coat the shoe completely. 

This is to seal in the glitter.

Allow this to dry overnight

 

Take a look at the shoe BEFORE, and after the glitter treatment. It looks like NEW!

It's a pretty easy project and worth a try. Go back to my previous blog post and see how I wore it with my black dress. =)

This DIY project of mine was also featured in the September 2012 issue of Celebrity Living Magazine.
 I decided to post it here too so that you can follow the steps
and try it anytime =)

DIY: Gift Wrapping Guru

Christmas again! And yes, I confess, I am addicted to wrapping gifts. Lately I would find myself happily wrapping gifts til 3am. My boyfriend already suggested I get a job at a department store's gift wrapping section. (Yes I'm THAT addicted!)

Every year, I have a "theme" for my gifts. There was one year my theme was "Microwaveables". All my gifts were inside plastic microwaveable containers, wrapped in japanese paper and covered with confetti. Another year it was "The Blues" --- Blue wrapping paper, blue cards, blue ribbon, blue boxes... everything blue! Last year was "Metallics". A mix of Gold, Silver and Bronze wrapping and ribbon --- very bling! For this year, I was thinking of  an earth friendly theme --- First thought, newspapers? EWWW. No way. Its an old idea, plus it's not very clean. I know I'd end up with black fingers after each wrapping session. So my GENIUS idea --- recycled boxes! Yep, I became a major collector of wine boxes, flour boxes, pasta boxes, tea boxes... lahat ng box! Everyone in my household was already asking me why boxes were piling up in one corner of the house. All I said was... BASTA!

BOXES GALORE

I thought the idea was pretty cute. Add a colorful ribbon and voila! But then as I was walking around "SUR DE VI" (That's Divisoria said in class --- Thanks to a new friend, Ben Redulla for introducing me to the most sosyal way of calling it.) I found a GORGEOUS black and white wrapping paper from a street vendor. I just had to get it! I immediately bought everything he had (around 50 sheets - it was so inexpensive, promise!). And so my earth friendly theme transformed into a Earth-Friendly-Black-and-White-with-colorful-ribbon theme. So to the recipients of my gifts... don't think I'm going el cheapo on the packaging. When you tear of the pretty wrapper and see my recycled boxes --- remember, EARTH FRIENDLY!!! =)

My pretty black and white wrapper and ribbons

Recycled boxes inside the wrapper, finished off with colorful ribbons

 

and because I'm super ARTE... the gifts for the boys and men are made to look like shirts with ties (Feeling gift wrapping pro!)

Half of my gifts almost done... I think I'll be able to fill up the staircase! Hehe =)

DIY: Handpainted and Embellished Jeans

For my blog, i'll be sharing with you some Do-It-Yourself projects. Out the number of hobbies I got on my plate, designing and crafts is my first love! =) So here you go, my first DIY post!

HANDPAINTED and EMBELLISHED JEANS

Let out your inner bohemian and personalize your favorite pair of jeans. A little bit of paint, a dash of beads and sequins and a whole lot of imagination is all it takes for you to turn a timeless classic into a statement piece. 

Materials you need:

Textile Paints

Paint Brush

Mixing Dish

Beads

Sequins

Needle

Thread

A Pair of Jeans

STEP 1:  Start painting your desired design on the jeans.

STEP 2: Hang the jeans and let it dry overnight

STEP 3: Check if your painting is completely dry. If it is, sew on beads, sequins or buttons. 

Use your creativity! =)

VOILA! Finished!

Wear and flaunt your design. =)

Photograhy by Filbert Kung

My hair by Charisma Vicuna

=)

This article is on the latest issue of DEPOT FASHION Magazine... get a copy now, to view my article and to shop for the latest fashion items! =)