Tutorial - Faux Marble Table DIY

The marble look has been having a major moment in interiors and fashion. It can get a bit pricey to invest in marble furniture or counter tops, so I've discovered a blogger secret-- everyone's been using faux marble! Here's how to get the look on a major budget (like $10!). Bonus: if you get sick of the look, it's removable! Follow along below to see how to get the marble interior look yourself and take your instagrams to the next lev.

on the table: sunglasses, happy plugs in-ear headphones, three hands antelope skull, diptyque candle, the collection candle, lady gaga x terry richardson, alexander mcqueen savage beauty


You'll need:
- Marble Contact Paper
- Scissors
- Small hand towel
- Ikea Vittsjo or any table or surface you would like to marbleize

Tutorial - Latte Sprinkles

I've developed a latte addiction very recently and I average 2 homemade lattes a day. It's just so easy and satisfying! I have a particular obsession with tea lattes because there's just so many variations and options! I just love that fluffy cloud of frothy milk that sits on the top of my drink but I've felt like it's been lacking a bit of...decor. So today I'm going to show you how to make your own adorable latte sprinkles! Why do you need to DIY latte sprinkles? Simple. You cannot just throw full sized sprinkles on your lattes because it will fall right through your froth!

Here is what we're going to make; Toffee & Dark Chocolate sprinkles


My inspiration? I visited a DAVIDsTEA store and noticed these adorably packaged sprinkles and instantly wanted to make my own mix. They come in 75g bottles and cost $15.00 for 2 or $8.50 for one. They offer Chocolate Sugar Sprinkles as well as Golden Sugar Sprinkles (it grinds up gold flakes!). How do they work? Well, there's full-sized sprinkles in a grinder and it's as simple as that!


Here's what you will need:

-Small Grinder (must be refillable)
-Zip Lock Bag
-Dark Chocolate Chips
-Toffee Bits
-Gravy Boat
-Masking Tape
-Pencil Crayon (or any writing utensil)
-Adhesive Label

Tutorial - How to Dye a Leather Bag

A white purse is a great accent accessory until it picks up stains from regular wear. I quickly learned this with my Alexander Wang SS13 Trifold bag in Glow-in-the-dark leather. It was such a novelty purchase that I thought would make sense but when it began picking up the deep indigo and black dyes from my clothes, I needed to do something. I decided to go all the way to the other end of the spectrum and dye the bag black, but as a DIYer, I wanted to try it myself. It was a huge risk, but turned out really well!



I figured since I was finally going to get back into blogging that I would try to record our first DIY video. It was something I was always nervous about delving into because it's completely out of my comfort zone... but I figured I would put myself out there and give it a try. I'm endlessly thankful for Sam's patience in helping me film this and even though it's not perfect, I think it's a decent start. Depending on how this is received, we might make video blogs a bit more regular... we'll see.

Watch the video below to follow along with how I dyed leather from white to black!

What you'll need:
- Something to cover your surface
- Fiebings Penetrating Leather Dye Kit
- Scotch Brite Scouring Pad
- Tarrago SelfShine Color Dye Kit
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Cotton Swabs

Instructions:
- Prepare the bag by disassembling straps and unfastening hardware.. Remove anything loose, unbuttons snaps and unzip the zippers so that you can reach every part that you would like to dye.
- Use Tarrago Preparer and the scouring pad to remove coatings, polishes and dirt. Scrub in a circular motion and don't miss scrubbing any part that will be dyed
- Use Fiebings Penetrating Dye and the included Dauber to paint the entire surface while still damp with preparer. Let the dye dry. It will dry a bit matte and streaky. Paint an optional second coat if any of the old leather color is showing through.
- Use Tarrago SelfShine Dye for painting on the finishing coat for a nicer shine. Brush onto all seams and cracks first. Then paint the dye onto the sponge to apply a thin coat onto the leather. Apply with the sponge in a circular motion. Let it dry for 5 hours.
- Use alcohol and cotton swabs to remove any dye from hardware
- You're all done!

Would you try this DIY?



Bag-spiration:

Tutorial - Tea Advent Calendar

It's been a long time since I been around, it's been a long time but I'm back in town! haha, I'll stop now. Anyway, It's been forever since I've blogged but I've decided that I'd make my first comeback post a good one. I hope it lives up to my words...but I'm pretty excited about this project.

Most of my friends and family know that I'm a tea addict. I think there's also something that happens when Autumn rolls around, my obsession gets stronger. It must be that I feel the fall chill in the air and crave a warm drink in between my palms.

Maybe you understand how I feel? Do you start talking about tea and mention things that the average person cannot relate to? For me, my own sister doesn't get me...so I decided to make an awesome little handmade gift of tea for her to share my obsession. Then maybe by Christmas, she'll be hooked? One can hope so.

Today I'll be guiding you through the process of hand making a tea advent calendar

It's a cup of tea for 25 days counting down to Christmas!

Let's begin with discussing my inspiration:


24 days of tea from DAVIDsTEA: their yearly Advent Calendar that retails for $34.50.
I would say it's their most popular collection and usually sells out within a day of being released (both online and in-store). I was physically holding a box on the day it was released but I knew that my collection of teas was already too big. I've also tried the majority of the teas in the set already. So I talked myself out of it. Later that day, they were practically sold out everywhere. You can find yourself a set for about $70 - $100 on sites like eBay or Kijiji (a Canadian site like Craigslist)!

So why spend up to $100 on a box of 232 grams of tea when you can customize your own? I'm sure you or your giftee would much rather have a calendar that is filled with hand-picked flavours of tea. Plus, not only can you personalize the set to taste, you can customize it around allergies and dietary restrictions.

I think that's enough talking, how about we get started?


What you need:
-25 wooden Clothes Pins (plastic is fine too)
-Printed Napkins (or Wrapping Paper)
-1 sheet of Card Stock/thicker paper

-White String (25 pieces x 6 inches)
-Twine (approximately 40 inches)

-25 miniature Adhesive Labels
-25 miniature Zip Lock Bags
-Black Permanent Marker

-25 different types of Tea

-Gift Box or Bag

-Scrap Paper
-Scissors
-Stapler
-Ruler
-Pen
Optional:
-Chisel-Tipped Permanent Maker or Paint (Colour of your Choice)
-(Tag-Shaped) Paper Puncher
-Colourful Pens

Tutorial - Candy Corn Nails

Happy Halloween everyone! This is my last Halloween manicure tutorial of the year. So I know that you are probably going to be munching on candies and chocolates no matter how old or young you are. What's more suitable than candy corn on your claws?


Here's the triple striped look we're going for.


What you'll need:
-Orange nail polish
-Yellow nail polish
-White nail polish
-Quick dry top coat
-Tape
-Scissors


Paint first coat of orange nail polish


Do a second coat when the first is completely dry


Cut a strip of tape that's about 1/3 of the length of your nail


Use the first piece of tape to measure the other pieces


Make sure that your nails are completely dry then stick the tape across the centre of your nail. Stick the tape on well to ensure that the colour doesn't bleed


Paint two coats of white nail polish


As well as two coats of yellow nail polish


When your nails are completely dry, peel off the tape carefully


Apply the quick dry top coat


Weeeeeee, candy fingers! Enjoy your treats, Happy Halloween!!

Tutorial - Slime Dripping Nails

The other day, when I was working on the Dexter Manicure Tutorial, I really couldn't decide whether I wanted the blood to drip up or down my nails. For that reason, I decided to make a tutorial for the opposite direction but with slime rather than blood.


Here's the look we're going for. Slime dripping from your cuticles...how attractive.


What you'll need:
-A baggy. Sandwich or zip lock - doesn't matter.
-Light green nail poish
-Neon green nail polish
-Thin paint brush
-Quick Dry Top Coat


Paint first coat of the light green base colour. When first coat is dry, apply second coat


Let base colour completely dry


Take the neon nail polish and dab a good amount onto the bag


With the thin paint brush, apply the second colour to your nail. You can start from the base of your nail and paint lines towards the tip of your nail. Vary the length of the drips


Paint a half moon shape at the base of your nail


You can also do it the other way around. Paint the half moon first...


...and then the drips


Dab some dots below the drips


You may allow the thickness of the nail polish can be inconsistent. It makes it look more...slime-like


When your nails are completely dry, apply the quick dry top coat


and that's how you paint slime dripping nails! Spoooooky

Happy Eve of Halloween!

Tutorial - Beetlejuice Manicure

So today's tutorial is for a striped nails but they're not just for Halloween...seriously. Quite simple and you could fully mix-up the colour combinations!


Here's the look. Just black & white stripes.


What you'll need:
-Tape
-White Nail Polish
-Black Nail Polish
-Quick Dry Top Coat
-Scissors


Paint one coat of white nail polish. Do a second coat when the first coat is dry.


Cut thin strips of tape. It's all up to you whether you would like super thin or thick stripes. I opted for 5 stripes per nail which means two pieces of tape per finger.


I snipped the tape lengthwise rather than widthwise because the tape wasn't wide enough for my nails.


Ensure that your nails are completely dry otherwise the tape may damage your base colour.
Apply the tape to your nail and try to keep an even distance. With light pressure, rub the tape to remove air bubbles


Repeat on all fingers


Apply black nail polish between tape


When your black nail polish is dry, remove tape carefully


Repeat


If necessary, remove nail polish from skin


Apply quick dry top coat


Complete, pretty striped nails!