DIY // Tinsel Nails

Merry Christmas! The day has finally come: the gifts have been unwrapped, many hugs exchanged, much wow, such thanks... and with it, a lot of cleaning up to do when the decorations need to be taken down later on. If your tinsel is like mine, it likes to shed into a huge glittering pile guarded by the prickly arms of your tree much like how Smaug guards his mountain of gold. But before you set your vacuum on it, why not try this nail look? It'll give your after-Christmas cleanup some much needed spirit!

DIY // Christmas Mini-Tree Table Decor

My favourite holiday of the year is definitely Christmas... why? Because PRESENTS! No, I'm just kidding -  Christmas is not just about receiving and giving gifts. It's a time to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while, whether they be friends or family, and just relax and enjoy each others' company (and the fact that straight after Christmas comes the Boxing Day sales doesn't hurt either!). Christmas is also my favourite holiday to decorate, because who doesn't love all the lights and tinsel? In this post, I'm going to show you how to make an easy table decoration that will make the perfect centrepiece for your Christmas dinner.

DIY // Foil Manicure

Sometimes, the best materials are sitting right under our very noses. Who would've thought that the humble kitchen foil could be used for nail art? This DIY is a super simple one that you can whip up in 20 minutes, and the results look very impressive for something that came from your kitchen!

TIPS // Revamp your old nail polish

Stuvac is here! (For those who aren't from Australia, this is short for 'study vacation') While this means I can finally sleep in on weekdays, it also heralds the start of the exam period... and the first one I have is on Partial Differential Equations. Bummer. But I've found some time in between my frantic revision of Laplace transforms and Fourier series to give you something fun you can do with any nail polish you dislike (and a bit of a continuation from my DIY Eyeshadow Nail Polish)!

DIY // Chandelier Connector Earrings

By now, I'm sure you know I don't buy earrings just to wear them as they are. NOPE - I buy earrings to take apart and turn into pieces that reflect my personal style. I've always preferred wearing dainty or elegant pieces to the statement jewellery they have in stores, but I'm also a sucker for large, intricate (and shiny) pieces that really grab your attention... yeah, you can see where this leads to. Simply put, I buy a lot of crap I never wear.

But the good thing about this is I have an endless supply of material to play around with (a good side to shopping addiction! Yay!). These connectors were leftovers from my statement necklace DIY, and I loved how they looked so edgy even when they were meant to be hidden. I can see lots of other projects centred around these in the future, so stay tuned! 

Right, let's get on to the tutorial.

DIY // Choker Necklace

The 90's brought us many good things (Nirvana, Radiohead, Pokemon... the list goes on), but one of its most ubiquitous items is the choker. Of all the necklaces in the world, the choker is definitely the most unique. In this post, I'm gonna show you how to make your own!

DIY // Eyeshadow Nail Polish

Here's a quick DIY to get your day started! We all have pans of old eyeshadow we never use. Sure, they look great... that is, when they're not on your face. Rather than throwing them out, here's a way to put them to good use without having to leave the house with neon green eyelids. 

DIY // Yarn Bowls

For as long as I can remember, I've had a stash of yarn hiding in the back of my closet that I haven't touched in years. So I decided to use them to decorate my space instead, and I really love the way they turned out! This is a really fun diy to do, as long as you're ready to get delightfully messy (seriously, wear an apron if you don't want flour all over your clothes).

INSPIRED // Bow Ties

When all the cool guys in science (think Bill Nye, Alexander Fleming, Erwin Schrodinger, etc.) wear bow ties, you know there's nothing more awesome than rocking one yourself.

TUTORIAL // Long Chain Earrings

So I've been out of action for a little while... what was the reason behind it all? A mounting stack of assignments and exams to deal with, as well as a lack of sleep due to my abominably early math classes. Fortunately, last month was the worst of it (I hope) and now I'm back to diy-ing. Yay!

Today's DIY is extremely simple - with a few materials, you can make 3 completely new earrings. How awesome is that?

DIY // Bead Tassel Earrings

Ok, I'll admit it - I've been a little slow to join the tassel fanclub. I guess I wasn't a big fan of wearing things that (to me) belonged on curtains and cushions. But then I discovered bead tassels - and that changed everything! I love the sleek look of a long tassel dangling from your ear, which really does wonders to frame your face and draw attention to your lips. So I've come up with a way to diy your very own set of tassel earrings!

DIY // Chain Bracelet

What do you do when you've got too many broken chains lying around to count? Turn them into a new bracelet (or necklace)!

DIY // Summer-inspired Ombre Friendship Bracelet

Oh, summer... what's not to love about it? It's the season for beach trips and barbecues - pretty much anything that doesn't involve being inside (though as a science student, that can be rather unrealistic!). While it's winter in Australia right now, summer is never too far away for us. Sometimes you'll see people in t-shirts on a nice day because the midday sun gets that hot. It's kinda awesome living here!

One thing I'll always associate with summer is friendship bracelets. Some of my best memories were of my friends and I spending our lunchtimes in a nice shady corner and making these things, then swapping them so we could show our friendship. How simple life was back then!

Today, I'll show you how to make a bracelet you can wear all summer (and winter) long!

DIY // Chunky Beaded Necklace

Over the years, I've accumulated quite a collection of beads. Some of them were from bracelets, necklaces and broken jewellery I had as a kid. Other beads came from swapping with my friends. And as you can imagine, most of them were horrendously ugly and mismatched.

I'm sure I'm not the only crafter who hoards beads. Coming up with ways to use your beads in pleasing combinations can be a very hard task, especially when most of them are the cheap plastic ones painted in tacky colours from the dollar store. How, then, do you turn them into something wearable?

Well, I've got the perfect solution!

TIPS // 10 ways to use old perfume

Most of you will probably have some forgotten, slightly off perfume lying around. Perhaps you don't like its over-the-top, in-your-face floral stench. Or it was an ill conceived gift from a distant relative you barely know. Or maybe you were caught up in the Spring sale tsunami of '05. Whatever the reason, there's no way you can bring yourself to commit the atrocity of throwing out perfume that maybe, just maybe, has a use.

Well, then, here are 10 ways you can get rid of that perfume. For good.

My personal collection of unwanted perfumes

DIY // Statement Necklace from Earrings

I came across these gorgeous gold filigree leaf earrings while shopping at the QVB in Sydney (you can buy them here). I never intended to wear them, of course - they were the perfect piece to take apart. Look how pretty it is! And the best part about this is that I only used one earring - another project for the future!

Shows up very well on black, doesn't it?

DIY // Half-Circle Skirt

Circle skirts are wonderful for pear shapes (like me) who want to minimise their lower half - this skirt will flare out from your waist and hide those chunky thighs until you get around to exercising them away. 

But sometimes they can get rather bulky with all that extra fabric - that's where a half-circle skirt comes in! Now you can get all that twirl without the weight.

What you'll need:

DIY // No-Mess Oatmeal Scrub

Oats are not only delicious (I like to mix mine with a little milk and honey in the morning - yum!), they are also perfect for your skin. No matter what skin type you have, oats are gentle enough to be used as a scrub or a mask - I have a very oily T-zone and using an oat scrub in the morning keeps my skin fresh for hours! However, they do get quite messy and are hard to clean up, especially when they get washed down the drain. Here's a way you can get oil-free, clear skin without having to worry about clogged drains!