Mar 24, 2015 | DIY, Fashion

Welcome to a new series of mine:
Buy or DIY, where I break down an on-trend piece into where you can
Buy It (if you want the original) or how to
DIY it (if you want to put your own original, affordable spin on it).
Loeffler Randall Gem Clutch
The DIY version: Thrift (or make!) a neutral suede-like zip envelope pouch – or try this version
for $18.95. Use Loctite Vinyl, Fabric and Plastic Repair Adhesive
to affix a variety of pastel mint rhinestones to the front, like these Tear-Shaped Rhinestones and/or these Marquise Rhinestones. If you can find or make a clutch in a thinner fabric, you could also sew these rhinestones on instead, using a thin beading needle like these
.
Which version do you prefer: BUY or DIY?
xo
Carly
FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you click and buy something through one of the links above. My full Disclosure Policy is here.
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Feb 21, 2014 | DIY
Spring is almost sprung – and what better way to usher out those Winter blahs than with beautiful pops of color? Add a bright center to a faux stingray textured clutch with Tulip Neon 3D Paints from i Love to Create and add a dose of fun into your evening (or prom!) accessories.
(Plus it creates the look of elegant stingray skin – without any of the unsustainability and cruelty of the shagreen industry.) (more…)
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Jan 21, 2013 | DIY
Hi everyone! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
I’ve teamed up with the dress e-tailer London Times to do 2 DIYs featuring their dresses. The first of two is up on their blog today: a DIY Metallic Envelope Clutch (made from a plastic file folder, some felt…and a surprising metallic material!) Click through to find out what it is and how to make one yourself…

Happy DIY’ing!
xo
Carly
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Sep 20, 2012 | DIY

With New York Fashion Week just barely over – and London Fashion Week drawing to a close – there has been creativity and Fashion with a capital F in the air.
To celebrate, Fiber One Bars and Brownies (the official snack of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week) has teamed up with Celebrity Style Expert Bobbie Thomas to encourage consumers to show their “great taste” through the first-ever Fiber One Snackcessory Challenge.
What is the Fiber One Snackcessory Challenge? you may ask…
A DIY Challenge to create your own stylish accessory case or pouch to hold snacks on-the-go…or even to use as a clutch on its own!

Fiber One sent me a kit with some supplies to get started…
But I went to town on the challenge and sourced my own materials to trick out that sunglasses case even more…and made a beautiful, chic case that can even accompany me to the most dressed-up events. (…like….Fashion Week….?!) Here’s how:
How to Make a DIY Flowered “Snackcessory” Clutch

(It’s basically the same principle as the DIY Jewelry Box Clutch I featured a little while back.)
(more…)
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Mar 27, 2012 | DIY
So how fantastic was Honestly, WTF‘s reinvention of the sunglasses case into a DIY Alexander McQueen-inspired box clutch last year? I think it’s safe to say that we all loved it – and all went out to the nearest store in search of a hard-sided sunglasses case forthwith.
However, I got to thinking: why not use something that may already be in your closet to make this?
Enter the velveteen jewelry box: often when we ladies receive or buy a piece of beautiful jewelry, it’s housed in its own velour-lined box. And those boxes are so pretty! Why not reinvent them?
I’ve held on to most of my velour jewelry boxes, not because I use them to store jewelry in still (I use flocked jewelry trays that stores use in their display cases), but because I thought to use them again somehow. And some of them were sentimental to me.
Take this shell-shaped velour box – it used to hold a string of my grandmother’s pearls that I received when she passed away. The insides of the box had gotten old, deformed, stained, and crumbly over time…but the outside was still quite pretty. I thought it very Art Deco. And so decided to give it a second life, as a pretty box clutch. Here’s how I did it: (more…)
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