Oct 4, 2011 | DIY
Okay, so we saw a version of this as a DIY on PS I Made This lately…but isn’t this twisted, yarn-y confection just begging to be DIY’d as is? Cue the pompon maker and bright yarn…this would be so easy to “recreate” with a barette attached to a yarn pompon, and a couple other hair combs with a small amount of yarn wrapped around them (or even small knitted rectangles – even cut from a sweater!!). You wouldn’t have to go full-on runway-style woven-through-the-hair either…just a prim braid or chignon pinned up at the back of the head, with the aforementioned barrettes/pompon would look pretty neat!
xoxox
Carly
photo from Style.com
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May 26, 2011 | DIY
I’ve been so busy lately I’ve been neglecting to share things that I’ve made. Here are a couple items that I’ve finished up and am enjoying:
Galaxy-Print Scrunchie
Make following this tutorial from some leftover self-designed galaxy-print fabric scraps. I’m making a top with the fabric and since the tiny amount I bought was so goshdarn expesnive, I didn’t want to let any part of it go to waste. The fabric is silk, backed in black mesh chiffon. I should have made it twice as wide, but I only had so many scraps leftover. It tends to slip out of my hair since it’s silk, so I wear it around a hair-tie.
Tribal Necklace
Made with faux bamboo-stick beads and faux coral beads from Michael’s. I love the spiky organic-ness to it.
Bohemian Leaf Head-band (Head-dress?)
I’m not really a boho gal, but I couldn’t resist crafting this. Take any flat-ish jewely finding that has a hole in either end, and string them together with jumprings to make an adornment for your brow. The leaf findings I used only had one hole, so I drilled another one in the end of each piece. Which took a $%##% long time, too.
Feather Earrings
Made in the style of Owlita. (Theirs are much nicer, though!) I just wired together some feathers and added a handmade ear-wire to them. I love how they mingle in with my hair.
Have you made any projects recently that you’re dying to show off? Do tell!
xoxox
Carly
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Apr 28, 2011 | DIY
Straw orange and pink sunhats from Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2011 RTW Collection.
A little paint gives a floppy straw hat a vibrant 70’s-inspired makeover a la Marc Jacobs.
Merona Wide-Brim Floppy Straw Hat, Target, $12.99.
Tulip Fabric Spray Paint in Fuchsia and in Pumpkin, $5.79 each, CreateforLess.com.
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly
Photo is a scan of one of the Marc Jacobs advertisements shot by Juergen Teller, found in Vogue Magazine (or something…)
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Jan 5, 2011 | Media
all photos by Kava Gorna, NYTimes.com
Or at least the blame shall fall to Chelsea Zalopany, who wrote the Dec. 30 article “Feathered Friends / D.I.Y. Headbands.”
Oh, New York Times. I appreciate your efforts to make DIY more accessible to everyone, I truly do. But you’re approaching it wrong.
To make DIY appeal to a large audience, you need to showcase something that’s easy and that anyone can do (at least to start off with; though you can totally go off on a tangent into cray-cray complicated projects once you’ve whet the appetite).
The opening paragraph is almost a contradiction in terms. How many of you spend the time between Christmas and New Year’s “just sitting around?” Me, I spend it with family, running to New Year’s get-togethers, send out thank-you cards for Christmas presents, exchanging gifts that were the wrong size or broken when I opened the box, cleaning out my email inbox, taking down the decorations, throwing out all the extra Christmas cookies…and that’s just for starters. But even in the spare time I do have…if I’m considering a DIY project, well…
It takes Behr three hours to create each spring 2011 twig headpiece, and she’s broken it down into four easy steps. Now that’s time well spent.
Now there’s one sentence guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of anyone even dabbling in DIY…and enough to send me back to my Christmas cookies.
Why spend 3 hours on a single hand-dyed, hand-shaped, hand-wrapped feather headpiece? (Unless you enjoy the process that much.) I’d rather use those 3 hours to make:
*2 Polka-Dot Shoe-Clips
*1 Magazine Clutch
*1 Cage Cuff
*2 Scroll Earrings
*and a Woven Ribbon Bow Tunic
Kind of like the 12 Days of Christmas. You can even set it to music (start with the tune from the “5 Golden rings” part), if you like.;-) [And all these quick-and-easy projects are coming up here on Chic Steals…stay tuned!]
And all that will probably only take an hour and a half, so you can also make a feathered headband using my tutorial here, just for good measure.:-) [Use a “hat pad” instead of hand-gluing all the feathers like I did; there’s some great choices here.)
So leave the involved, 4-step process using unbleached coq feathers, setting with vinegar, drying with a hair-dryer, steaming over a kitchen teakettle, hand-stripping, and hand-wrapping painstakingly in wire…to the experts. That’s what you pay $148 for. (But if you ever wanted to attempt it, now you know how the designer actually does it.)
The NYTimes also needs to interview someone who actually understands how to translate a hand-crafted, couture piece into something satisfyingly simple (and cheap!) to replicate. (Probably not the original designer of the piece, unless they can design for the budget market. It’s a different skill-set to address the questions of “how can we imitate the luxe look and where can we cut corners? How can someone make this at home easily, with readily-available materials?” These aren’t usually questions up-market designers are asking themselves as they design, which makes someone like this probably not the best source when it comes to a post-holiday DIY.)
And for the love of Mike, have someone modeling the finished product. A designer (and writer!) should know that the hesitant reader (and DIY’er looking for her next project to tempt her away from those cookies) can be swayed by a well-executed $$$money shot.
What do you guys think? Are you DYING to try this 3-hour DIY? Or does it negate the meaning of D.I.Y….a veritable contradiction-in-terms, if you will?
xoxox
Carly
P.S. Thank you all for your kind words and well-wishes to my mother during this difficult time for her and our family. Regularly-scheduled blog content will return tomorrow. Thank you.
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Jul 12, 2010 | Beauty, From You
img from giftofhair.org
from formspring.me (continued from an earlier question):
I will be shaving my head in a couple of weeks for charity and as I will be pretty much bald (eek!) I was wondering if you had any ideas for cool hats or headscarves to cover me up during the hot summer. For more info on the cause visit my blog: www.susanna-d.blogspot.com
Wow! Good for you! That takes guts to do, though it’s certainly for a great cause.
If you’re looking to cover up and aren’t into purchasing a wig while waiting for your hair to grow back, either a hat or a head-scarf (or a combination of the two!) will probably be your best bet.
clockwise, from green hat:
Right now is a really great time for hats, as Target currently is stocking their Eugenia Kim for Target line of stylish, chic hats – for a fraction of the cost of what Eugenia Kim hats usually sell for. Kim, who shaved her head after suffering a bad haircut, found there was such a lack of stylish headgear on the market that she designed her own cover-up. Thus, she’s certainly no stranger to your dilemma – and I love that this wide-brimmed straw hat has its own scarf built in to it – an added plus. This green fedora is super-cute and city sassy, which would look great paired with a floaty tee and bermuda shorts. You could also try different shapes to see what works with your body type and style; military-style caps, wide sunhats, and boater hats are all on-trend options.
If you’re uncomfortable about a lack of hairline showing, then a head-scarf underneath your hat may be a good (though warm) choice. You could also, of course, wear the head-scarf on its own, tied in a chignon, bow, or donut shape. A fun print (like this monotone faces print) can look summery or sophisticated depending on how you tie it. Here is a video showing 3 variations of tying a head scarf and here is a list of links to other headscarf-tying resources. If you’re daring, you could also try a turban, though you’d have to pick and choose your coordinating outfit carefully to avoid it looking too matronly.
A cloche is always a great option since it covers your head completely, though they’re often made of felt and may be too warm for summer. A cloche-shaped straw hat, though, has a slightly retro-feminine feel to it, and looks super-sweet with any casual, breezy outfit. As the weather cools down you can also go for bucket-shaped and fuller hats made of thicker materials. Small details like ribbon trim, a flower or rhinestone clip, bows, or tiny fabric flowers elevate something that looks like you’re desperately trying to cover your head up…to a stylish accessory in your ensemble.
Excellent sources of such accoutrements (besides the obvious like department stores or boutiques) are places that specialize in headgear for people who have suffered hair loss for medical reasons, like chemotherapy, alopecia, or trichotillomania. Headcovers Unlimited and Hat, Scarves, and More are two great online places to start. (The reversible soft hats from Just In Time are super-chic too!) And since I’m suck a DIY maniac, I might try my hand at sewing up my own head-covering, choosing from the wide variety of patterns for hats and scarves from Brimming with Love.
As always, the more confidence you have, the less people will notice any lack of hair – and most people will just assume any head-covering is part of your stylichly chic ensemble anyway!
Best of luck-
xoxox
Carly
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