the DIY: REMOVE THAT GLITTER!

There was a time when Casey and I wanted to glitter EVERYTHING. We put glitter on our shoes, in our visual journals, and even on my cell phone case. I thought it would be a brilliant way to change up my case. WRONG. Although this looks awesome (to some), the mess isn't worth the awesomeness. Every time I would talk on the phone, I'd end up with glitter all over my face and hands and you already know how successful I was trying to get it all off of me. NOT successful at all. At one point I thought this case was gone forever but then I thought, why not try to get all of the glitter off and start over with a new design? So here is what I did...


Originally I put this glitter on with tons of Mod Podge. You can see on the front of the case where I was trying to scrape off all of the glitter and Mod Podge. Wasn't working too well. And you can see that the inside of the case is still the original colors.


I set the case in a bowl of water overnight. Make sure the case (or whatever you are de-glittering) is submerged completely in the water.


After it has set for at least 8 hours, you should be good to pull all of the glitter off.


As you can hopefully see in the pictures, the Mod Podge has turned white- like it has gotten soggy.


Take a butter knife to scrape off the first bits. Once you get it started with the knife, use your fingers to peel the rest off.


And in a few moments you have a clean slate again!

I just ran my case under some water to get the last pieces of glitter off and now I'm ready to decorate my cell phone case again. I don't want to get started about iPhone 4 cases and how hard it is to get one that is perfect but, this baby meets all of my needs and it was only $6 so I really wanted to keep it usable! You may never need a tutorial like this but.... just in case?

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sleep ON IT: FRENCH BRAIDS TO BEACH WAVES

As a girl with basically straight hair, I'm always thankful for little tricks that will give my hair some body without much trouble. I've been doing this to my hair since I can remember. At least since I knew how to french braid. I HATED my straight hair at one point of my life (this was waaay before straightening your hair was a thing.) One time I french braided my hair (for style) and after a whole day of wearing it like that, I pulled it out and my hair looked amazing. And the rest is history.

This is my hair before bed. Make sure your hair is a little damp before you braid it or mist it after you've braided it. I part my hair right down the middle when braiding and then part my hair to the side when styling it. It helps add body on the top of my head. I think it works best if you french braid your hair in two braids rather than just one. If your hair is super thin, maybe you would only need one braid. My hair is pretty thick and one braid makes the waves a little too loose.

This was my hair as soon as I woke up.

And my hair after I pulled the braids out! No make up on face = no front views.

By time we took these pictures, the waves had fallen a little bit. We were running late and didn't catch a picture before we left the house. If you use some hair spray it should stay pretty well- I don't prefer to use hairspray.

We plan on making "Sleep On It" a series so check back for more overnight tricks!

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DIY Quick Faux Braid

So we saw this tutorial the other day and thought it was brilliant. Hence, the name. I think I watched the video about 7 times because what I thought was happening in the video wasn't working on my hair. I figured I (Casey) would take some pictures and explain to you exactly what I figured out. Basically... you should have semi-dirty hair, or product to texturize your hair.

Pull your hair together to one side. Separate the hair above your hands and put your fore finger and thumb through the hole.

Grab the bottom of your hair and pull through the hole. You will repeat this step over and over until you reach the bottom of your hair.

To make sure you don't have one big hole down the middle of your "braid", put your fingers through one side of the last twist. It's kind of hard to explain but just make sure you don't repeat the step right through the middle each time.

Finish with a clear elastic and you are done! THE. FASTEST. "BRAID". EVER. I cannot wait to wear this in my hair all day every day.

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the DIY: MAGAZINE ENVELOPES

Well I got this idea from our friend Nina. She was making these super cute envelopes out of scrapbook paper and I really wanted to make some! So I came home and made some! They are so so SO simple and add a personal touch to your envelopes.

You will need: An old magazine, scissors, an envelope, a glue stick and a Sharpie.

Tear out some magazine pages that you like.

Carefully pull the envelope apart. I failed at this miserably but was able to make it work.

Trace the envelope on a magazine page.

Cut the envelope shape out.

Turn the envelope over as well as the magazine cut-out. Place the magazine cut-out on top of the envelope and fold the envelope back together (with the magazine cut-out on the inside).

Unfold everything and separate the magazine cut-out from the envelope.

Glue the bottom flap down to the two side flaps.

And you've made your own envelope!

The great thing about making these envelopes our of magazine pages is that the envelopes have a character all of their own. And it'd be hard to make two of the same envelopes.

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the DIY: NO FRAY EMI-JAY INSPIRED HAIR TIES

For as long as I can remember, Casey has wanted to try these Emi-Jay hair ties. Mostly because she heard they didn't leave a crease in your hair and she has a big "crease left in your hair" problem. Since they seem a little over-priced (5 for $12), she never bought them. I personally prefer the look of a plain hair tie in my hair but, I can respect the idea behind them. Anyways, I saw this tutorial online. The girl who did the tutorial first saw it done here. So I sought out fold over elastic (what the crap was this stuff used for before these hair ties?) and purchased it in all colors and sizes (on accident... I only wanted the RIGHT size). So I made a bunch of these and even figured out a way to keep them from fraying! Read on to see how you do it!

All you will need is:

-Some fold over elastic in the 5/8" size. You can buy some here or here.

-A ruler

-Scissors

- A lighter

Cut your elastic to about 8.25 inches. If you have hair a little thicker you may want to add another half inch.

Fold the elastic in half.

Grab the two ends and tie a knot. It will look like this at first.

Then you will tighten the knot. Make sure you pull the knot towards the two ends.

Cut the two ends together in a slant.

Take a lighter and barely run the flame across the edge. I did this twice to make sure I burned the edge and sealed it. You can also blow on the elastic as soon as you run the flame across it to make sure it doesn't keep burning.

And you are done! Now you have your own really cheap hair ties that won't fray at the end! 

So I probably won't wear these on my arms but they are cuter than wearing a regular hair tie on your arm. I really like what these hair ties look like at the end of a side braid!

P.S. Don't feel like making these on your own? We've done the work for you in our Etsy Shop! 

CHECK IT OUT.

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