Painted vintage bag

Difficulty:

Cost:

$1 tp $5 depending on the price of your vintage bag

$4 test pot of paint

How adorable is this bag? And so easy, all you need is a steady hand. 

This is one of the quickest ways to bring new life to an old accessory; lightening it up with a playful pattern. We are so pleased with the result! 

Tools:

Paint

A ruler

A paintbrush

A pencil

Materials:

A vintage bag with a surface that you can paint on; leather, vinyl or anything shiny you feel like you can pour water on without it soaking thorough is perfect.
Ali found this gorgeous handbag in a Save-Mart op-shop for $3, and it's genuine Italian leather!

Method:

Start by cleaning your bag with water and a soft cloth.
Any dust or grime can make it hard for the paint to stick to the bag, so you want to get it all off. Be gentle though, make sure you don't rub so hard the colour comes out of the bag, if you found it in a thrift store chances are it's pretty old so handle with care!

Once your bag is dry, use a pencil and a ruler to sketch your design onto the bag.
You can do whatever you like here, how cute would a bag with a family of elephants painted onto the front be?
Ali went for the classic stripes and polka dots look, which is awful easy and full of class!

Now it's time to paint!

The better quality the paint, the longer it will last. I used a Resene testpot, which is good quality house paint. You can get a test pot from most house paint shops for a few dollars, and they come in almost any colour you can think of.

Then start painting!

That's it, you're done!

Once the paint has dried you will have a completely functional, super cute new bag, yay!

Happy painting,

Winter Woolies

Difficulty: 

Cost:

$1 to $10 depending on the price of your jersey

OK, we know that winter is almost over but this tutorial has been coming for a while.
However, we feel that the weather is always going to be sneaky and we will bet our socks that there is an unseasonable cold snap just around the corner. If not, perhaps we can just consider this post as an early winter gift to all our readers in the Northern Hemisphere!
These amazing beanies were so easy to make, we couldn't believe how quickly we managed to whip them up.

Tools:

Scissors

Needle and thread

Materials:

One thrifted jersey

Method:

Begin by measuring the circumference of your head.
You will need to take a few centimetres off this measurement  to make sure that the beanie fits snugly and won't fall off.
The amount you take off will depend on the amount of stretch in your knit. If it is really stretchy, take 5cm off the total, if not, only take off 2cm.
Cut up one side of your jersey to the armpit and then cut your circumference length in a straight line across the middle of your jersey. 

You should now have a big rectangle of jersey with the neat hem of the jersey along the bottom. 

Fold this rectangle in half.

In the middle of your folded rectangle, snip into the fabric at the top end. This end is the bit that doesn't have the jersey hem. This snip should be about six centimetres deep and will create a slouchy fit. It can be longer is you want a beanie that has more of a snug fit; the longer that this cut is, the shorter your beanie is going to be.
Don't worry if this doesn't make sense yet, keep reading and all will fall into place!

Use this cut to make a V shape. From two centimetres on either side of the cut, cut on an angle to the bottom of the original cut. This should create an even V shape in the middle of your jersey rectangle. 

Next, the rounded shape of the beanie will begin to form. From the top of one side of the V cut a rounded shape, like the one seen in the photo below.

Then fold your beanie in half again and following the round shape you have just cut, cut the same shape on the other side of the V. 

You should now have the pattern for your beanie and you are ready to sew. 

Then, pin the top rounded seam together. 

Sew along the seam, sewing to the top of the arc. We decided to hand stitch our hats because we weren't sure how well the machine would pick up the stitches on the knits that we used. 

Next, pin and sew the two V shaped seams.

The final seam that you should sew is the longest one, going along the length of your beanie. 

Turn your beanie inside out and you're finished! 

Happy winter!

Diamonds wall art - with free printable!

Difficulty:

Cost:

$0

Diamonds are a girl's best friend. And so are free printables! 
This beautiful little project is as easy as pie, and can be customized to match any living space.
These wonderful diamonds are perfect for a flat as you can make them as colourful as you wish, they are sure to brighten up your day! 

Tools:

Scissors

Gluestick

Materials:

Old magazines

Free printable pages

Method:

Start by printing out the first of the two file links at the bottom of this post.

Then cut out the pieces of the diamonds you have printed.

Next place each piece on a pretty part of your magazine and cut around it to make an identical, but coloured version.

Now it's time to print the second file linked to the bottom of this post.

Then glue each piece onto this page, in the same diamond shape and placement as the first page. 

Place the remainder of the first page (with the the cut out diamonds) underneath to help with piece placement.

And you're all done!

Easy as that, and the result is a stunning and unique piece of wall art to brighten up any room.

Happy shining, 

Free Printable Links

Page One

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6SymDStaiH4US13ZXZUd25Rb2s/edit?usp=sharing

Page Two

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6SymDStaiH4LThtRk1iM3ZDTGc/edit?usp=sharing

Denim Draught stopper

Difficulty:

Cost:

A pair of thrifted jeans- $5

Materials:

Jeans

Tools:

A sewing machine

Scissors

Bleach

A paintbrush

Gloves

 If there's one thing that students can't afford, well, it's basically everything. Draughts can drain an already stretched budget as they let in cold air when you're spending so much in a vain attempt to keep a room warm. As well as this, they are just plain nasty.  This is the Salute to Cute method for keeping out draughts in the middle of winter in a cheap and stylish way!

Method:

The first part is a bit of fun. Take all the jeans that you have collected and hack the legs off them!
Cut each of the legs down the in seam so you have a nice flat piece of denim to work with.
Trim off any extra jean detailing like hems and seams. All that should be left are some long and wide pieces of denim. 

Take these pieces and join them up end to end so a long patchwork of denim pieces develops. 

Next figure out the length that you want your draught stopper to be and cut three equal lengths of your denim patchwork to fit this measurement. 

Sew the pieces along the long seams, joining them up into a bigger, wider patch work of denim pieces.

Now the customising begins! 

Lay out some newspapers to protect the surface you're working on and carefully pour some bleach into a container that can be discarded when you're finished. Lay out your denim patchwork on top of the newspaper. 

Using your paint brush, paint the design that you want on to your denim pieces. We recommend wearing gloves to stop the bleach getting on your hands. 

As you can see we painted all sorts of designs. Polka dots and stripes are always going to be a favourite but Ali couldn't resist getting creative with some cat stamps!

Wait for the bleach to dry and develop the pattern on your denim. When this has happened, fold you draught stopper in half lengthways, right sides together, and pin to make a seam.
Also pin along one end, leaving the other open so that the draught stopper can be stuffed.   

Sew this seam closed and turn your draught stopper the right way out. Stuff the draught stopper with anything that you have handy. You could ball up old newspapers and use those or even cut up the bits of jeans you didn't use and use them to fill up your draught stopper.
Once stuffed, fold the open end of your draught stopper inwards and sew closed. 

So there you have it, a stylish and customisable way to keep the cold air away!

This is Ali's gorgeous dog Hunty (he has cropped up here and here too) falling asleep on her nifty collection of draught stoppers! 

Happy draught busting everyone!