DIY Katy Perry Candy Buttons Costume!

As I've written in past posts, last year I went to a Katy Perry concert. So when it came time to find a costume for Halloween, I knew just what I should be, but picking just ONE outfit out of all the fun costumes she wears was pretty hard! All the packaged Katy costumes were pretty pricey and I wanted something I could get more than one use out of. I'll note where to get the same or similar items at the end of the post so you can put your costume together too!
I wanted this look:

So I ended up getting a petticoat tutu from the Leg Avenue brand, this is especially useful because you can decorate it up any way you want. I got some colored sheets of sticky glitter foam from Michael's, then cut them into circles and sewed them on with a couple of stitches since the sticky backs weren't enough to hold them on.

And voila, there's the main part of your costume! Now you just need to add a blue wig, sparkly shoes and fun candy accessories and you're done!

Here was the final product the way I wore it:

And here are the sources for my main items!

*White Petticoat tutu: Party City
*Colored glitter foam sheets: Michael's or most any craft store
*Headband: Katy Perry Web store (not necessary but held my wig on nicely!)
*Candy Buttons Jewelry: I made my own and wrote a post about it last year, seen HERE.
*Glitter Heels: I wore silver sequin ones from Rampage, style name: Greer
*Blue Wig: I got mine from a random store here quite cheap but Party City has them and I've also seen them on eBay.

A note about the tutu petticoat, the tank top part is rather thin so I added another white tank top under it. I also suggest a pair of white bike/running shorts under the tutu as it's quite short.

I hope this helps you come up with a totally Katy costume for Halloween or other fun events!

DIY Coming Up Roses Earrings from P.S. I Made This!

I was approached by a friend who saw the post for these earrings on the P.S. I Made This' blog to see if I could make these earrings since I'm craftier than she is.
I ended up making two versions and even a pair for myself!
Here is the original blog post with visual instructions:
http://psimadethis.com/post/19396064783/everythings-coming-up-roses-sweet-smelling?a0da1b90

I only changed a couple of things. First, I did not use fishing wire to attach the earring backs because it was too hard for me to tie and place properly, so I just used super glue and glued the earring posts/clips onto the back of the flower. I had to rough up the back of the flowers a bit to get the glue to adhere better. Secondly, one friend wanted them with pierced backs rather than clips and with smaller flowers and those are pictured as well.


And here are my final results!


These are the smaller flowers with pierced posts:

Turquoise and peach clip versions with larger flowers:

More Pinterest-Inspired Nails...Pink Splatters!

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? Anyway, I've been really into doing different nail art and trying out different colors lately thanks to Pinterest! I saw this one and loved it so I've been doing it a lot lately:

(Picture from: http://lyndarthemerciless.blogspot.com/2011/03/talon-tastic-thursday-sophisticated.html)


Then when I was at Walgreens, I found these cute Sinful Colors nail art polishes in lots of colors so I picked up a pink along with the silver glitter to do the design above. I was getting tired of the glitter so I experimented with the pink and this is what I came up with, I'm so looking forward to trying tons of color combos with these Sinful Colors polishes!

Base coat: OPI "I Think in Pink"
Tips: Sinful Colors "A Slice to Go"
Topcoat:  Hello Kitty for Sephora "Frosted Cupcake"

My Own Take on the Galaxy Nails!

Since joining Pinterest, I've come across all kinds of fun things to try out, from recipes to nail art. One that particularly caught my eye was "galaxy" type nails, where you give your nails an ombre effect, going from light to dark. I wanted to try it out and obviously I knew I wouldn't get it to look this good (picture courtesy of spoki.lv via beautylish, click on the picture to go to the site):



Obviously I'm by no means a nail art expert, I just like trying different looks. So I have quite a few choices to use for this look, didn't realize I had so many shades of blue!



And I decided on using NYC's "Skintight Denim Creme" as a base, quick splotches of Sinful Color's "Gorgeous" over that, OPI's "Happy Anniversary" fine glitter and Sinful Color's silver glitter followed by a topcoat. And for the white dots for "stars", I used Nailene's tip pen but you can use any white. I think if I did it again, I wouldn't do the white dots.

Here's NYC's Skintight Denim Creme (one of my favorite shades!) with Sinful Color's "Gorgeous" splotched over it. Some sites say to use a makeup sponge but I just barely had any color on the brush and dotted around in random places.


Then the final look with the colors I used:


And a daylight shot since I took the other pictures last night and the light wasn't the greatest!




So for a first try, I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out, though as I said, I probably wouldn't do the white bits next time.

Just a PSA regarding the "Baby Polar Bear"

I've seen this picture passed around the internet for quite some time now and it's quite popular on Pinterest at the moment:



People claim that it is a baby polar bear, however it isn't! It's actually a very detailed little handcrafted bear made by a seller on Etsy. Had I not been on Etsy, I probably wouldn't have known where the picture originated. But I think this seller needs more exposure, she's super talented and you can buy the pattern to make the bear from Tatiana's Etsy shop here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TSminibears

And the direct link to the bear's pattern to see the listing in case she doesn't currently have it listed (she often sells out):

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52683885/miniature-bear-pattern-flocke-by-tatiana



You're welcome. ;)

Candy Button Resin Necklace Project!

If you're a DIY-er like me, you're always seeing inspiration everywhere. I'm going as Katy Perry for Halloween this year, probably my most involved costume yet. I'm altering my costume (I got a white tutu and am putting sparkly dots on it) and making my jewelry. So if you want to make your own candy button jewelry too, here's how I did it!

Get your Candy Buttons (the kind on the white paper) and clean them up a bit, as they have a tendency to take some of the paper with them when you pop them off.
You'll want to seal the candies so they don't disintegrate in the resin and the color doesn't bleed. In an area with lots of ventilation, spray them with at least two coats of an acrylic spray, I used Krylon. Let dry between coats.



They'll move around a bit but make sure they're coated well!



Make sure they're completely dry, mix up your resin (I use Castin Craft's clear epoxy) and only fill your molds about 1/4 of the way full, just enough to cover the candies. Put your candies in the resin the way you want them. I wanted them to look just like the real thing so I went with the pink/yellow/blue situation. Let cure for as long as required, most require a day to cure.




Now for your final resin step, you can do this in many ways. You can use more clear resin in the last layer and put glitter in it, sprinkles, whatever you want! I used a resin type that cures white, just because I wanted it to look like the candies were on the white paper tape.
Additionally, I wanted some sparkle, so I used a glittery varnish over the piece.




And just because I wanted something fun on my own piece, I put little crystal hearts on the chain and made myself a ring too!




You can make these your own in so many ways, so as long as you have time (and the patience!), you can make tons of fun, unique pieces!

P.S., if you don't have the patience, I have one made up for you to buy in my Etsy shop!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/84580068/sweet-tooth-candi-button-resin-necklace

A DIY Vintage Inspired Necklace!

I recently came across my grandma's old vintage rhinestone and crystal jewelry from the late 50's and 60's not long ago. I've been wearing the various necklaces a LOT and am now hunting for different colored pieces to complete my color spectrum. But what I really wanted was a piece with stones in different shapes, sizes and colors, which has proved nearly impossible to find anywhere online despite my constant search.

I considered making one and thought it would be impossible until I got myself into Michael's the other day and searched for supplies. I somehow found myself down the sticker aisle and found these great, vintage style stones, even in settings, in different shapes and colors! I then hustled back to the jewelry area and found clear rhinestone chain just like so many vintage pieces have, my only dilemma was how to attach said stones to the necklace.

Lo and behold, I found flatback head pins and figured I could glue the head pins to the stones then attach the stones to the necklace! Granted, this necklace is very lightweight in comparison to real vintage pieces but it serves my purpose and has gotten many compliments so far!

Below is a picture of the supplies I used, obviously not shown but needed are small pliers (I had two pairs of needle nose pliers, round pliers and cutters to cut the wire) and some super glue (I used Gorilla brand super glue). Next to that is the final product!