DIY | Making Bows

Hey there lovelies!

If you're a YouTube nut like me, you may know of Macbarbie07, a lovely girl called Beth who is a pretty damn well known beauty guru. She recently posted a video on how to make hair bows using glue. I unfortunately do not own fabric glue or a hot glue gun and have no haberdashery in town which sells it, I therefore had to use the good old fashioned needle and thread to make mine. I thought I'd show you a DIY on how I made them just because they're so lovely and pretty simple to make. I'm sorry if my instructions and/or pictures are a little confusing...feel free to ask me any questions regarding this little DIY project :)

1. Firstly you want to start by choosing any fabric, I'm using an old much loved blouse from Primark which fell to pieces. The size is up to you but you want to cut the piece three times as high (up) and twice as long (side to side), as you want your finished bow to be. For example my finished bow is 8 cm by 15 cm, therefore I cut a piece 24cm by 30cm.

2. Once you have your piece of fabric, you want to fold it into thirds (think leaflet style). As shown in the first picture above, you will need to fold the one part across and then pin it, and then fold the other part across so that the second overlapped part completely covers the first. (I hope I'm making sense) Once you've done this, You need to thread a needle and tie a knot in the end and then do a running stitch to sew the material together. If you're unsure of what a running stitch is, it's just a simple in-and-out weaving motion (picture 2 above). You then need to knot the other end and cut off any excess thread.

3. Once your piece is sewn and is a third of the height it was before, it's time to fold lengthways. This bit's pretty simple, you just want to fold the two edges so that they meet in the middle. You might want to overlap them slightly but make sure that both halves are the same length. Once you're happy, pin one side and concentrate on this piece to start. Thread a needle and knot it and again do a running stitch this time sewing from top to bottom, before knotting the other side, hold the thread still and push the fabric so that it folds up creating the sort of pleated/gathered/ruched effect of a bow (picture 2 above). Fasten this and cut off excess thread.

4. Now that you've done that, your bow should look a little something like the first picture above. It's difficult to do this again with the other side and I found this was easier. That is, by doing a running stitch along the loose side and again ruching/gathering it and knotting the thread (picture two).

5. The next step is to fold this ruched edge into the centre and sew it down to form a bow shape. And there you have it! well sort of... But now your bow should look very much like a bow just, without the middle bit, which is what we need to do now.

6. This part needs to be the exact length to go around the bow and to overlap a little and double the width.  You want to do the same thing as you did in step 3, folding the two edges so that they meet in the middle and sew it together using a running stitch.

I folded the edges over a little to hem them and then sewed the one edge onto the back of the bow (remember to sew at the back so that the edges are hidden), you then want to wrap it around and sew the other end at the back overlapping the last one slightly. 

And then you have actually finished you bow! My one above looks a tad messy, although you can always sew so that the stitch can't be seen from the front. My thread was near the same colour and this was only my second experiment and so is not the best. 

Here are just a few ideas of what you can use them for, but of course go crazy and do whatever you like, within reason, don't like feed them to your cat or anything (I literally just read that back like 'what the hell Lucy', I'm having a 'Jess from New Girl' day, saying stupid things, too funny to take out though, or so I feel)...

The way I've styled mine is to just stick a kirby grip through the middle part as a simple way to use it as a hair accessory. Although I also attempted one sewn onto a hair bobble which can then be used as either a bobble or a bracelet. Another idea is to jazz them up a bit using whatever you have lying around, in my case some studs attached around the middle. Remember you can obviously make them as big or small as you like, they'd also make a lovely hand-made present.

Thank you very much for reading this very long and rather complicated DIY post, I hope you enjoyed it never-the-less and have been inspired to make yourself some super cute bows!

Have you made any DIY bows before? 

Lots of love, Lucy xx

Halloween Decorations!

Hey guys :)

I'm super excited about Halloween and so have my decorations up in my room already! I thought I'd share them with you as I looove them! They're also all from supermarkets and were super cheap so it may possibly give you some ideas.

This banner was from Morrisons as part of their 3 for £2 thingy. They come in one long strip but I cut them up to form a number of short banners.

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This was also part of Morrisons' 3 for £2 offer. It is a glow in the dark skeleton and there were 3 in a pack. They're not the brightest glowing things ever. In fact I can;t really notice them when it's dark, but they're great and 'halloweeney' anyway :)

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I love this little paper garland type thing. These were also in the 3 for £2 offer in Morrisons. (ignore the summery decorations! haha). They did bats and spiders and I believe that Asda do ghosts which I want to buy! It was surprisingly long for the price.

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These are really pretty. They were £4 from Asda and are run on batteries so they can be put pretty much anywhere (indoors of course). I believe that they also did ghosts which I also want to buy. 

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I think that this is my absolute favourite decoration so far. The pumpkin itself is a sort of jelly texture which makes it kinda clear and sparkly looking. It's super bright and projects light sparkle shapes all over the walls. The best thing is that it was only £4 from Morrisons.

Thank you for reading. I hope you've had/are having a great Saturday :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx

How I clean my brushes

Hey Guys :)

So yesterday I did a 'My favourite make up brushes' post (which you can find here, if you're interested) so I thought i'd carry it on today, showing you how I clean them :).

I use a mix of washing up liquid and face wash. I've never seen washing up liquid used before but it really is great for cleaning brushes. I would bore you with the science behind it but we all know that fairy liquid is used to get rid of grease and oil and such things, which means when used on brushes, it helps to pull off oily make ups like foundation. It's also gentle so won't damage the brush fibres.

So firstly I start by squirting some fairy liquid (or washing up liquid, whichever you prefer to say) over the brushes and rub this into the bristles, much like when you shampoo your own hair. The brushes however are dry so won't foam, this allows for the liquid to start pulling off the make up.

After this I fill the sink with cool water (very hot may possibly melt the glue which holds the bristles in) and put the brushes in to soak for a few minutes.

 I then swirl the brushes in the palm of my hand untill the water coming out of them stops looking either foundationey or blushery or whatever-else, coloured, I then use my fingers and rub the bristles again ensuring that the middle bristles are washed too. I then change the water and put the brushes into the sink to rinse off.

Following this I take a blob of face wash. This is antibacterial so keeps my brushes clean and stops me transferring bacteria from the brush to my face. I do the same technique with this, swirling each brush into my hand before thoroughly rinsing the brush under the tap ensuring all of the soap is out of them.

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Once they've all been washed and are completely clean, I take them in a towel and one at a time gently squeeze them getting rid of any excess water

To finish off I put a hair bobble around any bottle or anything which stands up right and place my brushes under it so that the top of the brush is pointing down. This means that when it's drying, the water doesn't seep into the glued part as this could make the bristles become loose. I leave the brushes like this until they have dried and that is it :)

Thank you very much for reading. If you've done a post or video on how you clean your brushes link me to it, i'm always interested to see other people's ideas.

Lots of love, Lucy xx

DIY | Lip Scrub

Hey guys :)

So The Lush lip scrubs are all around the blogosphere at the moment and I've also seen a few DIY versions of it. I am therefore today going to show you my own version of the lip scrubs using things you will probably find around your home.

You Will Need:
- Half a tablespoon of petroleum jelly (vaseline)
- A small container
- About 4 teaspoons of sugar
- A microwavable bowl
- food colouring (I suggest pink, red or some other 'lip-like' colour.
- Flavouring





Firstly start by placing the petrolium jelly into the microwavable bowl and heat in in the microwave for a few minutes untill completely melted. (I melted mine for around 4 minutes but this will be different for you depending on the wattage of your microwave)






When it has all melted (BE CAREFUL, the bowl will be very hot) add your colouring and flavouring. My dodgy corner shop only apparently supplies red food colouring which is like jelly and you tip it upside down and then it explodes everywhere, my mixture was therefore way darker than I wanted it to be :(. But put in a few drop and stir, do this until you have your desired colour and flavour.







Spoon in the sugar and gently fold the mixture (don't stir it vigorously otherwise the sugar will dissolve).




















Finally pour the mixture into the little tub, put the lid on and place it into the fridge of around half an hour untill it is set.

And there you have your lip balm/scrub with any flavour and colour you want :). I used red colouring and vanilla essence as this is the only one that was sold in the shop, but why not try strawberry flavouring or mint (or any you want to).




Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy making a lip balm/ scrub :)

Lots of love, Lucy xx  

DIY- Super simple make up brush holder

I have a load of make up brushes some that I use more than others, I have a Real Techniques brush sort of stand thing for the ones I use most but I had no where to put all the others so I made this very cute very girly holder. So if you wanna know how I did it, keep reading :D

You will need:

A clear jar, something such as an old jam/marmalade jar thoroughly washed is perfect

2 thin ribbons, long enough to fit around the top of the jar (I used the hanging loops in clothes)

One thicker sheer ribbon long enough to fit around twice

A loaaaaaaaaaaaaad of beads

Glue

Start by wrapping a piece of the thin ribbon around the top of the neck of the jar so that it goes around once and the glue it down.

Secondly take the other piece of thin ribbon and wrap around the bottom of the jar, again so it goes around once and when you're happy, glue it down. 

Thirdly, take the thicker sheer ribbon (I used one from a Pandora bag) if the ribbon is too wide just trim it down. Wrap this around the neck of the jar (if the ribbon is sheer you should still be able to see the ribbons underneath) and tie it into your everyday bow at the front. Glue this piece down if necessary although you will want to use a glue that dries clear.

Finally fill the jar about a quarter of the way with beads of any kind, shape, colour and size. I used some beads from a bracelet making kit and cut up some old worn bracelets and added those beads too.

And TaDaa, You have one super pretty brush holder :) 

You can of course decorate the jar in any way you like. Why not make some more bows out of other ribbons and stick them to the front like I have in the picture above :)

Happy making guys.

Lots of Love, Lucy X