fashioning jewelry from the tool drawer

I've seen this idea on Pinterest quite a bit, but now that double and triple wrap bracelets with hardware are a hot trend, I had to try it out for myself. I must say, this project is super easy and all you need are:

-nylon paracord (I've seen these made with twine, suede and leather cord as well)
-hex nuts
-a pair of scissors

Basically, you're going to start by cutting your cord into three equally sized strips. If you want to double or triple up your bracelet, make your strips extra long. Mine were about a 16 inches and that made for a good double with extra fabric for knotting a closure later.

Once you have your 3 strips, knot them together and begin a simple braid. Pull the fabric tight and try to make the braiding even. About 3 inches of braiding in, you're going to start including your hex nuts, or hardware. Slip a hex nut on the end of the strip you're about to cross over into the braid. You're going to put one hex nut on every time you cross another strip into the braid. Just make sure to pull tight and the hex nuts will end up pointing upwards and the following ones will follow suit.

After putting on your hex nuts (I used about 20, which may be a bit much for those who like a little less bling), continue the braid and make sure to pull tight. Continue braiding until you reach the end of the strips and knot the end. Once you measure how many times you want to wrap the bracelet and where the suitable closure point for your wrist should be, make a knot and knot both ends together. I wish I had a less clunky way to secure this part of the bracelet, but for me, it still works.

And this is how my double wrap with neon green paracord came out!

Hope you enjoy! Happy crafting!

Laura

luck of the IRISH

In my last post, I wished for sunshine and as per my request (plus a little luck of the Irish), the sun came out full throttle! We've had some beautiful, sunny, and mild weather (with some pretty warm days thrown in)! What better way to accessorize appropriately for the start of spring and St. Patrick's Day than with a green manicure?

No fancypants DIY technique, just green, green, and green! I used Essie Going Incognito for my thumb, pointer finger, and pinky; Milani Totally 80's for my middle finger; and Milani Hi-Tech for my ring finger. I hope these match my new kelly green jeans for Saturday's festivities! Have a safe and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Laura
 

wishing for sunshine

So this has been a very dreary NY week greatly lacking in the sunshine department. To lift my spirits, I decided to dig out a couple of pictures from my trip to Hawaii about 6 years ago. I hope you enjoy and they make you happy too!

O'ahu, Hawaii

O'ahu, Hawaii

Happy March,
Laura

dramatic diagonals

Here's my newest nail project. I went with a diagonal tip instead of a half/half diagonal. I quite like the results! I waited about an hour to make sure the base was really dry, taped off my sections and did one coat of the top diagonal. Waited about a half an hour for it to all dry and applied a thin layer of top coat. Base color is Peridot by Chanel (more green in person) and the top diagonal is Milani's Black Magic. Enjoy!

Laura

Two tone nails

I must admit, nail art is my new favorite obsession! I love all of the ideas I find on Pinterest and I've been trying my hardest to recreate my favorites! What I'm loving right now are some diagonal bold two-toned nails! Here's try #1...

I used Milani polish in Black Magic as the base and when that dried, I applied Essie's Mint Candy Apple using the tape trick. I waited until the Mint Candy Apple dried and pulled off the tape. I should have just left as is, but I decided to add polka dots with Milani Nail Art in White Canvas. Added top coat when the dots dried and voila! If I were to do this color combo again, I would definitely only use one coat of each color (because they're dark/bold enough) because this was entirely too much polish. Took forever to dry and I ended up making a mess of them after just a few hours.

So...since I could not walk around with bare nails for too long, I decided to try another color combo. This time, I stuck with Milani Black Magic, but used Essie's Glamour Purse as the top (no dots). I like this simple art deco-y look for my weekend with friends in the city!

As you can tell, I am not the best nail artist, but am pretty proud of my new found tricks to make my nails cute! Obviously, I need to clean up a bit, but you get the idea! Happy Friday and enjoy the weekend!

Laura

Valentine's Nails 2.0

Happy Valentine's Day! Changed my nails once again (thanks to all of the great ideas on Pinterest). This time I went with simple cute dots which came out really cute! I used Essie's Splash of Grenadine (my favorite nail color) and made polka dots with Milani Nail Art with Precision Brush in White Canvas.

And it was easy as pie...just paint with the base, let dry and dot with the white. Wait about 30 minutes to make sure the dots are dry before applying a top coat. There was no real rhyme or reason to where I placed the dots, I just started in the middle of the nail and worked outwards from there. Enjoy!

Laura

Valentine's Nails

Maybe I'm going a tad overboard with all of the pink as of late, but I just can't help myself! Here are my frill nails, valentine's pink edition.

Used Color Club's "I Believe in Amour" as my base and Essie's "Splash of Grenadine" as my frilly top. Hope you enjoy!

For a tutorial, read 2 posts ago. It's a lot easier than it looks, I promise!

Laura