DECONSTRUT | Taking things apart and making it your own

DIY | PRINCESS POLLY TIE TOP

16 June 2020 No Comments

Youtube thumbnail - DIY Princess Polly Top

Adding lace to the tie top DIY - sewing progress

Close up shots of the tie top with lace detailing

Super cute and flowy, this remake of the Princes Polly vintage tie top is the perfect addition to a summer wardrobe! The lace details give it a cute and girly vibe and the cropped length makes it perfect paired with high-waisted jeans and cut-off shorts. This tie top will be a summer staple in my closet and I can’t wait to wear it all season!

I had picked up a remanent piece of satin fabric from a local fabric store prior to the quarantine and it was the perfect thing to use in recreating this tie top. The original Princess Polly tie top retails for $60 CAD, where as it cost me less than $7 to recreate it. So if you want to save some money and create something cute this is the tutorial for you! I recreated the top from scratch, but I do think this top can be easily recreated by flipping a tee in your closet. No need to go get fabric or anything new to make this cute little top!

TIME | 1-3 hours

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Easy

DIY, Youtube

DIY | NIKE SOCKS IN 3 EASY WAYS

11 May 2020 No Comments

So you’ve heard of customizing your kicks, but have you ever thought of customizing your socks? DIY Nike socks and take them to the next level with these 3 easy customization methods! These techniques are not exclusive to socks but can be applied to any other items in your closet to elevate and make things unique!

The three ways I customized my Nike socks were the following:

Bleach tie-dye
Rhinestones
Embroidery

I wanted to make these tutorials quick and easy so that everyone can try them out. Some of these can be done in less than an hour and others within an afternoon. There’s a little something here for everyone, you can even combine these tutorials and make one mega unique creation! Get creative and make it yours!

TIME | 1-2 hour

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Easy

Video tutorial

DIY Nike socks 3 ways video tutorial

DIY, Youtube

DIY | I.AM.GIA. ONE SHOULDER CUTOUT BODYSUIT

30 April 2020 No Comments

Being a frequent Instagram user, I’m always scrolling through posts that feature a lot of popular insta-baddie clothes. One of the most well known brands being I.AM.GIA. had me falling hard for their Jupiter and Saturn bodysuit from their 2019 collection (currently sold out but was sold for $97CAD). This tutorial is definitely a bit late to the party, but I still love the style of this show-stopping cutout bodysuit. It’s definitely a super unique piece and I have definitely seen an uptake in the one shoulder style popping up all over the fashion world. Guaranteed it will still be big this summer!

This bodysuit was definitely a challenge, as I upheld this (self imposed) standard to have it at production quality with all seams and stitching hidden. You could definitely simplify the process if visible stitching on the garment front isn’t a big concern. It was quite the twisted and confusing adventure trying to decide which parts to sew first for a flawless outer surface on the bodysuit.

Read on to see how I created the I.AM.GIA one shoulder cutout bodysuit!

TIME | 1-2 days

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Hard

Review

REVIEW | PHOTOWALL SWEDEN | Printing art for your walls

22 April 2020 No Comments

Being the avid photographer that I am, I have mountains of digital data on multiple hard drives that never see the light of day. I have all intentions when taking photos to share them, and maybe to one day print them out; but often I don’t know where or have the time to do so. When Photowall Sweden reached out offering a print I was really excited to get my work onto my walls. Photowall Sweden offers many different types of prints but the ones that interested me the most were the custom options of canvas and poster prints. I think canvas prints are great if you’re looking for an impactful piece of wall art, whether it be your own image or someone elses.

Read on for my full review and a special discount code at the end!

Created in partnership with Photowall Sweden.

DIY, Youtube

DIY | CUSTOM EMBROIDERY | Shark edition

10 April 2020 1 Comment

Up close detail shot of shark embroidered on a sweater

Spending this much time at home has resulted in me picking up new hobbies and embroidering and cross-stitching seems to be a calming task for days I want to be away from a screen. Embroidery may seem like something a grandma does, but with a modern twist can be the coolest edition to your DIY-belt of skills!

I decided to embroider a crewneck I had on hand with this cute shark detail that I had spotted previously at Aritzia in a past season. The result is super cute and with my own twist makes it one of a kind! Read on to learn how to embroider your own clothes and create cool custom pieces!

See here for a previous post in which I embroidered a T-shirt!

TIME | 1 hr

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Easy

Nails, Youtube

NAILS | FLAMIN’ HOT

24 March 2020 No Comments

Up close view of flame nails on both hands

I’ve been dying to try out the flame nail art trend since the summer and with the current self-isolation means of the world, I’ve managed to grow my nails long enough to attempt this! So here’s a fun video that I filmed and some accompanying images. I think it turned out not-too-shabby for a first attempt! I will definitely be trying this flame nail art design out again in different color combos as spring and summer roll on in.

DIY

DIY | MACRAME PLANT HANGER

30 December 2019 No Comments

Ending the year off with one last quick DIY – This holiday season, I tried my hand at creating a macrame plant hanger for a Secret Santa gift. The result was something way better than I could have hoped for! It’s the perfect gift to all the plant lovers out there. Though I didn’t keep this gift for myself, I definitely will be making more in the near future as I think these macrame planters are a great addition to any home.

For this project, I thrifted a glass from Value Village. I would highly recommend visiting your second-hand store for something unique and of quality to use for your DIY as well! If you decide to use a bowl or anything that doesn’t have draining capabilities, I would recommend filling it with air plants as they don’t require a lot of water. If you want to put other plants in the hanger, I would recommend a secondary draining element to your planter like filling the bottom with pebbles or to put a secondary planter with drainage within the bowl.

Read on to see how I created this macrame plant hanger!

DIY, Youtube

DIY | BEADED HAIR CLIPS

22 September 2019 No Comments

Popular in the spring, but something I think will still carry onto the fall, are beaded hair clip accessories. We saw an uptake in beaded bags and now beaded hair clips and barrettes are seen everywhere on the runway and on the fashion influencers of Instagram. Granted you could buy these types of hair clips in a lot of places now; at the beginning of spring, I could only find them from China vendors and being the impatient person that I am, I decided to create them myself! I started DIY-ing when I was younger making beaded figurines so the concept behind the bead patterns was easy to create. Creating them yourself is also super cheap so if you want to save some money I highly recommend following these patterns. I didn’t spend any money in creating any of these clips as I reused only hair accessories and beads from previous projects.

Despite creating three different versions, the ones I wear the most are the most simple one-rowed hair clips in a set of two. I love that it’s a simple addition that can make you look more put together and because they are simple, they go with everything. If you are looking at this tutorial and feel a bit intimidated, I highly recommend trying out the easy one-row beaded hair clip! It takes less than 15mins and you will be surprised how straight forward it is to make something no one else will have.

Read on for 3 different hair clip patterns ranging from super easy to hard and a video tutorial!

TIME | 15-30 mins

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Easy to Hard

DIY, Youtube

DIY | NIKE MINI DRESS

1 June 2019 No Comments

Youtube has sucked me into a world of watching people thrift and it inspired me to head to my local thrift store to find some treasures for myself! In that process I also had picked up a few items to attempt thrift flips and this is my first thrift flip project!

I picked up an XL Men’s Nike Jersey Shirt and turned it into a mini dress perfect for the upcoming summer months! This is a super easy thrift flip and guaranteed to have all your hypebae’s asking where you coped the trendy piece! I have it styled with chunky sneakers and some fishnet socks for an athletic twist.

Wearing – Dress: DIY, Shoes: Fila Disruptor II (similar here), Fish net socks (similar here), Bag: Furla Backpack.

Read on to see how I flipped the XL Nike shirt into a mini dress!

TIME | 15-30 mins

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | Easy

Travel

TRAVEL | TORONTO FOOD DIARY

27 May 2019 No Comments

A couple months back I was in Toronto for a quick weekend trip and it was timed perfectly with the delivery of my new camera. I spent the trip getting to know my camera (Canon RP) a bit better and because it was so light and portable I ended up bringing it everywhere I went. And of course, while in Toronto, all I do is eat so I have a plethora of food photos to share with you!

My relatives in Toronto are always scoping out the best places in the Markham area and they never fail to deliver on wonderful Asian cuisine. I love that in Toronto you are able to find many different regions of chinese food. When I was younger, Chinese food was just Chinese food, I didn’t have this notion that different regions within China had their own cuisine and unique styles. Toronto has definitely opened up my taste-buds but I could only imagine the amount of different tastes I could experience if I were to visit China!

Read on for my Food Diary of my weekend Toronto trip!