Another DIY: Holy Chic Shirt???

As previously mentioned, I really wanted to make this beaded "Holy Chic" shirt from that I found on Asos.com (I seriously could window shop online there for hours)

Lulu and Co Ashish 'Holy Chic' Beaded Tee

The crafter in me was really excited to make a budget friendly version of this shirt. The wheels were turning and I knew this was going to be great. The original version of this shirt had beaded letters and there was no way I was going to sit there and bead 1000 little beads onto a shirt. I thought of just gluing the beads on but that could turn out terribly. Then I thought about glitter... that is just too messy. And then ding! What else is sparkly? Sequins! (I am a little embarrassed it took me so long to think of) And the good thing about sequins is that you can buy them on a string:

So I got my sequin string and some fabric glue at Joann's. I found a shirt on clearance at H&M and it was an extra 50% off. Things were going swimmingly. I tested out shaping the letters and it was a breeze. When I got home I lightly drew the word "HOLY" on the shirt with the pencil. I measured out the height of the letters and how much sequin string I needed. Then I got distracted by who knows what.... When I continued on my project, I forgot that I had previously and carefully drawn out the letters. I just started gluing with no regard to spacing at all.

If you look closely (or from 50 yards away) you can see the letters I wrote with pencil earlier... and how far off I am from them! In my defense, the lighting in this picture made the pencil show up way more. So I continued on with the letters - taking pictures for the blog and thinking about how clever I was.... 

 You can see how far down from the top of the shirt this was going to end up... I could not.

This looks messy but the glue dries clear.

It wasn't until I finished with the L that I saw my previously written "HOLY" and how not centered this was going to be. Hahaha and this glue is permanent so HOL was stuck in the middle of my shirt whether I liked it or not. After some laughter and brainstorming, the hubs came up with something I could write instead of Holy Chic -

I present my "hola HOLA" shirt. At first I was a little upset because I really wanted the Holy Chic shirt. But hola Hola grew on me. I think Dora the Explorer has a song called Hola hola. Haha anyways this DIY didn't turn out as expected but you can learn from my mistakes and not get distracted or just look at the big picture when you are working on a DIY. You can easily use these steps to make your own Holy Chic shirt or if you like hola HOLA, you can do that too! The bottom line is it is a do-it-yourself,  so make it your own and don't take it too seriously. Laugh about the "mistakes" you make and it will all work out in the end! If not, then at least you didn't pay $216 dollars for a tee shirt!

Here's some more pics with how I styled my Holy Chic   Hola Hola shirt!

Top: DIY :) / Pants: old from Love Culture, similar here and here/ Heels: Louboutin, similar here / Watch: Charming Charlie / Bracelets: see here / Sunnies: Prada / Necklace: Jcrew, sold out but come back soon for a super deal just for my readers

Thanks for reading!

Xxxxooo

natalie

i love cheap things.

I love finding a deal. I get so giddy whenever I find a cute, good quality item for a good price. So when I found this cute fit and flare dress and these adorable heels, I was beyond excited. I love pairing leather with anything, especially with girly dresses. I think it adds a little edge to a cutesy look that could end up being a little too Easter best-ish. 

Dress / Jacket: old, similar / Shoes / Bag: simliar

Xxxxooo

natalie

I party with Jay Gatsby

I have a little bit of an obsession with quirky shirts lately. And as an tribute to the ever dapper Leonardo Dicaprio in the upcoming Great Gatsby movie, I couldn't resist making this little number. I present my "I party with Jay Gatsby" shirt. 

 It was so easy to make. I went for my classic $4 boyfriend tee from Forever21 and those iron on letters from the craft store. I got these from Hobby Lobby because I wanted a large all cap print that didn't look like the typical comic sans font. I had to get two sets because I needed three letter "T"s. But all in all a super cheap and fun Saturday project. My favorite things about statement tees is that you can dress them up or down. Pair them with a blazer, skinny jeans, and heels and you got an easy outfit that's simple yet fun. My next project is remaking this fave tee from Lulu & Co, that unfortunately is out of stock and ridiculously pricey. So lucky for me and my bank account, I have an unquenchable desire to make funny shirts. Post to follow soon :)

Shirt: DIY/ Jacket: Charlotte Russe (on sale now) / Jeans: H&M, similar here / Heels: Windsor / Necklace: J Crew copycat DIY instructions here / Watch: Charming Charlie / Bracelets: Stella and Dot

 Xxxxooo

natalie

Fantasy General Conference

I love April and October because we get to have general conference and it is always amazing. Since being out of the beehive state, the hubs and I have had to resort to watching general conference on the computer. But it's been fun to just lay in bed all cozy and watch it. This conference we decided to make things interesting by participating in a little fantasy General Conference.

 Not to take away from the spirituality of the weekend, the hubs and I are just incredibly competitive and he is a fantasy football fanatic. So we had fun with the Conference version of it. You can download it here and enjoy it with your family. For us, the winner gets their choice of restaurant next week and bragging rights. We need one of the general authorities to speak on the perils of pride...

Xxxxooo

natalie

easter brights

I love Easter, the "spirit" of it, the candies, the egg dyeing, the colors, the family time. Although we were far away from our families this year and missed their festivities, we got to spend Easter with our dental school family. We had a delicious meal and I stuffed myself silly. Luckily these pictures were taken before dinner or this pencil skirt would have been a no go. I was really excited about my new Easter outfit and the bright colors just get me so excited for spring and warmer weather. 

Coat: J Crew / Top: JCPenney a steal for $15 / Skirt: J Crew / Heels: Guess, DIY Cap Toe

For some reason I gravitate toward nude heels. I recently got some new gorgeous CL ones and realized I have way too many nude pumps. I was getting rid of these old ones when I decided to be crafty. I went to Michaels and got this neon spray paint. I put some tape across the front of my shoe and covered the rest in plastic. Then I sprayed away! Spray paint and shoes = endless possibilities. In my dream life, I would totally be a shoe designer. Maybe one day....

Xxxxooo

Natalie

diy jcrew flower lattice necklace

Recently I came across the most lovely necklace from J.Crew

Photo Credit: [J.Crew]

It is seriously gorgeous and I knew that I needed to have it. But beauty doesn't come cheap, this baby will cost you $228. So I tried to forget about it and move on to my next covet-worthy item. But I couldn't, it was haunting my dreams (yes I sometimes dream about clothing, shoes, jewelry, etc. haha) So I thought, it's nothing more than some pretty brooches strung together on a necklace right? And I set out to make my very first homemade piece of jewelry.

I first ordered some different rhinestone brooches and buttons from Etsy. I found this set of J.Crew-esque buttons for relatively cheap: 

Rhinestone Buttons (here)

I also got a few larger brooches to complete the look. This Etsy shop is actually perfect for finding brooches. You can also find them in other Etsy shops or on Ebay. After I got my brooches/buttons I just went to Michaels and got a necklace chain and some jewelry wire. You could also use just a jewelry chain and get a lobster clasp but I was too lazy so I just got this 18 inch necklace chain that already had a clasp. These were all my supplies:

Total cost of this project: Less than $30

After that I basically arranged my brooches into the design I wanted and started stringing them together with the jewelry wire. I started with the the largest brooch and attached it to the chain. Then i used the jewelry wire to attach the adjacent brooches. It took a LOT of trial and error until I felt like I got it right. So don't be afraid to undo all the work you just did and start over. 

This was my rough draft:

This is the finished product after a few tweaks! I'd say I got it pretty close to the actual thing! 

The chain is different of course but you don't really see it when you're wearing it! See:

Anywho, I was pretty proud of myself for this one! High fives for DIY projects!

Xxxxooo

Skiing in Ohio

When the hubs won two free ski passes at the Mandiball, we weren't really sure what to do. Growing up in Utah, we definitely grew up skiing. But in my case once I got older, I realized I was awful at it and despised being cold. So consequently I stopped going... a long, long time ago. And I really had no desire to go again. Then we got these free passes. So I thought, why not?! It could be fun. Then I remembered the one and only hill I have seen since I have been in Columbus. It was approximately ten feet tall. Needless to say, I was skeptical of this so called "ski resort," but we decided to go anyway. While we were driving there, I was expecting to see the landscape slowly become more hilly. But no, it was still flat as a pancake. It wasn't until the GPS said ETA 5 minutes that I began thinking we were being punked. I was just waiting for some of the hubs' school mates to appear and laugh at our snow outfits. But alas, we found a hill and rounded the corner. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is Ohio's largest ski resort:

And that's  it... in its entirety...

The hubs and I seriously laughed for a good five minutes. The best part was all the people who thought they were hard core snowboarders getting all hyped up in the ticket line. I don't really think it's possible to be hard core when this is the largest ski resort in your state. 

Now I am not good and I probably looked like a fool the first couple times we went down the slopes. But we sure conquered that "mountain." 

Here are a few snapshots of the day:

The mister went for a retro look

Don't laugh skiing friends, this was my first time going down and it was a weird grainy snow... but I know I totally look like a fool haha

While the ski resort was basically as big as a Utah bunny hill, we still ended up having fun! Maybe next winter we'll take up real skiing in the 801. 

Xxxxooo