Mermaid Braid

This is a mermaid braid!

 Treat it exactly like a french braid, but add sections from the very front, and under the top layer. So the loose hair is eventually just being gathered together!

~Kaitlin

Black zebra nails

 

~Kaitlin

Teal zebra nails

~Kaitlin

Feather Painting

~Kaitlin

Plum and gold eye shadow

I love the color purple, and every variation of the color. My dorm is purple, (pictures to follow) many of my shirts and dresses are purple, a large amount of my jewelry, etc. Another fact about me is that my eyes are brown. Eh, not that exciting of information perhaps, but I promise these two facts go together. Purple makes brown eyed girls' eyes POP! It actually is quite amazing. So for this look I did a very natural goldish brown with a nice accent of plum. You can find this color in Smashbox's eyeshadow quad labeled "Charm" It's the darkest color in that quad. The goldy brown color is actually just a cheap pallet from Forever 21. This is definitely a new favorite look for me :) comment with any questions or tips!

 

~Kaitlin

Teal feather nails

The other night I had my best friend Katie come over and ask if I could paint her nails. She then went on about how she really liked feathers and wanted me to try it. Now it has been years since I've painted anyone's nails but my own, but I gave it a shot! Turns out she loved it :)

I used

teal nail polish (even though it looks green in the picture)
black detailing polish
silver sparkle detailing polish
Clear polish

1. Paint nails with two even coats of the teal. Let dry

2. With one long stroke begin the feather. This will be the "stem". Then starting from the bottom of that stem, make short, thin even strokes to make the feather complete.

3. Accent the base of the feather with the silver glitter

4. Finish with a clear top coat!

~Kaitlin

Smokey eye shadow

Everyone loves a good smokey eye and I believe I have found a way to achieve this desired look! You'll need

An angled eye shadow brush
A wide eye shadow brush
black eyeliner pencil
brown eye shadow
pale shimmery skin colored eye shadow

1. Line top lash line thickly with eye shadow, being exact isn't necessary.
2. With your angled brush sweep liner out to create and extended cat-eye look.
3. If need be, add more eye liner, and with the angled brush, sweep evenly upwards so it is covering the eyelid
4. With your wide eye shadow brush, sweep your brown eye shadow in your crease and work upwards.
5. Apply the light shimmery eyeshadow on the brow bone.
6. Add eyeliner on the water line of the lower lashes, and a good coat of mascara!

 

~Kaitlin

Purple glitter nails

This look has caught my attention so I thought I might try it! I used:

Dark purple nail polish
White nail polish
Coarse purple craft glitter
Clear nail polish

1. First I combined the two nail polish colors

 

2. I applied a nice even layer on all the nails.

3. While the polish was still wet, I applied the coarse glitter on the fourth finger. Applied a clear coat to make it more sticky, and repeated until the glitter was fully covering the nail.

4. Apply a clear coat on the rest of your nails!

 

  

~Kaitlin

Rainbow Nails

First paint your nails with a clear base coat. This will ensure the polish will stay much longer. After this dries apply a white coat of paint. Pick several colors of paint and drop little drops of the color on the nail. With a straw, blow some air to allow the color to disperse. Run your nails quickly under hot water for the color to mix and combine. Apply a clear coat on top!

   

 

~Kaitlin

Renovated Frames!

So years ago I bought several plain white frames from IKEA. I put them under my bed and forgot about them! Just recently I pulled them out and thought to myself "These need an update to match my dorm..." SO here is what I used!!

Acrylic Paint
Painters tape (for the teal frame)
A stencil (for the purple frame)
Black Puff Paint
Make up sponge (for the purple frame.

  

One frame I taped off sections to make little triangles. I painted of the exposed area with teal paint. Let dry then peal the tape off. Cover rough edges with black puffy paint!

For the next frame I placed a stencil over it, and with the make up sponge, sponge on the purple paint. Let dry, and trace edges with the black puff paint!

 

 

~Kaitlin 

t shirt headbands

This is something I've been wanting to try for a while now! I just recently cut up some high school t-shirts for a quilt I'm working on (coming soon!). I didn't just want to throw away the t-shirt scraps, so I used them to make some headbands!! I used to methods of stitching the ends together. Needle and thread or hot glue, or a combination of both. Super easy and definitely an upcycle!!

~Kaitlin

Green ombré shirt

If you haven't already noticed, ombré is in right now!! I took an plain white shirt and turned it into a stylish renovated piece!

Here is what you'll need:

A cup of salt
Rit dye
Warm water
Cleaning bucket
hanger
timer



you can use table salt or sea salt, as well as liquid dye or the powder dye!

1. Warm up 4 cups of water either in the microwave or on the stove

2. Combine the cup of salt, the dye, and water in a bucket. Mix carefully. I strongly suggest wearing gloves so you don't stain your hands!

3. Following the image below, provided by http://www.urbanthreads.com  set your timer and soak your shirt using the proper timing.

4. Rinse with cold water, and allow to air dry, and boom! Ombré perfection!

~Kaitlin Dekkers

Properly cleaning you make up brushes

Admit it, through a busy day, sitting down and cleaning your make up brushes is one of the very last things on your mind. But what if I told you it will save you money and stress? Say what?! Now that I've got your attention.....

When ladies go long periods of time without cleaning their brushes properly, oils, dead skin cells, make up, and bacteria start taking over. Um can you say ew? No wonder why our skin breaks out! If you can learn how to efficiently clean those brushes you will have much clearer skin, spend less on acne fitting treatments, less on cover up, resulting in having to wear less make upon general! Clear skin, and less money sounds like a win win to me!

Here's what you need:

Dirty make up brushes
Two large glasses
Soap or shampoo
White vinegar
Warm water
Towel

1.One brush at a time, run the hairs of the brush under a warm faucet, and with your fingers, gently work in the soap or shampoo. I like using shampoo cause it is gentle on brushes that use real animal hair. You will be shocked by how much make up starts rinsing out.

2.After most of the make up is out fill a large glass with hot water and let the brush soak.

3.Repeat steps one and two till all your brushes are pretty clean. If the glass of water starts getting cloudy with leftover make up residue, pour the water out and refill with more hot water.

4. Rinse brushes with hot water again, to get the shampoo out. In a separate glass, pour it half way full with white vinegar. Let all the brushes soak in this four about five minutes. This will kill all leftover bacteria!

5. Dry brushes out on a clean cloth. And there you have it!! Hygienic brushes! Do this once every two weeks or so!

~Kaitlin

A little bit of love

So as you can probably tell from one of my recent decor posts, teal and purple are the new color combos in my dorm (not to mention white, silver, and black... the classics!) I took this wooden lettering, that looked outdated, and did not match anything in my dorm, and gave it a little makeover! Here is how I did it!

Tools:

Wide sponge paint brush
2 colors of acrylic craft paint
some old lace
a makeup sponge
           

1. I took my purple paint and applied a nice base coat (or 2 or three base coats! The red was pretty dark) with the large sponge brush.

2. I waited a few minutes for the paint to dry and wrapped the letters in some old lace. (I believe it was an old table cloth from goodwill... score!)

3. I dipped my makeup sponge in the teal paint and evenly worked it over the lace. In some spots I applied the paint a little more generously so the effect would be cooler.

Dorm room approved!!

~Kaitlin

Vintage sheet music

Okay folks, if you knew me you would know I LOVE music, and everything about music. I also love old vintage style decor. So... why not combine two of my favorites into one awesome diy project?! I went to a few garage sales and picked myself up some old sheet music, preferably from the 50's or before. The older it is, the more yellowing the paper will have. If you would like to darken the music, or give it a more aged look, soak the paper in strongly brewed coffee! I used super glue, but mod podge would work even better! I cut paper to fit my headboard, and poof! Instant chic! :)

 

Kaitlin

Salmon, Black, and Silver nails

This look is extremely easy!

1. I put a base clear coat on my nails

2. I apply two coats of the salmon pink, or whatever color your little heart desires!

3. I let the second coat of pink fully dry for at least 10 minutes.

4. I make one, two even sweeps across my nail bed with Kisses black detailing nail polish

5. Dot along the line with the desired amounts of dots with the tip of the detailing brush

6. Whichever lines do not contain the dots, shadow them with Kisses detailing silver glitter nail polish

Vwala! professional looking nails! Enjoy :)

Kaitlin

Dorm crafts

Supplies needed:

Acrylic paint
Paint Brush
Stencil  of your choice
Objects around the house to repaint
*Puff Paint
*Painter's Tape

*optional

Any household object can be spruced up!

The criss-cross french pony!

The criss-cross french pony!

1. Start at the hairline and braid at an angle across the top of the head.

2. Once you get to the back of the head, start braiding in the opposite direction.

3. You can either braid the rest of the rest of the pony, or leave it unbraided!

Super cute hair style, enjoy!!

~Kaitlin