DIY: Floral Headpiece

Because it was a CRAZY 80 degrees today in Southern California, I felt the need to get into the summer spirit!!  When January gives you 80 degrees, you dye paper flowers and make floral headpieces, obviously :) I started off with my materials...

I wanted to make a headpiece using elastic, but then had a headband base that I thought I'd use as well!  This project would also work wonders, turning the flowers into pins with adhesive pin backs too if you'd like to go that route.  The final piece of this sunny day DIY are paper flowers, these coming from Prima Marketing.

I sorted through an assortment of shaded of Rit Dye...

...and got to spritzing!

With these paper flowers, there's no need to wet them before dyeing.  Just point and shoot!

To set the colors, just toss the flowers in the microwave.  I nuked each flower individually for about 10 seconds, but feel free to combine flowers and put them in for a longer period of time (20/30 seconds).  Just make sure you don't put in any flowers with metal attachments - this would be the case for the smaller flowers and the leaves - just let them dry on their own.

...and then they're ready for affixing!  How pretty did they turn out?

Because these guys are paper, hot glue would make a perfect adhesive to affix them to your elastic/headband!  (HG is a quick dry method as well, making it a perfect adhesive if you're working with kids.)  I opted to go the E6000 route because I had some time to let everything dry and it was out already from working on another project.  Dontcha love the reasoning??

After affixing flowers to my headpiece, I chose one larger flower and leaf for the headband.

I let my hair accessories dry and then put them on for a little fashion show!!

I paired my headgear with a vintage floral dress (it's got blue, yellow, and pink embroidered flowers!!!), a pair of shades that I found at Forever 21, and my shiny golden Steve Madden heels.

I got lots of fun comments on Instagram calling this look a mix of Frida Kahlo and a flower girl, both of which I'll take!!

Oh, and here's a closeup of the headband - it makes a subtle statement just using one of the bigger flowers.

I'm ready for summer!!  Depending on how long this warm kick lasts, I just might be wearing this all weekend long!

Happy Friday, friends!!

Copycat: ASOS Lace Neck Trim Blouse

Let's be honest, any shirt that has some sort of collar embellishment or flair is a collar that I want to befriend! I loved this shirt when I first saw it being worn by Jaime King on Hart of Dixie this season and it was actually was a maternity top, something that I discovered when I found out that it was an ASOS piece. I wanted to remake it immediately because it seemed like something that could be finished in a jiff using items found in my stash of supplies. (For those Hart of Dixie  fans, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in!) Doesn't this scream “DIY me”! (Check out the actual shirt on Jaime by ASOS, here!)

On top of the fact that it was maternity, I also saw that they had two color options – melon and navy. I had a navy Forever 21 blouse in my closet already that was the same shape as the ASOS version, so I switched up the color a bit and went with navy as my base.

The key to this piece is a round neckline that the lace or crochet trim can be added to the edge of.

Here’s a rundown of the supplies you’ll need:

1. Lace trim or a crocheted doily (You can cut the scalloped edging from the doily to make it work if you have one at home or can snag one from your mom’s stash! I have so many in my collection that I've scored from my mama!)

2. Safety pins (These will work if you want a non-permanent lace neck.)

3. Thread & needle (For a more permanent lace neck.)

4. Your base blouse/top (I found a similar blouse in coral by Debenham's)

I began with two pieces of lace trim that I found at my local craft store. I played around with where I wanted to lay them before pinning them in place.

Once the location was set, I pinned the lace to the blouse (1) and began to hand stitch the lace directly to the top, post-pinning (2). I love things that aren’t permanent, so this is also something that you can make by just safety pinning the lace to the neckline so it’s easily removable.

In less than 20 minutes, you’ve got a new shirt that's pretty darn similar to the one by ASOS!

It’s something super easy that can work on the edge of basically anything!

It’s a dainty little addition and a super sweet touch to really add some femininity to a top.

Now what sweater to wear on top of my new shirt that allows this fab neckline to peek through??

Copycat: Michael Kors Lace Dress

I was first turned onto this gorgeous Michael Kors dress when I saw Kerry Washington wearing it on Scandal last season. It was a piece that I always kept in the back of my mind and when I scored the perfect white dress, my remake was on!! (For those Scandal fans, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in!)

Here is the actual Michael Kors' dress...

The key to this piece is the structure – a good white shift dress base will do the trick! My copycat piece is from Dorothy Perkins and it had virtually the same structure as the Michael Kors piece above. I had been keeping my eyes peeled for the right white dress for a while - it was always on my "thrift list" when I was scouring the racks.

Here’s a rundown of the supplies you’ll need:

1. Black lace trim (This is something that you can get from your local fabric store. I went with the widest trim I could find to mimic the thickness on the original piece., but if you can't find a thick trim, you can always stitch two smaller pieces together.)

2. Sewing machine/needle & thread/safety pins – any tool that will affix the lace to the dress.

3. White dress (the Dorothy Perkins one I used is on major sale now!)

The first step is to attach your lace to the center of the dress. I pinned the lace in place all the way around the torso of the dress.

Depending on which method you choose, either safety pin the lace in place (this is great if you don't want to fully commit to the lace around the center of your dress), hand sew the lace down, or use a sewing machine to stitch the lace in place. I used my sewing machine and chose a zig zag stitch to allow for a bit of stretch, since the dress was made of a ribbed waffle material.

That's it! Two easy steps and the copycat look is complete!

It's a chic party dress or something that could work layered with a blazer or jacket to give it a more profesh look.

We could be fierce twinsies, amirite??

Guns blazing in my new, Michael Kors lookalike piece...

...just cause I beat spending $500 for this look by a landslide! Happy girl :)