Copycat: Tarina Tarantino Floral Sunglasses

I first became obsessed with today's DIY after seeing them being worn by Mindy Kaling on The Mindy Project. (For those The Mindy Project-obsessed, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in!) The third season premieres tonight and I can't wait! I love sunglasses and have more (cheap) pairs in my collection than I should, however my track record with keeping them from getting scratched/falling off my head and cracking/stretching them out from wearing them on my head all day long is equivalent to me batting a .100. Pretty not-so-hot. So, I felt that there's always room for one more pair!

Mindy rocked out these Tarina Tarantino shades...

...and I fell in love.

Super blingy, super floral, super DIY candidate!

Here’s a rundown of the supplies needed for the sunglasses:

1. Black Sunglasses – (these are flea market finds, but Wet Seal and Forever 21 have some cheap options, or you can even scope out a local Dollar Tree to see if they carry.) 2. Rhinestone trim (I used Darice's Bling on a Roll.) 3. Jewelry Glue (I used Aleene's jewelry and metal glue, but you can use a glue gun as well.) 4. Mod Podge Melts and Molds - (the Mod Podge Mold with Flowers is what I used as well as Mod Podge Melts in green/white.) 5. Paint (if you use clear Melts pink or green paint does the trick. Just add a coat to match the color of the frames.) 6. Glue Gun (this is used with the Mod Podge Melts - put them in as you would glue sticks.)

To recreate the flowers on the original Tarina Tarantino sunnies, we'll need four flowers/leaves to put in the center and at the sides of the glasses.

The Mod Podge Melts and Molds were used for this step. Fill the flower and leaf molds with the melts (top L), paint the hardened pieces (if a color melt wasn't used - I used green for the leaves and clear for the flowers, so the leaves were fine) the matching shade of pink (top R), dab glue on the backs of the flowers and leaves (bottom R), and affix to the sunglasses (bottom L).

I went with one leaf in the center, just because it fit nicely in-between the flowers, and then added a strip of rhinestones to the top portion of the glasses.

I added flowers and leaves to the edges of the glasses next and then let the frames dry!

Hey new sunnies!

We look like twins!

Easy to make, super chic, and totally budge friendly.

I love the Tarina pair and I love my pair!

I might have to get on a few more DIYs for the sunnies this summer.

Good thing I bought extra pairs at the flea market. Stay tuned!

Tie Dye Backpack

The best way to give a white backpack a little face lift for school? TIE DYE! I wanted to put together a fun tutorial that shows how to transform a basic white canvas backpack into something chic for campus.

A little DIY action will make this budget backpack look like you spent beaucoup bucks! The hardest part was picking the dyes!

All you need is:

Canvas backpack: (I got this one for $10 at Forever 21, but you can thrift one, use one that you have already that needs an update, or hop on over to Target to grab something!)

Dyes: I went with an assortment of brighter colors, but pick any palette that suits your fancy!

Rubber bands/gloves: Gloves are a lifesaver for your hands when you're dyeing! Make sure you protect those fingers.

Time to get to work!

I began to add rubberbands to the backpack next. I pinched a section of the backpack, put a rubber band around the gathered area, and then continued to add bands every few inches.

I put the backpack under water until the entire piece was saturated.

Now it was time to add dye! I added dye to plastic bottles to make it easier for application onto the backpack. (Don't forget to wear gloves!)

Once enough dye was applied, I let the pack dry overnight and when it was dry, I snipped off the rubber bands with a pair of scissors. (It's so much easier trimming them off than trying to pull them off with your fingers, especially if they're tight!)

From all white, to fashionably dyed!

What a fun way to get your hands a little dirty to create something so cool for school?

It's also a great trick to revive an old backpack to make new again!

If spots are on the darker side, just use darker dyes to hide! This is going to be my new go-to computer travel bag since back to school isn't completely relevant to me anymore! (PS, I miss school!!)

Wedding Weekend Rundown!

So that wedding that I went to last weekend...

...was filled with all of my most favorite friends from college. We make quite the colorful group!!

The gorgeous bride and groom, J & S...

...had the most magical day.

From the amazing snacks that were keeping us far from "hangry" during the ceremony...

...to the parasols that we all got to use to keep the sun from beating down on us! (Not to mention, they made the PERFECT photo props!!)

One of the coolest elements was the surfboard that was used to list all of our table numbers on it. The groom surfs, so this was such a cool tie in!

I scored my dress at a sample sale ($20, say what?!?)...

...but before I could wear it, I had to make a minor tweak. The waist was a little big, so I DIY'ed the easiest belt ever. Here's the easy trick.

1. Find a vintage brooch.

2. Find a piece of matching ribbon.

3. Pin the brooch to the ribbon.

4. Put on belt.

5. Done!!!

The watercolor table cards were stunning (the bride's father made them all!!) but the best part was that the menu card was crayon-checkable to pick the tacos of our choosing! LA's Border Grill catered...

...and the tacos (and Coronas) were perfection on this warm summer night!!

The bride made the rounds in her SICK dress that I was obsessed with...

...and I even found someone in a matching animal print. We became BFFs by the end of the night. Stefanie is really the coolest lady ever!

So when the cake was cut and passed around, it was super dark. I mean SUPER dark. We were dancing and I took a bite break from the dance floor and my bite tasted kind of floraly. Yep, it's because my bite had this big flower on top of it. I went to the cake table afterwards and took this picture. I literally ate that flower on top. Geez, Maris.

Because the new couple's last name is Fox, there were lots of fox masks around for photo ops. Ron and I couldn't resist...

(Pretty floral display, right?)

I was taking my own fox shot when...

...I got photobombed by the bride!! Best kind of photobomb.

I got in the photo booth with N and some pairs of big sunnies, because when there are big sunnies, you wear them!

You are my favorite, too!! (Loved this banner!)

By the end of the night, our feet hurt in the best way possible - from all the dancing. I mean at the end of the night, while you're waiting at valet, the best idea ever is to have a maple donut from King's. I just say that I gipped from my cake bite, so I had to compensate with a donut.

I think that my favorite pick from the evening was this one...

When you've got a slit, you use it. Just couldn't resist giving my best Angelina...