Onward, Lulu

Even before our DIY-obsessed modern world, women had figured out ways to stretch their wardrobe items. Case in point: 18th century shoe clips. With a small clip-on embellishment, one pair of shoes now had two looks. Fast forward to present day- Emilio Pucci’s fall 2012 shoes are reminiscent of the style. With an oversized pair of clip-on earrings you can have similar shoe clips of your own. Read on to find out more.

YOU’LL NEED:

• clip-on earrings
• square of felt
• needle & thread
• scissors

HOW TO:

You might be thinking- why not just clip the earrings onto your shoes and call it a day? While that is certainly one way to go, we like a little extra comfort and a little more DIY. That said, to make our clips we fashioned little felt socks so that they didn’t scratch against the top of our foot.

(Here we used blue felt and red thread so that you could see our stitching process but it might be more efficient to use a neutral color felt (black or brown) with matching thread.)

Cut two strips of felt about .75” wide by 2” long.

For both pieces, fold the felt in half long ways and stitch the sides together, leaving an opening at the top for the clip to fit into.

Slip the clip into the sock and attach it to your shoe.

Voila! Time to take your new dancing shoes out for a spin!

NOTE: You can also use a hot glue gun to glue your strip of felt onto the clip of your earring but we prefer the sock method so that your earrings can work double-duty as clips and earrings with simple removal of the felt.

At the brand’s fall 2012 show, YSL turned calla lilies into surrealist jewelry. Did you ever think you could make a fake flower look this chic? Read on to find out how to make your own - it’s easier than you might think!

You’ll Need:

• silk cala lily (any color, with wire inside)
• 18 gauge jewelry wire
• wire cutters
• pliers
• floral or masking tape
• electrical tape 
• silver spray paint

How To:

Using pliers, wrap the end of the jewelry wire tightly around the top of the flower’s stem, making 3-4 coils so that it is secure.

Bend the wire down to follow the stem and cut it with your wire cutters so that it is about 1/4” longer than the stem in length.

Tightly wrap the other end of the wire to the base of the stem. (If there is any extra wire, snip it off.)

Fold the flower around your wrist to bend it into the desire shape. Note: You will still be able to flex a little bit after you’re finished so it doesn’t have to be too precise. This is just to make sure that your tape goes on in the correct general direction.

Starting at the top, wrap the wire and flower stem together using electrical tape.

Now wrap over the electrical tape with your floral or masking tape. This step is important for two reasons. One is because electrical tape’s texture is too rubbery for spray paint to stick properly to. The other is so that your entire bracelet (flower & stem) will have the finish once it is painted.

Your flower should now look like this.

In a well-ventilated area (we went outside for this part), evenly spray all sides of the bracelet with paint. 

Finished!

Stefano Pilato-approved.

We nearly hit the floor when we first saw these Sonia Rykel sunglasses. What better way to update a pair of retro cateye sunglasses than with loads of rhinestones? Read on to find out how to make a pair for yourself for under $50.

SUPPLIES:

• cateye sunglasses
• assorted flatback rhinestones (varying sizes and shapes)
• E-6000 glue (or a similar strong tacky glue)
• pliers or tweezers
• Q-Tips
• sharpie
• paper

HOW TO:

Begin by flipping your sunglasses over to trace their shape on a piece of paper. Using this outline, play around with your rhinestones to decide on a pattern. We recommend photographing the layout in case your stones get jumbled during the rest of the project. 

Squeeze a small amount of glue onto a Q-Tip and dab it onto the fame of the glasses. Press your stone into place. (It’s best to start from the outside of the frame and move inward toward the bridge of the nose.)

Repeat gluing and placing stones according to your design. Use your pliers or tweezers to nudge smaller stones into place.

As you go, use a clean Q-Tip to wipe away any excess glue around the stones.

Almost there…

(You’ll notice in the background here that we found it was more effective to squeeze some glue into a small dish and dip the Q-Tip into it rather than taking it directly from the tube. Use whichever method you find easier.)

Again beginning at the outside corner, start gluing your stones on the other side.

Fill in any gaps with more stones until you’re happy with your design.

Meow!

The bright, tough link chain pendant necklaces from Anna Sui’s Fall 2011 show are too good not to DIY. With a vintage brooch and an assortment of brightly colored nail polishes you can make one for yourself.

THE INSPIRATION:

YOU’LL NEED:

• vintage brooch
• varying chain segments
• wire cutters
• pliers
• jump rings
• assorted neon nail polishes
• Sharpie marker (optional)

HOW TO:

Start by deciding on a paint pattern for your brooch. We used our Sharpie marker to color some of the stones black before getting to the polishes.

With your nail polish, paint each stone on the brooch individually. (Paint two coats for a more opaque color.) While it’s drying, assemble the rest of your necklace…

Pick an interesting pattern for mixing your chain styles and cut them to desired lengths. Attach them together using jump rings and pliers.

To turn your brooch into a pendant, find two places on the reverse side to loop jump rings around and secure them in place.

With additional jump rings, connect your brooch to your chain.

Done!

BONUS: Apply the same nail polish painting technique to a vintage rhinestone necklace to achieve the look below.

Keeping warm is important and winter hats are a great accessory but if you’re looking to switch up your headgear, why not try some earmuffs? With just a few tools, you can jazz up any pair to create your own high-fashion lobe warmers like the Lanvin ones below.

YOU’LL NEED:

• fuzzy earmuffs (ones with non-adjustable headband)
• velvet ribbon
• a vintage brooch
• hot glue gun & glue stick
• a sewing needle & thread
• scissors

Cut two pieces of ribbon that are the same length as the headband part of the muffs (we used about 11”).

Beginning at one of the muffs, draw a bead of glue on the underside of the headband and tack on the wrong side of one of your ribbon strands to the band. 

Gluing in 2” segments at a time, continue adhering the wrong side of the ribbon to the underside of the headband until you’re all the way from muff to muff.

Starting at one muff and going over the top of the band, very carefully (don’t burn your fingers!) glue your other ribbon segment to the first one. Your headband should now be fully wrapped.

With a new piece of ribbon, make two loops going one way and two the other way to create a double bow.

Making sure to go through all layers, stich the bow together and cut off any excess ribbon. 

With a small dot of glue, affix the bow to the headband.

Gluing on the underside of headband, wrap a small segment of ribbon around the middle of the bow.

Pin your brooch to the center of the bow. Your earmuffs are ready to wear!

Stay warm, friends! xo

Bows? Gem stones? Yes and yes please! When we first saw the jewelry at the spring 2012 Viktor & Rolf show we heard it screaming to be DIY’ed all the way from the Paris runways. With a little ribbon and a few stitches you can have your own V&R stoned bracelet. (Not to mention a great last minute gift for your bestie!)

YOU’LL NEED:

• assortment of sew-on plastic gem stones or stones in bezels with bails attached
• 1.5” wide grosgrain ribbon (study and firm with body that will hold shape) 
• scissors
• needle
• thread

Cut your ribbon to desired length, leaving enough slack to tie a bow. For our bracelet we used 28”. Be sure to cut at an angle to avoid fraying.

Thread your needle and double knot the ends together.

At the mid-way point of your ribbon segment, poke the needle through the underside of the ribbon coming out through the bail (or hole in the stone) and go back down through the top.

Repeat this step 2-3 times until the stone is secure enough to knot.

Make a knot on the underside by crossing your needle through the ribbon and threading it through the loop like you’re tying a shoelace. Do this a couple times to make sure it’s nice and tight.

Repeat these steps on to affix all of your gem stones.

Have a friend help tie your bow…

And your Viktor & Rolf inspired bracelet is finished!

So festive.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In keeping with the day’s theme, we have a fun, food-inspired DIY for you to try out.

The vegetable charm accessories from the spring 2012 Dolce & Gabbana show have been haunting our memories (in a good way) ever since first seeing them back in September. Food and jewelry… it’s our two favorite things coming together! Read on to find out how we recreated the look using some unconventional materials.

YOU’LL NEED:

• assortment of food-shaped erasers (can be found online or at speciality stationary & book stores)
• 6.5” segment of bracelet chain
• lobster clasp
• jump rings
• headpins
• pliers
• wire cutters

HOW TO:

With a headpin, poke through the bottom of the eraser and pull it all the way through out the top. Using your pliers, curl the wire around to form a loop.

Twist the end of the wire around the base of the loop 2-3 times and snip off the access wire. Tighten your coils to make sure the pin is secure. The finished charm should look like the apple above.

Repeat these wiring steps with all of your erasers.

Fruit charms ready to be turned into a bracelet!

Use a jump ring to connect each charm to the bracelet chain.

Attach your lobster clasp on one end of the bracelet and a chain of several jumprings to the other for size options.

Done! Your Dolce & Gabanna inspired bracelet is finished.

BONUS: Use the same headpin wraping technique to make yourself a pair of earrings!

For fall 2011, Chanel showed chic fingerless lace gloves scrunched down models’ arms. Though they might not keep you warm, they’ll definitely make a statement. It’s the perfect new life solution for too-small vintage gloves. Not to mention that since vintage gloves are always too small for our modern day hands, you can usually get them on the cheap. Chanel for less than $10? Read on!

What You’ll Need:

• vintage lace gloves
• scissors
• sewing needle
• sewing pins
• thread that matches your gloves

How To:

1. put on the gloves and mark where they need to be cut. the four fingers can be cut off in a single snip and the thumb should be cut at the knuckle.
2. turn the gloves inside out and fold or roll the raw edge down 2-3 centimeters
3. pin into place
4. beginning at the glove’s seam, make a small stitch through the fold all the way around the opening
5. repeat this step for the thumb opening as well
6. done! turn the gloves back outside in!

Très chic!

In our first installment of the Lulu Frost DIY accessories series we show you how to make a chic half-turban in only a few simple steps.

What you’ll need:

1. a long piece of fabric or scarf

2. a vintage brooch

3. two bobby pins

How to:

• wrap the middle of the fabric around the back of your head and tie the ends in a loose knot on your forehead or, if you prefer, a little off to the side
• tip: with this style, the more casual the knot the better so don’t worry if yours is less than perfect
• wind the ends of the fabric several times around the crown of your head and tuck the ends in the back toward the nape of your neck
• pin the brooch to the side of the central knot and secure the sides down with bobby pins

And that’s a wrap! You’ve got yourself a sparkly half-turban that works for both day and night.