Little Bits of Lacey

Monday, June 13, 2016

Easy DIY Polaroid Magnets

So I just recently found The Sorry Girls and I can't believe I haven't seen them before. They are incredibly talented and so original. I've gotten a lot of inspiration from their YouTube channel lately, and this post is one of them.

I love the look of polaroid photos, but I am too indecisive to be locked down to one picture; it usually takes me at least 10 tries to get a picture I like.

I downloaded the Poladroid app for my computer, and popped a couple of photos into it. The app is super cute and makes sound effects so it sounds like a camera. You can take any picture and it turns it into a Polaroid.

I find a lot of coupon codes for free 8x10 photos from Walgreens, so I picked 4 photos, used PicMonkey to make a collage and sent it to be printed, all fo free. Muahahah

When I picked the photo up I used my paper cutter to slice them up and glued them to a leftover piece of foam board.

I started to use a utility knife to try to cut through the foam board, but I found that scissors are easier to control and make for less ripping. I then used some old random magnets to hot glue to the back. This is perfect for those random magnets you have but don't really want or need.

That's it! Send me your pictures on Instagram with the #LittleBitsofLacey. I want to start featuring your photos on my Instagram page!

xoxo,
L

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

DIY Marble Dollar Tree Pots for Succulents

I'm pleased to announce that I have completed another round of finals without dying. This means I am halfway there to my Bachelors Degree. (AHH)

I've been easing into summer, trying to recover and I did my first summer DIY the other day!
I picked up these succulents and a package of three mini terra-cotta pots from the Dollar Tree. I see this kind of stuff in stores, envision something adorable, do a scary evil laugh and toss them in my basket. Muahahahah

Okay but really, I just popped the succulents out of the cheapy plastic pots and gave the terra-cotta ones a quick coat of white spray paint.

I could tell you I tried what worked right away, but I feel it's my job to allow anyone and everyone to laugh at me and to also keep you from trying it these ways too. All I knew was that I wanted to marble them. (that's good grammar, right?)

I used the plastic pots the succulents originally came in to practice first, which was smart so I didn't ruin the other pots, but it also probably would have worked differently with plastic than with terra-cotta anyway. Oh well.

Initially I tried the tub of water thing. I've only ever seen it done that way with nail polish, but I figured I would try it anyway with the small samples of paint I have leftover from my craft shelf boxes.

FAIL

Then I found the one bottle of turquoisey-teal nail polish I had and tried that.

Nope

I remembered seeing a tutorial for marbling nail polish with a plastic bag. They dotted a few drops of the leftover wall paint paint on the nail and used the plastic baggie to mix the colors.

I used the wall paint I orignally tried and painted a few spots randomly around the pot.

Then I used a piece of saran wrap (affiliate link) to mix the paint into a "marble" effect.

And I don't have a picture of this step, because I was covered in paint and didn't really feel like painting my camera.

But this is how they came out!

That's all! Show me pics of yours! #LittleBitsofLacey and I might just repost them :)

xoxo,
L

Friday, April 29, 2016

C9 by Target || Influenster

Hi y'all

I haven't done any posts like this before, but I wanted to share something awesome with you!

Influenster and Target sent me a sports bra. I absolutely love it! It's super comfy and it is honestly the perfect combination of support and comfort. It has a clip in the back so when you are sweaty and done with your workout then you can easily unclip it without wrestling a mess.

They were also kind enough to share a coupon code for you guys! Use this link to get 20% off. :)

http://mc.tgt.com/tw/s?q=3L2E173QO6GGHNE2GJWQ

Have a good weekend guys!

xoxo
L

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

DIY Pillow from Sweater || Valentines Day Pillow

I got this sweater a year or two ago from the Target clearance rack, but I didn't have the intention of wearing it. It fit weird. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE the pattern. I picked up a plain pillow case and pillow and did exactly what any lazy, non-talented sewers like myself would do. :)

I traced around it on the sweater and cut it out. Then I hot glued the edges right around the back of the pillow.

Isn't it precious? I was thinking this would be Valentine's Day decor but now I'm convinced it will stick around all year long!

Show me yours! #LittleBitsofLacey

xoxo, L

Saturday, January 23, 2016

DIY Gel Nails at Home!

So I've mentioned on a million different occasions that I'm a poor college student. I work at a movie theatre and spend a lot more money than I should on stupid things and then wonder where it all went once the tuition bill shows up.

I couldn't part with $40+ a month just to get my nails done, but I was also sick of looking at gross chipped nails. I also HATED spending so long to paint them only to have them chip off within hours.

So for my birthday last September I may have ~~suggested to~~ begged Eric to get me a lamp to do gel nails at home. And I have never once regretted that decision.

He bought me the Sensationail Starter Kit. (affiliate link)

It comes with everything you need, and doing them is a lot simpler than I thought.

1. First you prep your nails like usual, filing and whatnot.
2. Next, you use the primer to prep your nails and let that air dry.
3. Paint a base coat and cure under the lamp. I usually do the two thumbs together, then the four fingers from each side, because that's how I found it fits best under the lamp. The lamp turns on and off automatically.

4. Paint as many coats as you find necessary, curing between each coat. I've found that colors that are more sheer need 2 or more coats, but darker colors are usually okay after just the one. The key here is to "cap" the top. After painting your nails like usual, swipe the end of your nail to seal the whole nail, if that makes sense.
5. Finish off with the top coat and cure under the lamp.
6. The last step is to use rubbing alcohol on a lint free pad to remove the sticky residue from the top. It seems really weird but you're nails are immediately dry. I LOVE that part. Because before when painting your nails I wasn't comfortable for at least 6 hours.

The last step is to flaunt your nails to everyone and drop their jaws when you tell them you did it yourself. (Hair flip)

(excuse my chunky fingers. I also never noticed I had chunky fingers until right now.)

This is two weeks out. You can see where my nails have started to grow out. Looks pretty great huh? (actually the pic doesn't show it very well, but they do, I promise.

My thumb from my notebook project: courtesy of manicurist me. (More hair flips)
So you should try it out! It will save you a ton of moolah to spend on your tuition or mortgage...or more gel nail polish or something, I won't judge. ;)

Show me your manicures! #LittleBitsofLacey I might even repost them on Instagram :) :)

xoxoxo,
L

Monday, January 4, 2016

DIY Marble Notebook

Today I'm sharing a quick DIY I used to give new life to my old notebook for school. Unfortunately I started school again today and my notebook/binderhas seen better days. It's held up amazingly and I absolutely love it but white was not a good cover choice.

Luckily for Christmas I got some gorgeous marble contact paper, so I traced it to fit my cover.

I peeled the corner so that one corner was stuck down, then smoothed air bubbles out as I went until the whole thing was stuck.

I used an Exacto knife to cut out the holes and pushed the edges in to fold them over.

(still a few air bubbles at this point)

Ta da! Even Bob approves :)

This makes me only slightly less angry that I'm back in class.

Have a beautiful day! :)

xoxo,

L

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Gift Ideas for Guys

As we approach my favorite time of year I've been finding it harder and harder to focus during my classes and more and more distracted by the ~~thoughts~~ sugarplums dancing in my head. So today I'm sharing the first of many holiday themed posts.

Guys are honestly so impossible to shop for. They can deny it but they wouldn't have small sections in every store this time of year called "mens gifts"

Here are some of my ideas so you can avoid that section and so the men in your life don't get another boring present.

Some of these links are affiliate links.

1. Snacks/Candy

You can't go wrong with food. I like to get things that they might not have all the time, like beef jerky or pistachios, but pick whatever is his favorite and throw together a goodie bag.