Make Your Own Flip Flops - myDIY

I'm having a bit of a clear out at the moment and going through a whole load of old clothes, shoes and craft materials. Whilst I'm keen to get as much stuff out of the house as I can, I also have a lot of things which I don't use very much any more, or haven't used for ages, but I'm still a bit loath to let them go. 

And to coincide with this I've been having a look at crafty bloggers and trying to get into pinterest and so on, to find ways to use the stuff that I have to make things that I want and will use. Over on My New Leaf, Kira was talking about a new collaborative online crafting party called myDIY! The idea is that every month there will be a new material idea to work with. Bloggers create tutorials to share, or get creative with inspiration from other people, everyone links them together and everyone gets to see what everyone else is doing. They also have a giveaway for everyone who enters as well, which is a lovely extra treat.

This month the material of inspiration is flip flops! The three bloggers hosting the party this month have all done projects using foam-soled toe-post style flip flops, which are super cool and really cute. I never wear toe-posts, however, because they hurt my atypically shaped feet, so I don't own a pair already. I also didn't feel like I could justify buying a pair of flip flops to turn into something else when I'm trying to clear things out! So I had a bit of a think and came up with this - I took a pair of old trainers which were en route to a charity shop, and turned them into a pair of flip flops! They're super comfy, and I love them so much. I'm already thinking of a hundred and one different ways to style them with different outfits, I'm just waiting for the glue to be 100% dry before I wear them anywhere.

See the tutorial below - I hope you like it! If you want to have a browse, all the projects are linked up here on Inlinkz.

How to Turn Trainers into Flip Flops!

1. You will need: Old trainers, a craft knife or Stanley knife, thin and thick matching ribbons, needle and thread, scissors, PVA glue and multipurpose adhesive.

2. You need start with clean shoes - pop them in the washing machine with something fluffy like some slippers or a towel. Use the synthetic cycle because it has a reduced spin - or your machine may have a shoes programme.

3. With your shoes clean and dry, use your craft knife to cut through the rubber round the front of the toe cap. Make sure that you leave the continuous rim all round the edge of the shoe so it'll be the same height all the way round.

 4. Use your craft knife to cut through the stitching which hold the tongue to the sides.

 5. Use your craft knife to cut the tongue piece close to the sole and remove it completely.

 6. Use your scissors to trim the sides and cut off the fabric all round the back of the shoe. If there's a rubber heel support, cut away the fabric to leave it bare, as this will make it easier to work with.

 7. Use your craft knife to cut off the rubber heel support.

 8. At this stage you will need to assess the structural integrity of the sole. If the upper sole is lifting away from the lower sole, you need to reattach it. Make sure everything is dry inside - especially if you just machine-washed them - and follow the instructions on your all purpose adhesive to stick everything back down.

 9. Snip a triangle out of the end of some of your wider ribbon to make a chevron. Fold the ribbon over the existing piping on the shoe and sew round, attaching the inside and outside at the same time, curving round the shape of the shoe.

 10. Trim a chevron at the other end as well, and tuck the points between the rubber and the fabric at both ends. You may have to use your craft knife to cut a little space here for the ribbon to fit into.

 11. On the inside, use your PVA glue to stick the points down.

 12. Draw round each shoe onto the reverse of the denim scraps and cut it out. Put the piece face up inside the appropriate shoe and use a pen in a similar colour to mark where you need to trim to make a exact fit. Cut off little bits at a time, checking the fit frequently, to make sure you don't cut off too much by accident.

 13. Use your all-purpose adhesive to stick the denim to the inner sole. Spread the glue over the reverse of the fabric, and make sure you go right to the edges, so that every little bit will get stuck down.

14. Put your foot in the shoe and lace it up with the thinner ribbon. I decorated my ribbon with a few beads I found in my stash, but they're optional of course. Tie a bow at the top and trim the ribbon diagonally to the right length. Use PVA glue to seal the ends so they won't fray.

You are now the proud owner of your very own pair of flip flops! Leave them somewhere warm and dry for 12-24 hours to make sure the glue is properly dry, otherwise the sole might slip when you walk in them.

Love and hugs

Recipes - Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies

I found this recipe on Tracey's Culinary Adventures, and it was awesome :) I converted the cup measurements into weights, to make it easier for my British friends to use! If you'd rather use cups, then feel free to look at the original recipe. 

Ingredients
For the cake
120g unsalted butter, at room temperature
105g granulated sugar
85g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
.5 tsp ground nutmeg
.5 tsp salt
150g grated carrot (roughly 2 small-medium carrots)

For the filling
90g butter
120g cream cheese
220g icing sugar
.5 tsp vanilla

Directions
For the cake, cream the butter and two sugars together until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and stir in the vanilla. Measure all the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt) into the bowl and then stir in to form a soft dough. Mix in the grated carrots, then cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for an hour. Longer is better, 30 minutes will do in a pinch.

Prepare your baking trays by cutting a sheet of non-stick baking paper for each try. Depending on the size of your trays, and how many you have, you will probably need to bake in batches.

When the dough is chilled, turn on the oven to pre heat to 180 degrees C, or gas mark 4. Use two teaspoons to scoop the dough into little mounds on the tray, a bit smaller a plumb. Don't worry about them being too neat, but try to make sure they are all the same size. Place them about 2 inches apart as they will flatten and spread out when baking, and you don't want to make a uni-cookie. I managed to fit 6 on each tray, and made 24 in total.

Place the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, but check after 12 minutes to see that they're not cooking too fast. The lower down tray will probably take 18 minutes. They are cooked when they are golden brown and somewhat firm to the touch. Slide the parchment sheets off onto cooling racks and rinse the trays under cold running water to cool them down. Re-line them with parchment and separate out the rest of the dough and bake that in the same manner. The cooked cakes can be peeled off the paper after about 5 minutes - before that and they will stick a little. When they are completely cool, store them in a tin before you ice them.

For the filling, put all the ingredients except the icing sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth. Then add the icing sugar in 3 or 4 parts, through a sieve, each time mixing til smooth. At the end is should be light and fluffy. Get out all the baked cakes and match them up as best you can into pairs that have the same size/shaped foot. Spread lots of the filling onto the flat side of one and sandwich them together. If you have left over icing, eat it with a spoon over the sink before washing the bowl. But don't tell anyone I told you that. If there's lots, maybe try putting more on the cakes next time. It's quite good on scones or even just as a cheeky sandwich.

Store your whoopie pies in the fridge, on a plate wrapped in clingfilm or in a sealed container. They should last a week like this, if you can stop yourself from scoffing them all. They're pretty big, but they're ridiculously more-ish!

Love and hugs

Weekly Nail #1 - Tiny Explosions!

So obviously this isn't the first time I've posted my nails for you, but I've decided to make it a weekly thing, rather than just random.

This week I've used Missguided Splash in "MissTaken", which is an awesome shade of orange. It's been on my toes for a couple of weeks already, since I got one free with Cosmo. I also used my Andrea Fulterton Dot and Flick in black to do some flicks for an accent nail, and they're so cute! They look like tiny explosions!

July Glossybox

I have to say I loved a lot of this month's glossybox, but then I am jealous of some of the things other bloggers have shown off, especially the Kyrolan Satin Powder. I did get an HD Brows palette though so I'm not really complaining.

24 things before 24

I saw a rather wonderful thing this morning in the blogosphere - Ella Masters mentioned her list of 24 things she wanted to do before she turned 24. It has things on it like visiting other people, attending specific events, making some lifestyle changes, and so on.
I think this is a wonderful idea! I believe it's a really important part of living a happy and fulfilled life - think about what you really want to achieve or experience, and then set a deadline for yourself. It's not about beating yourself up about what you haven't yet achieved, or if you didn't make your deadline, I think it's more about loving your life, and filling your free time with things that really make you happy. For me, that involves not watching much television. The internet has far more.intelligent and interesting things to say.
Anyway, with no further ado, here is my list of 24 things I wish to achieve in the rest of the year before I turn 24.
1. Pass my driving test.
2. Visit my friend in Florida.
3. Go on a road trip.
4. Stop hoarding so much crap I don't need.
5. Run a marathon.
6. Win an arm wrestle against a boy.
7. Repaint my bedroom.
8. Get a pay rise.
9. Read all 7 Harry Potter books in French.
10. Buy a sofa.
11. Learn how to dance on pointe.
12. Sell something I've made myself.
13. Visit my auntie down south.
14. Visit my uncle who's less south.
15. See Scotland and England play in the 6 Nations at Twickenham.
16. Get some winter sun.
17. Go to a gig.
18. See a full length ballet.
19. Find the perfect toothbrush holder.
20. Do some street style posts on the blog.
21. Get a professional massage.
22. Swim in the sea.
23. Go to an air show.
24. Get a DSLR.

Do you have any ambitions for this year of your life? I'd love to hear about them!

Hiccup helps - A Cure for the Common Cold

Guys, I don't know if you have noticed, but it's July. Not surprised if you didn't realise though. If you are anywhere in the UK, like me, you are probably suffering from trench foot, and you've caught a nasty cold. Bleugh.

But fear not! Dear Reader, I bring you the remedy for the common cold.

Cast of characters - a chopping board, a sharp knife, a teaspoon, a lemon, hot water, sugar, and a mug that makes you happy.

Cut the lemon in half.

Squeeze the lemon halves into the mug. Don't worry too much about seed and stuff. Or use a sieve if it bothers you. Or a juicer thingy.

Add some sugar. No really. Lemon is bitter. Two teaspoon still leaves this very sharp (which is how I like mine), but go for four unless you're trying to cut it out. You could also try honey, but that's a lot more effort, and you might not have it on hand anyway.

Fill up the mug with hot water.

Sip slowly curled up in your pajamas with a blanket and a good book/awesome telly/favourite magazine.

Make sure you get an early night as well, and you'll likely feel right as rain in the morning.

Of course, you've probably heard of hot lemon and honey before. Or a hot toddy (add a measure of whisky to the above). But making it yourself with a fresh lemon is definitely better than any lemsip. You could also use orange, lime or any other citrus fruit, but lemons taste really good, plus they have loads of vitamin C and zinc (the zinc is really important) - even more than oranges.

Love and sneezes

P.S. If you slice a wee bit the bottoms off those empty lemon halves, you can use them as tea light holders (pop them on a plate) and everything will smell lovely when they warm up :)

Pretty in Platforms

It was my birthday recently! Woo! To celebrate I went out for dinner and some drinks with a whole bunch of friends. I wasn't really planning to do much on the day of my birthday, as I have a big part on a boat planned for this weekend (watch this space for the photos after!).
For the occasion, I treated my self to a lovely new dress and some shoes to match.

The dress was from a shop in Edinburgh called Cookie, and was made by Eucalyptus. I can't find it in their collections but it's a lot like the Aya dress in a different print. The shoes are from Primark - they were the only ones I could find in the right shade of purple! The flowers in my hair I spotted whilst looking for shoes in H&M - so pleased they were the perfect shade

Here are some other photos from the night :)

We went to Le Mouton Noir, the Indigo Yard and Bacaro, all of which I can thoroughly recommend and will be visiting again as soon as possible.

Anyone else been out anywhere fun recently?

Love and kisses

That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat, That's Neat...

You guys know how I love to do my nails! Well I was in Superdrug the other day picking up a new eyeliner, and saw this wee black Dot & Flick Nail Art polish, from Andrea Fulerton. I was never sold with nail art pens, but this little squeezy bottle looked a good bet, and it was only £2.99! It has a long thin brush for painting lines and flicks and swoopy things, and then a dotting tool under the cap for doing spots and flowers and leopard print.

I also got my paws on some yellow sparkly polish from Missguided, which is free with this month's Cosmo. I love it in yellow and I'm tempted to buy the magazine again just to get the orange one too!

I decided to have a go at doing some tiger nails, spotted on instagram from Gem Fatale, and I followed the tutorial up on company.co.uk.

They were easier than I thought they might be actually! I used a basecoat of clear polish, then two coats of yellow. One coat wasn't quite opaque enough, but two was great. I'd probably have gone for three if I'd had time, but I only had like half an hour before I had to go out! After that I just used the brush on my Dot & Flick to draw two diagonal lines, then filled in the gap. If you're having a go at this one, be careful to make sure you wipe the brush really properly, to make sure you get pointy triangles! I was a bit worried about painting my right hand - drawing with my left hand is not my strong point - but the design is so straight forward that I had no real problems. The only difficulty was with the top coat - the black was a little prone to smudging because it wasn't fully dry yet. However, by painting horizontally, and using a good blob of polish on each nail, I just about managed to get away with it.

So I'm sure these won't be the neatest tiger nails you see this summer, I hope you like them, and I definitely think you should give them a try :) I got loads of compliments on them, and they're fun for pretending to be fierce and growly...

Product Review - Loreal Infaillible Eyeliner

This product is en route to becoming the old favourite in my make up bag. It's black, it's soft, and I'm never hunting for a pencil sharpener. It's perfect for smokey, smudgey top liner, or just a quick sweep along your waterline. You can go for the all-out, full-circle rock chick, or you can draw and rub out and draw and rub out and draw and rub out until you get this season's perfect cat flick. It has a rubber on the end, which pulls out to reveal a wee sharpener as well, so you can always look sharp.

It's such a versatile product with great pigmenting, and for once, the name infaillible is pretty much true. I can put this on before going out for the evening and still look passable when I drag my sleepy self into work the next day. If only I could find a mascara that would treat me so well!
Literally the best eyeliner I have ever owned, and it retails for around a £5 in high street chemists. What's not to love?
Are there any products which you buy over and over and over again?

Bare-faced Cheek

I've had bare nails for the last few days. Not like me I know, but it's important, for keeping your nails healthy. Coating them in chemicals every day can obviously be damaging so its good to let them breathe some days as well.
If you're giving your nails a rest, be sure to file them smooth, keep them all the same length, scrub them clean, and maybe use a buffer for some extra shine in the evening. Natural nails can look just as pretty, fresh and fashionable as the latest shade of sky blue or watermelon. AND, they'll go with everything :)

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