Anyway, after looking at the price tag I realized that I didn’t need to fork over my hard earned money for some organization and sanity – I could make these myself! And so can you.

You don’t even need a good taste in music. In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t like the record you’re melting… All you need is a little time and some H2O and you’re on your way to adorable dorm decor.

Materials:
2 vinyl records – you can get these super cheap at flea markets, old-school record stores or from that collection that’s been gathering dust in your parents’ basement.
1 pot of boiling water
1 heat resistant bowl (or another large pot)
1 flat piece of wood

This Is How You Do:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, making sure to have enough to fill your heat resistant bowl to two or three inches.

2. Pour the water into the bowl (be careful), then dip your record into the hot water, until around ¼ of the bottom is submerged.

3. Once the record heats up it should bend easily. Put slight pressure on the record so it bends, forming a 90 degree angle. Take care to not move your hand so much so the water line is straight.

4. If you want, you can use the piece of wood to flatten out any waves that form in the record. Simply press the flat part of the wood onto the bottom of the record. (The record should still be in the hot water for this step.)

5. Lift the record from the water, give it a moment to cool, dry it with a towel, and you’re done! Repeat all the steps to make your matching bookend.

Now all you need is your Harry Potter collectors’ series (oh, and all those boring text books) to put your retro bookend to good use.

With the Internet, texting, cell phones, and every other quick mode of communication, we speak to each other differently than how we used to.

What we’ve gained in convenience, we’ve lost in finesse and beauty. Instead of beautiful, handwritten letters, we send and receive quick and short emails filled with LOLs and emoticons. I can’t tell you the last time I actually wrote something down and the last letters I received were from Bank of America and a summons for jury duty. Lame.

So with graduation coming up (5 MORE DAYS… AHHHHH!), I wanted to find a cheap and chic way to send letters to my friends once we’ve all gone our separate ways. But custom stationary and envelopes can be expensive, so I created a way to get the custom envelope look without breaking the bank!

What You’ll Need:
4×6 or 5×7 envelopes, any color: These can be really cheap, basic envelopes. You can buy these in packs at stationary stores or most convenience stores!
A magazine or two: You’ll use magazine pages and fun advertisements for the outside of your envelope.
Glue stick
Scissors
Plain white labels – Optional. This will be where you’ll write the destination address. You can pick these up at any office supply store.

What You’ll Do:
1. Carefully take apart the envelope by opening it completely. Be very careful so you do not rip the envelope base. Just carefully pull apart the bottom flap of the envelope from the sides.

2. Pick a bright, fun magazine advertisement. Pick anything you want! Make sure to slowly rip out the magazine page.

3. Using your glue stick, cover the outside of your opened envelope with glue.

4. Glue the opened envelope onto the back side of the magazine advertisement or page you’ve chosen. Press down and smooth.

5. Now cut the glued magazine page to the envelope’s size, trimming away any extra magazine page. This will leave you with a covered opened envelope.

6. Reassemble your envelope with the glue stick. Fold in the side flaps. Fold up the bottom flap of the envelope and glue to the side flaps. Now you should have a glamorous magazine ad covered envelope!

7. Use a plain white label sticker to write the destination address and place it on the front of the envelope. Or you can use gel pens, a dark Sharpie, or any other color to write your address on your new envelope (depending on the color of your advertisement).

8. Write a letter, thank you card, or note and send them away in style in your new, one-of-a-kind envelopes. Your friends will love receiving letters from you!

So why not use them for something cute? We’ve already showed you how to make a t-shirt pillow, a t-shirt bag and a fabulous t-shirt scarf, and we’ve got one more trick up our sleeve (pun totes intended): the t-shirt bracelet.

Everyone knows that accessories really make the outfit, and this homemade accessory is no exception. With two very cute varieties, the t-shirt bracelet is free, super easy to make, and even easier to customize. Plus, with the 1,000 shirts you’ve got lying around, you can make a bunch of these to mix and match and add some serious pizazz to an everyday outfit.

Choose your favorite design, and use your favorite colored soft cotton tees to make these comfy bracelets that are perfect for summer.

Materials:
1 sleeve of a cotton t-shirt.
1 pair of scissors.

Steps for loop bracelet:
Grab a bright t-shirt, add some beads and you’ve got the summer bracelet.

1. Lay the shirt out on a flat surface and cut the sleeve hem off.
2. Cut the rest of the sleeve into horizontal strips, each about an inch wide.
3. The strips will have now become loops. Leave one loop out to tie the rest at the end.
4. Take each loop and stretch it out into a ring. The loops will start to curl on their own.
5. Place all the loops together, and use the single loop left over to tie the rest together into one big bracelet.
6. Tuck the end into the wrapped loop.
7. Add beads to fancy it up a bit, or use different colored t-shirts to make a multi-colored bracelet!

Steps for braided bracelet:
Use blue, yellow and white tees for the perfect nautical accessory!

1. Lay the shirt out on a flat surface and cut the hem off horizontally across the bottom of the sleeve.
2. Cut the rest of the sleeve into thirteen horizontal strips, each about an inch wide. (Though I totally recommend using a few different shirts in different colors for a multi-colored cuff.)
3. The strips will have now become loops. Cut one end of the loop so they become really long strips.
4. Leave one strip out, but separate the rest into four groups of three.
5. Tie each group of three strips together and braid each one, leaving the end untied.
6.  For each braid, untie the previously tied knot at the top and tie the two ends together, forming a braided loop.
7. Using the leftover strip, loop all four braided loops together and wrap the strip around, then tuck the end in.
8. Braided bracelet, done!

]]> http://collegecandy.com/2010/05/18/do-it-yourself-tuesdays-t-shirt-bracelet/feed/ 2 Brithny - Duke University tshirt bracelet 2 3 http://collegecandy.com/2010/05/04/do-it-yourself-tuesdays-safety-pin-tank/ http://collegecandy.com/2010/05/04/do-it-yourself-tuesdays-safety-pin-tank/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 18:30:20 +0000 Kim - Stanford http://collegecandy.com/?p=60194 ]]> Safety pins are no longer just for those dire emergencies when you’re getting your dance on, trying to get low, and then you split your skirt and need to pin it. (Yes, if you’re wondering, this may have happened to me recently.) Metallic safety pin inspired fashions are all over the runways this season.

They’re making a statement on necklaces, earrings, bathing suits, purses, and anything else you can imagine. Whether metallic or color, safety pins can add an extra edge and funk to your wardrobe!

I needed inspiration on how to best incorporate this season’s look into my college wardrobe, so I looked to my all time favorite DIY craft heroes, the ladies over at P.S. I Made This, and they did not disappoint!

Here is an inexpensive, easy, and fun way to transform your plain tank-top-and-jeans-typical-college-girl look to runway ready diva. Seriously, it’s so easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of this sooner.

What You’ll Need
An old tank (or new!): any color, any style.
I went with black for a sleek look that I’ve been seeing all over the runways.

Safety pins: Get varying sizes in the color you choose. Use gold, silver, or color if you want to make a bold tank. You can pick these up at your local hardware store, craft store and most convenience stores!

What You’ll Do:
1. Grab a bunch of safety pins and start making little pin clusters by hanging multiple little pins off of one larger pin. Make multiple clusters of varying sizes. (You can do all one color, you can mix colors, you can do this however you like!)

2. Now, pin the clusters and other individual pins onto your tank. You can do what I did and pin them in the shape of the neckline of your tank, so they are pinned along the edge of the hemline. Or have fun making your own designs with pins all over your tank. You can even add a little sex appeal by cutting some slits in different parts of the tank, yank on them to open them up a bit and use the safety pins to pull ‘em back together. Hot.

3. Wear your new tank with attitude and enjoy the knowledge that if you do drop it a bit too low, you’ve got plenty of pins on hand to fix that tear in your jeans.

But I don’t want to throw them away! That’s wasteful and with Earth Day coming up, I don’t think I could do it. So I’ve started looking for fun ways to reuse my t-shirts. There’s the obvious pillows, bags and blankets, but now I’ve discovered a super chic new project: t-shirt scarves! Scarves are the easiest way to add some oomph to an outfit, and now you can do so for free.

Below are two different types of t-shirt scarves – pick the one you like best, or make ‘em both. Lord knows you’ve got plenty of material to work with.

Materials:
1) A cotton t-shirt, any size any color
2) Scissors

Fringe Scarf:
As seen above.

1)    Cut the t-shirt horizontally just below the sleeves so you’re left with the square-looking bottom half.
2)    Cut one of the sides so the shirt becomes a long rectangular piece of fabric.
3)    Lay the shirt upside down so the seamed bottom portion of the shirt is on top. (This will allow you to have a strong edge to keep the scarf intact.) If there is a design on the shirt that you want to see, keep it facing up.
4)    Make small vertical incisions about 1 inch apart, depending on how wide you want each strand.
5)    Once you’ve made all your cuts, pull each strands up so it tears further up the fabric and gives the fringe a more “curled” look.
6)    Add any adornments (pins, buttons, etc.) you choose to your fabulous, totally green, totally unique new scarf!

Ring Scarf:
For this scarf, you may want to grab a couple of shirts in different colors to make a fun combo piece. Also, the larger the shirt the bigger the loops, which means a longer scarf.

1. Just as before, cut the t-shirt horizontally just below the sleeves so you’re left with the square-looking bottom half.
2. Keep cutting the bottom half of the shirt horizontally so you end up with loops. Usually an inch per loop is wide enough, but the measurements don’t have to be perfect!
3. Take each loop and stretch it so the sides curl up a little. It should be almost double in length now, more than enough for you to wrap.
4. Hold all your loops together and take one hem piece (you can cut off part of a sleeve for this) and wrap it around all the loops and tie a knot so they’re bundled together.
5. Throw it on over a white t-shirt and jeans and work it, girl.

Okay, so even if you’re not like me, you probably still have lots of necklaces and earrings lying around (what girl doesn’t love her some jewels?). And you probably have NO place to store them.

I don’t know about you, but I refuse to stuff away my nice necklaces in a jewelry box where they’ll end up tangled and tarnished and I don’t have space on my crowded mess of a desk for anything better. Not that I could afford a fancy jewelry box anyway; I’m a broke college girl with zero cashmoney living the dollar-a-slice lifestyle.

I decided to get a little creative (on the cheap) and come up with a way do store my jewelry and add some personal pizazz to my stark white walls. This on-the-wall jewelry hanger is a creative and easy way to store and display your jewelry. Plus, you’ll spend less time detangling your favorite necklaces and more time actually wearing them!

What You’ll Need:

Cork Board Tiles: Sold in sets of four, you can find these at Walmart, Target, or any office supply store. You’ll have to determine how many you’ll need based on how much jewelry you’re hoarding, but for all my necklaces and earrings (and I’m an addict, remember) I only needed 4 tiles.
Fabric: Optional. Any color, pattern, or design you want! This is your aesthetic choice. You’ll use the fabric to cover the cork tiles, so pick a color or design that matches the rest of your room. 1 yard of fabric will give you plenty of fabric to work with.
Ribbon: Again, any color, pattern, or design you want. This will add an extra polished touch to your jewelry hanger.
Pushpins: Grab the normal ones in any color. I personally recommend clear, white, or black because they will make the jewelry piece look more uniform.
Glue: You’ll need both super glue and a hot glue gun.

What You’ll Do

1. Place one cork tile on top of your fabric (design side down) leaving a 1-inch border of extra fabric surrounding your cork tile on all sides. Cut to size.

2. Line the cork tile with your hot glue on all four sides (like you’re drawing a square), then fold the extra fabric down onto the glue (one side at a time). When you fold down the extra fabric to glue down, make sure the fabric is pulled tight! Let dry. Do not turn over yet.

3. Take another cork tile and completely cover it with hot glue. Glue that cork tile to the fabric-lined cork tile (which is still not turned over) in step 2 by pressing the two tiles together and pressing down firmly. Let dry.
(Note: You need to double up on the cork boards so the pushpins/earring posts don’t go through and hit the wall. Do not skip this step!!)

4. Turn your cork tile over, which will now be covered in fabric and pretty. Yay!

5. If you want to add ribbon, cut your ribbon in the size of the cork tile sides and super glue them around the edges of our tiles. This will add some extra craftiness!

6. Using the adhesive sticky backings that come with your cork tiles, stick the tile piece to the wall.
Tip: if you’re hanging lots of jewelry, use some extra adhesive backings. You can buy these at office supply stores, Target, etc., for really cheap!

See? You can hang all your favorite stuff AND it looks cool on the wall!

7. Now add the pushpins to your cork tile by lining them horizontally.

For an earring jewelry hanger: Place 4 pushpins about 2 inches apart from each other in a line at the top of the fabric tile. 3-4 inches underneath that first line, make a second row of pins. This time, though, use 5 pins and stagger them so they are between the row above (instead of directly under). Continue this process until you have 4 or 5 lines of pushpins. You will hang your dangles/hoops from the pins. If you have stud earrings, use a pushpin to poke holes in the fabric covered cork board and then push your stud earrings into the holes.

For a necklace/bracelet hanger: Place 4 pushpins about 2 inches apart from each other in a row at the top of the fabric tile. 5 inches underneath that first line, make a row of 5 pushpins (again, staggering them so they aren’t directly beneath the pins above).

8. Untangle that mess of jewelry and hang that ish up! Then enjoy the ease of finding your favorite necklaces.

Click here for another DIY project with cork tiles!

It’s gift giving time and that means one thing: you’re finally gonna get that iPhone you’ve got a lot of wrapping to do. And if you’re anything like me, you’re way too cheap to spend money on holiday wrapping paper. Plus, is it really fair to our lovely planet to waste a tree on something that just gets thrown away? I don’t think so.

I realize some of you probably fold up your wrapping paper and reuse it, and more power to you. But for the rest of us, mostly those of us who tear through our presents without mercy, here’s a way to make your own unique, personal and beautiful wrapping paper without harming the planet or breaking the bank. (It also happens to be really, really pretty!)

What You Need:
- Newspaper sheets, brown paper bags (from the last time you went to the grocery store), or a roll of brown paper
- Catalogs, magazines or Sunday supplements
- Scissors, glitter, paint, fun shaped sponges, glue and ribbon (all optional)

What You Do:

First, you should decide what kind of design you want on your wrapping paper. If you enjoy looking at photos rather than creating art yourself, you can go for a collage-type style of wrapping. If you’d rather get down and dirty with the paint, grab yourself some brown paper and those colorful little cups of poster paint.

For a collage, lay out a big sheet of newsprint and cut out especially eye-catching and beautiful photos and words from your magazines. Place them approximately where you’d like them on the newspaper, then apply a thin layer of glue to their backs with a glue stick, and stick ‘em on. Your object is to cover the whole sheet of newsprint, so you might have to cut out a few smaller pics to fill in the blank spaces. This makes a really gorgeous sheet of wrapping, especially if you don’t go overboard on the glue. When you’re done, let it dry, and wrap that gift!

You can do painted paper one of several ways. Start with a base of brown from a long sheet of packaging paper or a paper bag that you’ve cut apart at the seams. You can use a template or stencil you make yourself to paint a design on the paper with a sponge, or create a potato stamp and use it to apply a pattern. If you’re really ambitious, you can actually draw pictures and do art on the paper, which is obviously the most special option… but also the most time-consuming. For my personal favorite alternative, dip those fingers into the paint and go crazy. Finger-painted wrapping looks really fancy and everyone will love it!

Hair flair can transform an entire outfit and conceal your unwashed hair on days when you just don’t have time to shower (i.e. after a particularly long Tiki Tuesday). More importantly, unlike those expensive skinny jeans you picked up at the Nordstrom half-yearly sale, hair flair will always fit regardless of those holiday pounds, the freshmen fifteen, or the beer belly you’ve been sporting since football season (curse you keg stands and beer pong).

Well, if you want the same accessories as the Upper East Siders but don’t have the same cash monay, don’t worry.  Here is a thrifty way to get the fabulous look without paying the big bucks. And if this particular style isn’t for you, something is wrong with you we’ve got another awesome DIY hair flair project you can do instead.

What You’ll Need:

Stretchy headbands/headwraps: You probably have one of these lying around, but if not, these are super cheap and you can pick them up at drug stores like CVS, Long’s, Duane Read or at any beauty store. My favorite brand to use is Scunci No Slip-Hair Grips because they come in packs of 4, are comfortable, and easy to decorate. Use a black headwrap to keep it classy or a bolder color to add some extra pop.

Fabric: A foot or two of any type of cloth fabric in any color/design you want! Most craft stores sell fabric squares meant for quilting, which are perfect for creating your hair flair, as your fabric needs to be cut in a square shape before you begin. Bonus: Many craft stores (Michael’s or JoAnn’s) have tons of leftover fabric scraps that you can get for super cheap. Just ask one of those ladies with the scissors!

The fabric color/design you choose can make your headwrap traditional and classy (think colors like Ivory, Champagne, Black, Grey, Red, etc), or have a little more funk (think designs like zebra, polka dots, stripes, or neon!).

Beads, Rhinestones, Buttons, MORE FLAIR!: These are optional materials, but will add that extra spunk to your homemade headband.

Hot Glue Gun/Glue: Every crafter’s best friend and sometimes lover. You’ll need this for a few steps throughout the DIY process.

What You’ll Do:

1. Cut fabric into a 6×6 inch square piece. Cut another 4×4 inch square piece. (Really, you can cut these two pieces in any size square you want [depending how big and bold you want your headwrap to be]. Just make sure one piece is bigger than the other.)

2. Lay the fabric face-down (so the design/color side of your fabric isn’t showing) and grab it in the middle. Using your other hand, twist the fabric around the finger holding the center. The twisting will swirl the fabric to create a ruche-like effect. Hold finger in place, then fold and hot glue the four corners of the fabric to the center. Repeat with the smaller piece of fabric. You should now have two bubbly looking pieces of fabric!

3. Add a small button, rhinestone, or bead in the center of the fabric if you want to add some extra glitz.

4. Now, hot glue the two ruched fabric bubbles to the headwrap, side by side. Let dry. Once the pieces are glued to the headband, take some leftover fabric, cut out a small strip and glue it behind the fabric pieces (inside the headband). This will make your headwrap look more polished and be more comfortable for you to wear!

5. Wear your new hair flair! Wear like a traditional headband or pull it low across your forehead for a more bohemian look.

6. Take all compliments modestly, direct all admirers to CollegeCandy, and tell them, yes, you are a fashion visionary and trendsetter.

We all know that painting the walls in your dorm room is a giant no-no. Hell, you can’t even hammer a nail into those things! But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for some BS Animal House poster for your wall decor; there is another way to show off your creativity and create a space that is both cool and easy to remove at the end of the year so you can get your security deposit back. Because that is a lot of money.

Enter: Paint Chip Art.

Paint chips – or paint samples, rather – are those little cards you can pick up from your neighborhood hardware/paint store. They’re out there for the taking so people can test out colors at home. But they’re good for more than just sampling colors; these free color palettes are perfect for decorating on a college budget.

I stumbled upon this eco-friendly decorating idea during class on Greenwala.com and was immediately inspired. I have big plans for the weekend (starting with a very important trip to Home Depot) and thought I’d share some of this inspiration with you. Decorating has never been easier!

What You Need:

- Paint chips/color cards
- Glue stick or other adhesive (like that blue sticky goo that is approved in dorms)

How You Do:

1) Be super creative! All you have to do is come up with a design, and just layer the paint chips on to create that image. And the possibilities are endless! You could do a single wall in a single color, stripes of solid colors, or get totally into it and create a mural.

Here is some inspiration:
Greenwala

2) If you’re not gifted in the creativity area, then simply pick a few colors that work well together and glue them onto a sheet of paper in a square fashion. Stick that piece of paper into a wooden frame, and you’ve got yourself a cute homemade picture to hang up.

The weather is getting cold, which means we’ll all be spending more time indoors. Why not take a day to express your creative side while also creating a space that you won’t mind hibernating in for the next 4 months.

Yeah, that's right. This cork board makes people want to party.

A dorm isn’t a dorm without the staple brown cork board on the wall. You post reminders of exams, pictures of your friends, phone numbers (of that hottie you just met!), and other important info on your life.

Problem is that the ugly brown cork board is a little bored. I know it doesn’t match the rest of your gorgeous room decor, so here is an easy and creative way to transform that ugly board into an artistic and functional piece of wall decor.

What You’ll Need:
*2 Sets of Cork Tiles: You can find these at Wal-mart, Target, or any office supply store. They usually come in sets of 4. You can make your cork piece as big as you want, but I usually use 8 tiles (so, 2 sets).
*Spray Paint: Use any color you want. The spray paint will be for the background color of your piece.
*Art Paint: Again, choose any colors you want. This paint will add accent colors and design on the cork tiles after they are spray painted. Skip this step if you prefer to have a plain color cork piece!
*Ribbon: Use any color/design you want. Just make sure the color of the ribbon goes well with the paint colors.
*Small paint brushes

Easy Instructions
1. Outside in an open area, lay down some newspaper so you don’t make a mess. Lay out the cork tiles on the newspaper. With the spray paint, paint each of the cork tiles in a side to side, up and down motion until the entire tile is painted. Don’t overdo it – just make sure the color of the cork doesn’t show through the spray paint. Set aside to dry.

2. Now that your cork tiles are all painted, feel free to use the other paint to add designs on top of the tiles. Draw stripes, circles, flowers, swirls, whatever design you choose! You could also paint a letter on each tile to spell out a word or your name. Let that beauty dry.

3. Now it’s time to hang your creation. Using the adhesive stickers that came with your cork tiles, place the cork tiles on the wall leaving room between each tile (big enough for the ribbon you chose). I usually put 2 rows of 4 tiles to make a rectangle, but you could also make a square of 4 tiles, an asymmetrical pattern, or whichever looks best to you.

4. Finally, tack ribbon to the wall between your tiles so it creates a border around all the rows of your tiles. You don’t have to do this step, but it adds color and makes the tiles come together as an art piece instead of just a bunch of tiles on the wall.

5. You’re done! Now add pictures, posts, and anything else you put on your normal cork board, which is not so normal anymore.