[Ever see something you want but don’t have the money to buy? Ever get sick of studying/watching TV and have the urge to get crafty and make things on your own? We know! Us too! We just don’t know where to start, which is why we got some of CollegeCandy’s craftiest writers to share their favorite DIY projects with everyone. So get to your nearest craft store for the essentials and let’s make some fun sh*t.]

Ever have to find a last minute present for a friend/roommate/boyfriend? You’re tight on cash (clearly!), so you don’t really want to spend a lot on something they might not even like. So why not use materials you already have and make the perfect present?

I’ve been collecting beer bottle caps for a while now. I think they have a lot of personality, and I love the array of colors and logos. So, I decided to combine my collection of beer bottle caps with some other stuff I had lying around to make the perfect present: The bottle cap frame.

Materials:

-1 8×10 picture frame

-Approximately 20 beer bottle caps

-Hot glue gun

-Extra glue for glue gun

-Pencil Read More »

[Ever see something you want but don’t have the money to buy? Ever get sick of studying/watching TV and have the urge to get crafty and make things on your own? We know! Us too! We just don’t know where to start, which is why we got some of CollegeCandy’s craftiest writers to share their favorite DIY projects with everyone. So get to your nearest craft store for the essentials and let’s make some fun sh*t.]

In the past few years, ripped jeans have taken over the Abercrombie/American Eagle world and have now moved to high fashion, being featured on recent Alexander Wang and Martin Margiela runways. Since even the biggest fashionistas are now embracing the trend, I figure I might as well jump on the bandwagon.

Imagine my surprise when I went shopping for a pair of ripped jeans only to find that they were priced about $20 more than their unripped counterparts! Now this just seemed wrong to me; I’m getting holey jeans that are bound to fall apart faster, but I’m paying more? It’s a bit backwards if you ask me. Read More »

[Ever see something you want but don't have the money to buy? Ever get sick of studying/watching TV and have the urge to get crafty and make things on your own? We know! Us too! We just don't know where to start, which is why we got some of CollegeCandy's craftiest writers to share their favorite DIY projects with everyone. So get to your nearest craft store for the essentials and let's make some fun sh*t.]

Every college girl has moments of extreme stress/anxiety/feeling a little crazy. Rather than take it out on a poor, defenseless friend (or door), I have the perfect project to ease your mind:The Dammit Doll.

These little dolls make great targets for taking out your frustration when you’re stressed about school, when you have guy troubles, and just in general when you need something to throw, jab, squeeze, or stomp on (not that I promote violence).

They also make great gifts for your angst-filled friends as well, and are much cuter than your average bland stress ball, not to mention cheaper than anger management classes.

Materials:

- Felt

- Stuffing (cotton balls, beans, pine straw, rice, etc.)

- Needle & thread or sewing machine

- Decorations (cut-out felt pieces for clothing, sequins for eyes, pins for jewelry, etc.) Read More »

I know what you’re thinking: Waxing my own bikini line? ARE YOU INSANE!?Well the answer is no, I’m not insane. Just very frugal and, to be honest, curious. I’ve been shaving my bikini line for years and recently tired of that. The hair would grow back so quickly, coarser than before and I was ready for a change. So I decided on waxing. And instead of paying at least $30 at a salon (the cheapest I was able to find in my town), I decided that I had enough knowledge and a high enough pain tolerance that I was willing to give the DIY bikini wax a shot.

From my experiences, it is not that bad. Sure, I would prefer many things to waxing my bikini line (like medieval torture), but it wasn’t the horrific experience some report it to be, even doing it myself. In some ways it’s even better – no strange woman lookin’ at your hooha.

So, I’ve compiled a little guide of tips and tricks for you adventurous girls who want to try an at home bikini wax! Take a deep breath and read on. Read More »

Don’t you ever get tired of not knowing how to do the crap that other people know how to do? Your computer cable breaks and you resign to just buy a new one because you don’t know how to fix it. You see girls wearing cute t-shirts that have been cut into elaborate halters, but you just buy the generic version of the shirt at the store because you have no idea how to turn so much fabric into something so little.

For all of you out there who have ever wanted to do all of that crap that other people know how to do, your prayers have just been answered:

Instructables is here to save your life.

This site is one of the coolest sites ever (second only to CollegeCandy…) and I can hardly begin to explain all of the reasons why. Ok, so I will try. Here goes: they walk you through the instructions of how to do just about everything.

Literally, everything! No more asking guys to help with “guy” things or calling up your sister to teach you how to get your hair doing that perfect balance between chic and messy.

The Instructables people break their projects down for you by category. Once you decide between Art, Craft, Food, Games, Green, Home, Kids, Life, Music, Offbeat, Outdoors, Pets, Ride, Science, Sports, and Tech, they send you on your way to DIY heaven.

Step by step. Project by project. It doesn’t get any better than that.

The next time you have a project in mind, but just don’t know how the eff to do it, I can guarantee you Instructables will. And they’ll show you, too.

We all have them – those four million t-shirts baring our university’s logo/our sorority letters/the 45 clubs we are a part of. You’ve collected them over the course of your degree, and now you have so many you can barely close your dresser drawers. You probably have a few you wear — the nice one you bought at the bookstore, or your favorite shirt you acquired at a school event (because every college student knows free sh*t is good sh*t) that you wear to the gym or sleep in. But the rest? They just sit there taking up precious dresser space because you can’t bring yourself to get rid of them.

“I did my first beer bong in that one,” you tell yourself. “I can’t throw away the memories!” Well, you don’t have to. Here are a few ways to reuse your old shirts.

Throw pillows — Pick the t-shirts with logos you love, but never wear. Follow these easy instructions, and you have new room decor. The main cost is pillow forms, or cotton batting, but it’s a lot cheaper than going out and buying them from a decor store. Variation: make an actual t-shirt pillow.

T-shirt shopping bag — Go green when lugging your groceries home with a snazzy new shopping bag. You can save the planet by not using plastic bags, and have extra change for happy hour by not spending a cent on the reusable ones from the grocery store. Plus, you can turn that pre-party t-shirt into something actually useful! Read More »

So the economy blows. Which is pretty perfect timing considering that one time of the year we’re expected to come to our loved ones bearing gifts is approaching. Great. So now we’re all expected to somehow make less money and still spend the same amount of money on Xmas gifts that we spent last year. How the eff do we make this work?

DIY crafts, kids.

If you need some inspiration, I highly suggest scoping out Etsy.com, but, regardless of Etsy, there are nifty gifts you can make yourself for friends and family. You can do it cheaply. You can do it easily. And lets face it, a handmade gift is always more appreciated than that bottle of body spray everyone knows you just got for free because you spent more than $50 at Bath & Body.

Heat it into a bracelet.

From vinyl records to spoons, heating every day objects to a point of flexibility for the purposes of making a bracelet is easy and always makes for a nice gift.

Heat your oven to 200 degrees for the vinyl record bracelet. Set the whole record on a cookie sheet and keep it in the oven until the record begins to bubble. Remove it from the oven and cut the record into strips while still hot. Place the strips back into the oven for a few minutes and then remove. When you remove the strips, wrap them around something that symbolizes your wrist, but is not your wrist. Think jars, paper towel tubes, anything other than your own flesh. Read More »

Amy Winehouse continues to scare the piss out of us

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Natalie Portman dumps Jesus

We don’t need no gym!

The first woman to pay for space travel

Brit, he ain’t worth it!

So…scared…can’t…type

Why don’t they just open up a zoo?  A child zoo.

Oh snap!  The Hef is bankrupt?!

Must Buy: adorable little wristlets

We LOVE you, Sacha Baron Cohen!

Happy Lumberjack Day!!

Sigh…Ed McMahon sells his soul

Man, the Internet is just full of scary sh*t today

Top three favorite things: 1) Margaritas, 2) Fashion, 3) Art projects.

Top one favorite activity: A fashion-based art project fueled by margaritas!

This spring, designers such as John Galliano, Christian Lacriox, and Dolce and Gabbana have been drawing inspiration from the art world to produce amazing, eye-catching pieces that are an art school dropout’s (read: me) dream come true. And while pieces like this might be difficult to put together on a Sunday afternoon; with some ambition, craft supplies, and a little buzzed-up creativity, you too can be a part of this wikkid hot trend!

Necessary supplies:

* Something you want to spice up. This can be a dress, purse, pants, skirt, t-shirt…literally, anything. If you want to go blank canvas style, hit up American Apparel or save your money and just get a three pack of Hanes wife beaters. However, I personally think this project gets even more exciting when you’re working with something that already has a pattern on it, so don’t rule out that plaid skirt from your private school days. Read More »