My DIY Painted Jewelry Dish

I made this simple jewelry dish out of a wooden tray (dish? plate? other?) I found at Goodwill for only $2. The other materials I used included white acrylic paint, gold acrylic paint, a paintbrush, a gold metallic paint marker, and two bottles of clear nail polish.

The design I ended up going with is inspired by these similar ring dishes found here made by Homey Oh My! (who shares a really great tutorial for making a ring dishes with clay). I kind of wish I read the full post beforehand since I only saw a picture on Pinterest before making my jewely dish, so I would recommend checking it out!

  

To make it, I first sanded down the surface of the dish since it already had a smooth finish that made it hard to paint on. It seems to be from some Japanese brand, but I can't figure out what it's actually supposed to be used for. I then painted on 4 layers of the white paint, allowing it to dry for a sufficient amount of time between coats to get an even, opaque color.

 After waiting for the paint to dry overnight, I used a metallic gold paint marker to add gold detailing. I found using some painter's tape really helped around the rim since the edges were rounded over. I ended up buying a bottle of gold paint once the paint marker ran out which fortunately matched in color very well and was much easier to paint over larger areas. I think for a smaller dish a paint marker would be great for detail work, but my dish was just too large to make designs easily with one. I used painters tape to mark off the triangle and V shapes (inspired by one of the dishes in this blog post) and use a few coats of the gold paint across the bottom of the dish.

After it was completely dried I used a couple bottles of cheap $1 clear nail polish (Wet n Wild brand) to give a super shiny finish. For the bottom of the dish I ended up pouring the bottles straight into the dish and it leveled itself out really nicely. I let it dry for overnight and now it's home to my previously homeless jewelry.

DIY Romper

 
I've been wanting a romper for quite a while now, so here's how I made my own. I used about 1.5 yard of a heavy knit purchased at Joann's and some half inch wide elastic. 

I started by making the shorts of the romper using a pattern I previously made as seen in my high waisted shorts post, and essentially made them with the pockets as I did before, with the exception of not adding the waistband and extending the top of the shorts higher by an inch or two. 

For the back of the shirt part, I followed the basic shape of a loose fitting shirt I already own, also adding some length to the bottom. I matched the width of the top to the width of the opening of the shorts. For the front of the shirt, I traced the same shape onto two layers of fabric, and then drew a diagonal line across one shoulder to the opposite bottom edge. (Make sure the two layers are right sides together so you get a left and a right piece, unless the fabric has no right or wrong side.) I later adjusted this diagonal until I got the shape I wanted. I hemmed the angled edge and connected the bottom of the two front pieces and then connected the sides and shoulders of the entire shirt by sewing the two parts right sides together. 

To connect the top and shorts, I left the shorts right side out and turned the shirt inside out over the shorts, matching up the edges of the openings. I pinned around the opening and sewed around it. 

Next I measured the elastic to fit my waist and sewed the ends together to make a circle. I pinned the elastic around the waist, stretching it as I went along, and then sewed the elastic down.

Lastly for the sleeves, I traced the general shape of the sleeve onto some fabric, using the arm opening of the romper as a guide and adding a seam allowance. I hemmed the edges, and then folded them in half, stitching the shorter edge together. To attach the sleeves, I turned the romper inside out and left the sleeve right side out and pinned around the curved edges.

Once everything is all put together, that's it. It's super comfortable to wear and the wrap front top opens to make it really easy to put on and I think it's perfect for summer.

Smock Dress Sewing DIY

Inspired by these two pictures I found online (and partly this tutorial by Annika of The Pineneedle Collective), here's how I made this simple cotton smock dress.

I used about 1.5 yards of a gray knit (pre-washed), and it only took a few hours, since the shape of the dress is very simple and fits very loosely.

To start, I made the body of the shirt using a loose fitting crop top I own for reference, adding a few inches around the edges for seam allowance and adjustments. I traced around where the sleeve seams were to make it a tank top shape, and adjusted the front and back necklines. Since the back piece was cut into two pieces instead of one like the front, I added some width to it, and then sewed the middle seam to connect the two. (I mostly just did this because I laid my fabric out weirdly and it was just easier to cut it in half.)

I then attached the front and back pieces along the sides and shoulders, and then tried it on to adjust the width and length (I find it easier to make it bigger at first and then adjust instead of trying to make it fit from the start in case it's too small).

For the skirt, I cut the widest piece I could from the fabric to about 17 inches (later shortened to about 15 inches since I'm short) and gathered the top edge by sewing a long basting stitch along the top edge and gathering it to match the size of the opening at the bottom of the shirt. I then connected the two ends to make a tube with the top of one opening as the gathered edge.

With the skirt wrong side out and the shirt right side out placed  inside of the skirt, I attached the skirt to the bottom of the shirt using a straight stitch all the way around.

For the sleeves, I used the opening of the armhole as a template for the sleeve, and cut it so that the top of the sleeve was on fold. I first hemmed the edge of the sleeve using a rolled hem, folding it under twice, and then connected the bottom edge to form a tube shape.

To attach the sleeve to the armhole, I matched up the top of the sleeve with the shoulder seam and pinned along the opening, starting and the top and working down the each side towards the armpit area. It's easier to make the sleeve diameter bigger than needed, since my sleeve was slightly too small and I think it would've been easier to have a too large sleeve and then adjust the size down instead of trying to make a small opening match up with a larger one.

I finished the dress off by hemming the neckline in the same way I did on the sleeves, and then hemming the bottom edge by folding it under twice and sewing two straight lines around (sort of like what you see on the bottom of most shirts).

I later added some white lace around the neckline only on the front which I bought at Joann which I sewed on by tucking under the folded neckline.

DIY Marbled Nail Art Stickers

I created this marbled nail art using a slightly different water marbling technique than what you normally see, as inspired by this Instagram post by Sveta Sanders. Instead of dipping your finger into the wet nail polish while it's still on the water, I let it dry for about 5-10 minutes, removed it from the water, and then cut it up and applied it to my nails using more nail polish. Unlike her video, I chose to swirl the colors using a toothpick, which I think made it harder to pick up, although I like the different effects you can get by doing this.

The colors I used were: Air by Sally Hansen, Blueberry from the Hello Kitty Sephora line, Splash of Grenadine by Essie and some unknown sheer sparkly pink possibly from Walmart (it's old). Air also came out pretty sheer which also gave in interesting effect when placed on the nail. My base color is Sorbet also by Sally Hansen. 

I recommend keeping a paper towel nearby to remove extra nail polish from your toothpick when swirling since it can get messy or in case you mess up and need to remove the polish (like I did, many, many times).

I let them dry on a paper towel first before applying them. They came out sort of warped since some of the colors were a lot thinner than others and the swirling really distorts the shape. I have no idea how girls on Instagram get their water marbles to look so perfect.

Please ignore my cuticles.