Ta-dah! Tuesday - Minute Make - Button earrings

I'm usually a big believer in large earrings, but occasionally one's lobes need a rest. Whilst I'm intrigued by body modification, the stretched ear look is not really my bag, so very occasionally I have a break from the dangle. I'd had these mother of pearl star shaped buttons knocking around for a while, and decided they might as well adorn me as anything else. Thirty seconds of heating up a glue gun and I had one pair and was looking through my button tin for more appealing designs.

The cards say you'll be making new earrings. Or possibly being attacked by crayfish whilst bathing in the nude. Hard to say.

These are the type of earring posts you need. 6mm with flat pad and a scroll back. I recommend at least silver plate unless you want manky green ears. They're around £3 for 25 pairs, so you can make plenty for friends.

You'll want to make sure that no hot glue squeezes through the holes to the front of the button when you're attaching the backs, or you'll be left with unattractive hard glue 'bobbles' when it dries. To stop this happening, squish the button down firmly on a blob of blu-tack - hard enough to leave its imprint. Then do your glueing, allow to dry, and remove from the blu-tack. Ta-dah! Perfectly preserved.

I did make some drop earrings too. I bought these coconut shell heart buttons on ebay with the express purpose of turning them into earrings. You just need to add two jump rings and an earring wire.

Happily, they weigh a lot less than an actual coconut, so there's little chance of ending up like this:

Yes, yes, differing cultural ideals of beauty blah blah blah. But kittens could swing off those.

What you been up to? Link up!
Oh, and thank you for the most edifying response to my silly poems.

Lakota x

Other easy-peasy jewellery posts here:
Plectrum earrings
£20 note bangle
Nail varnish rings
Lego heart necklace

Poems...

Haiku
Mum at the school gates,
Do you know that your leggings
are see through? Guess not.


Anti-social
I don’t want to eat in your virtual café
(Your ‘about me’ says you’re 43)
Adding o’s does not make something funnier – LOOOOL!
And you can’t use apostrophe’s.
I don’t care that it rained on your washing
I don’t care what you’re having for tea
I’m beginning to think you’re a racist
And I’m not sure that Facebook’s for me.

Lakota x

Ta-dah! Tuesday - the Blogland approved edition

Golly, there's some sensitive types out there. You post one bizarre hiking jacket covered in genitalia and follower numbers go up and down faster than a whor..well, best not say, don't want to scare anyone else off. Anyway, fear not, sadly no penises [penii?] today, instead the blogland approved method of giving yourself repetitive strain injury, and the reason my hands currently resemble gnarled claws. Yup, crochet. 

You may remember I had grandiose hopes of actually achieving stuff this year, one of which was making a blanket. Hollow laugh. I think a cushion may have been a teensy bit more realistic a goal - start small eh? Anyway, I made this for Boy1's bedroom, working out all the boring stuff like how to actually join squares as I went along. It came out ok for a first attempt I think. I'm sure he'll be utterly thrilled with it, seven year old boys being after all renowned for their overwhelming excitement over granny crafts.

Smug bear says: she hasn't joined the bottom yet you know. It's held together with safety pins

Who else has done something productive with their time this week? Step up!

Lakota x

PS. Granny squares too boring? Remember the crocheted scene from The Exorcist I linked to ages ago?

Something for the Weekend...

Hope everyone's having a good weekend - perhaps you've been to a friend's BBQ like I did, or maybe you're planning to get out in the fresh air, do a bit of hill walking? It can get chilly out there this late in the year though, so do make sure you've got all the right gear. Luckily for you, during my recent blogging hiatus I came across the perfect item to keep you warm and cosy. And erm, individual.

 This Bas Kosters hiking jacket boasts a Cath K style polka dot lining, and is in a complexion flattering shade of...flesh. And...HOLY ASSORTED GENITALIA BATMAN, WTF is that pattern?!  Aah, yes - that would the penises. It's important that the rescue helicopter sees you clinging to the rock-face after all.

The penis jacket - guaranteed to get you a park bench all to yourself 

339 Euros. A snip

Also available as a lovely silk scarf. Maybe not for the school gates though.

 You're WELCOME. [Edit: I've already lost someone. Honestly, I just find this stuff, I don't wear it. Much]

Lakota x

PS. Thank you to those who emailed me concerned about my disappearance, I appreciate it. But I'm back, and on fine and upstanding form ;-)

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Book review - The Wah Nails Book of Nail Art

[I had meant for this post to publish while I was on holiday, but for whatever reason the scheduling didn't work and I've only just realised. So here it is for today - consider my nail art attempts to be the ta-dahs!]

I was kindly sent this book to review by publishers Hardie Grant - it's proved such a popular title that I had to wait for another print run to be completed before I got my copy - but it was certainly worth the wait.

Written by Sharmadean Reid, founder of ultra hip London nail salon Wah Nails - this cute and compact hardback is a little gem if you want to get professional nail art results at home. You'd have to have been living under a rock to fail to notice the rising popularity of nail art over the last few years, and Reid was the driving force behind its transforming nail art from 'tacky and ghetto' [her words] to its current status as fun and fashionable and approved by Vogue.

Following the introduction and a pictorial guide to the 'tools of the trade' used within, the book is mainly a succession of double page spreads - with step by step instructions as to how to achieve each of the 25 of the salon's most requested looks. The models used tend to be a) achingly cool and b) in their teens or early twenties, which is unsurprising but did have the unfortunate side effect of making me feel like a loopy great aunt attempting to keep up with the kids. So no change there then. There are also stickers in the back. I'm a bit gutted I don't have any new exercise books to decorate for the new school year. [Do school kids even use exercise books any more? Maybe I'll stick them on my laptop]. But hey, it's probably not aimed at me. I'm 35. I should be keeping myself busy buying orthopaedic footwear and visiting stately homes.

Anyway, on to the designs. I figured I couldn't really review the book without trying out the designs myself, as if they weren't actually easy to achieve it would be an attractive coffee table book but fairly useless for the non-professional nail artist. I was pretty smug pleased with the way the ones I tried worked out.

Candystripe

This one was super effective and easy-peasy. It got loads of favourable comments.

Bit girly for usual outfits but I will admit to being quite taken with it. Fairly easy to do on your 'other' hand.

Leopard print

I love this one. Easy to do but looks impressive. Someone actually asked me if this was nail wraps and was amazed when I said it was free-hand. Surprisingly easy to do with my left hand [I'm right handed]

Tiger

The book showed the zebra but suggested the tiger colour-way as an alternative.

Not too bad a job on both hands but it's tricky to get it looking realistic enough for my liking.

Shatter

Shatter type polish is fairly fool-proof and available for all budgets. I need to practice the colour mixing though.

Basketweave

You'll notice I'm only showing you an arty shot of two of my fingers. I have ten. You don't really want to see the others. Needs more practise. Cool effect if you can do it without messing up though.

And speaking of those which need more practise, here's a few I haven't attempted yet. I reckon there's something for everyone here.

Total comic book geek heaven. Lichenstein would approve of this pop-art 'Pow!' design

Letterhead

Really not a fan of the 'talon' trend for pointy claws, but the design is pretty genius.

If tattoo style lettering is too tricky to pull off with nail art pens, I reckon a scrabble style font would look just as good.

Double Studs

One of my favourites. Time consuming and high maintenance? No doubt. Eye-catching and awesome? Definitely.

Rock chicks don't do dishes anyway.

Roses

One for the Cath K crowd.

Details: 

Title - The Wah Nails book of Nail Art

Author - Sharmadean Reid

Publisher - Hardie Grant Books

Hardback ISBN - 9781742703206

Price - £9.99

A definite recommendation if you fancy a little bit of individuality on your nails. Or it would make a brilliant Christmas present for anyone who doesn't have an allotment teenage girl.

*******

Sorry for tardiness of Ta-dah! Tuesday (you're all going to show me sensible grown up things like master bedroom repaints and prize winning carrots aren't you?) and for the lack of time I've had for blogging recently. Please don't give up on me - just a slightly tricky time with school holidays and now the smallest starting school. And a deluge of spam on the blog has put me off a bit. [If you need any Viagra I know of at least a thousand people willing to hook you up. It's completely screwed up my email account as well, apologies if I've missed anything - try my FB page if you need me]

Lakota x