Home Decor DIY's

The last week or so I've been doing some home DIY's which weren't too difficult to do but something to help pass the time.

I love chevron style decor!

I had this big generic looking wood framed cork-board in my closet which I had used to tack up my earrings before and I decided to give it a good 7hr makeover :P I used a big bottle of acrylic white paint and a small bottle of dark gray paint (yes, the cheap stuff works fine) which I got from Wal-Mart and Michael's. I made a 6 x 3 1in thick "L" shaped stencil and then traced out the pattern onto my cork-board once my 4 coats of white paint (big sponge brush used for that) had dried. Then I hand painted (2 different sized flat square paint brush's used) where I had traced my stencil lines and filled it in with the dark gray paint.

Quick and Easy Vanity Tray

I found this symmetrical black picture frame from TJMAXX the other day and decided to turn it into a small vanity tray. I removed the stand from the back of the frame and cut out a piece of scrapbook paper to put into the frame. I used a piece of cardboard to replace the stand I had removed, clipped it into place and it was finished, easy. You could even wrap or frame a thin piece of fabric over the glass frame as another option to do this project.

Gyaru Inspired Eye Makeup

Generally Gyaru style makeup consists of circle contact lenses and over-exaggerated false lashes however, the look I did (below) does not consist of either of those.

Eye Primer: Loreal Decrease

All Over Eye Base Color: Revlon Skinlights (first shade on left of palette) and Maybelline in Almond Satin (lightest shade) over top.

Lid: MAC in Sharp, apply at the outside of the lid and blend it out going toward the inside of the lid.

Outer V and Crease: MAC in Dark Edge, apply at the outside of the lid and blend it up into the crease going toward the inner eye (cat eye the outer V line to come straight out rather then upward).

Lower Lid: MAC in Dark Edge, you want to follow the top cat eye line but don't connect the two together (you want a small gap between them) and blend out the line going toward the inner eye. You also don't want the eyeshadow near the top of the lid near the water line (you want there to be a slight gap).

Upper Lid Liner: Milani gel liner in Black, line the entire top lashline and drag the liner out past the eye 1-2cm (follow the outside base line you did with your upper cat-eye eyeshadow).

Lower Waterline Liner: Almay pencil in Black, only apply about 1-2cm in the center of the water line (under where the iris is).

Mascara: Covergirl LashBlast in Very Black, apply several coats of mascara on top lashes and 1 small coat on the bottom lashes (keep the outer bottom lashes a bit bolder then the inner ones).

Brows: Prestige brows in Light to Medium (lightest shade).

Butterfly Wing Nail Tutorial

I found this awesomely gorgeous butterfly wing mani while surfing the net and realized that this would actually be pretty simple to replicate. So, here's my tutorial...

I believe this might be China Glaze in Strawberry Fields.

Step 1: Paint your nails one vibrant solid color (or you could even using multiple colors), a few coats may be required to cover the nail, and let the polish dry completely (I did this a day in advance so my nails had time to dry and harden).

Step 2: Using a black Sharpie Marker (I find using a Sharpie is the easiest route) create the black wing outline (see image above for additional help) and allow to dry (tip: if you press on the black with your finger and it doesn't smear onto your finger then it's probably dry).

Step 3: Using a nail dotting tool or a toothpick dab on a few dots of white polish at the end of the nail and allow to dry.

Monarch Butterfly

Step 4: Apply a clear top coat, let dry completely and you're done!

Create Fuller Lips

For the past month or so now I've been on a mission...to create fuller looking lips! Sure I've looked at nearly every lip plumping tutorial there is, but the fact of the matter is...nothing has really ever worked for me. Lip plumpers make my lips peel as an end result, and light colored lip glosses disguise them instead of making them look fuller and existent. So now that I've recently been receiving compliments on my lips (for once in my life!) I decided to share my below lippy look.

Step 1 Exfoliate: Lightly brush your lips using a wet toothbrush to exfoliate them (you can do this while you're brushing your teeth). I'd recommend using a cool mint whitening tooth 'paste' (not 'gel' based) as the cool mint can have a plumping effect on your lips in itself, the whitening to bring out those pearly whites to better showcase your lips, and a paste because it's actually gritty enough to gently exfoliate your lips.
Step 2 Moisturize: Use a hydrating chap-stick/ointment like Aquaphor and allow your lips to absorb the moisturizer for several minutes (I do this before applying my makeup and then continue on to the next step after my makeup is done).
Step 3 Line: Apply a natural shade of pencil lip liner like Prestige waterproof lipliner/contour in Nude. Line the bottom lip slightly outside the lip line. To line the top lip round it outward from the peaks to the outer crease and fill in any gaps from the actual lip for a slightly rounder/fuller pouty shape. Line the "V" a little below or on the lip line. Press your lips together to blend on the lip liner and use your finger to even it out (it'll look like a lipstick basically).
Step 4 Lipstick: Apply a matte nude lipstick all over the lips and liner, I used Revlon matte lipstick in Nude Attitude.
Step 5 Blend: Pucker out your lips (like a kissy face) and even out the color using your finger and you're done!
Step 6 Touch Ups *Optional*: Throughout the day I'll do touch-ups to my lips using Rimmel's lipstick in Airy Fairy (although this extra step won't really create fuller looking lips).

Coconut Marinade - Recipe

1CAN - Goya Crema de Coco (melt in microwave for 1 minute)
1TBSP - Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1TBSP - Kikkoman Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce
1/4CUP - Aloha Hawaiian Teriyaki Glaze
1TSP - Liquid Smoke

My dad and I created this coconut marinade recipe when I wanted to try my hand at making fried panko coconut chicken, and surprisingly the marinade was really good. So, I wanted to share it today since we decided to make this again :) enjoy!

My New Love

Yes it's true, I have a new found love and his name is Pillsbury, LOL. If you're a chocolate lover like me then you totally have to try the Pillsbury Sweet Moments Brownies, the Cocoa Fudge Escape is to die for! I'm seriously going to replace all my chocolate snacks and deserts for this stuff, it's definitely worth posting about.