DIY: Hime Gyaru Edition (#2) Hime Gyaru Inspired Hair Clip

I loathe taking pictures in the same outfit twice - I have no problems wearing the same outfit multiple times, but photographing it more than once? No thank you. This is why, when I received my blonde wig in the post, I rummaged around my room for a hair accessory which I hadn't photographed to death before (no such luck). The solution? Make my own!

I'm sorry I haven't photographed the process (I had no idea I'd want to blog at the time), but I'll let you in on a secret little miracle worker which fulfils all of your crafty needs; hot glue. The best part of all? My fingers don't look like I tried to break my way out of an acupuncture clinic.

What you will need;

Cardboard

Scissors

Hot glue & Hot glue gun

Alligator clip and/or double pronged hair clip

Felt and/or fabric

Lace

Pleated ribbon trim

A string of pearls

Small organza bow

Crown cabochon

You can probably guess the steps I took to make the hair clip, but I'll include them anyway;
1) Cut a circle out of cardboard

2) Glue two circular piece of felt to the front & back of the cardboard

3) Glue two separate strings of pearls to the back of the circle (one longer, one shorter, and make sure to only glue one pearl on each side of the string the back of the circle, so that it drapes down when attached to the head)

4) Glue lace around the back of the circle and over the pearls

4) Glue the pleated ribbon trim around the front of the circle

5) Glue a string of pearls on the inside edge of the ribbon trim

6) Glue an organza bow to the front of the ribbon trim to hide the seam (attaching a pearl to the bow is optional)

7) Finally, glue a crown cabochon in the centre of your hair-piece, et voila! You're all finished.

Now this hair accessory isn't the best quality (you can visibly see the lace is a bit dodgy), but it only cost me £2 to make (since I only bought the ribbon trim and used whatever else I had floating around my room).
£2 vs a £22 Hime Dreams bow from DreamyBows.co.uk? If I planned to wear it more than a few times I would definitely choose the Hime Dreams bow, but my little hime-gyaru inspired hair clip does the job for now.

Cuteness Injection: Dose #1

As many artists will know, trying to produce a piece of work when you'd rather curl up in bed with a tub of Ben & Jerry's (Preferably Baked Alaska) whilst weeping over a 'feel' moment in the latest Disney film is difficult, however I've successfully managed to break through the almost impenetrable wall of procrastination and artistic laziness. Thus, allow me to present the first in a series of (hopefully regular) cuteness injections!

"Whipped-Llama Shortcake"

My first foray into the world of Illustrator and vector graphics resulted in my brain melting into a puddle of pink milkshake (I know that sounds like a good thing, but it really isn't) I spent 30 minutes violently clicking every button I could find just trying to figure out how to fill in a circle (Just to let you know, I failed).

I've been using Illustrator for a few weeks now and this little whipped-llama shortcake is my latest piece of work; I think he's a bit too cute to eat, don't you?