DIY: How To Make Collar Clips / Cardigan Clips

Hello again!

As Peanut butter is so easy to make and to take to afternoon tea, I thought I would share a second tutorial to help you accessories for the occasion. I really love using cardigan clips when I'm dressing up as I am really into vintage clothing, so these are the perfect little addition to any retro outfit. What makes them even better is they double as some really trendy as collar clips for during the day, which is a reallly hot look right now. Win / win, right?! This tutorial will take you less than 5 minutes and makes use of those old accessories that you don't use any more. Perfect! 

All you need is some old clip on earrings, a chain bracelet, and 2 sets of pliers. 

First up, pop those rubber plugs out of the clip on earrings. The great thing about this tutorial is that if you change your mind and want your old stuff back you can just put it all back together again. So you may want to keep these for a rainy day :)

To dismantle your bracelet, you will need to open each of the rings (jump rings) attaching each element and remove the parts you don't need. For instance, I won't need the lobster clasp to hold the bracelet closed, so I will need to remove that. And I will not need the words, so I would remove them etc. 

To do this, you will need to hold the ring with a set of pliers in one hand to keep it steady. You will notice a join in the ring which is where to open and close it. Make sure you are holding the ring with this at the top as shown above. To open it, use the second pair of pliers in your other hand and holding the other half of the ring, twist it open by pushing it away from you. This is the best way to open these little rings without risking them snapping and ensuring they will sit properly when closed again. Never pull them apart!

So, do this step as much as necessary for your bracelet. All you need to keep is a ring on each end and some of that chain in the middle. Easy!

At each end you will need to attach the clip on earrings. Simply open the jump ring and pop it in beside the chain and close it again. So simple! The best place to hook your chain is through the hole where we took out those old rubber plugs. There they will be hidden and secure. Perfect! 

{this is how it will look when attached}

*Ta*Da*

Lovely, aren't they? Now all you need to do is add your lovely outfit :D 

We hope you've enjoyed these two quick little tutorials! You will save a fortune on hostess gifts and cute little wardrobe updates for next to nothing. In fact, with the money you save you can try different versions of each :D Remember that you will find some pretty awesome clip on earrings in charity shops too, so keep your eye out when you go thrifting! A couple of minutes with those pliers and you can swap these sweater clips for each outfit. Hooray!

Happy Making

xox

DIY: How To Make Peanut Butter (And A Cute Jar Too!)

Hello!

Today we thought we would share a couple of really quick and easy diys which show you how to turn old things you don't want into something you do. First up, I thought I would share a peanut butter tutorial. It is super easy to make and as you can see, can make a really lovely little treat to bring along to afternoon tea!

To make peanut butter all you need is nuts, oil and a jar to keep it in. I'm going to up-cycle this cute little jar with some enamel paint and an awesome little squirrel to make it a fun and quirky gift for my peanut loving bezzie. Hooray!

Start off by painting your lid. You'll need enamel paint and an old brush that you are either happy to chuck out after, or are happy to clean with turps. You will need to paint 2 coats for a lovely even colour, so be sure to take time allowing each coat to dry. Remeber to fill in the gaps where your fingers were holding the lid on the second coat too :) Once completely dry, you can glue your lovely squirrel on the top. He's all about hoarding nuts!

Peanut butter is so easy to make you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it before now and spending lots of money on the stuff at the store! The great thing about this recipe is that you will know exactly what is going into it. And that's not very much at all! For the best tasting peanut butter, I would recommend using roasted ones, or honey roasted ones as it will be flavorful and incredible. Otherwise, you can roast these monkey nuts at home and make the peanut butter by shelling and skinning them and adding in salt to taste. The methods for both are the same...

Put 500g nuts into a blender.

Add 2 tablespoons oil - any oil is fine (vegetable, sunflower, peanut etc), but whatever you do, don't use the strong tasting stuff like olive or sesame oil as it will make your peanut butter taste of it!

Blend for a couple of minutes until smooth (or slightly less if you like crunchy!)

Scoop out of the blender and pop in your jar

*Ta*Da*

Doesn't it look brilliant? All that from some left over nuts, an old jar and a kids toy. Just goes to show you don't need to break the bank to give someone a little treat :) Now all you need to do is fight the squirrel for some of that peanut goodness inside!

We hope you have fun experimenting with this little tutorial :D

Enjoy xox

Style Me Friday...

The Lady Is A Vamp

dress asos                                      fascinator debenhams

eyelashes shu uemura                      bullet perfume juliette has a gun       

lipstick mac                                     nail varnish chanel rouge noir

clutch alexander mcqueen                 lingerie agent provocateur

shoes louboutin                                ring house of harlow

Wordless Wednesday

Featured On Uncovet!

Whoa there! Check out our extra special feature on Uncovet!

That's right, we have a selection of our awesome design work up for grabs on the coolest website online this week with a cracking 30% off for all you lovely people!

As featured by Forbes and TechCrunch, Uncovet source the most stylish upcoming stuff online and emails their finds to all the lucky beans on their mailing list. Not only will you get to see the most coveted items, but you will get them at a special price too - what's not to love?! Each item is only up for a few days and quantities are limited so you need to be hot on your heels to snag yourself the bargain of the year. 

In love? Want to own some Vivid goodies at a great price? Then get in on the action here...
Super proud!
We hope you enjoy your treats :)
xox

DIY: How To Make Your Own Screen Print

Hola!

Today we thought we would share a diy that shows you how to make your own screen print. Ahhhh, screen printing, how we love you so! Often there are things we want to make and do with this incredible process, but studio time and the cost of materials can often hold us back. Most importantly, sometimes you have the urge to make it RIGHT AWAY - often an issue here at Vivid HQ :) 

Fret no more, here is a quick way to make your own one at home. Made with cheap and easily come by materials, it may not be as perfect as the real thing, but it has great character and still works a treat...

You will need:

Old tights (stockings/hosiery)

Modge Podge glue

Fabric paint or normal paint depending on what you're printing onto

An embroidery hoop

Some card

A Sharpie

A paintbrush for your glue 

And a paintbrush for your paint

.... and whatever you want to screen print onto of course

Ready? Lets go!

First up you will need to make your screen. Unscrew your embroidery hoop and put the smaller circle into one of the legs in your tights, leaving a little excess material at each end. Then chop it off! Screw it back into the larger hoop and pull it taught on one side of the circle. You will need it to be as tight and stretched out as possible for printing or it will go all wonky. Then slice the back (baggy part) in half and trimm off the excess material. Pretty sexy screen, huh!

To get your image onto your screen you will need to start by using the sharpie marker and tracing it right onto your tights. If this is your first try, I would recommend starting with something simple so you can get the hang of it. As you will be lying the side of the hoop with the material stretched out directly onto your image for tracing and then onto your material for printing, you don't need to worry about backwards letters or anything. Hooray! So pop down whatever you want to print and go round it all with that Sharpie marker...

Hola indeed!

It doesn't matter if it is a little bit scrappy as you will just be using this as an outline. Thank goodness ;) Next, you will need to apply your Modge Podge glue...

Apply the Modge Podge wherever you don't want your paint to go. For instance, I only want colour in the speech bubble, so I have used my paintbrush to put the glue all around the outside of the bubble and I have used it to carefully fill in those cute letters. The glue creates a waterproof seal which will stop the paint from seeping through. Brilliant, right?! So, make sure you take your time to fill in your gaps, then let it dry till it goes all clear. 

All dry and good to go? Winner! So get your material out. You can use fabric paint if you are printing onto fabric, or just normal paint if you are using paper or canvas etc. To set it up, all you need to do is put it underneath your screen; remember, you will be applying your paint inside the hoop. To print, you will be scraping your paint straight across the tights in one smooth, straight movement. Using a piece of card, apply a thick layer of paint at one side as shown above...

When you turn it upside down and pull it across the screen, the paint will roll down from the card and create a block of colour where there is no glue.... Like MAGIC!

*TA*DA*

Look at that! Isn't it awesome? I think I could do this all day long :D Just remember to take your time and have enough paint ready to cover the print in one movement as you don't want to try re-applying. The more you touch it when working with it, the more likely it will move and get smudged. When you're done you can give it a wee rinse with cold water and either use a different colour or save it for another print-a-thon. How great is that?!

We'd love to hear what you would love to make and hope you enjoy working with your new screen printing kit :D xox

New Products: Maps, Pugs & Rock n Roll!

Wood You Be Mine

Hooray!

We've just been stocking our lovely Etsy shop with lots of exciting new goodies :D With our new wedding favour themed engraved pencils for inspiration, it's no wonder we came up with some of these beauties too... 

I Pugging Love You

I Pugging Love You! Like many people, we are great fans of pug dogs and couldn't resist making a card with our favorite little cheeky chappy on it :) A cheeky play on words had to be included of course!

I Left My Heart In America Print

In our Scotland print, we keep our heart in Edinburgh, but in America you will find it in Tennessee! Our new print of the States is customizable, meaning you can have your heart wherever you .... left it :) Lovely!

You Rock My Sox Off

You Rock My Sox Off! One of our favorite ways to say 'I love you' without being too soppy. Who wouldn't want that reminder on their wall?!

I Left My Heart In Italy

Incase you didn't know, there is a whole lot of Italian in my family. Naturally I had to create a lovely I Left My Heart In Italy print to celebrate some of those relatives and fond memories :D Here we are in Rome, but if you're more of a Milan lover, you could have that too...

Rock N Roll

Nothing says Rock N Roll like some hardcore baking! So bad it's good, right? Yeah, that's just how we roll ;)

Fangs Very Much

Last, but certainly not least, we'd love to say Fangs Very Much! Hee hee :D Take that Twilight! Frightfully good, isn't it? And perfect for Halloween!

We hope you like all of our new goodies! As you can see there is never a dull moment here in Vivid HQ. With all these new prints and keepsake cards, there is barely any wall space left either. Loving it!

Enjoy xox

Granny Would Be Proud! Edinburgh Retro, Vintage & Design Market, This Sunday!

We are really excited to share that we will be participating in Edinburgh's first Granny Would Be Proud market! Taking place on Sunday the 22nd of July at Cabaret Voltaire, the fair will be open from 1 till 6pm and is going to be bursting full of awesome goodies!

Granny Would Be Proud organizers have sourced some of the best vintage, retro & contemporary fashion for the event as well as some of Scotland's best upcoming design, arts & crafts designers. We are delighted to be participating in such an awesome event and are certain that this is going to be one heck of a day!

For all you lovely Edinburgers, the event will be taking place in the newly refurbished and reopened Cabaret Voltaire on Blair Street. For those not sure of this epic venue, you can find out all about it here. It is really easy to get to as it is just a 5 minute walk from the Waverly train station and right beside the Royal Mile, where there will be a few lovely members of staff on hand with place cards to show you where to go if you're not sure. Brilliant!

Incase you haven't spied one of the thousands of fliers going around town at the moment, you can check out the Granny Would Be Prouds fb page for more info... It is going to be incredible!

Wish us luck and hope to see you there!

xox

Wordless Wednesday