Summer is winding down...here are a few of my go-to items and accessories for the remainder of the sunny skied and green filled days here in Akron, OH.
Oversized sweater: Target (yeah, great deal!) Shorts: My bleached dip dye DIY project.
Scarf, Socks & Nail Polish: Jcrew. Boots: Steve Madden (my Glitter Boots DIY project)
Earrings: My jewelry line, AC Design. Sun Glasses: Spitfire (brought from Nastygal)

There are a lot of expensive versions of glitter backed boots out there...luckily, I found these great Steve Madden wedge (with fringe!) boots at a great price...prefect to add a little personal style! For glitter I used a medium glitter in gunmetal and a course glitter in black. To start, I masked off the section I wanted to glitter, brushed on Jewel It Glue and poured the glitter on top. After pressing the glitter down, I applied Mod Podge with a sponge brush. This acts as a sealer coat, keeping all the glittery goodness where it should be. Love the contrast of colors and materials on this boot!

Pattern and design LOVE! Inky Co offers on trend designer paper goods (stationery and gift wrapping). Not only do they have a well designed product offering, their simple packing and website really makes this company stand out. I'm looking forward to seeing what new collections they come out with next.

This rug and I are now a few years deep. It's in great shape, but it's once vibrant orangey red color has faded over our relationship. Being a designer, color is very important to me. That orangey red is not an option...I have to have it! It's my main outdoor accessory color. Ok, nbd...the answer is always spray paint. I swept it up and gave it a coat of Krylon Banner Red spray paint. I was a little giddy over the outcome...it saved me time from a new rug hunt and cash!

Thankfully stumbled upon Elf, an online store (located in Bali) that beautifully showcases and sells their collection of high quality hand made leather shoes and hand bags. I love their simplistic yet unique style!

Denim Transformation Series:

Summer heat = needing more shorts! I have tons of old jeans so I’m turning them into cutoffs…with a twist!
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Here is another pair of shorts in my denim transformation series. I turned a pair of outdated JCrew Matchstick jeans into bleach dip dyed shorts.

Ok here we go...I have bleach in my possession! Let's be honest, I'm frightened of it. I once had a whole load of laundry ruined from the remnants of it while using a shared washing machine. GAH!

In the first bucket, I mixed half water, half bleach. How full you want to fill it is up to you. (You'd better believe I'm wearing gloves, I don't want that stuff to touch me.) I hung the shorts by their beltloops with my handy heavy duty design ruler. Suspended by the top of the bucket, I dipped the bottom of the shorts into the bleach and sat there waiting/watching like a little kid.
Ok bleach, do you thing!
I patiently waited a little over an hour and took them out and immediately put them in a bucket of half vinegar, half water. This acts as a stop bath. Bleach, you will not eat through my clothes.

After 20 minutes, I took the shorts out of the vinegar solution and rinsed them in water...then on the the washing machine! I washed them a few times to try to get out the bleach smell. After all the hype about hating bleach, I'm now a little more comfortable with it. Plans are in the works for the next bleach project!

Denim Transformation Series:

Summer heat = needing more shorts! I have tons of old jeans so I’m turning them into cutoffs…with a creative twist, making each pair unique!—————————————————————————————————————

To make this pair of denim cutoffs unique, I made 2 floral stencils out of a heavy card stock paper and I then painted a gold pattern on the bottom of the shorts. For added detail I added large multi-toned metal studs by the pockets.