Copycat: Charlotte Olympia Cat Bag DIY

When I saw these kitty clutches by Charlotte Olympia in December, I immediately fell in love and put them on my little vision board of things to remake.

The day is finally here!! With this fabulous black suede clutch, I have the perfect base to use as my copycat clutch. Get ready for this cat-tastic DIY!!

 I started off with a silver marker tracing the cat's features onto the bag. I trimmed out little templates for the eyes and used those to trace around.

Then the silver sketching kept going until all the kitty's features were drawn on!

With the tracing done, I added the ears to the top of the purse next. I trimmed out ear shapes from pieces of black and light metallic leather, cutting a smaller shape in the metallic shade and then gluing it to the larger black ear. I affixed the ears to the purse using a little E6000 glue and let them dry for a few hours.

Now it was time for more tracing, using a paint pen. I used Tulip's Beads in a Bottle pens for this one just to get a thicker consistency on the purse, but you could always use a Sharpie or Krylon paint pen or whatever you've got in your stash.

I made my way tracing over each area, leaving some dry time in-between just to prevent smudging.

I let the purse sit overnight to make sure all the paint was fully dry before moving on to the eyes.

To match the Charlotte Olympia purse, I found two gems in a lavender shade...

...and glued them to the center of the eyes.

My 'lil cat is all ready for some fun.

Hello, kitty!

I just loved how it turned out!

It has all the essence of the black acrylic Charlotte Olympia version...

...in a clutch form which I'm an even bigger fan of! I can use the fab handles or just grab the bottom of it.

With some paint, gems, and a steady hand, this clutch is purr-fect!!

Ooh, and did I mention that theirs is $995? Not too shabby completing this fun DIY for a just a few bucks!!

DIY: Revenge Infinity Box

Because I'm obsessed with Revenge (well less obsessed now than I was first season, but I'm invested so I still watch) I was super excited to craft what might be the most important piece from the show. For those fans, you know what I'm talking about - Emily Thorne’s all-important infinity box that holds all her revengeful secrets. (For those Revenge obsessed, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in! For those non-fans, we're going to get to some woodworking for the very first time!!

Here’s a rundown of the supplies you’ll need:

1. Wood soldering kit (The Darice kit I used is a steal at $14!)

2. Wooden box (I used a 8-1/4 x 5-5/8 chest)

3. Wood stain (I went with a lovely Golden Pecan shade)

I started off by looking online for an infinity symbol template that matched the one from the actual box.

Once I found my template, I printed it out and tested out the location on the top of the box.

Next I trimmed the template to make it easy to trace on the top of the box…

…and then prepped my wood burning tool by finding the right tip, screwing it in, and putting it on the stand that it came with.

(*Be SUPER careful with this puppy because it’s hot. Like 900 degrees Celsius hot in certain areas. I burned my finger and immediately doused it with apple cider vinegar to minimize the after effects. So far, so non-blistery good.)

I plugged in the tool and started tracing the lines on the wood with the tip. It's really amazing how quickly the wood burns!

After tracing my lines, the box turned out looking like this...

This is a fine spot to end, however I wanted a pretty lacquered finish, so I coated the box with a layer of the Golden Pecan stain.

A paintbrush or cloth will do the trick and just make sure to wipe the excess stain off when you're finished, if there is any.

I let the box dry for a few hours...

...and then was ready to use!!

Pretty successful for my first attempt! With one project under my belt, I'm looking forward to keeping this up, sans any injuries! Pretty cute lookalike, eh?

Have any of you worked with this kind of tool or with wood in general? Would love to hear your thoughts on what kinds of projects you've done or what has been successful!

DIY: Red Bow Tie with Mr. Peabody & Sherman

One of my hysterical comic friends has a web show called "Hot on the Red Carpet" where she goes to premieres with her own little red carpet in tow (seriously, it's amazing), and interviews/jokes with celebs as they head down the red carpet. (You'll see one of her videos in a sec.)  She had to cover the Mr. Peabody & Sherman premiere and had a little request for me...please make me a bow tie to match Mr. Peabody!

Ask and ye shall receive! She got pictures with her twinsie...

...as well as Ty Burrell, who happens to be my fave!  I worked with him years ago and he was such a gent, not to mention that I'm obsessed with Modern Family as well!

Felt and elastic duo = best DIY bow tie combo!  PS, did anyone go and see this?  It looks quite adorable!

Here's Erin's clip...I think you'll enjoy!!