Copycat: Tarina Tarantino Floral Sunglasses

I first became obsessed with today's DIY after seeing them being worn by Mindy Kaling on The Mindy Project. (For those The Mindy Project-obsessed, you can head over here to HelloGiggles to read the post with the full TV tie in!) The third season premieres tonight and I can't wait! I love sunglasses and have more (cheap) pairs in my collection than I should, however my track record with keeping them from getting scratched/falling off my head and cracking/stretching them out from wearing them on my head all day long is equivalent to me batting a .100. Pretty not-so-hot. So, I felt that there's always room for one more pair!

Mindy rocked out these Tarina Tarantino shades...

...and I fell in love.

Super blingy, super floral, super DIY candidate!

Here’s a rundown of the supplies needed for the sunglasses:

1. Black Sunglasses – (these are flea market finds, but Wet Seal and Forever 21 have some cheap options, or you can even scope out a local Dollar Tree to see if they carry.) 2. Rhinestone trim (I used Darice's Bling on a Roll.) 3. Jewelry Glue (I used Aleene's jewelry and metal glue, but you can use a glue gun as well.) 4. Mod Podge Melts and Molds - (the Mod Podge Mold with Flowers is what I used as well as Mod Podge Melts in green/white.) 5. Paint (if you use clear Melts pink or green paint does the trick. Just add a coat to match the color of the frames.) 6. Glue Gun (this is used with the Mod Podge Melts - put them in as you would glue sticks.)

To recreate the flowers on the original Tarina Tarantino sunnies, we'll need four flowers/leaves to put in the center and at the sides of the glasses.

The Mod Podge Melts and Molds were used for this step. Fill the flower and leaf molds with the melts (top L), paint the hardened pieces (if a color melt wasn't used - I used green for the leaves and clear for the flowers, so the leaves were fine) the matching shade of pink (top R), dab glue on the backs of the flowers and leaves (bottom R), and affix to the sunglasses (bottom L).

I went with one leaf in the center, just because it fit nicely in-between the flowers, and then added a strip of rhinestones to the top portion of the glasses.

I added flowers and leaves to the edges of the glasses next and then let the frames dry!

Hey new sunnies!

We look like twins!

Easy to make, super chic, and totally budge friendly.

I love the Tarina pair and I love my pair!

I might have to get on a few more DIYs for the sunnies this summer.

Good thing I bought extra pairs at the flea market. Stay tuned!

Rewind: White & Blue Floral Dress

Today's rewind outfit comes from a little over two years ago! This white and blue floral dress was one of the pieces that I shot as an option for my book, hence the full make-up in the before shot!

Original post date: 6/6/12

The Before Look: (Click here for full project steps and original post!)

I scrapped the sleeves and took it in to make it a dress perfect for summer.

For my second wear, I went a totally different route!

Wanting to make the pleats more front and center, I folded under the top portion of the dress and crafted it into a top!

To get it form fitted - and to avoid the top from falling down - I took a vintage bow pin, gathered the portion of loose fabric at the new top of the piece, and cinched it!

I wore this piece to the Dodgers game, so I had to add some blue Dodgers nails too!

Oh, and it's really not a sporting event without cotton candy. Guilty pleasure, check!

We had some fabulous seats, so being that we were so close to the players, I couldn't resist a little photo hijinks! Lots of head scratching and hair fixing went on with my pointer finger and the players in front of us.

We even got some winks from Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. With my hat on, this new top was just the piece to help root on the Dodgers!

It's funny how the second wear turned out - I was planning on doing some actual cutting and stitching, but when I tested out tucking the top of the dress under, it totally changed the game plan!

One biggish dress turned two completely different looks, two years apart!!

I wonder what wear three will look like???

Remake: Green, Pink & Blue Dress

You got a little taste of this number yesterday...

I would literally get arrested if I wore this out in public. Indecent exposure, much??

I couldn't let that happen because I love the look of this dress so much and I must wear it out.

One easy tweak, here we come!

The maje issue was the worn out elastic at the neckline. At one point, years, and years, and years, and years ago, this had a serious gathered neckline. Now, it's sad and worn out :(

So, it's seam ripper to the rescue!

I took out a few stitches on the top seam where the worn out elastic was...

...pulled the elastic out until it was at the perfect point where I could knot it and make the dress hit my shoulders without falling off. I figured that I could test this method out first before either replacing the neck with new elastic or putting in a fun ribbon to gather.

My new dress fits now!!

I paired the vintage piece with my "Super Wedges", aka my crazy tall Jeffery Campbell platforms.

I cinched the waist with a light tan leather belt to break up the color a bit...

...and to match the neutral tone of the shoes!

I will be wearing this throughout fall too, friends. Add a beige sweater on top, perhaps? Some tall boots? Easy tweak for a piece that will easily become a staple in the closet!

It's twirl time!!