DIY

One of the decorations that I really wanted for my new place was a wall decal. I saw a cute bird and tree decal at my friend’s place in the past, and I really wanted one too.
I think wall decal is a great way to decorate the wall, especially if you rent. I rent, and I’m glad to be able to decorate the wall without making a bunch of small holes from pushpins.

I ordered my at Qinqin Decal on Etsy. I think their price is very reasonable, and the decal came right away from NY to Japan!

Here is what my living room looked before..
The package came with 2 sheets of stickers and instruction. I cut out the pieces smaller so they are easier to apply.
Then placed the stickers on the wall. I used a tape to figure out the balance of the trees and flowers first before actually applying.

Voila!

If you are a sewer, you might know how much scraps that can build up in your closet over time. Those scraps are not big enough to make a tiny camisole or shorts, but not small enough that you can just trash. I have a bunch of fabrics like that, piled up.

Over the last couple of weeks, I haven’t had enough energy to work on clothes because of the move we did, so I worked on simple & easy project: headbands!

I love wearing headbands. Especially in the Summer, because I always put my hair up – it’s too humid and hot in Japan to keep my long hair down, and I’m impressed if I see girls who have nice hair even on bad-hair day.

Making headbands are very easy – I just cut two strips of fabric in 30-33 inches in length and 2-5 inches in width. You can change the width if you want a skinny headband or wide headband. It’s your choice. Then with the right side of fabrics facing each other, I sew around the fabric, leaving 2 inch window so you can turn. Then iron. For my headbands, I added a wire inside, then close the window. The wire helps the headband to stay on your head without slipping off and also allows you to shape the headband as you like.

Inspired by “Juebejue’s Dad Sews” post by Petite Republic, I’m posting about my sister’s creation. Unfortunately, my dad is not as crafty and cool as Juebejue’s dad, but my sister loves sewing and DIYing as much as I do!

My sister is 4 years younger, but sometimes people think we are twins. We do look a like, and we are pretty much the same size, I’m a bit taller than her, which is great, because I can borrow her clothes (and she can borrow mine).

She made this maxi dress with the fabric she got from Hong Kong. Apparently, there is a huge fabric market there. Hong Kong is definitely in my list of to-go place.
She made the dress based on the Japanese magazine, called “Female”. The magazine is about 840 yen, which is about $9 US dollars. The magazine comes with a lot of patterns, and tips about sewing.