If you haven’t discovered Pinterest yet, you’re seriously missing out. Pinterest gives every collegiette™ amazing D.I.Y crafts to turn your dorm or apartment from drab to fab. It also has some great pointers for spicing up your wardrobe. The D.I.Y section is easy, fun, and makes for great gifts you can craft for your friends’ birthdays on a starving college student’s budget. Here are some of HCIU’s favorites.
When your bank account is at its lowest, you can still get a cute new shirt for date night or drinks with your friends. If your man or brother (or the racks of Goodwill) has a polo shirt they no longer like, you can turn it into an off-the-shoulder tee to dress up with skinny jeans and cute heels. Button up the buttons and turn the shirt around. Cut off the collar, but be sure to leave the buttons for an added element if you wear your hair up. This pinner sewed the sleeves to be more fitted, but even if you don’t own a sewing machine it will still be adorable. Dress up your new top with accessories—a belt, some attention-grabbing heels, and a necklace—and voila, let the compliments roll in.
Every collegiette shares one common problem—never being able to find bobby pins when you’re trying out a cute new style or having a surplus all over your floor. Either way, bobby pins can be one of the more frustrating elements of your day-to-day life. Who would’ve thought that there could be such a simple solution? Put a strip of magnet tape up on the wall behind your vanity. Now every time you take your hair down, you just put them on the strip. This quick fix will make getting ready less stressful.
The lighting in dorm rooms, houses, and apartments of reckless college students tends to be worse than that in a prison ward. So to side-step the generic white string lights, here are a couple of ways to dress them up. You could either tie some lace and tulle around each bulb, or cover Dixie cups in scrapbook paper and cut a hole for the bulbs. And why stop there? You could always mix and match for a sophisticated look.
“Cinderella is proof that a new pair of shoes can change your life.” For those of you who like to go Carrie Bradshaw crazy when it comes to shoes, you need to have a place to put them when they’re not in use. To show them off to all who enter your humble abode, simply put together these crown molding shoe shelves. It makes your shoes easier to put away so that they’re not all over your floor and when you’re deciding which pair to go with, you can see all your options.
Add some flavor to your walls with some fun words. You can opt for the more sophisticated look and buy wooden letters, paint them a solid color, and glue on lace, beads, and flowers for an elegant touch. Or you can go a little wild and cover canvases in different fabrics and write each letter in buttons for a fun, flirty look. No matter which option you choose, you can’t go wrong with this idea.
Add some flair to that plain white desk lamp you bought. Glue on buttons of every size, shape, and color. Now the lamp will still match everything in your room and will draw in compliments left and right.
If those ugly white walls are still getting you down, there are a few other ways to cover them up. For the first, gather some shoe box lids (cheaper than canvases!) and paint the same design in a few different shades to add a serene touch to your room. For the second, cut Styrofoam squares in equal sizes and cover them with scrapbook paper of your choosing. You can also do the same for make-shift flower vases that are shown in the picture as well. And for the last, get a big canvas and draw out your design in Elmer’s glue. After it dries, paint over the whole canvas in one solid color. Simple and elegant solutions for those drab walls you’re forced to work with.
When you need a vase, candle holder, or a multi-use container, use this idea to spice up your living room. Arrange rubber bands or twine in the design of your choice and spray paint over the design. After it is dry, take off the rubber bands or twine and add a fun bow at the top.
After your place is looking like HGTV just took over, make a little something for yourself. Use a simple chain and braid in the yarn used in friendship bracelets. Pick two different colors and make the sections thick. Then weave the sections in and around the bracelet and bada-bing, bada-boom a unique bracelet that will have your friends totally jealous. For the classy necklace, fold a long pearl necklace in half and tie ribbon around each side. Add a broach by the bow for some extra sass. And for the last bracelet, go pick up some nuts from your local hardware store and braid them into white rope/yarn/twine (whatever you can get your hands on). Dress up this look with other bracelets for a chic result.
Hair accessories made easy! We found a use for all those combs you bought that never actually held your hair back. Get two different colors/patterns of fabric and cut them into small strips. Tie a knot at one side and weave the fabric through every other tooth. Do the opposite with the second piece of fabric and tie at the end. Pin the comb into a low, messy bun and now when you go to class with your hair up, people won’t automatically assume that you’re bumming.
These ideas will get you started and keep you busy all break long and into syllabus week. But your place will look fantastic when you have visitors for little five. All you need to get started is a hot glue gun, some paints, scrapbook paper, and whatever other things you have lying around that can be put to use. And for those of you trying to get your MRS degree in college, Pinterest is chock full of recipes and other ideas for decorating your future home. Enjoy your break and your new favorite distraction!