Ribbon T-Shirt Dress~ DIY

It’s been awhile since I did a proper fashion DIY! 

I was so excited to take on this project because it ended up being so easy, and no sewing required!

What started this obsession with ribbon t-shirt dresses were all the J-fashion apparel I’ve been seeing with similar styles over the past 2 years. Like most niche  things, I didn't see any designs that I necessarily wanted. Since the first iteration of this dress I saw was a Disney, The Little Mermaid, featured item, I had cemented that I needed my own Disney related ribbon dress too!

Like most of my outfit ideas, I have to sketch it out properly. Following my J-fashion inspirations, I wanted ribbons to lace down the sides. I also wanted to add some extra flair, and decided to see how a ribbon lacing over the shoulder would fair.

I’ve had a Powerline, from A Goofy Movie, shirt for a few months now that I never could figure out how to wear. So, I set that up to be my experimental shirt for this blog.

Items needed:

T-shirt (preferably on the longer side)

Ribbons (for my design, I had a lot of places to use ribbon and added length, so I used a bit over 21 ft)

28 extra large eyelets

Extra large eyelet tool~ I bought 10 eyelets + tool in a pack

Hammer

Scissors 

Marker or fabric chalk

Concrete work surface !

Optional:

8 extra large eyelets (for shoulder detail)

Wrench, to hold the eyelet tool

So, to make my t-shirt dress, I came up with a game plan! 

2 rows of 7 eyelets on each side~

First one starting 1.5 in. from the bottom, and each eyelet is spaced 2 inches apart. 

The two rows are spaced 3 in. In between. 

I marked out all my measurements, and placed a dot in marker where I wanted to place my eyelets.

For the shoulder detail, I picked a random placement on the shoulder, diagonally.

I spaced a line of 4 dots 1.5 in apart.

Then, 2 in. over, I repeated the same process.

After creating my dots, I made a small incision with my scissors on each dot.

The hole should be just big enough to squeeze the raised tube of the eyelet into! Any bigger and the eyelet can fall off.

This is an eyelet~
It has two parts, the tube disk and the toothy side.

The eyelet tool consists of two parts, the base and the mallet.
The eyelet should fit perfectly into the eyelet tool for a snug application.

To install the eyelet, make sure the fabric is inverted!

On a clear concrete surface, place the tool base.

Place down the tube disk, tube up.

Stretch the hole in the shirt over the tube. (The bottom of the tube disk is the pretty side, so you want to make sure its on the visible side of the shirt).

Place the toothy side over the tube, sandwiching the fabric.
Put the mallet over the eyelet, fitting it snugly into the tube.

The eyelet +fabric sandwich should look like this.

Installation seems to only work on a clear concrete surface, trust me on this.

Double check that the eyelet and tool base isn’t resting on any part of the other side of the shirt (the shirt will get destroyed if you hammer on it, it happened to me!)

Then, take your hammer, and hammer hard a few times on the mallet!

A wrench, or any gripping type tool, is great to hold onto the mallet for those who are scared of hammers +fingers or extremely clumsy.
Once I figured out that I would hurt myself less and hammered harder holding the mallet with another tool, installing the eyelets went so quickly!

After all the eyelets are installed, threading them with ribbon is the easiest task!

Voila! A cute ribbon t-shirt dress! 

My finished coordinate looked exactly like I sketched out. I was quite happy with my handy work. I love that it’s a perfect mix of casual and cute! Also, that I can now turn any boring screen tee into a cute statement piece! 

Now, I can do the same thing to my mermaid lagoon shirt that I bought to perfectly compliment my style! The options are now limitless on how I can thread ribbons onto my clothing!

<3CarisseIris 

Living in a Pink Bubble~ School Supply Edition

The school year has finally started and I’m starting my third semester! I feel like I’ve finally gotten into the flow of things and feel comfortable enough to share my education staples. Of course, in typical ‘me’ fashion, I grew my collection to match my pastel lifestyle. I quite enjoy things that are visually appealing and yet still serve a valid function, deciding to invest in pieces I love makes studying a joy.

My main piece is a Samatha Vega, under Samatha Thavasa,  a4 tote bag. I struggled with backpacks the last 2 semesters and realized after ditching my backpack for my reusable canvas tote that sits in my car every other day, that I feel more comfortable carrying my school items in a tote bag. The standard ‘a4’ tote size (named such because it can fit a4 sized folios and binders within it) is perfect for my needs. Samantha Thavasa makes some beautiful a4 tote bags that also have wide bases which could comfortably hold as many school supplies as I needed. 

I also invested in a printer to save me the stress from my school’s computer lab, which is always packed! I bought a cute Bluetooth enabled pink printer, second hand, that syncs beautifully with my iPad and mobile device! (I know, I also have a pink Nintendo switch hiding out back there, but I’ll be devoting a full blog to that down the road!)

The cheaper books, if not available 2nd hand or for rental, tend to be available for purchase in loose leaf style. I lucked out this semester and needed to purchase 2 books that came with access codes to do my homework. So, I needed some sturdy binders to contain my text books. I found these cute binders by russel+hazel.

Now, onto the fun stuff! Folders, folios, and stationary!

For my classes this semester, I’m taking mathematics and science courses, so I need a notebook for working out my formulas. All my teachers recommended that keeping a ‘problem’ notebook would be advantageous in their courses so, I have 3, one for each class. Right now, I have an older Laduree notebook that I had laying around, that I use for math. For my other two courses, I use some basic bullet style notebooks which I find more convenient to write in. My math notebook is just more photogenic;; 

I also have an accordion style folder, that I’ve used every semester to keep all my loose leaf papers, hand outs, homework, scantrons, and anything of the like. I find the fan out style folders are so useful in keeping everything together and neatly filed! Also, mine is made of plastic so it’s quite durable. It’s hands down one of my most important items I keep on me and readily available. I bought mine [here]

A fun little fact is that my pencil case is actually a makeup brush holder! I bought this travel makeup brush organizer second hand since it’s an older piece from Liz Lisa’s retired line, Chambre a Coucher.  Shockingly it fits everything I need, keeps everything organized, and sits wonderfully flat which makes it fit nicely into my bag or on my desk.

As for my stationary supplies, I have three different collared highlighters, two 3 ink colored pens + ink refills, a mechanical pencil + lead refill (I should also have a #2 pencil, oops), two erasers that resemble macaroons from Laduree, and miscellaneous washi tape that I use in my planner or to bookmark pages. 

My most used items in my stationary station would be my Uni a-gel mechanical pencil, Uni Style + Fit multi chamber pen (which I actually have 4 of, 2 in my pencil holder, one in my planner, and one that I keep in my room~ I just adore them and how well they write!) I like to use the smallest pen refill size in them which would be the .28mm, and for my highlighter I like the Zebra midliner which is easily found locally and I can pick up a refill easily.

I also use my Ti-30 calculator for every class. It also came highly recommended by all my instructors as it works with log and sin functions as well as with exponents. It also don’t have memory storage, which is not allowed in any of my classes.

With me always, is my planner and my bkr water bottle. In my planner I write down everything; classes, what I need to do, upcoming assignments, due dates, etc. It contains my life and one of my other Style + Fit multi-ink pens. Without my planner, I think I would fall apart! 

My last big piece is my tech folio. I was lucky enough to come across this leather bound one on eBay [available here] It fits everything from my ‘problem’ notebooks, iPad Pro + keyboard case, and all my gadgets, neatly and securely.

Snugly in my folio I keep my Apple Pencil, my rose gold mophie powerstation, lightning port/usb/usb-c enabled flashdrive (which has been a lifesaver for PowerPoint presentations),  misc cables, and my student ID card.

I also replaced the zipper with a Samatha Thavasa x Disney’s Little Mermaid charm that I thought was too cute, and which gave my folio a little personal touch. 

My main tool for school is my iPad Pro + Apple Pencil. I write all my papers on it, take notes, access and turn in my homework from it, and get onto my school’s app on on small and portable device. 

The main apps I use are Canvas (which is where my teachers post the homework, lecture notes, and my grades), Word documents, PowerPoint, Quizlet (digital flash cards), Ginger (which is a proof reading app and how I was able to get the highest grade my english professor gave out last spring), and Notability (the note taking app that I rely on for everything).

I switched over to notability last semester, mainly because I had an intensive lecture class and needed to record what my professor was saying for review. At first glance notability looks like every other note taking app, but what won me over was the fact that I can also record audio while I write notes and it date/time stamps each recording. Also, it directly links with canvas and it’s pdf files and I can load up my professors’s lecture files straight into the app and write notes on top of the files. It just makes note taking so easy!

My last little bits in my bag are my personal items. I keep a reusable straw, tissues, a card holder, small wallet, SPF hand cream, the best Bluetooth headphones from TaoTronics (seriously), my phone [custom case from TheAmethyzt] , and my YSL tint-in-balm and a small vial of my Lolita Lempicka L perfume. 

I wanted to show off my cute pink glass boba straw from DrinkingStrawsGlass, and my protective casing from CashandDella. My city is making plastic straws unavailable so a good reusable straw is a necessity, especially for milk tea stops! I hate the taste of stainless steel, so glass was the best route for me and I love it!

Down the road I would love to be even more compact, but these are the items that work best for me! Maybe it’s good inspiration, or for a peek into how someone else lives their school life, maybe there’s something of interest that can inspire a modification to someone else’s school supply list? Regardless of the reason I hope that this entry was an enjoyable read!

<3CarisseIris

Imagination Unlimited~ The Jim Henson Exhibit

The Skirball Cultural Center in LA has been hosting a fun new exhibit this summer centering around the works of Jim Henson! A small fact about me is that I absolutely adore puppeteering/muppets! (I may have a custom muppet in my ownership and created my own a few years ago;;) So, hearing that this exhibit is showcasing near to me, I had to see it in person before it moves somewhere else.

The Jim Henson Exhibit condenses and showcases Jim Henson's Work and process of creation from the start of his career, and though different chapters of his life. On display are diagrams, sketches by Jim Henson and his creative crew, muppets and various props from multiple Jim Henson properties.

To greet those at the entrance is the actual and iconic Kermit the Frog. I was already emotional knowing that I would see these muppets in person, so embarrassingly I did tear up slightly encountering Kermit. There’s something quite precious meeting these creatures that played such a big part in my childhood. Moving on to the next section, Sesame St., was even more amazing!

Encountering the Sesame St. muppets and taking a peek into their creation was wonderful! Seeing how something so simple like ping pong balls and felt could create such memorable-lifelike  childhood friends just awed me. I could almost believe that magic exists and that these puppets could come to life at any moment!

 

The Slimey the Worm set up genuinely surprised me at the sheer size of the sets the little worm used, also at the actual size of the worms~ I asked my puppeteer friend who accompanied me to help show the true scale!

The next section of the exhibit is devoted to The Muppet Show~ It housed some of my favorite muppets like Scooter, Beaker, and Dr. Bunson! Not to be a broken record, but it was absolutely wonderful to meet them in person! Again, I couldn’t believe how simply they were composed but how effectively they sell sentience!

Something absolutely wonderful to see in person was Miss Piggy’s iconic gloves! Also seeing some of Miss Piggy’s props which I wish to own for myself~ Fun Fact; Frank Oz, the voice of Miss Piggy is also the voice of Sam Eagle, Animal, Cookie Monster, and Fozzy Bear.

The final section of the Exhibit covers other properties created by The Jim Henson Company. Titles with creatures and props featured are; Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and The Muppets 3D.

The Dark crystal had a larger presence of puppets and props displayed, the fabrication of the creatures For the film were very different and amazingly detailed in comparison to Henson’s previous creatures and definitely was wonderful eye candy! There were so many different textures and little intricate features that add to the additional visual depth of each character!

The Skeksis was one of my favorite pieces on display! Even though the Dark Crystal wasn’t one of my favorite films, I have to say that the Skeksis has to be one of the most beautifully crafted creatures!

Sadly, the photos of my favorite film Labyrinth, were corrupted. From Labyrinth, the costumes and mock up of the sets were on display. Seeing how the sets were created and the beautiful layers of the costumes fueled added adoration for this film. It is a bit disheartening to not be able to share more of the Labyrinth displays, but I was lucky enough to salvage the main piece, Sarah’s masquerade ball gown!

Though, the exhibition was a bit small, it was definitely worth visiting! The exhibit seems to be touring worldwide so there is definitely opportunities for those interested to experience it in person!

<3CarisseIris

Reset & Refresh~ Prepping for a new semester!

So, I’m no expert in school prepping or being well organized. Probably, far from it. Three semesters in, I do feel slightly better prepared in what works for me! So, I would like to share how I jump into a new semester, resetting myself so that I come at any new chapter in my life feeling like I am prepared for a good time and in a way that reduces my stress and distractions.

I like to set aside some time if possible, minimum 2 days, to knock off any tasks that I’ve put aside (probably due to procrastination) and to prepare everything for what lies ahead.

I’ll make a list of what then needs to be done: 

The first tasks I like to tackle are the most daunting ones on my list. For me, those were cleaning out my old room, getting rid of the old furniture, and organizing my junk trunk.

Following those tasks, I then focus on cleaning everything! I love that step because cleaning helps calm me down and releases my stress. I deep clean everything and everything! Then I move on to doing all my laundry and making my drawers neat and tidy. (If I notice clothing or items I have had no use for or that don’t bring me any joy then I can also use this time to compile items for donation.)

I feel it’s especially important to have nice clean bedsheets, as it just feels so great waking up in a clean bed on the start of a new journey!

The feeling of having everything in its place and nothing to worry about really helps to feel like I have nothing holding me back, and clears my head so I can focus on what is most important, in my life that would be school.

On a more specific note, since I use my iPad for my schooling, I accumulate many files and use up a lot of my storage. I like to go though all my digital files and emails to clean out any clutter sitting in there! It may be a bit underrated but my future self always is thankful for this step when I don’t need to stress about running out of storage space!

Then, before classes start, the day before, I like to charge all my devices that require charging and replace any batteries that I fear might be running low on power. It helps to relinquish any anxiety that may sit within me that I could be left unprepared for any situation that might pop up in the following days.

During the time I reset, I like to build an outline for the routine I want to have, or strengthen/improve my current daily routine. So, during the few days prior I like to try waking up and sleeping at the times I want to have ingrained in my schedule. It takes a couple weeks for a habit to fully solidify so I like visualizing and concentrating as much as I can on the routine to try retaining as much of it as possible down the road. 

In regards to my routine, I’ve been consistently waking up at 5 am, making my bed and exercising well before 8 am, so I feel like I hav e a good head start on the routine I want to have come the start of my semester. So, It will be a test on my consistency and trusting the plans I laid out for myself.

Knowing that I have everything planned out, eases any apprehension or excuses that I may create for myself and refocuses my energy to be spent on what I deem as important!

I don’t think I get any extreme anxiety, but I know I am a ‘type A’ personality~ so if things don’t go perfectly I tend to get overly self deprecating. Planning things out and making sure that I create the best chance for myself to work to my full potential helps me wake up on the morning school starts feeling great and hopefulness that the coming months will work out just fine!

If anyone reading this post needs help with a jump start or might need any aid in releasing a bit of apprehension when starting something new, maybe this exercise might be just the thing to help guide the way! 

Please feel free to use the above outlines I created for your own use! 

School starts for me in a few days. I completed my reset a bit early, but I can still fine tune my routine!

I’m going to try up keeping my blogposts during this semester! So, there might be some more growing pains, but hopefully I can pursue this and grow a bit more as this year progresses!

<3CarisseIris