DIY

Lemme tell ya, not having an iphone= not having cute cases. Seriously all of the cases I've found for my Nokia Lumia 920 are UHHHHGUHHHLEEEEE, so I took it upon myself to reach back into my hat of tricks and just...make my own haha.

In the past year, I've grown to love studs.....A L O T. It started off with trying to make my own phone case, and then it just grew from there. I don't even know what about them is so appealing to me, I just love em'! There's PLENTY of studded phone cases out there, but most of them are anywhere from $25-$65, pretty bananas right? But have no fear! Cause I've got the perfect D.I.Y for you! This will work with any type of cellphone, as long as you can find a plain or clear case for it :) 

Alright, so they sent me the wrong case, I don't like to do these types of things with the rubberized plastic cases.....cause no glue (besides super glue) will stick to it, and I hate super glue. But y'know girls gotta do what's a girl's gotta do. If you have the regular plastic case, I STRONGLY advise using E6000 glue instead of super glue. (To me, super glue is like glass. Trust me, it shatters) But for the sake of this DIY, we'll be using Super Glue....moving on....

1. Some sort of glue. I used super glue for the stated reason above. But Gorilla glue will work too,
2. Studs....obviously. I got a pack of 80 studs for like $3 and free shipping. If you're using a hard case you're gonna need flatback studs. I think they call em "hot fix" studs, because they iron-on.
3. A case that fits your phone! It doesn't have to be white, it can be any color your heart desires
4. A sharpie or a marker, pretty optional, but I keep one of these handy just incase you wanna map out where you wanna put the studs before you commit yourself to gluing it down. 

Okay, so since you're using glue and the studs are usually pretty small (and my hands aren't so small) glue usually will get on your hands. If it bothers you or irritates your skin....wear gloves. OR since I cant stand super glue,  I used tweezers to place and moves studs.

Step one: I like to plan it out first before just going to gluing it. So I like to place the studs on the phone and see how it looks. If it doesn't turn out according to plan, you can always throw the studs off and start all over. This is where a marker comes in handy. The design I went with was pretty easy so I didn't need to mark my places, but if you're doing a more complex design now is where you'd wanna put place marks

Step two: One by one, start to glue. DON'T DO WHAT I DID, I put the glue on the stud and tried to place it down, and in the process ended up having to rip the stud off of my skin...haha So, I found it easier to just put a little glue on the case itself and then set the stud down on the glue. Tweezers are helpful in this step, cause those pesty studs slip and slide frequently. 

Step three: Once you've got your studs on there and you're content with the design and the outcome, BAM you're done. Just let it dry for a few hours before taking it out on the town.

*if you're using e6000 you wanna let it dry overnight

VOILA'! 

One very cute, very studded phone case :) 

If you have any questions or suggestions for future DIY's just leave em in the comments or email me and I'll me more than happy to help you out

xx, angela

Good Reads: Lauren Conrad

Now, I never really had anyone there to teach me about hair and makeup and all that girly stuff. My sister went off to college when I was still in my 'smackers' days, and my mom....well, she didn't want me wearing makeup, quite frankly I don' think she wants me wearing make up now either. So, I had the luxury of teaching myself how to apply makeup, and trust me, it showed sometimes haha. But while I'm no professional, I thought I had found a process that worked for me and not even gonna lie, I was feeling pretty confident with my make up application abilities......Till I found Lauren Conrad's books and I began second guessing everything...haha

I've always admired LC's hair and makeup, I could never understand how her face looked so flawless and there was never a streak on her face or a hair misplaced on her head. Now, I know what you're thinking "Angela, she's a celebrity, she has people do that stuff for her." Even her candids though, she's just so flawless. I don't get it. I still kind of don't get it, but these books, lemme tell you, these books are the best thing I've discovered since sliced bread.

Now a lot of you are probably like "These books are common sense, anyone who experimented with makeup knows these things." And yeah, sure a lot of the stuff is pretty easy-peasy but there are some things in the book, the beauty book especially, that I wasn't entirely aware of. Lauren Conrad's books are ideally for teens, tweens and people in their early twenties....not really for those who are in their late 40's and have already acquired all of the life-long knowledge of people and fashion. The books showcase a lot of top tips for upping your game, without completely destroying your own personal style. 

While I've always admired Lauren's style, there's no way in hell I could ever pull off half the things she wears, thus why the beauty book is top notch for me. Seriously though, if you're ever in a rut where you can't really decide how to style your next hair cut, or just how to contour your face, pick up LC's books. They're seriously good reads.

xx,

angela