Live or DIY Trying

Six DIY versions of popular pieces, road tested by someone with an attention deficit and zero crafting skills.

As someone with a pathological deficit of patience, attention, and skill with crafty stuff, "hearing “DIY” sends a shiver down my spine. However, lately, I’ve been seeing many pieces that I, as per my sad sack rant about money in my last post, can’t afford (and can’t access from Argentina, where importing is a Kafkaesque nightmare), but that seemed simple enough to DIY, so…I tried my hand.

Note: I appreciate all of the artists and designers behind the original pieces, and I’m not going to sell anything I make inspired by their work! I think that a respectful little DIY for personal use that gives credit to the OG is way better than, like, buying an A*azon dupe, and when I am no longer broke as a joke, I will be delighted to support these creators (most of whom I have in the past)! I obviously waive full credit for these concepts to the people and brands linked below. Let me know in the comments if you end up making any of these or have any ideas as to other DIYs for hopeless cases like myself that I can embark upon in the future.

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Cozy Rainbow Pearl Necklace

inspired by this necklace from Karo Koru (sold out, was $185)

My version:

• Plastic pearl necklace from a street fair — $1000 ARS (~$1.60 USD)

• Ball of rainbow acrylic yarn from a local shop — $950 ARS (~$1.50 USD)

I simply cut three-inch or so pieces of yarn, tied each between two “pearls” on the strand:

Then trimmed the excess length and frayed the yarn with my fingers to get a fuzzy effect.

Floral Sneakers

inspired by Cecile Bahnsen x Asics (SS23, not the recent limited RTW drop)

My version:

• Hoka Bondi 7 (very old, when I bought them they were like $140, here they are in the $200s)

• Fake flowers — about $1000 ARS worth, ~$1.60 USD)

• Hot glue gun and glue sticks — $3000 ARS (~$5 USD)

I simply cut the flowers as close to the buds as possible, then did an extremely sloppy job of hot gluing them on to the sneakers. They hold surprisingly well, maybe because I used huge gobs of glue and just cleaned up the errant strings after.

Bow Beanie

inspired by this Chopova Lowena beanie ($225)

My version:

• Knit Beanie — $1650 ARS from a dollar store (~$2.80 USD)

• Ribbon — $200 ARS for two meters from local shop (~$0.37 USD)

I made sure to pick a loosely knit beanie and a fairly thin ribbon, then just wove the ribbon in and out of the cap at random, tying big, floppy bows every so often. This could look cool with even more bows, but I also like the understated-ness of keeping it a little simple.

Bouquet Athletic Shorts

inspired by these shorts by Michelle Li for Relax Lacrosse Brand (presale over, extras available soon)

My version:

• Fake Flower — about $900 ARS for a bouquet, I only used one (~$1.45 USD)

• Safety Pin — I just had it around the house

• Ribbon — $100 ARS for a meter (~$0.17 USD)

• Thrifted Athletic Shorts — $4000 ARS (~$6.75 USD)

I cut a flower to the plastic nub, stuck a safety pin through the base, and pinned it to the hip of my oversized athletic shorts:

Then finished with a bit of ribbon tied to hide the pin.

Braid Necklace

inspired by this necklace by Marland Backus (£152)

My version:

• Fake Braid — $1500 ARS from a random kids’ store (~$2.50 USD)

• Steel Necklace — $900 ARS (~$1.45 USD)

• Metal Ring cribbed from an unused keychain

I carefully stripped the braid of its glued-on Frozen accoutrements, leaving the top and bottom tied with the elastics it came with:

Then slipped the metal ring through the loop at the top of the braid and attached it to the non-clawed end of the necklace.

Can be worn in a plethora of ways.

Bow Headband

inspired by this headband from Sandy Liang (sold out in blue, $149 in black)

My version:

• Headband — $700 ARS from dollar store (~$1.20 USD)

• Ribbon — $100 ARS for a meter (~$0.17 USD)

I literally just tied the ribbon onto the headband in small bows with long, dangling ends about an inch above where my ear was going to go. Could use hot glue for extra security.

Love this with super short hair especially.

That was fun! Let me know below or on IG if you’re interested in more DIYs for dummies, and if so, what my next victim should be.

<3 HR