Boifromipanema: How to braided leather bracelet

Summertime is here and there is no way to better achieve that bohemian accessorized look, than with some chunky wrist candy! I used about two feet of leather cord to braid my bracelet. Then I decided to give it a bit of faux beading details with some Tulip Slick dimensional paints to brighten up the leather.  Check out my video tutorial to see how I made this rad braided leather bracelet! 

Altered Tie-Dye T-shirt Challenge featuring Jeshua of Boi from Ipanema

When I was a kid, I use to be like, totally OBSESSED with ancient Egyptian culture. 

I would spend hours at the library, reading books about Pharaohs and mummies and Nefertiti    

 *kids be like "Whaaat? What's a li-berry?*.....

A few of my favorite movies are The Prince of Egypt, The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra. All completely accurate tellings of ancient Egyptian culture, amirite?

 I was completely enraptured with the mystique and magic of a great civilization, lost in time.  

I've always considered traditional Egyptian chest-pieces super cool and interesting.  Those Egyptians were ahead of their time, style included. I was inspired to do my own take on the chest piece look that can be dressed up for a night out or paired with a denim shorts or leggings for a more casual look great for both guys and girls.  

Here's what you'll need:
-White cotton t-shirt

-Moody Blues Tie-Dye kit

-Fuchsia One-Step dye

-Spray bottle

-painter's tape

Lay out your shirt and with your painter's tape, mark off a point about mid chest.  I've found that marking off the "dye limit" point will help keep the collar at a reasonable place, because once you get going, it's kinda hard to cut yourself off! lol

Mix up your dyes and add the colors in alternating rings to DRY fabric.  The key to this technique is to add the dyes in a clean "dots and dashes" pattern.  Make sure that there is space between each dot of color and each section of your collar because the dye will need room to spread. If the colors are too close together, the end result may be more muddy than majestic and no one wants that to happen, right?

Thoroughly spray the collar of your tee to blend the colors. Try to keep the water ONLY on the dyed areas. The dyes will spread to any part of the fabric that's wet so you don't want the colors to spread too far down the tee. The goal is too keep the colors about mid chest to give the appearance of the Egyptian-styled chest piece.  

Allow the shirt to rest for about 6 hours to ensure that the dyes really soak in and the fabric absorbs all of the pigment.  Then wash according to instructions and wear!

I hope your new shirt makes you feel like a rad Pharaoh King slash Queen of the Nile because you will definitely turn some heads rocking this tee! 

Until next time,

ttyl.

Jeshua

Check out more of my posts at boifromipanema.com

DIY American Flag-Inspired Shorts

Fourth of July is right around the corner, and if you're like me you want to look fly for the holiday weekend..

.

because let's face it Jeshua...you're single and you need to make an effort... at some point.  

 -_-

The other day I was shopping at an overpriced boutique store - and by shopping, I mean looking at everything saying "I could make that"- and I came across some denim cut-offs with an American (USA) Flag pattern painted on it.

I decided to do my own take on the painted denim. It's subtle enough to be worn all summer long and patriotic enough to be an Independence Day statement piece.

– A pair of denim shorts

– Sand paper

– Tulip Fabric Spray Paint (Yellow)

– Painter's tape

LINK

Diy Wooden Henna Bangle

Hey guys! 

So summer is just around the corner! The perfect weather for that easy, breezy beach look....

-and whats a beach look without a little arm swag right?-

Well ...I've found the perfect, thought-filled gifts for the women in my life and a super easy method to make a really creative and individualized bangle.

The folks over at DIY Bangles have these awesome wooden bangles that come in a bunch of sizes and different styles to help you make the perfect choice for your personality.

What You Need:
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Gold

Tulip Fabric Spray Paint

Tulip Fashion Glitter

Tulip Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint

Collage Pauge

Wooden Bangle from DIY Bangles

Painter's Tape

Paintbrushes

Base-coat your bangle with Tulip Soft fabric paint and let dry. I used gold on the outside and black on the inside to give a bit of contrast.  

I used some painters tape around the edges to keep the black from covering the gold paint. 

Next, using the Tulip fabric spray, give your bangle a few light spritzes in varying colors.  

Next, I used some Collage Pauge with sparkles in it to give the base of the bangle a bit of shine.  I even added a generous helping of the white  Tulip Fashion Glitter to really give it some 

karate-kick-realness (I suppose that, in my dictionary, that just means to make it cooler! lol).

Since I painted the inside of my bracelet black, I added some black Crafty Chica glitter to the Collage Pauge to give the inside some more dimension and sparkle *jazz hands* 

I used the Tulip Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint  to make a design over the surface of the bangle.   I got some inspiration from a few henna designs that I found on the internet.  

The dimensional paint took some getting use to, but once I got the hang of it, it was totally easy to manipulate the size and thickness of the lines.  

Once the Dimensional paint dried, I used some paint markers I had laying around to color

 in the design.

 The last step is to coat the entire bangle with the high-gloss Collage Pauge (without sparkles) to seal the bangle and give it a really nice finish.

Here's the finished bangle:

The brighter and more colorful, the better!  Experiment with different colors and techniques.

Get that glitter all up in there!!!

But most of all DO YOU! Do your own thing because nothing is cooler than a creation from your own imagination 

until next time,

ttyl.

Jeshua

Check out more of my posts at boifromipanema.com