Make Your Own Dress Form with Duct Tape.

My heart is heavy today. Heavy. Like really real stuff. I'm attributing some of these raw feelings to the New Moon today. I actually did a post on the New Moon today over at Lotus Tarot. I don't want to give into these raw feelings too much.. other than take the path of healing that this Virgo Moon is urging. Self love, self healing, forgiveness, and acceptance..

Anyways, this post is not on the New Moon. I posted this picture yesterday with the promise of finally posting that body form tutorial! (Also, cute kitten alert!)

So, here is a little bit about the dress form...  I woke up one day, and told Sterling I had an idea. I set a budget for $35.00 and we ended up going over a bit. I thought I'd only need 3 rolls of duct tape. Boy was I wrong. It was still under the price of a regular body form, and this one has my exact measurements.

Sorry for the rough photos.. My house was a giant mess the day I decided to do this!

What you will need:
Lamp post, coat rack, basically anything with legs for you to put the body form on.
Topper (Optional) This is for the "head" I ended up using a decorative ball and candlestick. I painted them, and glued them together. It's perfect!
Duct tape
Plastic Wrap
Old T-shirt
Stuffing
Fabric
Hot Glue
Ribbon or Trim (Optional)

I found this lamp at the thrift store for $6. It was perfect. 

We trimmed the cord off and I painted it black and silver. 

For the topper, I used a candle stick and decorative ball. I also painted them black and silver. 

To make the paint look like a dark brushed silver, I painted it black then did small spurts of black and silver on the stand and the topper. The end result looks like an antique metal. 

Next is the not so fun part.

You will probably need someone to help tape you. Wear a t-shirt you never plan on seeing again, as it will become part of your dress form. Have someone duct tape you up. To get true measurements, it needs to be pretty tight. It can get a bit hard to breathe, plus you will want to sit... That's probably too bad, cause sitting or doing anything will add lumps and wrinkles. So be prepared to stand still, with shallow breathing and a bit of back pain. Oh yeah, it might be hot. 

Oh, and please have extra tape. We ran out, of tape. Sterling had to run to the store and buy more.

It was rough. 

Put plastic wrap around anywhere the tape will touch your skin. I only used it on my neck because my sleeves were long enough. Please notice the lack of smile on my face. We may have taped me up a bit too tight and at that point it was taking way longer than I thought. It was worth it through. 

Once you look like you are ready for a little space party in your duct tape dress.. it's time to take it off! 

(Wohoo!!) 

Now assuming you trusted the person who taped you up, hand them a pair of scissors and trust them to cut the space party dress off of you. "Cut the t-shirt and plastic wrap, but NOT my bra! Or my skin. Please." 

A success. 

Now it's time to tape the back up of your empty body form. 

I put some cardboard over the neck and arm holes and taped over them.

The next part is kind of tricky, as you are attaching a body form to a stick. 

And I'm going to kind of step out of this "how to" for a moment and tell you you may be on your own for this part. Each stick or stand is going to be different. We used a lamp post for crying out loud. I kind of let Sterling figure it out. I was taking advantage of taking deep breaths and sitting again.  

What I think we ended up doing was sticking the pole through the body and screwing it through the neck. We used glue, screws, and more glue until it finally stood. 

The next part is stuffing it. You want to stuff it so it's pretty full, but not too full, because then you can end up with a hunch back, or lopsided butt. So, fill it up just enough.. not too full. Mine ended up having a bit of lumpy hips, which I was able to fix just a bit. (Also I do have bony hips) 

It turns out when I stand I tend to pop a hip out and keep my weight on one leg more than the other, so my dress form looks like she is full of sass. I love it. 

Then cover your body form with fabric. I chose to use the red velvet I used in my dining room makeover. I've seen some mod podge newspaper or vintage paper over the tape. Either way, you probably want to cover the tape up. 

(Notice how messy my house is getting?!) 

I covered it with velvet using hot glue and fitted strips of fabric. I tried to keep the strips uniform and fitted, but this time the project had taken about 4 hours more than I thought it was and I was just wanting to be done. 

I hid the seams with white trim and ribbon. This gave it a finished vintage look. 

I think over all the dress form durned out great. There are some minor flaws in it, but it is a copy of me after all.. and aren't we all full of flaws? 

Good luck. If you make one, I'd love to see pictures and help answer questions! 

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Royal Dining Room Set Makeover.

Last weekend I drove around looking for a new place to live. 

I think I've finally decided on the city, and I'm just looking for the right house or apartment. 

Sadly my plans to move have been postponed again... So I will most likely be waiting until this fall to move. So I have a few months to continue living in my old home. 

I decided I could still change things up enough to make things feel new.

I decided to start with my kitchen table. 

I adore the one that I've been using, but it's been awfully big and tall. 

I tend to bump my knees and ankles on it every time. 

So, I decided to get a new one. 

I only wanted to spend about $25-30 on the whole table and chairs,

 so I went shopping at the thrift stores. I was able to find the table for only $5.00 and each chair for only $5.00! I bought the paint and varnish for only $20.00.

I was wanting to go for an antique royal gothic look. Rather than the country kitchen look the original chairs had going on.  So I had a lot of work on my hands... But I'm totally happy with the results.  

The table turned purple first than a lovely dark brown. I then sanded the sides down to get that worn look I was wanting. Then I varnished the entire table. I did a few extra coats on the top to make it very shiny. I then did the same to the chairs. Sterling painted his own chair, and I painted mine. We figured they would be thrones, and we each needed to put our own energy into them. 

I then reupholstered the original cushion, and made a new one. I bought wood, added foam and stapled the velvet to it like the original cushions, and hid the rough staples with some strategic hot gluing. I then had Sterling help me screw the cushions in, and the silver decor added on top. It was originally dark brown, but I painted it a subtle silver. I'm probably going to be adding something underneath it in that space that just needs... something.

We also added some metal ribbon to the table. Metal ribbon. Have you heard such a thing?! It's real. I painted it with the same brown paint as everything else. and lightly wiped it off.

The entire table is so much smaller, making my kitchen huge. 

The chairs are super comfortable and beautiful. The table may be small, but it's perfect. 

The cost for the entire table set was a bit more than I was expecting to pay. But, I wasn't planning on adding the back cushions or the metal trims. If I would have kept it simple It would have been done under 30.00 easily... but I'm not one for keeping things simple. 

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DIY Toothpaste and Oil Pulling

I've been using "All Natural" toothpaste for years now. About 3 years ago I threw out everything in my house that wasn't all natural or organic. Including my toothpaste and deodorant. The toothpaste I was using was pretty good, but there were still a lot of mystery ingredients.. Plus I've been wanting to make myself and my home more self sufficient. Make my own soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent and now toothpaste. I figure, if I can't pronounce the name, or I have no idea what it is, it shouldn't below in or on my body. Plus, we all know fluoride is bad for the brain! So, I came up with my own toothpaste recipe, and after using it for only about a month, I'm already noticing awesome results!  

A few days ago, I showed this picture, showing off my teeth. I recently started using homemade toothpaste and it's helped whiten my teeth so much! After sharing the picture I was asked by several different people for the recipe, so I pulled one together.

First off, I bought a cute little glass jar from Hobby Lobby. I chose one with a spoon because this toothpaste is rather solid and you need to scoop it out with something. The recipe below makes 2 of these jars. I made one for me and one for Sterling who is a very patient man and actually brushes his teeth with it.

Most of these ingredients I already had in my cupboards! 

These ingredients are optional. The redmond clay was added in last minute just for added benefits. 

Some recipes don't call for oil. I would recommend the Grape Fruit Seed Oil as it has restorative properties to help rebuild teeth! 

Homemade Toothpaste 

You will need:

Organic Coconut Oil 1 cup

Baking Soda 3 Tablespoons

Redmund Clay 2 tablespoons

Essential Oils of your choice 7 drops 

(I used wintergreen) You won't be swallowing it but still make sure it's okay for consumption. 

Stevia Packets 4 packets 

Grapefruit seed Extract 10 drops

Gently heat the oil until softened or liquid, take off the heat and mix all ingredients together. 

Store in a glass container and use when cool.

Make sure you spit this out in the trashcan. NOT the sink! 

The toothpaste was very unpleasant at first from the saltiness of the baking soda, but after a few days it's not bad at all. Some say it's from the baking soda neutralizing the acids in your mouth, some say you just get use to it. Either way, prepare to hate the taste at first1 

Aside from brushing with my toothpaste I've also been oil pulling! 

It's like a mouth wash and it's super easy, just pop 1 tablespoon of solid coconut oil in your mouth and chew on it until it's liquid then swish for 20 minutes. Then spit it out in the trash! 

And yes I mean 20 minutes! It seems like a super long time, and it is at first. Try to incorporate it into your daily routine, like while you shower, get dressed or do your hair. If you want you could probably try 10 minutes in the morning and 10 at night. Your jaw won't get too tired! 

I won't go too much into oil pulling since there are so many great articles already, but just a quick summary, Oil Pulling has been around for ages and is now just getting introduced in the west. It is supposed to help pull toxins from the body as well as strengthen the teeth and jaw. It can even help with general pain or hormonal imbalances. This is a pretty great article on it. 

Resource Links:

http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-toothpaste/
http://besttoothpaste.net/
http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-is-oil-pulling



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