DIY Toms like Shoes

I do love Toms shoes, but sometimes they simply do not have the colors I need. My daughter is going to be Tinker Bell this Halloween, and I want her to have matching, but comfy, shoes, to go trick-or-treating. So after two weeks of browsing around for the perfect shoes, I bumped into a look-a-like natural pair of Toms shoes at Hobby Lobby.

Well, with my thinking skills was pretty simple, I already had Mod Podge at come, just grabbed a bottle of green extra fine glitter, and we are on our way to make our own shade of Tinker Bell Green Toms Shoes. :-)

First I brushed the shoes with Mod Podge, making sure the fabric soaked well. Also I did it by parts, so the glue wouldn't dry before the next step.

Second I poured the sparkles over the glue. And repeated again, all over the shoes.

Pretty simple huh?

♥ Enjoy!

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Anna Dusek

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Organizing a Patio or Small Balcony

Today is the sewing machine day! Although I am not a professional with the sewing machine, I can get my hands around one pretty well when I need it.

But today today's project won't need a sewing machine. 

Since we moved to Charlotte we had to adapt to a much smaller space than we were used to have in Chicago. Adding to that we have an almost 3 year old child with tons of toys and energy, so storage have been a problem to us.

Our apartment have a small storage closet on our patio area where we keep few bins with Christmas ornaments, Halloween and Easter Decorations, Golf clubs, and a few other things. But for the past year, all I saw every time I went there was this:

Pure Disaster, right?

After a bit of organization in the closet, I was able to fit the stroller in there.

Now with all the space to decorate I was wishing I could have some sitting area in the balcony. But with our little girl that's asking a bit too much. 

So my first step was to go to Lowes and grab an outdoor rug for about $80.00

 Sophia's wagon would not fit in the closet, so it serves now as the "blanket basket".

After organizing the storage area, I had 3 Sterilite Storage Drawers left, and I almost tossed them. I am so glad I kept, because I transformed them in a little bench area. 

I went to Lowes again, and bough some plywood (asked them to cut the same size as my boxes). Them following the steps of how to make an upholstered storage bench from the DIY Network I upholstered it with some foam and clearance fabric found at Joann Fabrics. Of course I had to add a crochet detail to it. So i made a cute pillow cover and of one of the squares, I crocheted a granny square.

Ta-da! Perfect spot for our kiddo hangout and play.

♥ Enjoy!

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Anna Dusek

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How to Dye Cheesecloth

So I was watching Martha Stewart on Hulu the other day and she had a great tutorial on dyeing scarves. Following her instructions I decided to dye a few cheesecloths wraps for newborn photography.

I headed to Joann Fabrics and grabbed a package of 6 yards Dritz Cheesecloth for US$ 6.20. and cut them in 6 parts (1 yard each).

I also bought some liquid Rit Dye and using the Color Chart on Rit website I started creating  my own colors. 

Because cheesecloth is so thin, I used Rit's measurements for 5 cups of water, instead of the 1 cup suggested in the combinations.

♥ Enjoy!

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Anna Dusek

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How to redirect a custom domain in Blogger

A couple weeks ago a decided to revamp my entire blog and turned it into a much more functional layout. First I got a simple template, just to start, and then I tweaked it to my own taste. It's true that I do like a challenge, and with the last one I learned a whole bunch of new things.

One of them I will share with you today: how to redirect your blog to a new address. So here you may say "-Well just use the publishing tool in settings". You see, my problem was that I was already using the redirecting tool from my .blogspot.com address to a custom address. And now I want my custom address to be redirected to my new webpage.

If you don't have the same problem as I had, it's pretty simple. All you have to do is go to Settings > Basic > Publishing > + Set up a 3rd party URL for you blog.

Then add your new website address as showing below:

And after you save it will appear as follow:

Now if you, like me, need to actually forward from a custom address to a new custom address using a blogger platform, here's what you need to do:

Go to Template > Edit HTML and past the code bellow (remember to replace the red text wit your own new url):

<script type='text/javascript'>
var d='<data:blog.url/>';
d=d.replace(/.*\/\/[^\/]*/, '');
location.href = 'http://www.annadusek.com';
</script>

You can see how it will look like in the following picture:

Now save your template and your blog is redirected!

♥ Enjoy!

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Anna Dusek

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How to Fix Cracked Rain Boots

I was devastated when I took my boots out of the back of my car the other day. After going to the farm during the rain season, I left them in the car, and with the sun and heat, I assume, they got damaged.

My not so long ago, trendy black pair of wellies were ruined. But I have not intention on spending a ridiculous amount of money on another pair again (not that I paid much in the first place - God bless you DSW!). So I figure out my own way to fix them up.

First of all they are made of rubber, right? Having some ArmorAll Extreme Tire Shine from when I was treating my car tires the other day, I thought wouldn't hurt to give it a try. First I gave my boots a good scrub, and after they were dry I sprayed the product all over them and let it sit for about one hour. Then I just wiped of and it was done. Not as new, but way better than what they were.

Ingredients:- Liquid detergent
- Heavy duty scour pad
- Armor All Extreme Tire Shine

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Anna Dusek

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DIY 3D Paper Stars

Oh the stars. If I could only reach them.
Well since I can't, I can make my own stars and have them decorating a party. These 3D paper stars by A Subtle Revelry are pretty easy to make and will add a lot of flair to whatever you are going to decorate.  You can make them in any size and have a lot of fun, even if the idea is to just make a little fairy wand.

{Photos by Jocelyn Noel}

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Anna Dusek

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