pants on fiya!

since joggers aren't exactly making a fashion statement i'm looking for something comfy and fashionable. i love, love, love these wide, printed floral pants! it doesn't get better than this!

i found me some beautiful printed silk fabric for $15/yard that i plan on transforming into something similar to the top right. now if i can just find the time this weekend...

isn't this gorgeous?! i'll share my findings...

get yo nails did!

i'm such a casual-boheem-joggers-hair out girl...no nail polish, no lipstick,  just basics. but all these photos on instagram are making me envy these fun designs. so now i'm officially addicted to nail polish and nail art. i usually only get my nails done when i'm hanging out with my homie Dahlia, but me and miss Andrea Lewis got our nails done at the salon over a week ago and i'm looking at the nail tech like, "give me that nail polish and let me do it". she free handed a black french manicure and it wasn't as clean as i would have liked it. however, it was a nice treat having someone hook me up especially my toes. but as you all know i'm about saving my pennies. this look i did at home cost under $5. i already had black and pink nail polish which i bought for $1 each on 125th in Harlem. i just got those stickers for french manicures for $2 and instead flipped them upside down. i love how black nail polish looks as an accent but you can use any colour combination. make sure the base color is DRY! i put the sticker on too soon and it ended up peeling off the pink. but yeah...you can do so many designs if you play around and get creative.

even Jackie's upping her style game :)

you do realize nail art on dogs would be a sensation...especially here in nyc

diy jean shorts! finally!

what a week! first i get the flu, then loose my voice, then get pink eye in one eye, and wake today with pink eye in both! at least i can see and despite my cigar voice i can talk. and good thing blogs require only patience and a keyboard... this weekend i revamped 2 pairs of shorts. this first one is really simple. i didn't take photos since i did it on a saturday night while ya'll were out partying i was with my scissors on the couch watching psych...but yeah all you need are scissors and snip, snip, away:

they still have to go through a wash to give that authentic distressed and not man-made look but so far so good! this back cutout is best done on high waisted jeans. i thought about cutting out a portion of the back pockets along the horizontal arch but...too risque? not so if you have cut undies or swim gear on...perhaps tacky?
anyway pair #2 these ones require a sewing machine. there are tons of laces and crochets out there i was torn...i ended up going with these to rock with a black and white plaid top i have

cute, cute!

i have one more pair that are in production...i had to bleach them whitish which took the entire day yesterday...am i missing something? i didn't know bleaching a pair of light jeans could be such a pain! anyways, here's a sneak peek...and yes that is pink metallic leather :)

major thanks to my boo bear for taking photos of my derriere :)

diy denim part 2 of...

so it turns out i have quite the denim collection waiting to be revamped into something new. but before i go A.D.D. on ya'll i did in fact revamp my acid wash jeans yesterday. and because they were way too big i converted them into a cute pillow case. 

i was so frustrated trying to get these jeans to behave, i didn't take too many photos of "the making of":

cost: $4 zipper, $4 jeans

this would sit lovely with my  i♥ny t-shirt pillow cases i did last year here

 as for my pile of jeans you ask? i've got fabric dye and i ordered gold studs online so once that comes in i'll definitely be revamping a couple pairs of shorts. mama needs new clothes!

UPDATE: DIY JEAN SHORTS HERE

curls, curls, curls, curls

every curly haired girls wants to know what i do's with my hair. well in the past 10 years i had the same hair care regimen: shampoo with whatever, condition with Herbal Essence, Tresemme, or whatever but usually those two, my must use leave in was Olive Oil Moisturizer, and my must use curl defining styler Eco Styler Gel and the occasional deep treatment with i can't remember but several products oh and of course dry with a diffuser or air dry...boom! that's all i did and it worked and my hair was healthy and long. THEN I moved to NY and something happened. my hair became brittle and dry, split ends everywhere, even holes in the middle of the hair shaft. WTF!!! i have no idea what started it...the water? the few dominican hair blow outs? the one time i did that silly vinegar/baking soda clarifying wash which was a huge no no, stress? maybe a combination of all of the above? in any event i need to change up my game cause what I did in the past isn't holding up these days. i've already chopped off about 3 inches which solved the split ends but my hair is still feeling dry and brittle. i tried a protein treatment called Aphogee which you can see and feel the results immediately but it didn't last much longer than a few days to a week. oh! i did find a really amazing deep treatment called Parnevu Organic Hair Mayonnaise which REALLY conditions my hair but it seems my biggest problem is when my hair is finished being washed and when i wear it out curly. the curls actually look great to everyone but me cause it feels horrible! i tried moisturizing with 100% shea butter and Vatika oil, which is an Indian product charged with coconut oil and a bunch of healthy stuff, it's kinda working but i was still missing something. i turned my attention to google and youtube and made some amazing discoveries. most recently i tried a homemade leave-in which i read about on naturallycurly.com. then saw a video on youtube on how to make it here. this so far seems to do the trick. my hair actually feels soft...FINALLY! it's only day 2 so i'll touch base in a few weeks but me likey :) all the info on how to make it are on those links. after i wash my hair i spritz that on in sections, do some twists, put on that funny cap, which my hubby finds so attractive, and go to bed. in the morning i'll do step 2 and use my Olive Oil Moisturizer (unless you know of a better product) and my Eco Styler Gel. I haven't had the need to do the last 2 steps but i think i'll need to to keep my curls looking juicy. but yes! if your hair is feeling dry and brittle i suggest this. hopefully it works for you. cost:$7.99 vegetable glycerine, $3.99 apricot oil (you can forego this if you have olive or coconut oil), $1.99 spray bottle, $2.99 night cap, all under $20 bucks and so worth it!

i love all this stuff right here. my hair doesn't seem to like Tresemme anymore but i'm gonna try adding oil to it. i read on naturallycurly.com that that helps. otherwise i'll have to experiment

a collage of my hair throughout the ages...

i'm headed out to meet with fellow curly hair Andrea Lewis from TGAW and introduce her to the wonderful world of hair care products here on 125th

and the saga continues

i had no idea what i was in for when i decided to work on this bathroom project. i feel like Mike Holmes. nothing is as it seems. 4 days of stripping paint stressed me the heck out. imagine applying stripper on the ceiling. what happens is gravity pulls the weight of the stripper and paint down leaving the layers below unaffected. did everything come off after 4 days of stripping twice a day and 2 cans later? of course not. so i started sanding to level as much as i could. mind you i'm working on a ceiling exhausting my muscles. now that's done i'm plastering everything to smooth it out. it's looking slightly better. no paint in sight. my goal is to have a clean smooth surface to work on before i leave for Toronto for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. in the mean time lets bump those gross images in my post below with some fresh inspiration.

beyond frugal

to be quite honest this right now is the most tight budgeted i've ever been and for this long. but that is OK cause money isn't everything and my brain is working in ways it normally wouldn't have. as you know i'm cocktail waitressing and just found out yesterday that we MUST wear closed toed shoes. the problem...i don't have a dressy pair of closed toed shoes nor the finances to buy a comfy pair of hot pumps which i eyed at Geox. so instead of buying a pair of cheap $30 shoes that will kill my feet i had to improvise and fast. i love my cute kitten heels but they have a peek-a-boo open toe. one of the managers noticed them quick fast and told me i couldn't rock them. "well go ahead and buy me a new pair of shoes" as i threw water in their face, is what i thought as i said "i'll see what i can do". so i got home rattling my brain. "think Maya, think". i found my old satin shirt that i rock with a high waisted skirt so it spared me the couple inches i needed. i can now add cobbler to my list of credits :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

i wish it were halloween all the time. ok maybe not all the time but more than once a year. dressing up is way too much fun! it's the one time of the year creativity is bubbling everywhere. as you all know i'm Minnie Mouse and being the crafty person i am i set out to make my costume. my first stop was Dressew. this store is off the hook! i always find my textile needs here. every Halloween this store is jam packed with last minute shoppers and of course i was no exception.

the first part of my costume i tackled were the gloves. i'm thinking this will SELL the cartoonESQUE of my costume and it's the hardest. here's what i did:
1) i started first by making a pattern by tracing my hand.
2) after i traced around that with 4 chubby fingers.
3) gloves typically have 2 layers: front and back, but i wanted thick gloves so each glove had 4 layers: 2 for the front 2 for the back.
4) i used the sewing machine to go around the complete outline of the glove to bind them all together
5) and then a zig zag stitch around AGAIN to keep the fabric from fraying.
6) and finally i added 3 huge black stitches to give it that cartoon look

the next part of my costume were the bloomers Minnie wears underneath her skirt. you could probably skip this part but i'm a sucker for detail. i pulled out a pair of pj's i owned and made a rough pattern for my bloomers from those. since the bloomers are baggy there's room for inaccuracies.

and of course Minnie's signature skirt. i loved working with vinyl since it doesn't fray which means less work for me. i made the pattern for Minnie's skirt from a green leather skirt i own. my only regret is i wish i had a poofy skirt to copy from. the dress i made isn't as tight as my pencil skirt but it could be wider. at $4.99 a meter and only buying 1.5 meters you can't go wrong

and finally Minnie's bow. i was gonna go old skool and do the hat but it cost more time and money. so bow it is!

that's all for the costume sewing. i'm gonna run and paint my face and have some fun tonight. the final results will be posted asap along with full on photo shoot :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

have a seat

i officially have a fetish with vintage chairs. dang...i guess i have a lot of obsessions. anyways, i found this beauty at Salvation Army on 12th & Main St. for $9.99. i bought the fabric from ikea for $6.99/m but you only need half a meter. so simpo!
cost: $13.49+tax

seat had paint stains. but i really like the design elements of the chair. very graphic. me likey.

just undo the screws

cut out a circle pattern with enough give to go around the chair and get stapled. i picked this graphic pattern to make this chair shine in all its glory. sew a zig zag stitch along the edges to prevent fabric from fraying

staple away

screw the seat back on and voila!