Stylegodis Giveaway!!

Suuurprise! We have a present for you... 

We have teamed up with our friends at StyleGodis to give one lovely person these beautiful earrings in GOLD or SILVER.. your choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just quickly 'like' the island secret and StyleGodis on Facebook and let us know what colour you prefer  (gold or silver) by commenting.. and you're entered.

Simple as pie

xx

Carly and Stacie

PS. Thanks for all your support!

DIY Sequins Shorts

Ta Da! Here you go, my very own DIY sequin shorts. I really like the way these turned out and they were super easy to make. I made these using the same pattern that Carly used in her DIY Floral Shorts. Just click on the link if you  need a small reminder! 

What I ended up doing was sew a sequin pair of shorts, and then another smaller pair to wear underneath as the sequin material was a bit see through. I think I am going to experiment with these shorts again next time using a different color and a secret surprise! So keep your eyes posted for the sequel to these sequins!

xx

-S

PS. Do you like my moms garden? She has spent so much time on it I thought I should show it off a bit :)

DIY studded jean shorts

I have seen so many photos of studded jean shorts flying around on Pinterest and decided I just had to try my best to make them. I know the stud trend has been going on for quite sometime but I am happy to announce that this is my first studding adventure and I am looking forward for more to come!

What you need:

Jean shorts
Studs
Sandpaper
White pencil crayon/fabric crayon
Sissors

1) First start off by deciding where you want the studs to be placed and what kind of design you want to do on your shorts. Take a white pencil crayon or fabric crayon and mark the spots where you want the studs.

2) Start putting the studs into the design you created

3) Choose spots and start sanding where you want the jean to be more distressed. (You of course don't have to do this if you don't like the look of distressed jeans)

4) Because my shorts were thrifted they were too long so I cut about 3 inches off the bottom

I have so many studded adventures headed my way, all I need is more studs! Have you studded anything lately? Leave us a photo or link in the comment box, we would love to see!

xx

-S

Seashells & Feathers

This weekend the sun was not shining, but it wasn't exactly cold either. My friend and I took a walk to the beach where she snapped these photos of me. I love being able to live in a place where seeing the ocean and smelling the ocean breeze everyday is normal. 

It would be weird for me to live somewhere where water visible isn't visible all the time, or even a short drive away.

One cute little crab out of thousands we saw on the beach

Remember when you did peace signs in every single photo taken?

Shirt: Joe Fresh
Shorts: DIY dip dye 

Scarf: DIY Circle Scarf (post coming soon)
Shoes: Ardenes
Necklace: H&M
Sunglasses: Ardenes

This beach is one of the many spots where we like to go to hang out, bring a book and read, chat and enjoy the views. 

We would love to hear where your favourite spot to hang out is. Let us know in the comment box below :)

xx

-S

DIY Floral Shorts + Blog Award

Every so often I have a moment of delusion where I actually believe that I am a good sewer. I dream up some intricate piece of clothing in my head, head to Fabric Land and raid the discount wall. Once I'm home, reality sets back in and I remember that I don't actually know how to follow a pattern. I usually end up cutting up the piece of fabric into shreds, getting frustrated, then throwing the remnants in my sewing bin and walking away. That's why this DIY is perfect for impatient/inexperienced people like myself! There is no pattern and if you're focused, it won't take you any longer than an hour. My new motto is 'Only purchase clothing you couldn't make yourself'. So no excuses that you have nothing to wear! Make a cute pair of shorts? x

What You Need:

• 1 metre of fabric
• Your favorite pair of shorts or jeans
• Sewing Machine
• Miscellaneous Sewing Things (pins, thread etc)

What To Do: (Trust me, it's easy!)

1. Fold fabric in half. Fold jeans in half and match edge up to folded edge of fabric. Cut out fabric around jeans, leaving a 2 inch seam allowance.

2. Unfold the fabric and congratulate yourself for making half your shorts! Cut out another piece of fabric that is identical to the first.

3. Place pieces of fabric on top of each other, right sides facing each other, and sew along the side edges. Stop sewing when you reach the straight edge (as shown)

4. Now you have the base of your shorts. At this point you can try them on and see how they fit in the waist. Turn your shorts inside out, and sew together the straight edge that we had previously skipped.

5. I recommend adding elastic to the waistline and hemming the bottom, but that's optional! 

This evening I'm looking forward to relaxing on the patio with a glass of wine. Hope you're all having a lovely weekend xx

Love,

C

EDIT: We would like to send a great big 'thank you' to Shawna over at Serpentine Streets for choosing us as the recipients of the Your Blog Is Great award today! She has such an eye for style and fashion and we're grateful that she passed this award on to us. We find inspiration in many of the blogs we come across and would like to pass this award on to a 5 blogs that particularly stand out to us:

1. A Southern Drawl

2. Treats and Treasures

3. Vintage Process

4. Pop Champagne

5. The Proverbs

Be sure to check out each of these blogs! You won't be sorry xx

DIY Jean Shorts

With more and more serapes (Mexican blanket) themed trends showing up this summer season I thought I would try to make my own version of serape jean shorts. This is such a simple and quick way to give a new life to any old pair of jean shorts.

What you need:

Jean shorts (I used a thrifted pair)

Serape fabric (I used a thrifted purse)
Needle & thread
Pins

1) Start by deciding how much of the jean
short you want covered by the fabric.
Once you decide cut out the appropriate
amount of fabric.

2) Pin the fabric where you would like it to be sewn on the jean shorts.



3) Hand sew around the outside of the fabric (I started by using a sewing machine, but with the pockets found it easier, and just as quick to hand sew) 




4) Because my shorts were thrifted and a bit too long, I cut 2 inches off the bottom. You do not have to do this step, its totally up to your own style.




5) Enjoy your new serape shorts!

Sweater: Boutique in Australia
Shorts: DIY
Boots: Winners

Have you created anything incorporating serape? We would love too see!

xx

-S

Neon Chain Necklace DIY

Ahhhh, rainy days. There is just something about them that makes me want to curl up on the couch with a hot cup of coffee and watch The Office re-runs all day. Unfortunately I had been procrastinating all week and my 'to-do' list grew to be a mile long. I took a break from cleaning my house to make this neon chain necklace. I have been seeing them everywhere and thought that they couldn't be very hard to make! I had limited pink rope though so mine didn't turn out as 'neon' as I would have liked, but I thought I would show you how to make a simple one.. Or at least inspire you to come up with something similar!  I found this chain at my local fabric store and guess what.. it's actually plastic! Which is perfect for people with sensitive skin like me! The links actually clip together and come apart relatively easily too which eliminates the need for a clasp.

What You Need:

• Chain (Metal or Plastic)  
• Neon Rope or Shoelace

What To Do:

Step 1: Attach the end links of your chain to create a full circle. The best thing about using plastic chain is that you can easily attach and detach the links, eliminating the need for a clasp!

Step 2: Fold the chain in half.

                                

Step 3: Attach the two ends together either with a clasp, or just attach the chain links as I did!

Step 4: Feed the neon rope through one or both of the layers of chain.     

                               

Step 5: Be creative! Enjoy xx

The sun decided to shine long enough to go for a little walk. We found a trail and followed it all the way to the end. We discovered a beach that had the liveliest tide pools! They were filled with tiny fish, sea urchins and crabs.

Love,

C