My DIY Dannijo-inspired earrings

Let's kick off a new year with some glammy whammy DIY earrings inspired by Dannijo.

As readers of this blog know, I'm besotted with Dannijo's rainbow of rhinestone necklaces,which are hand-made in New York City. I also love the way they and designer Lauren Hope combine mottled stone or glass with shiny rhinestone.

Below are two inspiring sets of earrings by Dannijo. They run $350 to $400. They are so fabulous and pretty I just want to eat them.

Hurry up and make your own before this trend gets knocked off by J. Crew.

Above and below are my DIY earrings, slightly less crazy versions of the real thing.  The great thing about this DIY is you can make your earrings any shape, size or color, and you can do it for less than $10.

Get the full tutorial at Examiner.

Pinned it/Wore it - How to wear a print full skirt

Let's grapple with two trends in one - print skirts and full skirts - with our latest edition of Pinned it/Wore it, my ongoing series about turning Pinterest fashion into a real outfit.

Here's my pin - a lovely full print skirt seen at Hallie Daily. Thanks to this pin, I picked up a peasant-y print skirt that I would normally pass by on my thrifting rounds, as seen below.

The thing with a full peasant-type skirt is to not pair it with a peasant blouse or a yoke of oxen. Play against type.

Hallie's tummy-baring crop top was not going to work for me. Below are a few more ways to wear a full print skirt.

With a tank and stappy sandals like Aimee Song via Elle.com. Or with a jacket and killer heels like Hallie at Hallie Daily.

Or a crisp blouse and jacket as seen at Refinery 29.

Here we have chambray shirt with a floral full skirt from Pink Peonies. Or a tank top as seen on Dianna Agron via WhoWhatWear. (This may actually be a dress, but you get the idea.)

Another chambray shirt paired with a crazy print full skirt via Purse Blog.

This skirt seemed to do best for me with a crisp blouse and relatively delicate shoes.

The killer heels and/or jacket thing was not so good. This violates the third rule of Pinterest fashion - trying too hard. You can do a full skirt or funky shoes or a moto jacket. You can't do all of them at the same time. Moto peasant has just not caught on yet where I live.

Tip for puffing out your full skirt - wear another full skirt underneath. I stole this idea from Hallie the queen of full skirts.

A tip from me: Look for puffy stuff in the fancy dress aisle of your local thrift store. There you will find taffeta and tulle in abundance. Hem the puffy skirt to be shorter than your print skirt.

So, where to find a print full skirt? It's not so easy unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on high-end design. Apparently this trend has yet to trickle down to regular retail level. Below are a few options in the more affordable range.

Novella Ball Skirt at Anthropologie. Asos burnout floral skirt (this is the one seen at Hallie Daily. See what a difference a puffy slip skirt makes?)

Modcloth full green skirt. Modcloth Lakeside Manor skirt.

Since this is a retro look, your best bet may be the same place I found my skirt - a thrift store.

Would you attempt this trend?

My DIY 10-minute emerald necklace

Here's another simple rhinestone project with dramatic results.

To make this necklace, you'll need chunky chain, jewelry wire and a strand of 13 x 8mm rhinestone slider beads.

I used a chain I had on hand that I picked up at a thrift store. My slider beads are from Consumer Crafts and were on sale for $1.27 at the time, so I made this necklace for less than $1.50.

After a lot of trial and error and floppy beads, I finally figured out that you have to wire the beads to each other before attaching to the chain.

Take your beads off the plastic thread and re-thread using jewelry wire. I used 13 beads but you can make yours any size you want.

Find the center point of your chain and mark it.

Line up your beads so they are centered on your chain.

 Wire wrap the center bead through the links of the chain. (You can also use large jump rings.)

Working from the center of the chain outward, skip two beads and wire the next one. Then wire the last bead on each end of the bead strand.

Trim your wire and tuck under any loose strands.

You're done. Enjoy your super cheap, easy and sparkly necklace.

For an even easier necklace, see my DIY multicolor rhinestone necklace from a few weeks ago.

Thrifted and gifted - decorating with serapes

Let's take a pause from rhinestone DIYs and mad Cyber Monday shopping to praise the serape - inexpensive, colorful and the perfect covering when temps range from 50 to 35 degrees as they have done here.

I found this serape in a box in storage. I have no idea of its origin. I elevated it from beach blanket to home decor based on the inspiration to follow, which will help you keep your Mex mix cool rather than kitschy.

Pics are: Furbish; Poppytalk; left chair unknown; right chair from Totem; Urban Outfitters; room via Mr. Kate; and my own little room.

Found anything good in a box in the basement lately?

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