diy: painted rhinestone necklace

If you follow me on Instagram (@theneonteaparty), you probably caught the above photo of my good friend, fashion stylist and swimwear designer Heather aka Heather Feather rocking a painted rhinestone necklace I customized for her last week. The project was inspired by a genius, "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?!" DIY I came across recently on P.S.-I made this...'s Instagram feed, and I finally got to test it out when Heather so generously surrendered a bunch of her old rhinestone jewelry for me to mess around with.

The project is as simple as this:

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Take a rhinestone necklace (or any other form of rhinestone jewelry) and paint over the stones with your favorite matte nail polish colors. Tada! Tom Binns-inspired jewelry of your dreams! Heather requested a combination of nude and neon pink, so I used "Don't Pretzel My Buttons" by OPI and "Jackie Oh!" by Color Club (available at Harmon). If you choose to use neon nail polish, you need to use a white base coat to make the color pop. If you don't, the sheer lacquer will create more of a stained glass effect on the rhinestones, which you don't want. My white of choice was "I Will!" by L'Oreal. 

Here's what the necklace looked like pre-neonization:

I opted for a singular coat of nude, as to not soften the facets of the stones too much. I painted the accent stones with enough white so that they were completely opaque and then added enough pink to cover all evidence of white paint and until the hue really popped. I decided against a clear top coat to keep the matte effect, but you might want to use it to prevent chipping. Let dry for a few hours, 

and voilà! 

I think it came out pretty well, don't you?

For more inspiration, head over to Charm & Chain to check out their Tom Binns debut, chock full of dazzling neon color combo-spiration for your rhinestone painting desires! And definitely let me know if you try this easy DIY yourself!

Peace, Love and Neon,

Marisa

diy: graduation cap

So the reason I haven't blogged in 21 days is because I have spent the last three weeks living it up as a graduating senior, going on excursions to Martha's Vineyard and Foxwoods, making a quick trip down to the Jersey Shore with my boyfriend, going out every night of the week with the excuse of our last nights in Boston and entertaining visiting family. 

Within all the madness, however, I could not pass up the opportunity to go all out when presented with the crafting challenge of cap decorating. While some paint a witty phrase ("Thanks Mom and Dad!") and others glue on a few meager rhinestones (sorry, Liv, your ΔΓ, really was cute!), that certainly was not going to cut it for me. Instead, I decided to explore the contents of my craft bag (yes, I have a craft bag) and make a collage using my favorite scraps.

First thing was first, though: it was obviously going to be neon pink.

After painting a thick layer of white paint and painting that over with two layers of pink, I painted some lace purple, made a ribbon flower, cut an "M" stencil out of a paper plate and laid everything out ever so thoughtfully.

A little rearranging, a bit of glue and...

Voilà! The finished cap in action, backstage at graduation!

Check out Alex's too- Love the hashtags!

Here's a closer upper but blurrier shot via Alex's Blackberry.

And so, in true form, I graduated on Sunday with a neon, multimedia collage of pretty little things on my head. Now that I have done so, I am back in New York (for good!) in search of a job and hopefully a great one. Possibly making more super funky grad caps? Yes? No?

Anyone want to hire me?

Peace, Love and Neon,

Marisa

diy: bright bracelets

School's out forEVER (today marks my last day of college classes) and I can't think of a better way to take advantage of some newfound free time than by making bracelets. There have been lots of fun and easy bracelet DIYs posted lately via craft goddess Erica Domesek of P.S.-I made this... and Honestly...WTF, and a neon take on one of Erica's designs by Brooke Andersen of Just B. Get inspired this weekend and make some bracelets too!!

Camp throwback cobra stitch, but with funky ribbon and utility cord

Inspired by Marni's SS'11 collection, one of my faves

{Erica Domesek for Who What Wear}

Another Erica rope design, this time with an S hook clasp

A take on Miansai's $95 bracelet for a tiny fraction of the cost

{Honestly...WTF}

Just B's neon pink take on this bracelet by Erica

All you need is some sturdy string and bolts

{Just B}

Peace, Love and Neon,

Marisa

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY, NEON TEA PARTY!

This week marks two years of neon enthusiasm on this here blog! I'm so proud to have made it this far, blogging for 24 months, and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

To celebrate, here's a list of some things I've been coveting recently: everything from kitschy banners to rings that perfectly balance fierceness and delicacy.

{fabric garland inspiration}

- - sewing instructions here and here - -

{free people's primal scream collection}

- - shop it here - -

{the perfect delicate statement rings}

- - tom binns and cc skye - -

{i'm a sucker for turquoise accents and swirly iron}

- - from anthropologie - -

{my dream house would obviously have a neon front door}

- - tips and more doors here - -

{a daily reminder to love life}

- - from catbird nyc - -

Peace, Love and 2 YEARS OF Neon,

Marisa

styling tip: discovering the sweater-scarf

I've been trying this out lately. Tell me what you think...

It's a look I like to call the sweater-scarf. A pretty self explanatory look, I'd say.

Step 1: Find a sweater.

Step 2: Wrap said sweater around neck like a scarf.

Et voilà: a fabulous chunky asymmetrical scarf--not to mention a convenient place to keep your sweater when you don't wanna wear it!

Be sure to use a sweater that isn't too chunky or long and preferably one without a hood. Cashmere pullovers and buttonless cardigans are probably your best bets.

Next time when you're looking for that perfect scarf that you just don't have, you may not have to go any further than your own sweater drawer.

Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa

getting crafty: apt decorating on a dime

Lately, I have been spending much free time pouring over images on various home decorating blogs, envisioning the furniture, accessories and details that will one day make up my first long-term living space. While that may not be for another year or two or five, I can begin thinking about decorating my apartment back at school in Boston where I will be living with my Fall '09 roomies: my best friend Alex and our friends Sharona and Amanda. So excited to be reunited in Stuvi!!

For those of you that don't know, Stuvi stands for Student Village, the first of three Boston University on-campus apartment monstrosities that boast some of the best views of Boston. We will be living on the 15th floor in a corner apartment in the East Tower, which is the one that faces the city, as opposed to Brookline and Cambridge. Either way, not too shabby! But I'm expecting a beautiful view of our beloved Charles River.

Anywho, these blogs have got my creative decorating juices flowing and I CANNOT wait to put them into action in decorating our not-so-humble abode!

The main aspects to consider when decorating a pre-furnished, on-campus space such as ours are that we are required to use all of and only what is provided to us by the university AND we cannot mess anything up. With these restrictions, most students shy away from decorating at all, but we four chicas are not the ordinary students!

Here are some ideas of how to spruce up an unattractively-furnished, minimalist space on a student-friendly budget:

Hang a bulletin board full of your favorite things

{picture from pink wallpaper}

Most of my life, I have had a bulletin board in my bedroom containing photos of friends and family, concert ticket stubs and inspiration images. Ideally, my bedroom's or office's bulletin board would cover an entire wall, but we gotta stay small-scale in Stuves, so only half of a wall :)

Find or create a make-shift jewelry rack

{picture from good bones, great pieces}

It should come as no surprise to any of you that I have a lot of jewelry. And by a lot, I mean A FREAKING LOT. To me, my jewelry is more that just a way to decorate my body, it also has the potential of decorating my room. Displaying one's jewelry is a simple and virtually cost-less way to add decoration to one's space and display something that clearly reflects one's personality. This mesh screen makes an excellent jewelry rack once little tacks or nails are added to it. Last year, I was on the hunt for a pretty frame and some antique lace to make a jewelry rack to the same effect and I plan on using one of these two methods come fall.

Add turquoise accents

{pictures from good bones, great pieces}

I don't know what came over me this past spring, but somewhere between a shopping bag purchased in Amsterdam, a scarf from Paris and my own chunky stone ring, I have fallen for the color turquoise--especially in the form of accents. I found tons of images of rooms with turquoise accessories and I am smitten! Vases! Throw pillows! Accent walls! Patterned rugs! I want them all!! No doubt I'll be adding details such as this Target lamp to our apartment decor.

Place flowers in random glass jars, cups and vases

My apartment is located two blocks from a Salvation Army store. Last fall I was on the hunt for tea cups and found five beauties! This year: assorted glassware to line our windowsill, into which we can display perfect pink peonies. Maybe I'll also find one just the right size for our traditional basil plant!

Other decorating plans include finding a great couch cover to disguise the fuglymcfugly furniture provided by BU, perfectly mismatched throw pillows, and other brightly-colored accents.

Oh, and have I mentioned our wall fish tank?


Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa

P.S. A VERY SPECIAL 21ST BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT TO MY BEST FRIEND IN THE UNIUNILALAVERSE, ALEXANDRA IVY BLACK!!!!

diy: m&j headband workshop

Yesterday morning I attended a headband class at M&J Trimming with Alex and her high school friend Michelle--despite that I had only slept for three hours (got back from the Dave show wayyy late) and that I was moving into the NYU dorms that afternoon. Needless to say that it was totally worth it!! I highly recommend signing up for one of M&J's Sunday morning classes- they have an embellishing class coming up soon! Call the store for details.

For $20, we got three plain headbands, one funky embellishment and a bottle of glue, plus a 15% discount on all additional purchases! The store's employees taught us how to make bows, glue on rhinestone buttons and make huge cupcake-like flowers, then let us go to town making our own funky headband creations.

Step one: Choose 3 solid headbands

Step two: Pick your free embellishment

Step three: Find some pretty ribbons and things

Step four: Learn from the pros

Step five: Go to work!

Step six: Admire your creations!!

{mine}

{alex's}

Thanks to M&J for mentioning me on their blog and posting pictures of us ladies in our headband creations!!

A pretty cool way to spend your Sunday morning, huh?

Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa