Caroline Burke | Burkatron

I'm not going to lie.. I'm still quite partial to sneaking a hip flask into my handbag on a night out (I can't help myself, I'd rather spend my money on shoes and biscuits.) when I saw this DIY to cover hip flasks on a beautiful mess I knew I had to try it.. it's so darn simple! 

you'll need:

a hip flask (lots on amazon for as little as £3)

oilcloth fabric/PVC fabric often used for tablecloths (you can find some on eBay, etsy)

glue, craft knife or scissors

this project only takes 10 minutes or so to make! start off by cutting a strip of oilcloth or waterproof PVC fabric to fit around your flask (you'll want it to overlap an inch or so.) 

you'll probably find a lot of oilcloth is sold by the half meter/meter so you'll have lots left over for other projects. I picked up mine in dunelms and it only cost me about £2 for each half meter (eBay is a great source for these wipe clean fabrics; I've seen some really nice gingham and polka dot ones ones but I didn't have the patience to wait for them to arrive!) if you really want to splash out cath kidston have the world's most amazing oilcloth selection!

once you've cut it to fit fold the oilcloth around and simply glue in place using a multi purpose glue (one that adheres to metal is best!)

taaa daaaa.. I think it's happy hour time!

I think they look pretty darn cute and I can't believe how quick they are to make! I'm going to source some more oilcloth in different patterns and make some more for my friends.. I think they'll make great gifts. 

what do you think.. would you try making these too?

caroline x

I've been meaning to make a floral crown for ages (since last summer in fact) I never quite got around to buying the essentials so it was left on my neglected DIY to do list!

the combination of sun and an urge to get away from my laptop finally got the better of me this week so here it is!

it's so fun to make and not expensive either, mine came in under £10 and took me roughly an hour or so to finish! I'd love to make one out of fresh flowers but for the time being I opted for silk flowers which are easy to get hold of and last a lot longer!

measure and bend the wire to fit your head (make it a little bigger as the more flowers you add the tighter the fit will become) wrap another length of wire around the crown to make it more secure.

now comes the fun part! start twisting your flowers into the crown- you'll find the flowers have wire stems so this is surprisingly easy.

you can use the fine wire to secure and tidy any stems, trim off the excess.

when I arranged my flowers I used the largest blooms at the front, then used the smaller flowers around the sides to create a graduated effect (I think it would be too big to wear otherwise!)

I found the smaller flowers worked best around the back of the crown where it rests against the base of your neck.

I wrapped some raffia around the crown just to decorate (you could also use ribbon which would look really pretty!)

taaaa daaaa! one finished pastel flower crown! (get me some wellies I'm ready to get my festival on!)

do you think you'll be tempted to try one yourself? 

let me know if you make one too.. I'd love to see yours! 

back soon!

caroline x

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I've been making these chain bracelets all summer; it only just occurred to me to show you guys when I was thinking about DIY posts I could share!

they're pretty easy to make! they look daunting but it's mostly just a case of looping a long piece of thread through the chain links, knotting and repeating the process until you run out of chain (see not so bad after all!)

I brought my gold coloured chain from hobbycraft where you can buy it by the meter, it costs a few pounds and makes at least 5 bracelets..bargain! here's a little guide on how to make them:

you can use all kinds of colours I have blue, purple and yellow ones, I've seen a version with skinny leather strips instead of string/thread which looks great! get creative and see what you'll be surprised what you'll come up with..

hope you like it!

caroline xx

to say I'm excited to share this DIY with you is an understatement! as you may have seen I'm always painting my nails and looking out for new colours to experiment with, well how about making your very own custom polish colours? sound good? read on...

I have to thank my lovely bf for coming up with brainwave, he thought I should try making my own and did a little research..

you'll need a bottle of clear nail polish and some eyeshadow. I picked up this bright shadow set for 99p!

decide what colour polish you want! I opted for blue, you can literally come up with any combination..

chop up your eyeshadow into a fine powder, beware this is fun! 

make a funnel (I used a rolled up page from a magazine) and pour in the powdered eyeshadow!

doesn't it look pretty? now shake it baby!! (add a small ball-bearing to the polish to help mix the colour if you have one!)

amazing! it's that simple, your own custom colours for a snip! I'm going to make a whole set!

give it a try.. I promise you wont regret it!

caroline x