Watermelon Whales

 It's been a busy graduation weekend. Our brother graduates today, so there has been quite a few parties already this week. As a gift for one of the parties yesterday Brittany decided to carve a watermelon and make a fruit basket. After much googling between the two of us we found the watermelon whale. She changed it up a little, but here's a cute DIY if you have a little patience and skill with a knife (I don't, so Brittany did all the carving!).


1. Pick a melon, make sure it's ripe and delicious.

2. Brittany did it freehand. But find a design and marker it on.

3. Carve him hollow. I've seen some cute melons where they used an ice cream scoop to make watermelon balls to put back in the fruit salad. I was too late suggesting it in this case.

4. Give him eyes and a spout. She used a perminant marker and a little confetti thing for the spout. Get creative!

5. Lastly, fill him with fruit of your choosing and enjoy!

Hope everyone's having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Copy Cats

One of the primary challenges of fashion is its monetary price. I think most of you bloggers can agree with me that designer prices are just not practical. Personally, I own only one pricey handbag, but I saved for that beauty for quite some time.

The rest of our things are thrifted, gifted, or bought with discretion. With this thought in mind, we thought it would be fun to replicate some designer style on the cheap!

The first celebrity we chose was Shenae Grimes. Found on CelebStyle.

Maison Martin Margiela Boots- $696

Helmut Lang Skinny Leather Pants- $875

Kain Pocket Tank- $90

Zara Twill Blazer- $70

Our alternative:

1. Charlotte Russe Blazer- $40

2. American Apparel Tank- $24

(alternative: Walmart Shirt- $10)

3. Target Boots- $35

(alternative: Famous Footwear Boots- $25)

4. Dance Wear Solutions Leggings- $30

And as an accessory, we love this Forever 21 necklace for $7.

Our next copy cats post will be more summer oriented, promise!

Summertime

Today we took a well deserved day at the beach. Despite the fact that we live in Florida, we get to the beach a lot less than you'd think. Most of the beaches in our area are so full of tourists it's not really worth it if you have access to a pool.

But today we went to Honeymoon Island and it was fantastic. As an added bonus there was no one out there!

Sunshine

Good morning everyone! Are you exited it's Friday? I definitely am!

Outfit Details

Printed Shirt: JCPenney

Silk Shorts: thrifted, brand: spacegirlz

Peace Print Scarf: Forever 21

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: Torrid

Brittany's outfit is a little simpler this time. Bright and light because it's getting hot here in Florida!

Can Tab DIY

For our first DIY, we bring you a pretty simple project. I saw this project somewhere on the internet years and years ago and made a can-tab belt that both of us wear. Brittany says she almost always gets compliments when she's wearing it.

What you will need:

• Twine, fishing line or some other string for threading. Make sure it is durable!
• Scissors
• Can tabs
• Not pictured: a button or hook if you want something fancier than just tying the ends together.

Note: The amount of can tabs depends on what you're making and your size. For the 33in belt we used 102 tabs and for the bracelet we used about 25 tabs.

Process:

1. Cut a bit of twine twice as long as your wrist or waist.
2. Find the middle of the twine. Make a small loop and tie it to the first tab. You can see this better in the picture below.
3. With one string you weave it in and out of the other tabs top hole to create a chain.
4. With the second string you weave it in and out of the bottom holes.

5. Keep doing this as long as you need to get the length you want. Feel free to measure yourself up to get it right!

6. When the length is right tie the end so the tabs are all secure.
7. At this point you can put it on and tie the ends to the beginning or did like we did and thread the twine through a button so that it hooks through the beginning loop.

And tah-dah! You have a brand new belt or bracelet that didn't cost you nearly anything!

If you've got any tips or variations or pictures, we'd love to see them in the comments!

The Burning House

I stumbled across a site today called The Burning House. The site is pictures that people have submitted of what they would grab if their house was burning down. We thought it was such an interesting idea we decided to do our own.

Name: Brittany
Occupation: Student
List:

• Laptop
• Makeup bag
• Art folder with drawings
• Jack in the box (like the one from Elf)
• Contact lenses...because if there's a fire, I would like to be able to search for an exit :)
• Ring given to me by my mommy
• Cell phone
• Yellow sunglasses
• Duckie robe- a must have for all occasions..or just some
• Spongebob paddle ball because I love the show (I'm a kid at heart)
• Letter 'B' with my friend's signatures
• My kitten Veyron!
• Personalized blanket

Name: Ashley
Occupation: Data Analyst/Writer
List:

• Binder with writing
• Laptop
• Case with ticket stubs, handmade cards, etc.
• Cell phone
• Ring given to me by my mother
• Necklace given to me by my grandfather
• Photo album
• Glass wand from the Florida Aquarium I've had since I was little
• Leather bag
• Not pictured: my two dogs, cat and hedgehog.

I hope you've enjoyed a little glimpse into what we find important. I encourage you all to try this project and check out the website, it's really neat.

Pied Piper

We went to a secret remote location today (see: forest) for our first outfit post. It was exciting and Brittany even made some new friends.

 

 

 

Outfit Details

Shirt/skirt/necklace: thrifted

Tights: Target 

Shoes: Lulu's (giveaway win) 

Bag: vintage, Borsani Collection

Brittany is apparently the animal whisperer. Two dogs and two cats came out of nowhere to see us. They spent some time being friendly with us before going back to their homes. Does this kind of thing happen to other bloggers?

Welcome!

Welcome to Little Assembly Required!

Guess we should introduce ourselves, huh?

My name is Ashley, recent college graduate. Blogger and cat obsessor. I enjoy long walks on the beach-- er. Um, never mind about that. Wrong kind of site.

The other girl that will be most often photographed is Brittany. She loves Spongebob, cute shoes and food.

Considering we're both poor college kids, we decided it would be a great idea to create a fashion blog for the every-girl. We just conferred on this, and, with the exception of prom dresses, neither of us have spent more than $40 on a single article of clothing or shoes. So needless to say everything that will appear on this blog is attainable with minimal dollars and/or skill. Believe me when I say we are no sewing masters!

Will it be difficult? Probably. Will there be sewing? Occasionally. Will we cry about it? Stay tuned.