The Pineneedle Collective

Sunday 11 May 2014

Sunset Boulevard | Print Your Own Make Up

Dress is Hell Bunny | hat is Vintage | shoes were found on the side of the road | ring is thrifted

Hey you guys! So is anyone else completely as obsessed with polka dots as I am, or is it just me? Every single time I go op-shopping, I end up with an armful of anything I've found that has polka dots on it, basically regardless of what it is. I then have to force myself to remove things like giant polka-dot pants that I'm "totally going to resize into cute shorts" (because I know that I never, ever will). It's seriously becoming a problem - yesterday I was wearing a white polka-dot bodysuit underneath a black polka-dot pinafore with polka dot socks (a stranger actually commented on my outfit and said it made them really happy, so, whatever, head-to-toe polka dots for the win!)

In case you didn't see it yesterday, I've uploaded a new youtube video! Stick around 'til the end for a blooper reel ;) I'm enjoying making videos so much lately that I keep doing it instead of my uni work, which is a little bit problematic! I'd also love to get an idea of if you guys would like to see things things like outfit/lookbook videos - let me know in the comments!

"We're going to live in a world where you can just take a picture on your friend's lipstick, and then print it out."

Image is from Tech Crunch

Fusing fashion and science, Grace Choi claims to have created the prototype for a mini-3D printer that can print makeup in whatever colour you want. With this product, called Mink, you can apparently take any image - for example, someone wearing an amazing lipstick on pinterest - select the colour from the image, and the Mink printer can 3D-print you that exact colour of lipstick (or eyeshadow, or foundation, or any type of make up you want).

Not only is this a cool application of science, it's also going to allow for a lot more make-up experimentation, regardless of whatever coloured make up products are trending. As Choi says, "The definition of beauty is something they [referring to us "young people"] should be able to control, not our corporations."

Choi estimates that a Mink printer will cost about $300 to start with - but if you're someone who buys a lot of expensive make up in multiple different shades, and you can replace this habit with something that can print you whatever colour makeup you want, it's pretty quickly going to be a money-saver.

Now before you all get too excited… I’m skeptical about the actual production of Mink and whether or not it’ll be available within a year (and for only $300!) as Choi has predicted – and it’s also quite mysterious as to what the “raw materials” themselves will be made of. But regardless as to whether Mink works out or not, I think that something like this is totally possible. I mean, we’re currently also working on the technology to print out houses, food, limbs and organs. ORGANS. How hard could makeup be compared to that?? I recently wrote a much more in-depth analysis of Mink at Birdee magazine, which you can read here.

[Thanks to Katie for the photos.]

Saturday 10 May 2014

DIY Egg Brooch/Hair Clip

Hello! Because we are both free from uni, Katie and I have decided that every Tuesday is now going to be Craft Tuesday (we really need a better name. Any suggestions?) Anyway, we have wanted to make these clay fried eggs (I wanted a brooch, Katie wanted to make a hair clip) for a while now, so on our first ever Craft Tuesday we decided to give it a go! The original tutorial that we used is from Girl Guts, but it's always nice to see things in motion too, so we decided that we would make a short little video tutorial on what we did!

The materials that you will need are listed in the video's description. Enjoy!

Monday 5 May 2014

Mendl's Patisserie

I needed to find some outlet for my love of the new Wes Anderson movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, and this apparently involved me dressing up like an extra from a Wes Anderson film and setting up a miniature photoshoot on top of my kitchen table.

I nicked this Mendl's box from my local cinema as we were leaving the movie (don't worry, there were about 200 of the things and they were probably just going to be thrown out at the end of the promotion), the whole time feeling an affinity with Zero Moustafa and Mr Gustave as they stole the Boy with Apple (because the stakes for my theft were definitely as high as they were in the film).

I desperately want to live in a world with the aesthetic of the Grand Budapest Hotel - really, of any Wes Anderson movie. But while seamless virtual reality is still a good few decades away, I'll have to make do with my outfit posts and photoshop to pretend that that world exists.

Sweater is vintage | top - can't remember | belt and skirt are thrifted | socks are handmade | shoes are from Naot

I think I might also have to do a Moonrise Kingdom inspired shoot now. With that pink dress. You know, for consistency, and definitely not because I want to be Suzy Bishop (I do, though the person I know who comes closest to achieving that is Polly Bland).

I hope that you're all having the sweetest day!

Friday 2 May 2014

DIY Crop Top

As promised, I have made a tutorial on how to turn a loose-fitting, long-sleeved top into a cute crop top! For this project, you can basically use any stretchy shirt that is either in your size, or is up to a few sizes too big for you. Have fun!

Much love,

Wednesday 30 April 2014

Orange Soda | We Are All Related

Shirt is thrifted + DIY | socks are DIY | skirt and headband are thrifted | shoes are from Japan

I am pretty dang proud of myself right now, because I figured out how to make a tight-fitting crop top out of a loose, long-sleeved shirt! It's the one I'm wearing right now :D And I think that I'll upload a DIY on it very soon - I've got plans to do this to many of my cute-but-a-bit-too-big t-shirts! For good measure, I also made the sleeves into a matching pair of socks (which I have a DIY for here).

I can't believe that I also had the good luck of thrifting this headband and skirt together the other day! The headband is actually handmade, so I'm really happy that I get to give it a good home. Total cost of my outfit minus the shoes - about $3 (though I think the shoes were only about $30, anyway).

So I love this video from Vsauce. According to geneticists, you and I are, at the very least, 50th cousins! In fact, every human living on Earth today is related to someone who lived from 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. And that person most likely lived in Taiwan.

How crazy is that??

Watch the video, it'll blow your mind.

I hope that you're all having the most wonderful week so far!

Saturday 26 April 2014

DIY Heart Pinafore (tutorial + outfit)

Blouse is thrifted | pinafore is DIY | socks are c/o Sock Dreams

If you follow me on instagram then I've spoiled the surprise already, but this is what I got up to yesterday! This idea for a heart-shaped pinafore dress has literally been stopping me from sleeping for the past few nights, because I've been way too excited to make it! (Do any other sewers out there get inconveniently-timed sewing-inspirations at 4am in the morning? I sure do.)

The stretchy gingham material was an awesome find - $2 from the op-shop. I recommend to everybody that they search for fabrics in op-shops before resorting to places like spotlight (not only do these fabrics need to find new homes, but it's about 20 times cheaper).

And of course, I made a video explaining exactly how to make one for yourself! It's actually pretty easy to do - if you're able to make a skirt then you will have no problems turning it into a cute pinafore. In fact, this is the easy part.

You could even turn an old skirt into a heart-shaped pinafore dress using this tutorial - you don't have to start entirely from scratch!