“Hey, who does your ink?” Check out these animal hand tattoos by Héctor Serrano for some kid-friendly fun. Fab stocking stuffer. [A+R Store]

Remember our old friend Este Lewis, the 25-year-old artist who makes ultra cute wallpaper out of images of everyday objects like candy dots and pencils? That little busy bee is at it again with one of the most interesting and easy—albeit time-consuming—projects ever: She’s made a scented curtain out of tea bags! (Insert dirty jokes here.) We actually think this is a great idea for when you’re sitting around bored during the holidays. Plus, it’s better for you than chain smoking, so much more modern than making a quilt and it delivers aromatherapy benefits while you work, which you’ll need after you’ve been bickering with mom/dad/Uncle Nick, etc., all day long. All you need are 200 tea bags and some glue and/or needle and thread. Click the link for the full instructions. [Time Out New York]

Sooo Christina Aguilera‘s home was featured recently in InStyle. (Check out her massive shoe closet here.) What really struck me, though, was her love of vignettes, which she used to display some of her treasured possessions like shoes and past performance costumes. I kind of like to think of vignettes as the adult version of dioramas, and who didn’t like creating those when they were in school? They’re perfect for occupying a little space in a room, on a table, or in a bookcase. After the jump I have some tips for adding a vignette to your decor.

In today’s shoe revamp news, we bring you two genius, DIY ways to jazz up your tired, old shoes. (Yesterday, we talked about boot add-ons, FYI.) The first DIY option seems a little hipster-y to me, but it’s way adorable: Turn your Keds (remember those?) or similar sneaks into saddle shoes. Just be sure to buy fabric paint; you wouldn’t want a rainstorm to wash away all of your hard work! And the second I’m really into, mostly because I have a pair of cowboy boots eating up space in my overstuffed closet: Just chop off the top part of the boot. Check out the finished products, above. Got any more for us? [Undeclared Panache]

“I gained about 8 pounds (which I am totally fine with, BTW), but one thing that is annoying me is the fact that my skinniestjeans simply won’t button anymore. I can get them on and since they have a bit of stretch they look fine on my legs, but no amount of twisting and turning and laying on my back will allow me to button them. Is there anything I can do to get them to fit again. You know, besides losing weight?”—Rebecca

Actually Rebecca, we suspect you’re not all alone out there. A couple of suggestions, after the jump ...

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why designer clothes cost as much as they do. Admittedly, a decent chunk of the price discrepancy between non-designer and designer items has everything to do with the fancy labels. But another part of that astronomical price tag is legitimately deserved. Designer clothes, after all, are simply made well. The finishes are superior, the fabric more expensive and the general quality far and away beyond the average wear-it-once frocks you find at stores like Forever21. That said, four digits for a cocktail dress is still quite a lot to wrap one’s head around. So here’s one for all the ladies (and gentlemen) who are appalled at the idea of spending much on clothes but still want to look classy. Take the jump and you’ll find five really easy tips for making cheapie items look far more expensive than they are.

Old watches as brooches—kind of a cool, crafty idea, right? Well, it’s being done by a company called Novelax based out of Japan. They’ve turned a variety of watch faces into minimalist brooches. Check ‘em out, above. They’re the sort of thing that, well, I feel like we all can do at home, no? Get your DIY pants on, people. A little super-glue, a pin bar and some careful painting ... and who doesn’t have a few old, dead watches kicking around? Our easy how-to, after the jump.

We’re still in a recession, people. This Halloween, costumes certainly don’t need to be purchased from those expensive pop-up stores. Besides, the most creative and innovative Halloween get-ups aren’t those that come from a box but rather from the imagination. And for everyone who’s not so skilled in thinking up their own DIYs, here are a few ideas ...

You must, must, must check out P.S.—I Made This…. Like, now. Stop reading and click on over. OK, so what it is: a new DIY website that gets you thinking of everyday things in different ways. Oh, and the DIY projects are seriously chic. These ain’t the frumpy how-tos that you sometimes see. Plus, bonus points, they also run little inspiration boards and photos of the process/materials needed (check out one above). And who doesn’t love a good inspiration board? Seriously, head on over there. [P.S.—I Made This…]

Your favorite beauty company Kiehl’s has jumped on the fashion comic-book marketing bandwagon that’s all the rage with the young’uns. (Marc Jacobs is selling a Lady Gaga-inspired comic book, while Agent Provocateur just released a sexy superhero tale.)

Chez Kiehl’s, they’re promoting a new line of products made with açaí, which is supposed to be a bit more spicy than the beauty retailer’s basics. To go along with the launch, they’ve created a microsite called Express Your POW!, which lets you depict your “pow” (whatever that is) by customizing your own online comic. You can choose from a bunch of different scenarios—including a girl dropping a computer out of a window or a couple on a train platform, for example—and then pick hair colors and add your own text.

OK, we admit all this comic-book marketing is a bit odd, but at least here’s a fun distraction for the 4 o’clock slump at work. So go pow it out. Or something. [ExpressYourPow.com]

I’ve got a jewelry box full of chokers from this elaborate jewelry phase I went through a couple years ago. I’m still a little bit in love with most of them. But having grown out of that particular style of way overdone, I couldn’t really figure out what to do with them forever. So they just sat there and we engaged in that familiar pattern that formerly-adored clothing and accessories know so well: Occasionally I’d pick one up, put it on, remember the good old days and then take it off again, thinking that maybe said good old days are gone for good and I should just give up on the relationship.

Conveniently, a mere day before I started my slash-and-burn closet cleaning for the fall, Erin came in wearing a sparkly, ribbon-y necklace that I totally wanted to club her and steal from her unconscious body copy. The front of the body of the necklace is an old, really cool, Vivienne Westwood choker that Erin wasn’t really feeling anymore. To make it amenable to her more grown-up wardrobe, she added a thick ribbon and turned it into a longer necklace. I’m kind of in love with how it looks with all things slouchy and jacketed now. Plus, doing it is maybe the easiest thing ever. Here’s how:

Out of all the DIY projects in the world, condoms seem like the least likely objects you’d be able to make something from. Except for maybe animal balloons. Or babies, in the case that it breaks. Anyhow, here, a video from Football Made in Africa (a project intended to show the grassroots sports culture) shows a dude making a fairly legit-looking soccer ball by first blowing up the condom, then covering it in layers and layers of twine and string. Pretty cool how far some creative thinking will take you. [YouTube]

Sharpies aren’t just for labeling your freezer bags anymore, kids. So hot right now Vena Cava designers Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock actually use them all the freaking time: “Last season we showed a number of ‘gunmetal’ lace pieces—which was actually gold lace completely Sharpied to look silver. Our intern deserved a trophy for that one. We also enjoy using Sharpies to deface silks, t-shirts, khaki from the Gap, AND—coming this November to a retailer near you—high top Converse.” After reading about their liberal use of everyone’s favorite black permanent marker we got to thinking: There are loads of style tricks one can accomplish with the help of a sharpie, like ...

When I still lived by myself in Chicago, before I moved to New York and in with my then-boyfriend (now husband), I had a collection of coffee cups gathered from thirft stores, garage sales and inherited from friends, that I displayed on my kitchen walls in much the same way as the cups in this photo. The photo is part of a larger collection itself on Apartment Therapy of unique ways in which various collections are displayed. I got rid of all but three of four of my favorite mugs (two people can only squeeze so much into a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment), but seeing all these fun collections has me itching to start a new one. Even more reason to move to a bigger apartment in more spacious Brooklyn! [via Apartment Therapy]

Folks had fun with dry watercolors back in 1885 when they were originally developed, but we bet you can have just as much fun in 2009 transforming your photos with watercolors. We admit the Peerless Photo Tint Watercolors look a little tricky at first glance, but painting with these is actually quite simple. Each sheet is coated with a vibrant color that only needs water to make it come alive. And a swoosh of your paintbrush changes up the color of your photos instantly. [$18, Urban Outfitters]