Scarpbooking Tools = Style Helpers

You read that right: my scrapbooking hobby has saved many outfits

 with the tools and products that have saved a nearly  un-styled day. 

How you ask? Here are my little secrets.

(Photo taken in the sweltering hot summer)

Hate when belts are too long and they just hang there or stick out? You could use those little velcro dots, but that means you have to wear the belt the same way all the time. 

Enter the ATG gun. 

I'll argue that this bulky tool can also let you reuse uncanceled stamps with ease, but that's another post.

You just hold out the side of your belt, swipe on some adhesive and you are ready. It doesn't loosen through the day and it's totally invisible. Plus, the goo easily peels off post-wearing and has not yet left residue on my belts.  You can also use GlueDots or GlueLines and get the same results (for the non-scrapper, that is a cheaper solution).

Hate that your belts don't go to the perfect length (you could use a hole right between the ones already punched or just need it a tad longer or shorter)?

Time for the Crop A Dile!

Sure, you could try the ice pick or paper piercer trick, but for a clean, smooth punch that you can make in narrow or wide, depending on what you need, the Crop A Dile is awesome. The hole looks like it was meant to be there and you can easily see where you are punching.

 It's effortless and I think I use it more as a styling tool now than when I scrap.

And finally, this trick saved these pants.

The day after I bought these pants, we had a flood in our bathroom. 

I bleached the bathroom. 

I took a shower and put on my brand new pants.

 I leaned against the bleached sink. 

I bleached a perfect spot on my pants. 

Right in the front.

For a couple of months I tea stained the bleach, tried magic marker, tried sharpies. 

What worked? Staz On Ink Pads mixed with Distress Ink by Tim Holtz. 

Using several colors, I blended them to mask the stain and save the pants. And it stayed on after a wash.

Have any style tips that come from something completely unrelated? I'd love to hear!