Sunday, August 07, 2011

DIY Day: Makeup Palettes



This is my first DIY Day Blog. These blogs are basically me sharing with you how to make different crafts and things that are related to beauty, organization, etc. The first installment in this blog series is Makeup Palettes. I have recently gotten on the band wagon craze of open palettes that you can put all your products in. I like their functionality, but I also like how it condenses everything and takes up less space. After much trial and error I have found my favourite way of making homemade makeup palettes. Hopefully, this picture tutorial will inspire or help anyone reading this blog, to make their own palettes.


Lets Begin. (Side Note: This post is very picture heavy.)

These are the products that I use to make the palettes. In this tutorial I am going to be making a windowless palette. To make a windowless palette you will need:

  •  Scissors
  • Card stock Paper of any design that you like.
  • Self-adhesive magnetic sheets
  • DVD Case.

If you are making a window in your palette I would also suggest having a think piece of cardboard and an utility knife handy as well.

For paper I chose a dark purple card stock with glittery multi-coloured hearts. In the past I have also used plain matte black card stock as well. I find the best paper to use can be found in the scrap booking section of most craft stores.

Before you trace and cut out the paper sleeve, you must decide if you want a window in your palette. I have made window ones before and although they are handy in seeing the products and colours that are inside; I find that fallout and excess product gets between the plastic of the DVD case and the paper making it look kinda dirty and unattractive.

If you are going to make a window, then cut out the DVD holding area with a utility knife. To prevent cutting the plastic on the other side of the case, slip a think piece of cardboard in between. You'll cut the cardboard..not the plastic!

This is what the case should look like if/after you cut out your window.

Trace around the DVD case to get the size of your paper sleeve. If you have a window make sure to trace around the inside of that as well.

Cut out your paper cover.

Once it is cut out you can decorate it further if you wish, with labels, names, pictures, etc. This is your chance to make your palette original to you. Something you don't get with generic mass produced palettes.

Next slide your cover into the case under the plastic, to make sure that it fits.

Mine needed trimming. Make any adjustments you need so that cover fits evenly.

I then folded the cover like a book so that the DVD case hinge could be seen in the paper. This will insure that the case closes properly.


For the magnetic bottom I chose to use Adhes-A-MAG. It is a self-adhesive magnetic sheet that can be found at Michael's Craft store for $18 CDN + tax. So far I have made 3 palettes with this and have enough left for at least 4 or 5 more.

Measure your palette on the magnet.

To get the perfect fit, cut out the magnet at little smaller then what you initially traced. Just like the paper it will be a little bit too big. So instead of trimming later and wasting some of the magnet, make it slightly smaller to start.

Before you can lay the magnet down you need to snap off the paper clip like holders, that usually hold the DVD information booklets. They are super simple to remove. Just bending them upward should cause them to snap off.

Once you stick down the magnet the inside of your windowless palette, it should look like this. All ready to hold your eye shadows, blushes, lipstick pans, etc.

This is what the outside out my finished palette looked like.

My ELF colour book eye shadows inside the palette. (In my next DIY Day tutorial I will show how I dissembled the old eyeshadow palette and made the pans magnetic for this palette.)


If you chose to make a window in your palette then this is what the inside will look like when you are complete.


Overall, this palette cost me about $5 CDN to make, and meets my everyday needs. Although sturdy for everyday use I feel that if used when travelling, you may find that your eye shadows will move around, because the DVD Case is more of a "soft" case.

Hopefully this picture tutorial was helpful. If you have any other DIY Day ideas, or would like to see something specific, leave a comment below.


Disclaimer: All of the products used in this tutorial were purchased with my own money.








1 comment:

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and leave a comment! I hope you have a beauty full day!