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D.I.Y Urban Outfitter Dorm Items for Less

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TCNJ chapter.

Urban Outfitters is the type of store you’ll go into and be lucky if you walk out spending $100 for three items. With everything usually being marked at $50 or more, it’s hard enough to pick from the clothes, but what if I told you they had a home department! Just like their clothing, the items in the home department could put a pretty big hole in your wallet. I’m not the most artistic person and I’m no Martha Stewart, but for some reason, I thought I could D.I.Y most of these items. 

It all started with some harmless internet shopping. I went on the Urban Outfitters home section of their website and a gold frame with polaroid pictures instantly got my attention. It was something really simple but too cute to not have. The only problem was that it was $34 dollars and had horrible reviews. Then I thought it’s a simple gold frame with polaroid pictures. I could make that! So I did, along with four other Urban Outfitters home items.  If I bought them from Urban Outfitters I would have had to pay $171.67 (including tax). Instead, I D.I.Yed all four items and only spent $55.90. Here is the list of items I D.I.Yed for less and how you can do the same. 

1. Gold frame with Polaroid

UB price: $39

D.I.Y: $10.00

All you have to do is get a gold frame from Walmart and put in some of your own mini polaroids. I used leftover fabric from the pillow I made and taped my mini polaroids onto the fabric to keep them in place. And wah-la! An almost exact replica of the item. If you want to make the exact same item I would suggest buying cardstock paper and using an Exacto knife to cut a place so you can put the mini polaroids in.

IMG Source- Diana Solano

2. Moon frame with lights

UB price: $34 

D.I.Y: $13.50 

This one was one of the trickiest because I took a chance and used gold wire, but saw that it was too thin so I intertwined the wire with gold ribbon. I purchased the gold wire and ribbon both from Jo-Ann. Then I put more gold wire over the ribbon so that the ribbon wouldn’t stick out. Finally, I intertwined the wire with the string lights that I got from Five Below and made a crescent moon. 

IMG Source- Diana Solano

3. Be nice or leave tapestry

UB price: $49

D.I.Y: $13.50 

I purchased the fabric from Jo-Ann in the home fabric section and got one yard worth of fabric for $10.00. Then, I got black fabric paint for originally $8.00, but if you download the app there are always coupons. The 50% off a regular priced item came in handy for this purchase. This item took the most time because I traced on the words with a pencil onto the fabric and tried to make them as similar as possible. Then I filled in the traced letters with the paint. I let it dry for 48 hours and then washed the tapestry as the directions instructed on the fabric paint bottle. 

IMG Source- Diana Solano

4. Pillow with winky face

UB price: $39

D.I.Y: $18.90 

For this item, I made sure to get a pillow insert that was 18 inches by 18inches which is the exact measurement of the one from UB. Then I laid the fabric out and measured two squares that were 20 by 20 inches. I did my best to draw the same face onto one of the squares I cut out from the fabric. I used the black fabric paint that I had leftover to draw on the face. Once it was done, I waited for the paint to dry and then washed the fabric. I sewed the two fabrics together from three sides of the square and then inserted the pillow. Finally, I finished by sewing the last side to close the pillow completely.

IMG Source- Diana Solano

Diana is a senior at the College of New Jersey. She is majoring in Journalism Professional Writing and Communications (specialization: Radio, Television, & Film) with a minor in Spanish. She has written for HerCampus as well as The Signal (the school's newspaper). After taking a photojournalism class this semester she has developed a love for photography and wants to continues this hobby. Her other hobbies include sewing and designing clothes.
Mia is a writer for Her20s and former President of Her Campus TCNJ. She loves Her Campus's ability to empower the women of campus and beyond, and she hopes to continue spreading the site's messages of confidence and positivity. You can most likely find her reading, wandering around Trader Joes, or laying on the beach. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @missmiaingui.