spray paint fun.

Category: DIY | February 6th, 2010

blue boots

so i have a pair of boots that i have had for quite some time now, and they are WHITE. i mean white. ha. i am pretty sure i have not worn them too much because they are just…white. not hating on white, but i guess it’s just not my color.
really white boots
before shot of the boots. i heart them. i got them in london when i was interning with a fashion designer…la petite salope…so they are precious to me and i didn’t want to get rid of them even if i didn’t ever wear them. haha. there’s the pack rat in me.

step 1: so first off i did some taping around the bottom part of the shoe. all i had was duct tape, which works great. i figured there wasn’t a pretty way to go about doing this but i tried. in fact my hubby called it ghetto. so call it what you want…it still works. :)
ghetto duct tape

step 2: more taping. i taped the inside of the shoe just in case…again, doesn’t have to look pretty.

more ghetto duct tape

step 3: since my boots are flimsy i stuck some random newspaper that i had laying around for stuff like this to make it stay propped up.
before shot

step 4: shake up the spray paint for a bit…test it out on some newspaper to make sure. put on some fun music and then go for it!!
spray painting

step 5: i did one side at a time, but you can do it all at once. let it dry…the can says about 10-12 minutes to dry but depends on the surface and how much paint you spray. if you feel they need another coat then spray away.
spray paint boots

step 6: once they are dry, you can take out the newspaper and take off the duct tape and yay! brand new shoes that i will actually wear! :)
blue boots
blue boots
blue boots
blue boots

i have more shoes that are going to get makeovers with spray paint! stay tuned!! i am going to go out and enjoy my new shoes! have a great saturday!!

peace and love
xox

petals in your hair (tutorial)

Category: DIY | January 25th, 2010

flower pedal head band

pedals headband

i got this inspiration from a hair piece i saw awhile back from anthropologie, but i can’t find a picture of it…i guess it was really awhile back. but anyways i thought i’d share with you how i made them. the fun thing about these is that there’s all sorts of ways you can do this, from different colors to sizes and then arrangements. so i will just show you one way for now…(oh and they look like flower pedals to me, so i will call them petals) :)

step 1: grab the colors of felt you like. this is a good project for extra scraps laying around too!
felt scraps
step 2: figure out what size you want the petals to be. i did a lot of experimenting with the sizes but for this one i used about 2 1/2 inches in diameter for the top and about 2 inches for the bottom. (the size of the base is how big the petals will be)
pattern
step 3: cut them out! i usually trace all my circles first and then cut them all out at once.
cut out felt
step 4: take the top (bigger) piece. you can call this the starting position. ;)
starting position
step 5: this is where you want to make a “dart.” for those who don’t know what that is, simply fold over the right side with the end point at the center of the circle
fold over
step 6: this is what it looks like folded over…and then a side view of the fold.
folded overside view of fold
step 7: pin the fold and now you’re ready to sew it down
pin fold
step 8: start the stitch on the outside (about 1/4 inch away from the fold) and sew all the way to the point in the middle
sew the dart
then you get this!
sewn dart
step 9: take the top part you just did and pin it on top of the base piece. it probably won’t fit perfectly just by laying it down, but try to pin them together with the edges together. (this will give that poof of added material since they do not match perfectly)…not sure if that made sense :)
pin back
step 10: sew the pieces together with an 1/8 inch seam allowance.
sew together
and then you get this!
sewn flower
and this is the back…
sewn back
sooo you do this several times and you get a bunch of cute petals…
sewn flowers
the more you do it the better you’ll get…trust me. lol oh and i didn’t plan it, but this is another cute valentine’s piece! for these three i ended up making a headband.
pedals headband
i cheated and used a hot glue gun for the petals but you can stitch them as well.
back of pedals headband
i used some of this fabric to cover underneath. again i just a hot glue gun. she’s my best friend.
pedals headband
yay! hope you like it. let me know if you make anything with the petals! i have more to come. off to mocha monday with my girls. hope everyone had a great day!!

peace and love
xox

i heart bleach stains and tutorials!

Category: DIY | January 21st, 2010

ready for valentine’s day! haha. i am not the one to plan early, but this worked out nicely.

no more bleach stain
we all have those shirts where something happens to them, but you feel bad for throwing them away. well i do at least. that’s why i still have stuff from high school (that i still can wear thank you!…don’t hate beth) :) this is one of the most comfortable shirts i own and i was not about to throw it away…even with this lovely lil bleach stain on the neck.
ugly bleach stain
lame green shirt
you might just think it’s a plain jane tee, but it’s green! and fitting and jersey material. wanted to keep it simple yet still cute. so here’s how i did it!

step 1: grab your shirt (or skirt, pants, dress, etc.) that you want to “cover up” and some fun fabric you have laying around. you don’t need much.

step 2: cut strips of fabric out (i used one long one because of the available amount i had) for this project i cut 1 1/2 inch strips. if you want bigger ruffles then cut wider strips. i had a total of about 30 inches worth (but depends on what you want to do for the design)
strip of fabric
step 3: fold the strip(s) in half long ways…or hot dog style..and with right sides together! (i sewed with a 1/4 inch inseam)
sewn fabric

step 4: these pieces will be inside out so (patiently..unless you are a pro) turn them right side out. i used the good ole safety pin trick and that worked perfectly. the smaller the strips the harder it can be. but you can do it! i also ironed my strip down a little bit so the seam was in the middle.

step 5: with a machine, run a basting (longest length) stitch through the middle of the strip but be sure not to reverse at the beginning and end…we don’t want that to be a permanent stitch. you can also do this by hand with a needle and thread with loose stitches down the middle
basting stitch
step 6: then take one of the threads at one of the ends of the strip and pull! this is the fun part of gathering. decide how ruffly you want it. the more ruffles you want the more you pull. i chose to keep it down on the ruffles on this shirt.
gathered fabric
step 7: now it’s pinning time. figure out your design idea and just start playing. i was concentrating so hard i almost forgot to cover up the bleach stain. ha
pin fabric
i tend to get pin happy.
pin fabric
step 8: moving on to the lovely sewing machine. sew on your art. this time make sure to do the reversing at the beginning and end. the ruffles might move around when sewing so pay attention, unless you are cool with going with the flow :)
sew fabric
step 9: snip off all the loose threads and then admire. :)
finished!
step 10: had some leftover and added some heart buddies on the back.
back baby hearts
can’t have too many hearts
back hearts
leave it to my hubby to get a butt shot. ha
heart in lightyay
molly wanted in on some of the action too. :)
molly girl

feel free to ask any questions or thoughts or ideas, etc. love to hear from y’all! now…if only cedar would go away and i can breathe through my nose again. that would be oh so lovely.

peace and love
xox

every girl needs a tutu.

Category: DIY | January 10th, 2010

just a few pics that are inspirational…i made these for some of my nieces. :) can’t be too girlie. and thanks to my mom who gave me tons of tulle to work with. leftover tulle will be in future projects. hmm…
tutus
tutus
pink and purple tutu
orange and white tutu
baby tutu
purple tutu
orange and pink tutu
i heart my nieces. they seem to enjoy the other toys too. :)
alphabet bean bags
plush blocks
sweet face
precious. i get to see this face quite a bit now. :)

had a great weekend. super busy, long hours, but totally worth it. painted the new youth room (yellow, orange, brown, and light blue), and hopefully will get the kid’s church room painted soon. neck is a little sore. lol church was great. i heart sundays. excited for this week to come. it’s going to be a good week.

OOOOOH and style school started today!!!! ahhh i’m going to be extra busy now for the next 6 weeks!!!

peace and love
xox

pot holder clutch…check!

Category: DIY | December 18th, 2009

this lil project makes me smile. so easy, and cheap! (2 pot holders for a $1 at the dollar store) classic. got this fun tutorial over at Obsessively Stitching. awesome. so i did one to try it out….i forgot to take a before pic of the two pot holders…soo here’s a pic of another pair that i want to do…
pot holders
after… :)
pot holder clutch
pot holder clutch
who wouldn’t want a cute lil pot holder clutch to hold some SB gift cards. lol stitched a line down the middle for outer pockets, added a zipper, and a button. perf.
pot holder clutch
hand stitched the outsides (i would have sewn them but too bulky and my poor lil machine would have died)
pot holder clutch inside
it even has a divider making 2 sections. sweetness.
happy pot holder clutch
ha. loves it. thanks again Obsessively Stitching!!! have a great friday! yay.

peace and love
xox