Christmas Gifts: Studs and Dip-Dye

Last Halloween, I borrowed my roommate's sweatshirt and (with her permission) took scissors to it for my costume. A couple years later, I decided to make up for that. 

I bought a regular Hanes sweatshirt at Walmart and dip-dyed it with bleach.

Since it's the winter I did this in my bathroom but I should probably have done this in a better ventilated spot.

The bleaching processes took way longer than I had thought it would. I started with a bleach-water mixture but ended with just pure bleach to try to REALLY get the ends. Still wasn't the result I wanted exactly but it worked well enough.

Just bleach. Trying to get the ends more of a "white"

After the sweat shirt had been rinsed through the washer and air dried I started adding the studs. I purchased the studs at Hobby Lobby. It was about $2 for a pack of 30. For those of you who don't know where to find them (like me) they were in the LEATHER section.

The studs were simple to attach. Decide where you want it, poke it through the fabric, and push in the ends underneath (I used a flat head screwdriver and it worked great)

FRONT

BACK

Now I just need to make me one!

Much love, 

Katie

Christmas Gifts: Coffee Mugs

Seriously, so simple! I was originally going to try the whole Sharpie baking thing, but decided to use ceramic paint instead. I have heard mixed reviews on whether the Sharpie thing works so I thought paint might last longer. Which I'm not completely sold on either--I'll have to ask my friends who received these mugs from me..

I bought some coffee mugs at Target for maybe $2.00 a piece. Then I got a Painters pen at Hobby Lobby for maybe $8.00. The package said it worked on basically anything and was "permanent". That was good enough for me!

The hardest part was coming up with a quote or something to draw/write on the mugs. And then all I needed was a steady hand (which I don't always have). It took no time at all. I was done in 15 minutes (at the most).  I loved them so much I thought about keeping them! But in the end the mugs did live out their fate in becoming Christmas gifts.

Quote on red mug: Think! You can think any think that you wish..-Dr Suess

Much love, 

Katie

Teacher Appreciation: Pencil Letter

Although I thought the canvas bags were great gifts, I wanted to make something different for my cooperating teacher. I had seen so many of the crayon letters on Pinterest, and had even helped my roommate make one a while back. I thought these were great but crayons didn't seem to be the right thing for a middle school math teacher. Ergo, pencils.

If you know anything about middle school students and/or math, then I am sure you are well aware of the battle with pencils. The students almost never bring a pencil (or in most cases lose it by their second class). And it is my personal opinion (as I'm sure most math teachers would agree) math needs to be done in PENCIL! No exceptions. 

And back to my project...

Pencils were a better fit than crayons.

Materials Needed:
Shadow Box
Pencils
Pencil Sharpener
Hot Glue Gun

I found a font I liked and printed out the letter N as a reference. I then cut the pencils to the size I wanted. This was easiest with a steak knife and then I broke them apart once I had cut a little around the whole pencil.

The worst part was sharpening the pencils. There were a lot of pencils in the end, and a lot of TINY ones. I decided to use a little hand sharpener instead of an automatic one. I ended up having to buy another sharpener because the first one got too dull from all the sharpening. And my fingers were killing me! So I'd probably think about choosing a that you don't mind sharpening--too little, and you may hate it by the end.

Once all the pencils were cut and sharpened, I covered the back of the shadow box with contsrcution paper. Then hot glued the pencils down. 

 

 **My biggest suggestion when doing this (besides the size of the pencils) is not mixing up the penicls once they are cut. All my pencils accidently got mixed up before I could glue them. So then I had to spend a day trying to figure out where the pencils went. I'm still not sure I got it completely. 

All in all it was a big mess. So be warned!

Much love, 

Katie

Teacher Appreciation: Canvas Bags

Finished my student teaching in early December. It was such a great experience! As a thank you to the teachers I worked with throughout the semester, I decided to make them all something.

For the two paras and the co-teacher I worked with, I made them all canvas bags. Saw this idea on Pinterest and I have to admit looking at the finished product, it's absolutely amazing how simple this was to do.

Materials Needed:

Canvas Bags--I bought a package of 3 which was cheaper than buying 3 indiviually

Large 12" Doilies--Package came with 6 which was more than enough (I only used 2)

Fabric Paint

Paint Brushes

I got everything at Hobby Lobby for 15-20 bucks. Talk about a deal! Three gifts for $20? Yes, please!

I definitely recommend ironing the bags before doing anything!

After figuring out where I wanted everything to be, I cut the doily in half and taped it in place. Then using a paint brush, dabbed paint into the design of the doily.

Once I had painted the whole design, I removed the doily. The paint was still wet.

I went ahead and did this to all three bags before moving on. 

By the time I was done with the last bag, the first was basically dry. 

I then printed off their initials to use for stencils.

 I cut out the printed part and traced the letter with a pencil. Then painted it in.

This was so easy and fun to do! Every one was just amazed and the end result, thinking I had somehow painted it myself. I almost didn't want to tell them how I really did it ;)

Much love, 

Katie

Ombre Alert

I have once again changed my hair color. Go figure. For work I needed to do something somewhat tame -- i.e. no pink, blue, purple, green, etc. Which I have done before (except green which I plan to do next summer). So I gave into the OMBRE trend that has been appearing lately.

It wasn't that hard to do. There are a TON of "How To's" out there for this dye job. YouTube, Google, Pinterest. It's everywhere. Basically you just bleach what you want lightened, allowing more time for the lightest/ends of your hair.

 

Overall I am pleased with the results. I may tweak it here and there. Make the ends a little lighter. But who knows, I may just leave it like this. 

Much love, 

Katie

DIY Curling Wand

I have been wanting to get a curling wand for a while now. The only issue was dropping the $30 or more for one. Then as luck would have it I stumbled across The Beauty Department's tutorial on making your own curling wand from an old curling iron. Needless to say I was ecstatic. Not only would I have a curling wand, but it wouldn't cost me anything--I have at least 3 curling irons that I don't use anymore. And honestly, what's better than getting something for free?

Use The Beauty Department for their tutorial. But really its pretty simple--just remove the clamp.

 

** Please ignore the grossness of the iron. I haven't had a chance to clean it yet.

Much love, 

Katie

Braided Tank

 Materials Needed:

• Old T-Shirt--I used one I found in a free box at school
• Scissors
• Needle and  Matching Thread

Cut off the sleeves of the t-shirt. About 1 inch under seam is good. Once you have the first sleeve cut off, you can use it as a template to cut the other one off.

Extend the holes cut on the BACK OF SHIRT only. Making the shirt into more of a razor back.

Cut off the collar. About 1 inch below.

Cut straight across the razor back. Now there should be a flap on the back of your shirt.

Cut the flap into three section for the braid. Pull the strips a little to make them a little neater and easier to braid.

Braid the three strips. Using the needle and thread, sew the ends of the braid together. 

Find the middle of the collar and sew the braid to it.

Take a strip, about 1 inch wide and 3-4 inches long, from the extra you have cut from the shirt. Sew one side to the back of the braid. Wrap the strip around the braid and sew the end. This works to make it look neater and give it an overall cleaner look.

Much love, 

Katie

Fleur-de-Organization

Being a self-confessed shopaholic, I have a lot of clothing, shoes, and accessories. After some serious thought and brainstorming, I have found a way to neatly store MOST of my items. I have over-the door organizers and coat racks, shoe racks, about 15 Wonder Hangers, a scarf hanger (yes it truly does exist), and hanging shelves in my closet. The one thing I did not have organized was my jewelry. I had all my necklaces and earrings in individual baggies inside a little plastic tub. Talk about a hassle--but this was probably the easiest way to store them for college. However, now that I am at home I wanted a better way.

After countless searches for a jewelry organizer that I liked, I finally decided to just make my own. Let me just say that this was WAY easier said than done. Since I am not that handy with tools I enlisted my dad's help and headed to Home Depot. I'm not going to list everything I bought or the steps involved but if anyone wants them just let me know and I will gladly share.

Total I probably spent about $30-40 to make this organizer. Which I feel is a reasonable price for it. I am so happy with the result and couldn't wait to hang everything up and show it to you

The light in my room is red/pink hence the pink tone on the wall

Grey walls--which is the actual color of my room

Much love, 

Katie

Fleur-de-Outlet

Re-decorated my bedroom this summer. New Paint. New Bed. The whole shebang. Naturally this was not quite enough for me. Enter my outlet and light switch covers. My new bed spread is fleur-de-lis-esque so I went to Hobby Lobby and found some scrapbooking paper that was similar and some Modge-Podge. Now for the fun part...

Materials

Remove and clean outlet and light switch covers. Apply a layer of Modge-Podge to covers. Then cover with the scrapbook paper. And let dry. Once dry, cut off excess paper for covers. Apply a top coat of Modge-Podge and let dry. When dry, reinstall and enjoy your newly vamped outlet and light switch covers.

BEFORE

AFTER

Much love, 

Katie

On the Fringe

Reeling from my Coachella post I decided to make my very own FRINGE shirt.


 Materials Needed:

• Old Shirt (I used one of my plain Hanes shirts from Wal-Mart)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors  

Once I had my materials gathered, I got to work:

1. Measure how high you want the "fringe" to be. Draw a line all the way around the shirt at this measurement. I measured from the bottom but you can measure from the armpit too.  My measurement was 7in from the bottom.
2. Once you have the length measured, use the ruler to mark out the width of each "fringe". I made each 1cm.
3. Draw lines from the from the height to the bottom of the shirt to use as a reference when cutting. 
4. Cut off the bottom hem.
5. Cut along the lines drawn for each "fringe". Make sure to stop at the height line so they are all the same length.
6. (Skip to 9 if you want to leave shirt as is) Cut off the sleeves. 
7. Draw how you want to collar to be and cut along line. 
8. Trim the sleeves/collar to the desired width. Use the ruler for extra help.
9. Wash to remove remaining pencil marks.
10. Once dry, wear and ENJOY!

BEFORE

AFTER

Much love, 

Katie

Prepare Yourself

Being stuck at school for a few more weeks, I am a little limited in what I can do DIY wise. I left my sewing machine at home (not much room in the dorms) so I have to come up with stuff that requires minimal to no sewing.

I have already posted the two purple dresses that I plan on "editing" when I am reunited with my sewing machine. But I wanted to share what I am planning on creating as well as what I am currently making.

These are only a few of the many DIY ideas running through my mind. I'll post these as soon as I can. I also have some Crafts and Jewelry I'm completing so those will soon be posted for everyone to see. 

Less than a month to graduation, summer, and being reunited with my sewing machine

Much love, 

Katie