Revamping

I have this shirt that I just LOVE, I have worn it so much it now has sweat marks under the arms (I know gross,but true), and a bleach spot on the front of it.

  I've had it hanging in my closet for a year now, I just couldn't get rid of it.  I was going to throw it out this last time I went through, but then I remember a technique I saw on TV and I knew this would be PERFECT for this shirt.

What you'll need:
An old cotton T-shirt
spray bottle (preferably 2 but if you only have one that will work)
Objects, such as buttons, cut up paper, coins, whistles, keys, fingernail clippers, just dig through your junk drawer :) anything you want to use that won't mind getting bleached
Vinegar (any kind)
Cardboard

Take you cardboard, and fit it in the shirt, so the bleach doesn't leek through, unless you want that look. . . Then take all your "objects" and scatter them wherever you want them, just depends on the look you are going for.  I needed to make sure I bleached the armpits so I did mine at a slant.  You could just do the top of the shirt or the bottom, or just around the collar. . .the possibilities are endless!!  Then you will want to take your spray bottle that has bleach in it and spray where the objects are, remember wherever you spray it will lighten!   You then watch as it changes colors, when it gets to the color you are wanting then either spray on the vinegar(this will cause the bleach to stop working) or just dunk it in a vinegar bath. . .like I did.

Just let the vinegar sit for a min or two and then rinse. Make sure you get a good rinse on it.  Then throw it in the dryer and your ready to wear.  If you want to do the back just proceed by following the same steps. . .make sure you have dried it!  I had a little bit of bleach leak through the back, so I loved how it all turned out, and didn't bother with doing the back.

Isn't that so cool.  It looks really cool when you do a black shirt and only bleach it to that "orangey" stage!

It felt so nice to put this t-shirt back on again, I forgot how much I loved how it fit!

Kitchen Re-do

Have you ever read those post where whoever is writing it, was driving down the road and found a great treasure that they just couldn't pass up???  I ALWAYS thought to myself and you might of too. . ."that never happens to me". . .finding something great on the side of the road. . .I am here to tell you not to give up. . .because it does happen!!

A few months before Christmas I was heading over to a friends house for girls night out, I drove down her street a little bit to turn around, and there I saw it. . .

and it really happens like they all say. . .Your heart skips a beat, a light comes down and shines on it and you hear faintly the sound of what you can only describe as angels singing.

I stopped and just starred at it for a while, I hesitated just getting out and shoving it in my car, one it looked pretty heavy, and two my mom had always taught me that stealing is wrong.  I kept telling myself that it wasn't stealing if it was thrown out for trash, but I just couldn't take it. . . so I went up to the door to see if anyone was home.  No one answered so I wrote a note and shoved it in my car, hoping I wouldn't have to bring it back.  Later I got a call from the owner who had made it for his daughters 20 years ago, and he was happy I had taken it!!!

I knew this would be perfect for my youngest for her birthday, I set it aside and told myself I couldn't work on it until after Christmas. . .it was hard to do, but the week after we got back from vacation I started working on it.

I cleaned it all up and painted it the turquoise color in the playroom.  I lightly brushed the brown over it to make it look "old" :) love that look!!  I also knew I wanted to use the red so I thought red polka dots would be super cute.  I got the fabric and surged around the edges. I gathered the top and hooked it to a strip of ribbon to give it more stability.  I then tacked it up on the underside of the wood.  I was going to do a spring rod, but I knew the kids would just pull it down, I am hoping this way it holds up better!

 I spray painted the faucet red. . .I was a little worried that it wouldn't work, but it turned out great.  I took it all apart and sprayed each piece, and then when it was all dry I put it back together again.  All the parts still move, and I love the red!!

 I bought I cute little nob for the front of the oven.

 I had a little white basket laying around so I thought it would be perfect for her to keep her washcloths ,  tablecloths and place mats I made for her.  I have a bigger basket for under the sink to store all the dishes when not in use.  On the right hand side originally it was a stove, but for Christmas my Dad made my little girl a super cute portable stove, so I left it blank, so she would have a spot to set her stove, and to play.  I just love the polka dots and how it looks, so simple, but I know she will love it!!

Keep your eyes open for treasures. . .you never know when you're going to find yours!!

Recovering an Ironing Board

After talking to my mom she informed me that there are a lot of tutorials to recovering your ironing board on the internet, I should of probably read a few of them. . . it would of saved me some time, I still  decided that I would post about my experience, just if you care to learn from it. 

 First I took off the cover and removed the padding.

My cover had a string around the edge that you just pulled tight.  I decided that this would be easy to recreate so I just pulled the string out so I could re-use it.

 I then layed my cover down on the right side of the fabric and cut it out.

 Here is where I could of saved myself a lot of time.  In my mind I thought I would zig zag along the edge and then just feed the string through the zig zag with a safety pin. 
1. I should of used a wider zig zag

Because after I got done sewing the safety pin wouldn't fit through the threads, and I ended up having to use a needle, and it kept catching on the fabric. It took me a while to feed it all the way around that way.

2. I should of just put the string through the zig zag as I sewed so I wouldn't have to feed it through the whole thing.
After I finally got it all threaded. I set the padding and the cover on top the ironing board, and pulled the string and tightened it around the edges.

 Despite my mishaps-it ended up working out and I love that it matches the laundry room!!

Re-using Clothes

It's that time of year to go through kids close and get rid of summer stuff and pull out the fall clothes.  I had some pants that my youngest boy worn last year, but has now grown out of.  By the look of these pants, most of you would probably just get rid of them, but I knew I could make them cute for my youngest to wear, which was in need of pants anyway.

 First I cut them down to the length I needed.  The style of the torn jeans is in right now, so I knew I could get away with the holes in the knees, and around the pockets.  I had some yellow polka-dot fabric laying around, that I just love, so I put that behind the holes, so no diapers would be showing through. I added ruffles to the bottom of the legs, with the same fabric.  My plan was to make it match with a shirt she already had, so I added some gold and white embellishments, with these. . .

Do you remember these from the eighties??!!!  I had a few laying around, and they were perfect for this project.

I didn't get a picture of her in them, but she sure looks cute!  What clothes are you going to re-use today?