DIY Neon Striped Tee

shirt: DIY  jeans: kohls  sandals: target  tree necklace: K.Jane

I was inspired by Sarah's post from the winthrop chronicles and made this shirt last week.  

(She has lots of sweet tutorials that I plan on trying this summer!) 

I've been wanting something neon and am so excited this shirt turned out.  

Since I already had the white tee at home, I only spent $3 on the spray paint.

All you need is a white t-shirt, painter's tape and spray paint. 

The spray paint I used said good for indoor or outdoor use, and was florescent yellow.

Use the painter's tape to mark off your stripes.  

I kind of wish I would have used smaller tape so my stripes were thicker, but this is what I had at home. 

I made my stripes smaller on top and bigger as they went down. 

Use some paper to block the top and bottom of the shirt.

Do a few coats of paint and let dry.

This was one of the faster projects I've done and I love how it turned out!

I've washed my shirt once and the color was still just as bright.   

I'm thinking I now need to make some onsies or kids' shirts using spray paint.

So many possibilities!

Hope you've had a great weekend!

Shine On Fridays
craft - o - mania   ask anna
serenity now  monday mingle
5 Days 5 Ways

Easiest DIY skirt

I've been wanting a polka skirt and have not been able to find one so I decided to make one myself.  First I attempted a skirt with a zipper.  It looked pretty good but would not fit past my thighs.  Clearly I had some measuring issues.  

So I made this one and it is probably the easiest skirt you could make.  

All you need is fabric, elastic and a sewing machine. 

First measure your elastic.  I cut mine too close to my actual waist size and I wish it was tighter, so next time I'd make the elastic smaller than my waist size.    

Measure your material.  I didn't do any real measuring here.  I just held up the material and made sure that the width fit around my waist (with a little extra to sew).  And then the length was long enough with a little extra to hem.  

Fold your fabric in half and sew the one side of your skirt together.  This will be the back of the skirt. 

 

Then take the top of your skirt and do a very loose stitch.  I put my sewing machine on the highest stitch size.  I'm sure you could do this part by hand to, just sewing wide stitches.  

Take one end of the thread and pull so that your skirt ruffles.  

My thread broke part way, so I just sewed what was left and pulled again.  

This part doesn't have to be perfect because you are sewing over it and then pulling out any extra thread later.  

Sew your elastic band together.  I went back and forth a few times to make sure it was sturdy. 

Line the top of your elastic up to the top of your skirt.  

 The elastic will flip up when you're done. 

Now you have to move your gathers/ruffles around so that your skirt is even.  

Pin your elastic and then sew at the top.  

I had some places where my loose stitch was sticking out some so I had to cut it off in some places.  This stitch doesn't matter any more since you now have the elastic sewed on. 

Finally, iron and hem your skirt. 

And that's it!  

Hope you all had a great weekend!

craft o maniac   ask anna

Mingle Monday

a new blazer and a new word

 A friend of mine gave me this white blazer a few weeks ago because she didn't want it anymore.  

Which means a new favorite item for me! 

This weekend Chris and I worked together on a project.  

And we learned a new word: cornice. 

I would've previously referred to them as boxes with fabric above your window.  

The project didn't start out too well.  

After cutting a few pieces of wood, Chris sawed through the cord of his table saw.

Sawed the cord right in half.   

Luckily after another trip to home depot he fixed it and we could finish our project.  

Here's a before of our windows: 

Both had the green curtains on them: 

Rather than writing out the directions, you can just look here for more information. 

You pretty much measure your wood (a front piece, and two sides). 

Wrap it with batting and fabric, and staple gun the back. 

Then put on brackets like this: 

 and put them on your wall.  

The most time consuming part was actually putting them into the wall because you have to use a screwdriver, since the drill won't fit in between. 

Here's how they looked after: 

I love how they turned out.  

Chris and I were pretty proud of ourselves too. 

Chris thinks that we can know build ourselves our own house. 

Linking up to:
Happy Go Lucky
Steppin out Saturday
Craft o Maniac  the girl creative
C.R.A.F.T.    Home Sweet Home
Meet me Monday

DIY Heart Sweater

Have you seen this sweater? 

Well it cost $88 from J.Crew.  

I'm pretty sure I've never spent $88 dollars on an item of clothing before, and would definitely not spend that much on a sweater like this.  

I spent a few weeks searching online for a knock off version because I really liked it, but no luck.  

Not sure why I didn't think about making one sooner!  I found a tutorial on pinterest about painting a heart on a sweater but I didn't want it to be shiny like the one I saw.  

I decided to sew a heart on and it couldn't have been easier or cheaper! 

I found this grey sweater for $7 and a black piece of felt for $0.50.  

I cut a heart out of paper first and then out of the black felt.  

Then I pinned the felt onto the sweater. 

(I tried it on first to make sure that is where I wanted it.) 

I used my sewing machine to sew it on. 

That is it! 

So happy to have spent less than $8 rather than $88!

Monkeys

I keep wanting to share some of the Christmas gifts I made this year.  One of my favorite newer projects are my sock monkeys.  I made one for my niece and nephew and then sold a lot of them to friends.  They turned out super cute and I didn't realize how popular sock monkeys are!  Here some pics of the ones I've made: 

I finally got time to add a sock monkey to my etsy shop! Check it out here!

Here are some of the other gifts I made this Christmas: 

A hobby horse for my nephew: 

pillows for my niece & nephew: 

the necklace my sister is wearing

here's a similar one in my shop.  

I loved being able to make a lot of my presents this year!  My new sewing machine is certainly getting a lot of use already!

First Snow

First night of December and the first snow! At this time of the year I get excited to see snow. Now in March I have a very different opinion. I couldn't be more happy that it is Friday today. Two more weeks and then Winter Break!

It's hard to see but I made my headband last night. I followed this tutorial and made it from jersey fabric. I'm excited to do more of them using old t-shirts.

My dog Molly was even excited about the snow and confused about me taking pictures!

Happy Friday!