Beach Beauty: Part Deux

So I'm a bit later than intended with my results of the beach hair. But, alas, the results are in!

I definitely think the homemade spray helped! The sea salt and gel help to give hair that "dirty" texture hair needs to hold a style appropriately. However, with MY hair, I was not able to get the beachy waves by simply spraying and scrunching. I WAS, however, able to incorporate my old favorite technique: the diffuser. If you've never used a diffuser on your hair dryer, you're missing out. It's the device you attach to the nozzle of the dryer and has the little prongs which blow the air through and underneath your hair: you know, "diffusing" the air? :)

I sprayed my hair with my homemade beach spray. I actually got my hair pretty evenly wet. It wasn't just a light must, but my hair wasn't soaking wet. Then, I flipped my hair upside down and began diffusing. Now, when I dry my hair this way, I keep a bottle of firm hold hairspray close by. As I'm running my diffuser through my tresses, I also spray some hairspray over the hair I'm lifting. This helps to hold the hair in the "scrunched" position. Then, I pin a little section of the sides back to keep it out of my face, give a quick all over spray of hairspray, and you're done!

Unfortunately, I am having to post from my mobile device and it isn't letting me add a picture. But I will update the post ASAP and show you the final product.

All in all, I will definitely keep using the homemade beach spray. I definitely think it makes the stylin go faster and hold better. So, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Beach Beauty

So, this isn't a craft or sewing post, but I wanted to share with you what I've got up my sleeve for this week.  It seems like this week has been absolutely crazy with work schedules, home schedules, etc but I've been wanting to try something to make my morning routine just a little bit easier.  I often have the big debate over how to do my hair.  Pony tail or....pony tail?  Pony tail it is, then!  You see where I'm going....

Being a busy working mom, I've got to find a better way to make myself feel cute and look presentable without having to go for the "messy bun" trick every day. 

Enter:  Beach Hair

You know what I"m talking about.  The wavy, messy, cute, sexy, perfect-for-any-occasion hair. 

However, if you're like me, you're too frugal to spend the money on the pricey, name brand hair products.  I found this website via Pinterest that has the details so be sure to check it out!  With a little bit of sea salt, a water bottle and a couple other things (that I'm sure you have lying around) you too can make your own batch!

I don't have any pictures of my hair yet, since I just made this batch this evening.  But I will be trying it out tomorow and will take lots of how-to pictures then.  Supposedly, this is really easy and works great!  I'm all for it as the ingredients are common and inexpensive.  Easy enough, right?  I'll be sure and give you my two cents tomorrow!  Let me know how you like it too!

Old Chair, New Life

So, I've been wanting a chair for my craft room/office so that one of my dining room chairs can return to its home at the table.  But I wanted one that goes with my (soon to be) shabby chic decor and I didn't want to spend a lot of money...SO, when I found this old chair that someone didn't want anymore, I was delighted to try my hand at refninishing it.  Keep in mind, I've never refinished furniture so I'm sure there are other, more tried and true techniques, but this is what worked for me.

What you'll need:

Old chair

Acrylic paint and paint brush

Sand paper 220 grit

Fabric and batting

Appropriatey cut plywood if you need to make a seat from scratch

Staple Gun

                                                                                                                



Now, when I found this chair it didn't have a seat.  The frame itself was pretty sturdy, but I had to have a piece of 1/2 inch plywood cut.  I made sure to measure the inside of the frame, where the seat would actuall sit into it.  I also made the seat about 1/4 inch smaller than the measurements to account for the batting and fabric that I would be using to re-cover the seat.

Start by sanding your chair and seat.  My chair was pretty smooth, but it had one of those glossier finishes.  I needed to just scuff the surface a bit to make sure the new paint would stick.  I sanded the seat too because, well, who wants to risk a splinter on their seat? :)  After I sanded, I wiped the dust away with a dry rag and began painting.  Make sure you use acrylic paint.  I feel like anything latex will peel off in chunks that are too big for the "distressed" look I was going for here.

I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to painting so at first, seeing brush strokes were driving me nuts and I decided a second coat was necessary.  However, as I was going along with coat #1, I realized the brush strokes actually added to the look I was wanting. 

While I waited for my chair to dry, I decided to cover my seat.  I'll make that into a separate tutorial soon, but there are a ton of pictures I want to show you so I wont pile it all into one! :) BUT, this was my finished seat!

After my chair had dried, I began the "distressing" part.  *Like that play on words?  This part was actually very simple!*

I took my sand paper and began sanding off little spots of paint.  I made sure to focus on parts that would be naturally worn over time, like the bottoms of the legs, maybe the sides where one would grab to scoot the chair in, on top of the rungs, etc.  I also made sure to make my distress marks very random and not even or symmetrical.  I've also heard of people using a sock full of coins or something similar to bang against the furniture, making random dents and nicks in it.  I didn't want to go that far so I just stopped with the sand paper.

I wiped the dust off with my rag, set my seat in the chair and voila!  A new distressed, shabby chic chair for my craft room! 

 

I absolutely LOVE it!  It's exactly what I had pictured in my head.  The best part, the whole chair cost me MAYBE $25 and I learned that I CAN in fact, repurpose furniture! :) 



Keepin' those legs toasty!

I know this is a fairly new blog (and I am fairly new with tutorials) so please bear with me.  I have a BIG day of crafting planned for tomorrow and I promise to take lots of pictures!  Unfortunately, I've only recently been approached about making tutorials so I don't have a lot of pictures to go along with past projects.  But I can certainly show you the pictures I DO have and give instructions as detailed as I can! 

One of my super easy projects I do have some pictures for is baby leg warmers.  I decided to try my hand at making some of these after we made the switch to cloth diapers for C.  He has horrible diaper rash and NOTHING was working.  Not to mention the never-ending need to save money!  So, we made the switch!  I love how cute they are but they're always covered up with pants!  But with the colder weather hanging around and wood floors making little knees chilly, we needed a solution. 

Enter: BABY LEG WARMERS! 

C wears these ALL the time.  They're perfect for running around the house, they make diaper changes super quick and easy, AND I've been using them under fleece pants for extra layers in the cold! 

What you'll need:

Cute adult knee high socks.  I found mine at Target for around $2 a pair. 

Scissors

Sewing machine or needle and thread

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this first step.  But what I did is laid my sock out flat.  Then, I cut off the foot section, just above the heel.  Basically, I just cut right before the sock curves into the foot section.  I wanted to make them as long as possible so C wouldn't outgrow them quickly.  After you cut off the foot, you'll end up with just one long, footless tube.  (NOTE:  At this point, you could just leave the raw edge alone and use the sock as is.  I opted to attempt a more finished edge and create a hem.)

Next, turn your sock inside out.  Fold the raw edge back about 1/4 inch.  Using a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine or simply using needle and thread (the zig zag stitch just helps to accommodate stretching, but I don't think you'd have much trouble if you just made a straight hand stitch), sew around the folded edge to create a hem.  Unless you have a sewing machine that has a narrower base where you can pull the sock over it to sew, this can be a bit tricky.  Just remember to make sure you're not sewing through both sides of the hem as this will close the tube.  It just takes a big of maneuvering while the fabric is being fed through the machine.  The original top of the sock will be the top hem.  I opted not to do anything with the top hem as it was already neat and finished looking and this was my very first ever sewing project (Translate:  I wasn't sure how these would turn out! :)

Turn sock, right side out and you're done!  I didn't use matching thread so you can see where my seam is. :)

Quick, simple, and very useful!  Be on the lookout this week for some more tutorials and thanks for stopping by!



FIRST TUTORIAL!!!

So, I'm a part time stay at home mom, part time work outside the home mom.  My job as a paramedic is stressful and sometimes being a mommy is even harder.  This leads me to how I de-stress.  I craft.  Yes, I have a Pinterest addiction (If you haven't checked out Pinterest you should.  It's addicting).  And I also love finding inspiration and experimenting as I go along, making my own creations.  Today I made the most adorable lounge pants for my one year old son.  I have TONS, literally a bajillion t-shirts sitting around and of course I can't get rid of them.  Surely, I'll use them one day for something, right?  Today was one of those days.  C needs new loungs pants, I have lots of t-shirts, put 2 and 2 together and you get:

THE T-SHIRT LOUNGE PANTS TUTORIAL!!!

What you'll need:

1 adult t-shirt, size L (for size 18mo pants, XL for larger)

Pair of toddler pants to use as pattern

Sewing machine or needle and thread

pins

I started by laying out my t-shirt so I could see which portions I wanted to end up as my pants.  I wanted the writing to be visible and continuous from leg to leg (of the pants)

I then turned my t-shirt inside out and laid my "pattern" pants on top of the t-shirt making sure to line up the pants with where the design was.  (Turning the shirt inside out just eliminates having to lay the fabric right sides together to sew.)  Cut around the sides, inseam, and bottom of the pattern pants, making sure to leave a seam allowance (I used about 1/4" SA, but you can use whatever you like.).  When you cut around the waistline, leave an inch IN ADDITION to your SA.  You will need this length to make the waistband.

After all the cuts are made, you should end up with 2 pieces, right sides together.  Pin the pieces together.  If you haven't sewn with jersey knit before, make sure you pin A LOT.  Knit tends to stretch when you sew so you'll want to make sure it's lined up as you intended.

Using a tight zig zag stitch on your sewing machine (to allow for stretch) sew down the sides and inseam of the pants.  Don't forget to leave the leg holes open on the bottom.  (Yes, I almost forgot!)  Next, turn your waistline down a half inch.  Sew on the raw edge of this flap as this will become the casing for your drawstring.  Note:  You can also hem the bottom of the legs if you like, however jersey knit doesn't fray so there is really no need.  I just trimmed mine where I wanted them before I sewed and left them raw.

You are done with the pants!  Last, from your leftover t-shirt scraps, cut off the original bottom seam of the t-shirt and make one cut so you end up with one long piece of original seam. 



Cut 2 slits about an inch apart, through the TOP layer of the casing you just made on the waist of the pants.  Cut these in the middle of the waistline, on the front of the pants.  Attach a safety pin to one end of your "drawstring."  Insert the safety pin into one of the slits in the casing.  Use the safety pin to slide the drawstring into the casing by scrunching the casing onto the pin.

Tie your, drawstring, and you're DONE! 

Thanks for visiting and reading my first tutorial!  I hope to be posting more soon! 

Happy Crafting!