Embellishing an Old Tee: What not to do

I wanted to try out embellishing an old t-shirt with ruffles because I've seen them everywhere and I always say to myself..."Hey I could totally do that". I'm crazy.  I'm not an accomplished sewer, I'm not a intermediate sewer.  I could call myself a beginner, but that's even a stretch.  So this project was bit of an undertaking.  First of all I don't have a ruffle foot.  So creating the ruffles themselves took quite bit of time.  (If you don't know how to ruffle, Google ruffle tutorial.)   Then figuring out where you want them placed on your shirt and sewing them on with a machine is also a bit tricky.  I didn't do all of the sewing with a machine.  I had to hand sew to get some of the placement right.  I didn't like the way it looked so I added a few more ruffles of a different color.  I also didn't fray check my ruffles.  Dumb.  I thought, "Oh, I kind of like the edges to be a bit frayed".   No I don't.  I don't like all those strings everywhere. So what should I do now ?  I think I'm going to glove one hand and dip my fingers in fray check and rub it over the edges of my ruffles.  Hope it works.  I do like the way my shirt came out in the end.  It's quite striking and quite pretty. Next time I know what to do and what not to do.

My t-shirt before.

Black cotton strips for ruffles. I obviously used more than this since ruffling makes your pieces shorter.

Cotton strips, now ruffles.

Ruffles pinned on

The results

Infinity Scarves

 First of all.....I'm sorry that I'm neglectful. Forgive me. I hope you like what I put out there even if it's few and far between.  Just know that I love you guys. I think of you often and I do have more things to share. Be patient with me. 

Ok moving on.....so I love scarves. I wear them almost daily, but infinity scarves are my favorite right now.  I saw this awesome idea here, at Made by Lex (such a beautiful blog by the way, read through all of her back posts) and I had to make one.   Ok... I made four. This project is so great because I'm also an instant gratification crafter. I need my projects to be fast so I can enjoy them as soon as possible. (Also easy and cheap...preferably free, must fit in there too.)

I love that instead of getting rid of my old t-shirts and other clothing I can use them for something else.  Re-purposing is on fire!  Literally, almost every blog I visit these days has at least one post about it.  It's just plain smart.

This one was made from three different old T-shirts like the madebylex version.

So, just like how Lex shows you in her tutorial, cut up your shirts, (or your sweater like the one pictured below)  into same width strips.  

Sew strips together.

Wow lots of pins for such a small area. I'm not a super confident sewer. Can you tell?

 Done.

  

I have to say that an infinity scarf on a two year old is pretty much adorable. My sweet girl likes to play with hers like it's a jump rope rather than wear it, but I'm content with the few moments I get to see it on her.

Enjoy friends. Love you guys!

Valentine Printables

I was searching for Valentine's Day things and came across these
 Cute Free Printable Tags for Valentine's Day from 

Hello, Good Gravy. 

 
LOVE EM!

Lelan has loads of other cool and free printables. Don't you love cool people who share?

I sure do. Go check out all that good gravy-ness. :)

I love a good list.  Don't you?  Here's some from Vale Design that I absolutely LOVE!

Dollar Store White Berry Wreath

 

As I was browsing Dollar Tree recently I came across lots of white berry bunches.  I had already purchased some of the green ones for my tree so I thought the white would make a fantastic wreath.  I chose to use a foam wreath form also from the Dollar Tree. I cut it in half because I wanted less depth for the base since I planned to hang it against a mirror.  I was going to use the other half for another wreath,  but alas I was too hard on the fist half and ruined it. If one was careful I'm sure it could make two wreaths just fine.

Supplies.

9 bunches of white berries

1 foam wreath form

Ribbon for hanging the wreath 

Pull individual sprigs off of the berry branches.  Gently push each piece into the foam at an angle so the berries lay against the wreath.  I repeat, gently while also making sure the piece is secure.  Continue in the same direction until the wreath is covered.  Be sure to add some on the outside and inside edges so the foam doesn't show and you have a plump wreath. I did take pictures while creating this wreath but my camera was taking them in RAW format without my knowledge.  DANGIT!  I'm not smart enough to be able to view images when they are in that format so I can only show you  the after photos.  Sorry.  I really tried this time to be on top of my picture taking.

Not a bad for $10.

Favorite Skirt!

image via

This is my absolute favorite skirt right now.  So fittingly named the Every Angle Skirt from Downeast Basics.  It can be worn with anything.  It's awesome with cardi's or plain t's with a big chunky scarf.  Great with a cotton, button up shirt, and an over the top necklace.  I just LOVE IT!  Soooooooo... I decided to create a mood board. Especially for it. That's love. I hope you snatch up some of these deals.

Black Pencil Skirt:  Downeast Basics, $32.99

Heirloom Cardi (I also own and love):  Downeast Basics, $34.99

Houndstooth Mesh Tights:  Forever21, $5.80

Glaze Safari Black Bootie:  Amazon.com, $30.00

Bauble Necklace:  Downeast Basics, $8.99

edit: I'm not paid in any way by these companies to advertise. Trust me if I was I would be bragging about it.  I just love their clothing and wanted to share some of my favorites.

Chocolate Caramel Apple Tutorial

I didn't know Chocolate Caramel Apples were so easy (also so time consuming).  But all in all soooooo worth it!

I used smallish Granny Smith Apples.

I purchased this brand of Caramels.  Except the bag I originally used was especially for caramel apples so it came with the sticks and instructions on the back of the package.  So handy.

Melt caramel in a double broiler. 

Dip apples in caramel. As you can see I ran a rubber spatula around my apples to remove some excess caramel because they were too caramely...if there is such a thing. :)

Then I melted some semi sweet and milk chocolate chips in double broilers.

 Dip apples in chocolate.

Roll in sprinkles, nuts or Heath chips. Or whatever extra goodness you prefer.

Let sit until chocolate hardens.

 

Wrap up in clear cellophane and tie with a Halloween ribbon. Perfect. 

And soooooooo delectable.

Happy Halloween!