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T-shirt turned work-out shirt

Here's my shirt before I did any re-vamping.

Here's the after! 

Here's what you'll need:
Rotary cutter and mat (scissors will work too)
Old t-shirt
Sewing essentials (machine, thread, etc.)

I simply marked with a marker where I wanted my arm holes to be. It doesn't matter what kind of marker you use here, because you will be cutting it off.

Next, I folded the shirt hot dog style, making sure it was lining up exactly with both sides. You could cut one at a time, but folding it over ensure the cuts are identical.

Cut on the inside of you dashes and save the sleeves.

Next, cut the neck line wherever you like it to be. I pulled to front layer up to line it up with the back, but you can cut it however you want! You could mark it out when you mark the sleeves too.

From the saved sleeve, cut a section out from the middle (this will be what hold the back so it is scrunched). I cut mine longer than needed and after sewing trimmed it off. Cut another part off so it lays out flat, without being folded.

Wrap it around the back part of shirt and pin. If your material isn't the same color on both sides make sure it's inside out when pinning it. 

Sew up the little section, ensuring not to get the actual shirt in the seam. Flip the "scrunchie" right side out and trim excess fabric if needed. I went over it a couple times to make sure it stays sewn through washing.

There ya have it! A nice loose workout shirt!

Grocery Bag Holder

I completed another Pinterest project! This time, thanks to the inspiration of Ashley. I changed a few things from her tutorial to suit my own style, but here it goes!

Here's what you'll need:
7 strips of fabric measuring 18" x 4"
12" of matching ribbon
2 pieces of elastic (one measuring 10"; another measuring 6")
Sewing essentials (machine, thread, needle)

Here's How:
Cut your 7 strips of fabric 18" long by 4" wide and lay them out how you want them.

I think the hardest part for me was figuring out which strips I wanted where. But! I got it accomplished! 

Sew strips together along the length of fabric and iron the seams down. (This helps when stuffing the holder with bags!)

On one end of the fabric, create a casing for the elastic. Do this by folding 1/4" of the top fabric over, iron it and then fold it over again 1/2", iron it. Sew, leaving enough room for the elastic to fit through. Repeat on the other end.

String the 10" elastic through casing that you want the top of the bag to be and the 6" through the bottom casing. Sew the elastic.

Now flip the bag inside out and sew your bag up! Zig zag stitch will hold it best, especially if you are REALLY going to stuff it with bags! 

Once it's all straightened out sew on the ribbon. I ironed the ribbon under so it doesn't fray. (You can partially see in the picture below). You could hand sew the ribbon on (which I will definitely do if I ever make another one!) I used my machine and it got away from me slightly. 

This is why I would have hand sewn it...oh well, mistakes happen!

Yes! Now a place for all those pesky bags I tend to collect (even though I've been trying my best to use my "green" bags when shopping!)

Bedroom Wall Art 2

Another bedroom wall art? I think, YES! 

I started out painting a canvas red.

Cut out a heart and traced it with pencil.

 Then glued on my gems! 

It looks like it's missing something, so I think I will add some black vinyl lettering underneath the heart.

Displaying photos for $1

I have almost two million pictures of my Stud-Man. I joke - but it feels like two million! Picture frames can be expensive and once you have them all hung up, it can be quite overwhelming. Here's a cheap and fun way to display your photos without using a frame!

All I did was buy a cheap wooden oval (at my favorite store - Hobby Lobby, and you know it - at 50% off!) then I painted it. Once it was dry, I added the picture. I put my lovely decoupage on the back of the picture and placed it right where I wanted. Next I added two, smooth layers of decoupage over the top of the whole oval and let it dry.

I'm sure all of the professional photographers out there are just cringing, but that's ok! It actually didn't ruin the picture!

Will it fall off? Does the decoupage really hold the picture on there? I did this about two weeks ago and the picture is still sticking to the wood. It hasn't shown any signs of peeling.

Bedroom Wall Art

I LOVE red! It just so happens, a lot of red things go on sale after Valentine's Day - just for being red! I found a nice red, metal wall hanging for 88% off! I added my own little saying to it and now my bedroom wall has something nice and spicy! 

Children's Reading Log

I enjoy reading to my Stud-Man and hope that he will enjoy reading on his own someday. I was thinking of ways kids could document their reading and then maybe earn something for it. Here is what I came up with! The child could either put a sticker or check mark in the box or write in how many pages they read. 

Click here if you want to see a better picture or print one for yourself!

At the end of each month, if the child has read every day (or gotten to their goals for total pages read), they could get a small gift or have a fun ice cream date. And this one would be big! At the end of the year, if they read every day they would get a BIG gift. It might be a good idea to decide on what that big gift would be at the beginning of the year, then the child can work towards it.