Purple Pants...NO WAY!!!

Ok, so YES WAY!!! is the response to the title of my post.  By the way, you get to see a bunch of pictures of my legs.  Aren't you excited?!? 

Here's why...I just refashioned a pair of pants into a pair of capris...and not just any capris, but PURPLE capris!  Yes, I am Stylin'!!!

My mom gave me several pair of jeans and capris the last time she came to visit.  She's lost some weight and with my weight loss I have had a need for smaller jeans, etc.  Unfortunately I am taller than my mom and some of the jeans are petites.  It's not an attractive look on a not so petite figure, but I LOVE capris so why not transform them.  And to kick it up a notch I decided to dye them as well.

I really wanted pink...BRIGHT pink...capris, but to get bright pink capris it's helpful to start with white before dying.  I did not do that.  I didn't want to mess with bleach and hours of soaking.  I did a bunch of reading on how to dye jean and Rit's website said it wasn't necessary to bleach the jean...if you didn't care if it blended the colors instead of being pure...whatever color you buy.  So I bought Tulip bright pink and ended up with purple jeans.  I actually LOVE them!!!  Next time, however, I'm thinking bleach and PINK BABY!!!!

Next item on the agenda was to CUT!!!  Since I didn't want to wear these as Bermuda style shorts I tried them on to get the length.  I'd forgotten that these were also either bell bottoms or boot cut jeans which meant I had to contend with a flare in the bottom of the leg that started at an awkward spot for capris.  Once I cut the bottom off I turned them inside out and folded the excess over on the outside of each leg and pinned it down.  By the way, it is very difficult to hold the pant leg with one hand and pin with the other when it's on the outside of your leg.  I'm pretty sure I have a few pin scratches on my legs and perhaps a few small pin pricks as well.  Once they were pinned to my satisfaction I took a regular ink pen and marked where I wanted to sew then pinned it again.  Then I sewed straight stitch right down the pen mark.  To finish off the seam I wide zigzagged the edge connecting it to the original seam up at the top of the leg.  I left about a 4" opening at the bottom of each leg because I wanted to add a bit of lace peeking out at the bottom.  I cut off all the excess material at this point, then I zigzagged the raw edge of the opening and the bottom cut for the hem.  I turned the opening edges under to the wrong side in a V shape and straight stitched it to give it a clean edge.  I hemmed the bottom about 3/4ths of an inch and finished it with a straight stitch.  Then I added the piece of lace on both legs and sewed it into the V with a straight stitch. 

I took absolutely NO pictures of the process...I was a horrible blogger this time, but I just wanted to get this process done and put my new capris on!!!  It was a very simple process and only took me about 2 hours (cause I'm slow and a perfectionist).  Here's how they turned out.  Hopefully you can see the purple in these pictures.  It doesn't seem to come across quite as purple as they are in person. 

And see...I'm even wearing PURPLE SOCKS!!!  I'm so coordinated today!

These are going to be so much fun this summer!!!  Now I can't wait to try dying some more jean!

Till next time...

Jennifer

A Touch of Spring...

I am SO ready for Spring!!!  This has been a long, hard winter.  I am not complaining because we've needed a very cold winter to counter the very mild ones we've had the last couple of years.  We needed to kill off some of the nasty creatures that spread in warmth.  That being said...I'm celebrating Spring's arrival!!! 

This Christmas I decided to try my hand at a burlap wreath.  I'm obsessed with burlap...I love it!  If I could go back and do my wedding over again it would be burlap and lace.  If I could find more ways to add burlap to my house I would...burlap and lace that is.  I love burlap mixed with a light, feminine fabric...whether that's lace, ribbon, tulle...whatever it is it's beautiful.  I love my wintery wreath...but as I stated about...I am SO ready for Spring!!! 

Perhaps it was me and my snowflake wreath that encouraged all the snow...well, if so it is down!  I am not inviting snow in any more!!!  Now we're on to greener pastures! 

Here's our touch of spring.  I used burlap...of course...and added some raffia and a bit of green mesh tulle from Hobby Lobby.  The tulle has several lines of silver running through it too and it adds the perfect pop of color for spring.  I love subtleties and this fits my style just right.  I also found a burlap flower in the wedding section at Hobby Lobby and put that in a bow I made of the tulle. 

It's a perfect little touch of Spring!  Let's hope it encourages little bits of green to sprout from the ground!!!

Till later...

Jennifer

Truly a Piece to a Treasure



 Close to a year ago my husband and I found ourselves at an estate sale.  We'd decided to go garage sale shopping on the spur of the moment and ended up at one that was really an estate sale.  When we left we'd bought this little end table.  We didn't have a need for it; we didn't have a spot for it...but we had an end table.  You can see part of it here in this picture.  It's missing a handle, but it had great details.  It has a marble top that was near to impossible to coordinate to a paint color.  I have gone over and over in my mind what I wanted to do with this little thing as far as paint colors go and had never come up with something that just hit the mark.  It's sat in my garage as a small paint can holding table and resident dust collector.  That was until a friend said they needed an end table.  Suddenly it had a purpose.

That's where it's story takes a turn.  The new owner's color preference was Traverse City Cherry by CeCe Caldwell that I've used on a couple pieces in my home.  Trouble is the marble top...not a good match.  So we discussed a new inlaid top that I was planning to dress up with some of Maison Blanche's Glacage and a bit of texturing. 

A little cow hide template made on my Silhouette with contact paper (yeah, that was a pain...note for next time *TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!!!) add some Glacage, Maison Blanche's Wrought Iron and Chocolat furniture paint, dark wax and clear wax mixed with bronze and gold mica dust for shimmer and it had it's new top.

Next was a paint job on it's body...

Of course it had to be distressed!!!  I cannot paint any furniture without adding the distressing.  Way too perfect without it!

Add a little dark wax in strategic spots and follow that with a full coat of clear wax.

Throw in a bit of elbow grease in the form of buffing and that old piece of furniture turns into...

PRETTY...

GORGEOUS...

LOVELY...

 

BEAUTIFUL...

 

TREASURE!!!

Now I have to send this home.  I may have to shed a tear...ok, maybe not.  In case you're wondering...I'm leaving the choice of drawer pulls to the new owner.  For now it's time to say "So long!!!"

Till the next transformation...

Jennifer

Something Special for my Sweet Pea

A little over a year ago my 81 year old Grandmother passed away.  She'd suffered for several years with Alzheimer's disease, but she was a believer in Christ so her passing was a sweet victory for her.  Over the last year my dad and aunts have been going through her things distributing pieces as they find them.  I acquired a small wooden box.  It had been given to my dad and they didn't know what to do with it, but knew I could probably find a use.  It was an old sewing box/bin with a missing knob and had bangs and dings in it.  My first thought was something for my daughter.

My daughter is 10 and she will soon be coming of age...so they say.  She shares a bathroom with her two brothers and I want her to have something special for that feminine, growing up time of her life.  Something pretty yet discrete since their bathroom is also the main bathroom of the house.  I'd been looking for a pretty basket, but when I saw this box I knew it was perfect. 

I started by making a template or stencil in damask to add some Maison Blanche's glacage in black.  It gives a dimensional decorative element that I love and it can add a feminine touch to this otherwise plain box. 

 



Then I painted the whole box Maison Blanche's Vintage Furniture Paint in Wrought Iron.

Once that dried I applied 2 coats of Maison Blanche's Vintage Furniture Paint in Magnolia.  I used this technique and colors when I painted my microwave cart (which I just discovered I never posted about...wow, how far behind I am!!!  Here's a picture.) 

 
I let it dry overnight then distressed it with a damp white knit rag...the kind you get at Lowe's, Home Depot or in this case Harbor Freight and Tools.  As with sanding it's important to go slowly with how much rubbing you do.  If you don't it could take off more paint than you want.  I don't worry about the original color coming through.  It adds to the distressing, but I also don't want a ton of it showing.  So I just take my time.  I especially want to rub in places where wear would be normal.  For instance the edges, places where it's rough and dinged up or hand holds.  And I really distress over the glacage!!!  I want all the details showing through with that piece.

Once it was waxed with Maison Blanche's Clear Antique Wax I decoupaged torn piece of scrapbook paper to the bottom of the piece inside.  I always use Mod Podge to decoupage and once it's dry I paint another coat of mod podge to seal it.  I found two pretty little knobs at Hobby Lobby to add to the top and that finished it off.

 

I didn't tell her this project was for her...or what it was for.  I loaded it up with necessities and placed it in her bathroom then surprised her.  It's all ready for when she needs it...even though I am in NO way rushing it!!!

 

Till another day...

 

Jennifer



Baskets of Blue

If you follow my blog at all you know that recently I painted a new cabinet to put in my bathroom.  You can see that here.  To organize said cabinet I needed some baskets.  I had one, but needed more for everything.  I hunted and hunted through Hobby Lobby to find just the right one, but I couldn't see anything in the right color and size.  I had to change my focus.  I ended up looking for something in the right size without worrying about the color.  I found 5 baskets...2 square that were red, 2 large rectangles with red gingham liners and 1 smaller rectangle with the same liner.  I headed to the paint and fabric departments to fix the color and liners. 

I picked up some brown and light blue spray paint.  I wanted the brown to cover up the red and show through just a bit under the blue.  Then I picked a pretty blue patterned material and purchased 1 1/2 yards based on my estimates and adding a bit for good measure. 

Immediately I got to work on painting the baskets.  It took at least 2 coats of brown to cover all the red in those baskets.  I then applied 2 coats of blue inside and out of all 3 baskets.  Since it was spray paint the brown didn't show through as well as I wanted, so I made a wash of brown chalk paint and brushed it on being careful to wipe it back off before it dried.  You can see that in the top left picture.  It's the same basket as the bottom middle picture with the wash applied.  It gave it the dimension I wanted and also served to take away the sheen that the satin spray paint had.  It looks more basket textured than with just plain spray paint. 

For a while the baskets went in the cabinets like this.  It took me a while to get to the liners for the white baskets.  I had to create a pattern off the previous liner and play with the best way to sew it.  I started by stitching the tie opening open.  I folded the fabric to the wrong side in a V and just stitched along the sides to keep it open.  I decided to sew the side panels to the base first with right sides together.  I stopped my stitching about a 1/4 inch from the edge on both sides so when I stitched the sides I could match them up.  I'm not sure that's the best way to explain it, but if you ever sew a cube like project you'll see what I mean.  I sewed the sides next and stopped the stitching at the base where the sides and bottom were stitched together.  If I went any further it would leave a small pucker in the corner. The previous liner had seams that were finished off with a surger.  Since I don't own a surger I finished these seams with a zigzag stitch as well as the top hem.  That's when my machine had a glitch which delayed my project again.  After a tune up and a week later I got back to it and worked to finish them off.

One of the hardest parts was these little ties. They weren't hard to sew, but they were VERY hard to turn.   It took almost as long to turn them as it did to sew the whole project.  Once they were done I pinned them into the top fold of the hem about an inch in on each side of the tie opening.  Then I stitched across them and continued across the top edge to secure the hem down. 

Here's how the first one turned out.  I decided the ties took WAY too much work and since the ties serve very little purpose I chose to go purchase ribbon. 

The ribbon was SOOO much easier.  The liner was looser than I wanted it to be, so if I ever redo the liners again I will make the top hem a casing and thread the ribbon through it so it can cinch the liner down around the basket.

This project is finally DONE!!!  YAY!!!  It always feels good to have a big project completed to move on to something else! 

Till next time...

Jennifer

Just a little quickie...

I just wanted to post something real quick.  I'm in the middle of a project that I will share later...here's a glimpse.

But I wanted to tell you about a recipe I recently found...this Chocolate Shake!!!

Oh my WORD!!! 

It was SO quick and SOOOO good!!!

It was a bit like a Wendy's Frosty.  The only change I made were to round the tablespoon of cocoa and add a few drops of stevia, then just like a teaspoon of my premade caramel.  Blend it up and DELISH!!!

Till the next recipe/project...

Jennifer