Two Simple Projects

Things have been busy around here lately, and I'm trying to learn to sew. I haven't been able to do as many simple projects, because sewing IS HARD!!! No not really, if you know what you're doing; my machine and I just have misunderstandings. Hopefully soon I can put a sewing project on here (I did one or two but of course didn't take picture!)

The first project

Today I was painting picture frames. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how colorful picture frames have become popular. We rent our house and the color is just what I need in the over abundance of brown/neutral coloring. This is a simple project you can do when you have multiple five minute breaks or all at once during nap time.

I had a few old picture frames laying around and decided to paint them. It would be nice to repurpose something that is other wise taking up space. For my mother-in-law we are doing a 'purple box' where everything is purple in it. I went to a thrift store, bought some nice frames, and painted them purple. It's super fun!!!

I used Acrylic paint, and I'm not sure how others will turn out. The paint I used dried mat, so I used Mod Podge to gloss it up!! I decided to put a cute little 'I Love My Mommy' paper cut out on the bottom of the frame. I simply held it in place and coated it with Mod Podge. I added glitter to my Mod Podge to give the frame a little sparkly something.

Once everything dries, it doesn't have the white/glue look. Also if you don't want to take the frame completely apart, you could always use painters tape to make sure the glass is covered.

 

My second project!!

I've seen several projects where people use bleach pens to make shirts personalized. I thought it was pretty genius!! I didn't want to go writing on my favorite shirt, so I used one of my husbands "garage sale" shirts. I chose dark blue, just to see how it would turn out. Don't forget to put something between the two layers of shirt, you don't want it to bleed to the other side. I used a piece of cardboard from a diaper box. I also used clips to make sure the shirt stayed tight.

If you want a design, I would recommend printing one out and create a type of stencil. Of course you are free to wing it like I did. Remember, this is bleach, and if you mess up the shirt is done for.

 

For some reason I thought it would work better if I set it in the sun; it just dried the bleach gel out.

 

 

It turned out really well. I was impressed with myself. You have to make sure that you get the bleach even or some parts turn out lighter then others. As you can see in the first picture, some of it was more pink/red then white. I was using a super dark blue shirt, so that might be why. Next time I do this, I will use a stencil to make sure everything is even.

 

I rinsed mine with water before I washed it. The bleach gel was flaky due to being dried in the sun. I saw a picture with a bunch of them in a load, so it might be okay. I wasn't going to take the change.

 

I hope you enjoyed, and I'd love to have some more craft ideas in the comments. Maybe something you've been wanting to try but didn't know how hard it would be. I was thinking those "string balls" made with string, glue, and a balloon. I've seen some amazing fails with those.....maybe just maybe!