January alterations, refashions & misc. projects

It's been a bit slow on the blog here lately, eh?!  Well it sure hasn't been in real life, let me tell you!! But I'm enjoying every minute of it. I love being busy:)

Here's a roundup of January's projects... simple tutorials or links to tutorials should go along with each.

And if you're needing fresh ideas, head over to the newly revamped Inspiration page for links to some of my favorite blogs & websites!

Shirt Alteration

This before picture doesn't do justice to the shirt-- it was *very* stretched out from side to side. Cutting it down to size was super simple. 

Turn the shirt inside out and lay flat. Choose a shirt that fits you well and lay it on top of the other shirt. Pin the shirt you're altering so you know where to sew. {Leave a little extra room for working with the armpits.} Sew up the sides & try on for fit. Check to see if/how the armpits need altered. Pin armpits & sew. {It helps to put the shirt on inside out to know exactly where to pin the armpits}. 

{thanks to Ben for the photos}

Simple jars {I'll probably use these for our annual Valentine's Tea in a few weeks}

Draw or write on clean jars with hot glue. Let dry and then cover with spray paint as you like.

{I wouldn't recommend using these for candles or tea lights since the glue will melt as the jars heat up!}

I recovered two more photo albums!! This time with a shade darker burlap:)

{See the original tutorial here}

Skirt Alteration

Fortunately for me, this skirt had a zipper on one side, so other than having to resize the lining as well as the skirt, it was a pretty easy alteration. I also hemmed it up 4-5 inches. I don't have a tutorial for this one... but if you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them!

{p.s. it was a size 20 before I cut it down!! I feel like the before picture is one of those "I lost 40 lbs" pictures! haha}

{again, thanks to Ben for the photos!}

 Lacy Jar

This jar is really pretty for votives, candy, small gifts or any thing else you can think of. I'm currently using mine for pens on my desk-- the previous pen holder was half of a cup that said, "Nashville was so expen$ive I could only afford half a cup"! haha My parents gave it to me as a joke when I watched the chillens for a weekend so they could go to the company Christmas party at the home office in Nashville one year:)

 Lightly spray paint the inside of a jar. When dry, decoupage pieces of paper doilies to the inside of the jar. {find decoupage tutorial here} 

Paint a second coat of glue on top to give added protection. I also put a scrap of sweater in the bottom to pad my pens. 

If you are using this for a votive I suggest three things.

1} Use WIDE mouth jars. always. {and small candles-- tea lights are good} 

2} Hot glue {or tacky glue} the tea light to the bottom of the jar before lighting it so it can't slide near the sides of the jar. 

3} Never leave it unattended!! be smart!

I finally got around to filling these frames that I repainted a while ago!!

Infinity Scarf

You can't get easier than this project when it comes to sewing! It seriously took me 5 minutes!

 I picked up some jersey cotton fabric on sale & cut it in half {a yard makes two scarves}. Taking one piece of fabric, I folded it longways, right sides matching, until the edges met. A few rows of straight stitches along the edge & I had a scarf! For all other fabrics I would recommend following this tutorial from Handmade Therapy so that you don't have a "back"/unprinted side of the scarf that shows.

{thanks to Ellyn for the photos}

And last but not least...

We're trying to wean out much of the black that took over our room! I'm loving using shades of grey & neutral colors to replace the black-- which will in turn be great bases for our splashes of color!! This mirror looks so fresh with a few coats of light grey paint!

{and if you look closely at the mirrors, you'll see a peek of a project-in-the-works!! super excited about this one!!}

Well that's it for this month! Winter is a fabulous time to knock things off the project to-do lists!! What have you been working on?! I'd love to see pictures!

xoxo,

Em