DIY Sunday: Removing Embroidery

Hello Friends!

I thought I would share a little adventure I had started last night. I had gotten a lunch thermal from a friend and it was customized with the embroidery that really wasn’t me. I thought that I would cause too much damage removing the thread so I left it alone. I got brave last night, was watching some Revenge and Homeland (I’m a drama junky), and decided to try to remove the embroidery. It worked great, and I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. 

Tools:

Seam Ripper

Tweezers

 

Directions:

First off, I was lucky because the embroidery was on the outside pocket and therefore wouldn’t affect the integrity of the thermal itself. I think you would have to be careful if the embroidery was right on the item. Also, a pattern will make the holes less noticeable. 

Before

Using your seam ripper on the front of the item, carefully work your way down the middle of each letter.

The "O" after being ripped out.

After you’re done with the front, move to the back. Rip down each letter with the seam ripper. Using your tweezers or hand, start pulling out threads. You will probably need to use the seam ripper once you remove some thread and can see what you miss.  The name of the game is slow and steady. Take care not to rip the fabric and create bigger holes.

The back will have both threads and a felt like material.

After you’re done pulling out the threads, throw the item in the wash. This probably won’t do much for a vinyl type fabric but with a softer fabric, the holes should be less noticeable. My item isn’t really an item you should wash, so I just did a cold delicate wash. It probably didn’t do much for the holes, but I thought it needed a good clean anyways.

Before washing the item.

Not perfect, but it works!

After washing. The holes seem to be a little less obvious. 

 

DIY Sunday: No Sew Hair Bow

Hello There!

Today we braved family pictures . Kristin Zehner (of Kristin Zehner Photography) did a great job with our semi-grumpy children (well, one very unimpressed 10 month old and one hyper 3 year old). I saw one picture in camera, and I loved what I saw. I took some pictures of my own this past week since I had my nice camera out from a baby shower I helped throw for a friend (blog post to come on those DIY projects). I realized about 10 seconds into taking pictures of my daughter that I could never be a child photographer. She either was 1) moving 2) sticking her tongue out or 3) giving me a super cheese smile. I did get a few cute pictures, but it solidified my choice to hire Kristin.

Since these were our first official family pictures (I have always done them myself), I spent a few days obsessing on what my family should wear. Heeding a pinterst post advice, I first picked my outfit and then picked everyone's clothes after that.

My daughter didn't have a thing to wear (she had pretty much out grown any "nice" fall clothes), so I bit the bullet and ordered a dress from Crazy 8.

Since nothing ever goes according to plan, the dress is going to be delivered to my house tomorrow. Less than impressed that my item shipped with FedEX from California last week, and it took almost 8 days to get here.

So we were back to the drawing board. I found a pretty cute denim dress from Gap, but it lacked the yellow color that we had been weaving into each outfit. Time for a hair bow! Since my daughter now has short hair, we're starting to "girl" it up more lately with bows. 

This fabric came from a fabric de-stash of my grandma's basement. It's funny that this was in style about 40 years ago and is now back in style.

Okay. Enough rambling. Time for the No Sew Hair Bow!

Supplies

Headband (great project for a older headband sitting around that is stained)

Fabric (very small amount...good scrap busting project)

Hot Glue Gun & Sticks

Scissors

Cost: Free! I had all the supplies already. Time: About a half hour.

Directions

1. Cut a long strip that is about 2.25 times wider than your headband and just a bit longer. No need to be exactly straight since you'll trim the excess.

2. Leaving enough space on each side to wrap the fabric around the headband, use your hot glue to affix the fabric to the top of the headband.

3. Stretch the fabric to the back and glue in place. You will need to also fold over and glue the ends on the bottom of the headband once you're done with the back. Use some small detail scissors to cut the excess fabric. You can do a thin layer of glue on the seam to keep it from fraying.

4. Next you will need to cut a piece for the bow. The size depends on how big you want the bow. I cut a few pieces, folded over and held in a bow design so I could see how big the bow would be before picking a piece.

5. You will fold "hot dog" style right side to ride side. Putting the glue on the right side (inside the 'sandwich'), glue the long side down.

6. Pull the fabric inside out through the small opening on either end so you now see the right side.

7. Fold over each side so the bow is the size you'd like it to be. Glue down

8. Cut a thin strip of fabric to wind around the bow. (I did not do a inside out piece, but to avoid fraying you may want to do the same method you used for the bow) Secure the end of the strip to the back of the bow and then wind a couple of times, then glue down on the back. Put on the headband where you desire and wind around a couple more times around the bow and the headband. Secure end with some hot glue on the back of the headband. 

 

We wore the bow for almost the entire time we took pictures! Then promptly threw it on the ground when we got home. 

Here's a couple of the pictures I took last week. At least I got one good one of both kids.

DIY Sunday: Race Bib Sign

Hello Everyone!!

I have a Pinterest Project to share with you today. There are many different Race Bib projects on Pinterest, so I decided to try my hand at one. (Here's the original pin) You could get really creative and add hooks at the bottom for metals, but I'm not that advanced with my running yet. :) Just race bibs for me!

Supplies:

Wooden Board from Hobby Lobby ($2.99, but caught it on sale for 40% off)

Cool Barn Wood Scrapbook Paper ($0.29)

Mod Podge ($2.00 or so worth)

Silhouette Machine cutting "Races" (you could also use an exacto knife if you don't have a Silhouette or scrapbook letter stickers)

Cup Hooks ($0.50 or so)

White Acrylic Paint ($0.30 or so worth)

Alligator picture hanger for the pack ($0.25 or so)

Total: Approximately  $4.80

Directions: 

1. Cut the barn wood paper. I laid my piece of paper on the top of the wooden board and creased the paper along the edges of the top. I used the creases as a guideline to cut the paper.

2. Paint wood with white paint.

3. Get to Mod Podging! First, do a light layer of Mod Podge on the board and place the barn wood paper on the top of the board. Make sure you work quickly, and make sure the paper is placed on the board evenly. I didn't work quite fast enough and ended up with some wrinkles. Learn from my mistake! Then do a nice light layer on the top of the barn wood paper and place your "Races" paper on the top. Finally, do a coat on top to seal everything in. Several light coats are the best way to put the Mod Podge on. If you notice your last layer isn't drying quickly, do a quick coat of a clear spray on top.

4. Next put an alligator picture hanger on the back in the center. Very easy to hammer in on the soft wood.

5. Put your cup hooks into the wood (also very easy with the soft wood). I took the widest race bib I had and used it as a guide for where I wanted the hooks.

6. Ta Da! Hang up on the wall in a location that you will see when you need that extra bit of motivation to get out and run!