Butterfly Love Shirt

I love the look of a faded graphic t-shirt especially when it's personalized for my girl. 
Purple? Check. 
Butterflies? Check. 
Glitter? Check. 
Super long lashes? Check.

Last week, Happy Hour Projects had a great tutorial on  how to make a graphic using freezer paper and bleach. So using that tutorial, I made this shirt and took it a step further... x 3.

I started with a regular purple shirt.  I traced the butterflies onto the freezer paper, cut and ironed onto the shirt. I purposely ironed the butterflies over the sleeves...

I lightly sprayed bleach onto the shirt...just enough to get the fabric wet...and by total accident, a couple of drops of bleach fell onto the bottom of the shirt...in the end, it worked in my favor. Make sure to insert cardboard or plastic bags into your shirt to protect the back of the shirt...you don't want bleach to stain that part.

When it was dry, it looked like this

When I removed the butterflies, it looked like this...see how the accidental drops of bleach worked in my favor...looks like butterfly dust as they flutter about.

I liked it but it was missing something...so then I did this...using freezer paper, I traced and cut out the word LOVE.  Ironed on the stencil and proceeded to paint the letters using several fabric paint colors. I painted and blended in the colors over each other.  Once the paint was dry, I went back and repainted the letters again using fabric glitter paint.

Then it looked like this...I forgot to take a picture of the shirt without the hearts, but basically, the shirt still looked too blah at the top.  So I drew and cut out heart stencils using freezer paper.  When I ironed them on, the white fade from the bleach turned yellow... :(  I painted the hearts in just like the letters.

I wasn't loving the yellow "glow" in the middle.  In my attempt to "cover up" the yellow, I added more sparkle to the shirt with glitter fabric paint.  I just dabbed on some glitter dots and smeared them with the paint brush. 

Now the shirt looked like this

 Now the shirt looks like this...much better

After washing it in a regular load, the yellow came off...whew.

And this is what the shirt looks like when Sammie is in model mode...

Work it girl!

DIY Angry Bird Backpack

When we bought my son's backpack for school, I was surprised that he wanted a plain Jane backpack.  No Spiderman. No Batman. Not even Spongebob. He chose a black, red and grey backpack.  But I was not surprised that Joshua already had something in mind for his plain Jane backpack. He wanted an Angry Bird backpack...more specific, he wanted the black bomb bird and the red angry bird.  So this was my solution to his 'simple' request.

I found Angry Bird clip art online and traced it with freezer paper.  I cut out the images and ironed them onto the flaps.  Cheri at I Am Momma-Hear Me Roar has a really good tutorial on freezer paper stenciling.

Right about this point is when I regretted the whole idea of the freezer paper.  See how I burned the nylon around the black edge of the flap...ugh! But I just carried on...the only option I had was to try to make it better.  So once I was done, I went back and painted in the burned part with fabric paint. It doesn't look that bad. And the best part is that Josh didn't notice...or at least he didn't say anything.

So, I painted the flaps with fabric paint, including the beaks.  I added googly eyes with fabric glue.  

A week later into kindergarten and the eyes are still on.

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out, burned flap and all.

It's the perfect backpack for Buddy to wait for Joshua every day.  We NEVER leave home without Buddy...

not even on the first day of school. 

Sam's shirt tutorial.  Rose clip tutorial. Joshua's shirt tutorial. 

So far, Buddy has perfect attendance 

and he doesn't mind waiting in the backpack until the end of the school day. 

That is when he gets to come out of the backpack and ride the bus shot gun with his best bud, Joshua. 

You Decide My Skirt's Fate

I have this skirt from Gap.  It is an A Lined circle with panels so it flares out at the bottom. I really love the style and how it fits, BUT I want to do "something" to it.       

I hardly wear it because it is too simple...

Our sweet Sofie Girl ... 

I want to do something creative to it.  And this is where I need your help...I can't decide what I want to do to it.  I've pinned way too many skirts on Pinterest and now I can't make up my mind. Here is what I've chosen in no particular order...

1) Sew on circles and add a matching trim?

2) Paint or sew on a floral design?

3) Paint words? Maybe on one panel or along the bottom?

4) Sew on circles in a pretty pattern? Maybe going up one panel?

5) Paint or applique a pattern around the entire bottom of skirt?

6) Change out a panel and add a trim to bottom?

7) Add different rows of lace?

I am going to leave the decision up to YOU; my readers, followers and anyone that just stops by and leaves a comment.  There are 7 choices (see why I can't make up my mind?) to pick from.  To vote just leave me a comment (voting ends August 19th) at the bottom with your favorite one.  The number with the highest votes wins and I will go with that.   Once I finish with the skirt, I will definitely show you the outcome.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Can't wait...