Inspired By...

I have my friend, Laura, to thank for introducing me to and getting me addicted to a website called Pinterest. Basically, it's a giant bulletin board. You see something you like, an idea you want to try...and you "pin" it to your bulletin board. I have become a complete addict; I'm not going to lie. I could pin all day!

But then I saw this image:

Darn it! It's right! I keep pinning all of these inspiring ideas, but I don't do anything with them! So I got to work. First, I printed an image onto a page from an old dictionary. It was awesome! I may even do a bunch and try to sell them on Etsy! Or even Fiverr....Money is money, right?!

And then? I. Kept. Going. I made more stuff!!

Today, I threw together an upcycled t-shirt! It literally took all of five minutes...

Step One: Collect your supplies. They include: an old t-shirt (Seriously, the bigger the better. you want swing with this shirt. I used a men's XL, and I think an XXL would have been better...especially since I'm pretty curvy), scissors, and ribbon (though I chose beads and embroidery floss).

Step Two: Cut! Cut the sleeves off starting at the armpit and working your way toward the center of the shoulder seam. Cut the neck out (the lower the better but don't get too trashy). And cut the bottom hem off in a crescent shape (see below as I didn't know how better to explain it).

Step Three: Tie a ribbon around the shoulder straps, about an inch below the shoulder seam and in the back of the shirt. I decided to girly it up by using beads instead.

Step Four: Ta-da! Frankly, it's a grubby shirt, so I don't intend to wear it in public, but for around the house on a hot day? Sure! And next time, I would use the ribbon. The beads are cute, but the gap creates a weird fold in the back. Tie those straps together!! Otherwise, a cute and quick idea!

Next...



My big project and the original one that I wanted to try was a silhouette of birds sitting on tree branches. The background was (again) pages from an old dictionary. I had started it with pages from a book, but I didn't like how that background looked. So, I started fresh with the dictionary pages, and yesterday I did the silhouette:

I am really, really proud of this. I went with folky-art birds instead of actual bird silhouettes (as in the original) because I wanted a touch of whimsy. Hubby thought they were funny in a cute way, and that reinforced my decision. I wanted three birds, one for each of us, and I wanted one empty branch, as we are missing one member of our little family.

I love it.