Dye your own peacoat!

This was my little sisters peacoat that she was selling at our garage sale. It fit well but at the time I already had a black peacoat. I decided to try something new and bleach the CRAP out of it and then dye it.
I used a big bucket, placed 1 cup of bleach and then added hot water. I stirred it around then added my black peacoat. I then added more hot water till the water covered the peacoat by an inch. I let it sit for 2 hours. I would stir it around every 30 minutes or so just to make sure all the folds got bleached.
After two hours i disposed of the bleach water and rinsed the coat with hot water, then did it all over again TWO more times. I even let the coat sit in there over night. I know bleach eats away cloth but the coat held up great. Since it was black I had a long way to go to get it a light enough color to dye.
After bleaching it. I put it in the wash with hydrogen peroxide which counter acts the bleach. I dried it and this is what it looked like.

Not quite off white but it was a pale pale pink. I bought three boxes of Rit dye called Scarlet Red. I really wanted a Blood Red peacoat so I gave it a shot. I first only used one box of dye and followed the directions. It came out as a soft peach color. I then decided to try it again with two more boxes of dye. The directions specify to let it soak in the the dye bath for 30 minutes which I did about an hour, and I also added 1 cup of salt to the dye bath to help better dye the coat. The final product was a beautiful dark peach color (the computer makes it look orange, its not orange even though that would have looked good too. Not blood red as I originally wanted but I still love the color.

I cannot wait to wear this for FALL! I love my peacoats, scarfs, sweaters and jeans. :)

Easy Beach Wave Hair

I finally discovered a way to get a loose beach wave in my hair with no hassle. It took me maybe 15 minutes to do this but I also have somewhat thin hair. All you need is a curling iron, hair spray and possibly bobby pins. 

I pinned my bangs back in a poof first but you can do whatever pleases you. I then take a piece of hair and wrap it around the curling iron. The TRICK to this, is 1. DO NOT open the curling iron. Just wrap the piece of hair around the iron. TRICK 2. Let your hair twist as you wrap it around the iron. Dont worry about it being flat/straight as you would when doing ringlets. Here is a picture:

See how in my finger tip the hair strand is twisted...thats what we want! Also see how the iron is not opened, I wrapped my hair around it as a closed iron. Here is a picture of my hair when I was finished curling it without doing anything else yet. 

It is somewhat ringlet like but look closely...the ends are fairly straight while the rest of the strand is curly. The next step is the run your fingers through your hair and separate the curls. When finished, hairspray your hair while "poofin" it up with your hands. Once again here is the final product. 

ReDone Bookshelf

I have been wanting to paint this old bookshelf for a while now to match our new Ikea shelf. I fell in love with the idea from pinterest to put a design on the inside backing of the shelf. Here is the old one. 

This was so easy to paint and decorate. I HATE HATE sanding so I used a primer, and brushed it on which took maybe 30 minutes. I let that dry, then I bought three cans of a dark brown (almost black color) spray paint. I started spraying! 

The most difficult part was  that my shelf wants to fall apart but I just WOULDNT let it! Not after I put all this time and money into it. I took off the backing carefully and bought some fabric that I liked, along with spray glue (kinda spendy 9.99 for a can). I cut out the fabric to match the backing, I sprayed it and layed down my fabric. It was just too easy. I then reassembled the backing and had fun placing it once again in our living room. I love it. It now matches and it has character. Here is the final outcome!

The shelf is from target so I had to do a little research on priming a smooth surface I think it is made of linoleum. Worked out great though. Here is a website I used for tips on spray painting anything. 

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/10/spray-paint-faqs/ 

Total Cost to do this project:

3 Cans Spray paint 12.00

Primer 6.00

Brush 3.00

2 1/2y Fabric 13.00

Spray adhesive 10.00

Total: 44$ with products to spare for more pinterest crafts!

Superhero Baby Room

When my husband and I found out we were having a boy, my husband turned to me and asked if we could do a superhero themed nursery. As I thought about it, I got excited with all the creative ideas I had. Here is our Little Aidens room. 

 I painted these myself. I got the inspiration from an artists website. He was not licensed to sell them so I painted them myself.

I also created my sons name with comic book letters. I bought these from Joann Fabrics for 3.99 each, and then my friend gave me this old vintage comic book that I cut apart in order to mod podge the paper on the cardboard letters. 

 Again, super easy! Just cut out colorful paper in the letter of your little ones name, and get it laminated. Laminating is super cheap and I just went to Kinkos.

The fun part is putting the whole room together with all the fun superhero things that friends and family got little Aiden. We received many blankets! We love them all!

Midnight Feedings Basket for New Momma

Since having my little one, I have grown a heart for new mommas. I remember getting so hungry in the middle of night when feeding my little one so here is a gift idea for those new mommas. It is a basket full of goodies. 

Snacks include:

Apples

peaches

trail mix (I bought this in bulk then divided it up in seran wrap)

apple sauce

granola bars

cookies

All I did was buy a white plastic bowl, even though a wicker basket would have been much cuter! I placed tissue paper in the bottom of it, then added a little gift tag welcoming baby and then a card to new momma explaining that these treats are for her nightstand or the nursery room when you feed your little one in the wee hours of the night. Its so simple and new moms appreciate it so much!