Kids/Toddlers Pants or Jeans Upcycled into Shorts for the Summer

I first turned about a dozen pairs of my kids pants into shorts last year.  It worked out so well I did it again this year!

When I swap out my kids winter clothes for summer clothes, I sort them into 5 piles: 

1.) save for Autumn - clothes that will still fit in a few months

2.) too small & bring to the swap shop at the dump

3.) too small & hand-me-down to friends

4.) too small, good brands in great shape, & save for Autumn to consign

5.) well-worn (not consignable) pants or jeans that still fit or may be a tad too short & won't fit in the Autumn

Pile #5 goes to my sewing area.

Last year I also did this with my daughter's pants & made several pairs of capris & bermuda shorts for her, as well as regular shorts.  All of her shorts from last year still fit her well so I didn't have to make any for her this year.  The pictures are of my son's pants being turned into shorts, although the concept is the same, no matter the size.  In fact, next I am turning 2 pairs of my old jeans into capris!  :)

Want to make some of your own?  Here's what you need:

Materials

• Pants (to turn into shorts)
• Sheers
• Sewing machine
• Denim needle for sewing machine
• Thread, color of your choice (I used tan for all of them)
• A pair of shorts that fit your child well to use as a guide
• measuring tool (I can never find my measuring tape, I just use my index finger as the unit of measurement doesn't matter, as long as it's the same every time)
• Fabric-marking tool (a pen will work too, you only use it once to mark the first hem & it gets folded over on itself so you can't see it)

Instructions

1.) With each pair of pants, lay out flat & place the shorts flat over the pants.  Choose 1 pant leg.  Using the sheers, cut the pant leg off approx. 2" below the hem of the shorts.

2.) Set the shorts aside.  Fold the pants in half, lining up the waist line.  Using the sheers, cut off the other pant leg, matching the cut of the first pant leg.  (I did set the pant legs aside, when I have enough to come up with a project, I'll blog about it & share the link here ;) )

Repeat with all of the pairs of pants.

Above are all of the pants with the pant legs cut off & the shorts I used as a guide.

3.)  Using a measuring tape or ruler (or your index finger ;) ),  measure (approx.) 3/4" from the raw edge, mark with a fabric marking tool or pen, on both sides of each legs of the shorts.

4.)  Roll over at the mark.  Pin (if you want to, I find it just slows me down ;) ).  Set the sewing machine stitch length to 3 (I have a Singer) & sew a straight stitch about 1/2" from the fabric edge.  Repeat on second shorts leg.

5.)  Roll over fabric again.  Again, sew a straight stitch about 1/2" from fabric edge.  Repeat on second shorts leg.  Repeat with all of the shorts.

These 6 pairs took approximately 2 - 2.5 hours to turn into shorts.  Say I'd gone to a consignment shop & found 6 pairs of shorts for $6 each.  That's $36 right there that I just saved, not bad for less than 3 hours work.  :-D

Enjoy!!  :)

Photograph Magnets Upcycled with Bottle Caps

I've been wanting to make these for a while.  This past week, I finally did!  :)

Want to make your own?  Here's what you'll need...

• Bottle caps (you may need to start saving a few weeks ahead of time unless you go through a lot of beer quickly or you can have friends save them for you)
• Round magnets (mine were about $6 for a large pack from a craft store & I used 3 packs)
• Dimensional Modge Podge* (about $5 for 2 oz. - I used 3 packs & made just over 100 magnets)
• A 1" circle craft punch
• Craft glue (I switched to Weldbond to glue the magnets to the bottle caps & the photos to the bottle caps - be sure to read label)
• Small photos - my black & white ones (pictured) I clipped from left-over Christmas cards from the past two years (Snapfish makes you buy them in packs of 20 so I buy 3-4 packs & end up with at least 10 leftovers - so happy I have a use for them now!  I plan on using the rest of the Christmas cards to make sets of magnets for the family over the holidays.)
• [If you have a basic knowledge of photoshop, you can put together prints with 1" photos to maximize paper efficiency.  I did some color ones like this & also just using photo paper & our home printer & Microsoft Word.  I duplicated the photos I wanted to crop using iPhoto, cropped the photos to square using iPhoto, & dragged & dropped them into a word document, changing the size of the photos to 1" & when the paper was full, I used photo paper & my home printer & had an entire sheet of photographs.]
• Scissors
• Cookie sheet (optional)

*I know DIY Modge Podge has been gaining in popularity, however I've read accounts of people's projects yellowing & flaking after time so I just buy it.  I haven't been getting much at Michael's lately so I use the 40% coupon each week.  If you only have 1 coupon but are making more than 1 trip in a week, you can ask at the register & they'll scan a coupon for you.  :)  

1.) Glue the magnets to the back of the bottle caps.  (Optional - organize on a cookie sheet.  I found this to be wildly helpful.)

2.) Using scissors & a 1" circle craft punch, cut out your photographs.

3.) Glue photographs to inside of bottle caps.  Let dry.

4.)  Add Dimensional Modge Podge to inside of bottle caps.  Let dry.  (It was humid when I did mine & it took over 24 hours to dry fully.)

5.)  Arrange & enjoy! 

I used one B&W set to start a frame around my magnetic organizer in my bedroom.  It's such a treat to have so many favorite pictures on display!  A great passion of mine is photographing my children but I have SO many shots & SO many favorites that if I were to try to display them all in prints at once, my walls would look quite cluttered & I despise clutter, so this is perfect for me.  :)

Mirrored, Magnetic, Customizable Accessory Organizer (upcycled from medicine cabinet)

One trip to the metal pile at the dump a few months ago, I saw this old medicine cabinet. The mirror was still intact so my initial thought was to try to take the mirror off of its hinges but I didn't have any tools with me to do so. So I went back later, but after looking at it more, I noticed it was still in working shape as a cabinet, and it was 100% metal & magnetic, it really just needed to be cleaned & get a fresh coat of paint, so I took the entire piece home with me.

I've been in LOVE with chalkboard paint for the past few months, so I decided to paint it inside & out with chalkboard paint, as well as give it a chalkboard paint "frame" so that I could decorate the frame around the mirror with different colors of chalk if I wanted to. It had two glass shelves (a third had shattered) inside but I didn't take them with me as I plan on using this primarily as a jewelry organizer. I don't have much jewelry so I should be able to hang my necklaces & bracelets on the inside of the door & inside of the cabinet with magnets, as well as put my small jewelry boxes inside or on top of the cabinet.

Want to make your own? Here's what you need:
Mirrored metal medicine cabinet
Chalkboard paint & brush
Old newsprint (or old towel, sheet, etc - just something to protect your floor front paint while you're painting)
Scotch blue painters tape with edge lock
2 screws, 2 wall anchors, drill, hammer, screw driver
pen or pencil
Spray cleaner (I use 50% water, 50% distilled white vinegar) & old rags
Photograph Bottle Cap Magnets

The above two shots I took pre-cleaning.  Looked pretty gnarly.  ;)





1.) Wipe down the medicine cabinet, inside & out, top & bottom.

2.) Paint inside & out, top & bottom with chalkboard paint.




3.) Using Scotch blue painters tape with edge lock, create a "frame" - width of your choosing - & paint.  Allow to dry in between coats per the instructions on the label.

Note - this was a high-gloss white cabinet, so it took 3-4 coats of chalkboard paint.

4.) Using pen or pencil, note holes on wall.  Drill.  Using hammer, tap wall anchors into place.  Using screw driver, screw screws into place, leaving them sticking out enough to place holes in cabinet on.

5.) Hang.  Decorate.  Enjoy!  :)

I decided to decorate the "frame" of mine with my bottle-cap photo magnets - instructional blog post to come.  To the right is a scarf organizer from (shock) a free metal "rack" I got from the metal pile at the dump (blog post to come).

The plate is a family heirloom that my paternal grandmother & grandfather bought on their honeymoon & the plaque below was a gift from my mom.  It's nice to be able to have a place to display these items now. :)  The rocks were from a family vacation last summer that I just glued magnets to.  Nice to have them serving a function on display & not just in a jar. ;-)

I glued magnets to my tin of Badger balm so that I could have it off the shelf-area.  It's nice to have a place for my meaningful trinkets.  I'm not one for clutter, but I do have a few things that hold special meaning & it's nice to have them displayed now, organized & neat.  :)

Simple Mesclun Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts & Simple Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing with Fresh Herbs

I'm moving my recipes to my new blog, bitch in the kitch[en].

Click here to view the new home for this recipe.

Pomegranate Lemon Spritzer (variation: Pomegranate Lemon Raspberry Spritzer)

Click here for the permanent home for my recipes, my new blog "bitch in the kitch[en]".

New Life for an Old Chalkboard

I'll be honest. I've had this old chalkboard for years. If I had to guess, I'd say I picked it up at the "still good" shed at the dump at least 6 years ago. Since then, it's been propped up against the wall in my kids toy nook (since we moved into the house almost 5 years ago) & occasionally when they used it, it would fall on the floor but I didn't want to mount it to the wall until it was given new life.  So it's long overdue for a facelift. ;)



What you need:

• An old chalkboard
• Chalkboard paint
• Paint in a color of your choosing for the frame
• 1" paint brush
• Old newspaper
• 4 screws
• Drill with drill bit
• Screw driver

1.) Wipe down the chalkboard with water & wait to dry




2.) Place newspaper under the frame.
3.) Paint the chalkboard with chalkboard paint, 2 coats, waiting in between each coat for the paint to dry.
4.) Paint the frame with your chosen color, 2 coats, waiting in between each coat for the paint to dry.




5.) Using your drill & drill bit, drill 4 holes in the frame to mount the chalkboard to the wall.
6.) Using your screwdriver, screw the screws through the frame & into the wall. (I prefer using a hand-held screwdriver over a drill to screw screws in when I'm doing certain projects, so I'm more certain not to strip the screws).




This is now a well-used facet of my kids' toy nook.

Enjoy!! :)

March 2012 Snow Storm

After shoveling our driveway & playing with our son for about an hour and a half, it was time to play with my camera.

(The entire album is available on my Facebook page as well.  If you would like to purchase any of the photographs in print or greeting card form, please contact me via Facebook or Etsy and I would be happy to give you a quote.  If you enjoy my photography, won't you consider liking me on Facebook?  Thank you!)

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow on Branch" Study in Landscape

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow on Branch" Study in Portrait

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Icicle Drips"

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow Hugs"

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow on Branch" Study in Landscape II

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow Settled on Birch"

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Wrinkles"

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow Settled on Paper-white Birch"

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Snow Settled on Birch" II

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

After spending a few hours warming up inside, I decided to brave the snowy roads & take a quick loop around Jaffrey and Peterborough. 

© 2012 Janet Shirey

The Clay Library

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Welcome to Jaffrey"

The Clay Library

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Downtown Peterborough Lights

Peterborough, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Coll's Farm

Jaffrey, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Downtown Peterborough Icicles

Peterborough, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Harlow's Pub

Peterborough, NH

3/1/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Have a Seat?"

Peterborough, NH

3/1/12

After a long day of being stuck inside the house with the kids, cleaning & organizing my office area, doing laundry & dishes, I decided to go out for a drive.  Fortunately, even though the snow wasn't terrible wet, it stuck to the trees remarkably well over night.

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Edward MacDowell Dam

Peterborough, NH

3/2/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Who's up for a Cookout?"

Edward MacDowell Dam

Peterborough, NH

3/2/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Edward MacDowell Dam

Peterborough, NH

3/2/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

Edward MacDowell Dam

Peterborough, NH

3/2/12

© 2012 Janet Shirey

"Welcome to Jaffrey"

Children's Entrance to the Clay Library

Jaffrey, NH

3/2/12