DIY: Bleaching Denim

Entering SENIOR YEAR {go class 2014!} there have been many many times to go out with friends to the movies, football games and nights out. With all these times to go out comes the daunting task of deciding what to wear. And when every outfit I try on has been worn recently or when I have absolutely nothing to wear this is usually how I react:

So to stop the grinch in me from taking over I decided to make myself some new shorts!

As I am sure most of you have seen, dip dyed anything is a major trend. There are dip dyed shoes, bags, shirts, shorts and so much more! And I, being the DIY queen, decided to attack this trend for myself.

Things You'll Need:

-Jean Shorts

-Bleach

-Bucket

-Bottom Hanger

-Gloves

Get to it!

 I wanted my jean shorts to be distressed so before I started bleaching them I cut holes, sandpapered them, etc. {check out our post about distressing jean shorts for more details!}

First you need to set up your bleaching location. I was able to bleach my shorts outside on our patio so I didn't need to cover the ground with garbage bags. If you are completely dying your shorts, make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands. Bleach eats at anything it touches so be extra super careful not to get it on your clothes or hands. You don't need a lot of bleach!! You're only dipping your shorts in and then letting them dry, the bleach will work on its own. Once your all set up to bleach its time to get to it! 

Take your shorts and place them into the bleach. {I only wanted half of my shorts bleached so I didn't place them in all the way} The bleach will wick the fabric so make sure you don't bleach up to the level you want bleached. It will wick up to 2 inches lower than that or more.

Occasionally check the bleach line and continue to dunk your shorts further into the bleach depending on what you want.

After the shorts are bleached to the level you want, take the shorts out of the bucket and let them hang to dry somewhere. 

 

Within 5-10 minutes you will see very quick results. If you want the bleach line to be higher just dip the shorts back into the bleach for a little and then let them dry again. Your shorts will be bleached in no time! Throw them in the wash once you are happy with them to get excess bleach off and get ready to see your newest creation.

Taaaaadaaaa! Its super easy to make and its an adorable piece of clothing that will be great for senior year festivities:)

 

Re-Purposing an Old Dresser

Hello everyone! So sorry for the lack in posts the past few weeks, its been a hectic time for us Smith girls! Paige has been busy working as a daycare teacher and doing her online summer classes. Taylor just got her first job working at American Eagle and doing the massive amount of summer homework she has. We promise to keep posting something every week from now on! So to get on with this post....

Do you have old furniture laying around the house that just doesn't "work" anymore? Maybe an old chair or dresser that just doesn't fit in anymore? Instead of ditching the piece and buying something new, try re-purposing it!

Here is a quick and easy way to re-purpose an old piece of furniture...

What You'll Need

• Old Furniture
• Painters Tape
• Newspaper
• Sandpaper/Sanding Blocks 
  
• Primer
• Paint
• New exciting drawer pulls 

Steps to Success

Our old furniture piece was a brown wooden dresser that had been around our house since we were little. Since Paige is moving into her first apartment in August {yeee! lots of excitement} we needed to find inexpensive furniture. And re-purposing an old piece was the perfect thing to do!

Prepare

1. Take all the drawers out of the dresser. Ours was kind of old and there were some rough edges and nails sticking out, so make sure to clean up any edges and remove excess nails

2. Take your sanding blocks and begin to sand the front of the drawers. It doesn't have to be a super hard task, its just to smooth and break the surface so the primer stays. Once sanded the front of the drawers should be a lighter color than the rest of the drawer.

 

 

3. Do the same for the rest of the drawers and the dresser. Since our Dad has lots of power tools we were able to use a sanding machine for the rest of the dresser so it was pretty quick. *Helpful tip: If your drawers or dresser have edges to them make sure you remember to sand that part as well! The small edges are just as important as the entire piece.

  

4. Don't forget the feet! Flip your dresser over and lightly sand the feet

Once your dresser is completely sanded... 

1. Cover  with newspaper and tape the edges of your dresser so that paint wont get all over your dresser drawers and dresser. {our dad is SUPER SUPER OCD so our drawers had to be just right before he would let us paint, you don't have to cover to the extent that we did}

2. Cover all the drawers and the inside of the dresser...

Once covered....

1. Use the primer and paint the drawers and the dresser. Make sure you are in a highly ventilated area if you are using spray paint primer. If not, make sure to use a ventilated mask like our dad did... {what a cutie}

2. Make sure the primer layer isn't too thick because if it runs you will need to lightly sand the drawers and dresser again

Once primed...

1. Paint your dresser the desired color. Again, make sure you are in a ventilated area and that the paint doesn't run.

2. Let the paint dry and add additional coats if needed.

And there it is, you just re-purposed an old dresser. It was quick and easy to do! Now that old brown wooded dresser that took up space is a fresh looking, apartment ready dresser!

To add some additional spunk to the dresser, Paige added contact paper to the inside of the drawers. This will protect the drawers and your clothes. The contact paper she found had a vanilla scent which will {hopefully} keep things smelling fresh too! Once the contact paper was added, she put some shabby chic glass drawer pulls on the drawers. Voila! 

DIY Distressed Denim Shorts

If you don't live under a rock or on some deserted island you have probably seen lots of people wearing distressed denim shorts. Denim shorts come in all shapes, colors and designs. There are the shorty short Daisy Dukes, the high waisted vintage "mom jean" shorts and so many other kinds. My personal favorite would have to be distressed high waisted denim shorts.
There are so many different places to purchase these shorts, from H&M to Urban Outfitters, from Cotton On to American Eagle. You can buy the high end kind that range from 40$-60$ {Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, Nasty Gal} or the less expensive kind that range from 20$-40$ {American Eagle, Cotton On}. Im not about to give you purchasing advice on which company sells the best shorts because they are all so different. I have my go to distressed lightly colored shorts from American Eagle, my tight black cheetah shorts for nights out from some random boutique in England and my dark undistressed shorts from Urban Outfitters for parties. But my personal favorite shorts are the ones I made myself! Now don't get discouraged at the idea of cutting and creating your own distressed shorts because it is actually really easy. You can make it as long of a process or as short of a process as you want to. You can add studs, paint, fabric, holes and anything else your heart desires!


DIY. Distressed Denim Shorts

In this post I'm going to show you how to create distressed denim shorts, from finding the rights ones to cutting them up and wearing them.

Bits and Pieces you will be needing
-Jeans
-Scissors
-Sandpaper
-{Studs, Paint, Extra Fabric.. Its up to you!}

Jeans....

{try them on for size}

If you are creating vintage "mom jean" shorts the best place to start looking is in your moms closet for those hidden jeans she had since she was 17. If your mom, like mine, loves to throw out her old clothes the next best place to stop is your local thrift store {Goodwill, White Elephant}. Searching for the perfect pair at a thrift store might take a while but don't give up, you will find something that works. I found an old pair of dark wash Palmettos for 2.50$ {they were on sale... score!}. I've heard that 100% cotton jeans are the easiest to cut and distress but I've used all different kinds of jeans and each pair has worked fine for me.




Time to start cutting! ...

{draw a straight line with ruler}

Once you've purchased your thrift store jeans or found some in your mom's closet its time to cut them into shorts. The best way, that I've found, is to try on your jeans and decide about where you want them to be cut and draw a line with a pencil a few inches LONGER than you want them to be {leave room for error!}. Put your jeans on the floor or some other flat surface and fold them in half. Make sure you line up the crotch and all the seams. Take a ruler and draw a straight line across your jeans in pencil of where you want to cut them. CUT ONE LEG AT A TIME. Once you've cut your jeans try them on again and decide if they need to be shorter, but remember to give yourself at least a half inch to an inch for error! After you've cut your jeans into the shorts you want it is time to distress.

Distress and Make a Mess...

{horizontal lines}

When distressing shorts always remember what your mom used to say "Less is always More". Decide where you want to make holes and rips in your shorts. To make your shorts look for vintage and worn the best places to distress are the: coin pocket, back pocket, and the edges of the front. The easiest way to distress your shorts is to take your scissors and cut horizontal lines on the places you want to be holes. The more lines you have the bigger your hole will be {Don't get too crazy with the scissors!} Once you've cut the lines in your shorts, take the sandpaper or any type of grainy material and start rubbing on other parts of your jeans {you don't have to make holes, it makes your shorts look worn}. After you're done distressing stick your shorts in the washer and dryer and wait and see what you've created! You may need to do more cutting and sandpapering once you've washed your shorts but you can always add more {you can't remove!}. After you've finished distressing your shorts it is up to you what else you want to do to them. You can easily add studs, paint, bleach, anything you want because you made them!

It's that easy: DIY. Distressed Denim Shorts!