Casual Summer Baggies

 Today I whipped up a very simple summer solution. Casual summer baggies. What are baggies? (besides the things used to pack sandwiches in) Well when I was trying to figure out how you would classify this pair of shorts I discovered that long (to the knee) loose fitting or baggy shorts are called baggies. It summed up these shorts perfectly. Although they would be simple to make tighter and shorter if you wanted to. I will likely make several more pairs of all different fits for all different looks. They are so easy so simple I whipped them up in about 15 min.

 Best time saver? I used the bottoms of pants that I had already cut off into shorts for myself a few years back, I saved the bottoms of the legs, cause that's the kind of thing I do, and since I found them during the move I knew just what how o use them. So you save tons of time since you use the side and bottom hem.  Let's get started shall we?

 Start by laying out the pant leg (or new denim if you don't have a pant leg) Then I grabbed a loose fitting pair of pants but you can use any pair to trace. I simply lined up the old pair with the side seam. Instead of following rules for this pair of shorts I followed the slope for the back for both the front and back so there would be room for the diaper. It was a time saver but not the "right" way. Cut up to the waist line of the pants and make it straight across.

 Then you should have two cut out.

 With right sides together sew the inside leg from the bottom hem to the top of the curve. Then Turn one leg right side out and line up both legs right sides together (one inside the other) to sew the middle seam connecting the two legs.

 Next I made a tube out of some ribbing that was the size of my daughters waist when stretched comfortably. Pin the tube to the top waistline of the pants and sew it stretching the ribbing tightly as you sew. That's it really no elastic, nothing. The ribbing will hold the pants up and it is more comfortable than elastic. Simple comfy and ready for wear.

 I love the casual look of the baggy short or "baggies"

 It was a great way to add to Abbey's summer wardrobe and use up my denim scraps.

 And since they are so casual and comfortable they won't slow her down or hinder her running through the sprinklers on a hot summer day play.

Re-finishing a stand mirror

For Abbey's room I wanted her to have a lot of little girl charm. So when I saw this old stand mirror in the basement of my in-laws house I just had to ask if I could have it for her room. They were more than happy to get rid of it, and the matching dresser (that will be a fun project later) The dresser went in her closet for now but the mirror needed some help since it would be out in the room. It's hard to tell but the paint is chipping badly, faded and discolored and the mirror is falling a part a little. I don't have a step by step for you on this one since it is pretty straight forward.

I can tell you I started by taking the mirror off the stand, and stabilizing the legs with some extra nails. Then I took my favorite product liquid sander, and with some elbow grease and time you simply apply the liquid sander to a rag and rub rub rub away. Keep rubbing until all the gloss is off the wood. It leaves the wood a little sticky feeling, but it helps the paint stick and works like sanding but without the mess, and without sanding away little details, the mirror had a lot of them. Lastly I took an actual sanding block just to the chipped edges to smooth them out, and I used wood filler to fill any little wholes and dents. 

Then it was on to paint. I didn't prime, you should, the only primer I had on hand was oil based and I didn't want to deal with the mess of cleaning the oil based brush so I skipped it. It only took two coats of paint to look good as new so I am ok that I skipped the primer.  

 Bam! Bright and clean new mirror and it only took one afternoon of time.

 Sorry the picture is a little yellow... not the best lighting...
I left the hardware of the mirror the yellow that they were to accent the teal.

I love the little pops of yellow it provides and it highlights the charm of all the little details.
It is looking great in her room already but it's far from done... reveal soon :)

Before and After Living Room Reveal

 We have been busy. When you buy an old house (1970's) and most of the house is still chilling in the 70's it takes a lot of work to bring it up to today. Lucky for my husband and I we were searching for a 70's mod house, it's right up our style. However the 70's were also plagued with a lot of not so great stuff, and the previous home owners had some "lovely" decor. Most of which had to go. I wish I had pictures from before we moved in even but the before pictures are really just our stuff moved in but nothing else had been done and nothing has been removed. 

 Now I am not an expert by any means, nor do I think I am a decorating queen but my husband and I know what we like. So I thought I would offer a few tips we use when decorating incase it might help you. 

Consider both of your styles when decorating a room.

My husband leans towards traditional looks and styles

I gravitate towards contemporary modern styles

Together we agree on clutter free living, clean lines, and pops of color

We tend to work together when decorating a room as in he helps with the heavy lifting and painting high on the ladder (I don't do ladders) and I help to make sure both of our styles are represented in the room and then we tend to help edit each other. 

 The before of the living room had a very traditional paint choice with the tan walls, and while it was obviously not horrible, it didn't represent both of us very well, it also made our very traditional sofas look more dated, as well as the fire place.

 The new icy blue paint (Valspar gray opal) not only brightened up the whole room but it made the whole room have a cooler and more contemporary feel. The dark wood shelves and cabinet (all from Ikea shelves here cabinet here) also help to make the whole room feel more current.

 As you can see before, even with all the natural light coming in from the window (although the blinds and drapes don't help it flow like it should) the room seems dark and dingy. 

 After it's light and bright, something both the husband and I agreed on there :) The rocket painting was painted by a friend of ours who was an art major in college. He did a whole portfolio from his "rocket era" and we just feel in love, we have been moving this extraordinarily large painting with us ever since always buying a house that had a place we could showcase it. 

 Ah the curtains. These were window treatments for the memory books for sure. In this picture the padded boards were already removed but you did read that right, there were padded boards glued to the window frame. Yes people padded and glued... Ripping them down felt so good. The blinds? They were copper colored aluminum, and they were broken. Lastly the icing on the delicious dated window cake, the swag. Floral and lovely. The hubs and I could both agree that all of it had to go.

 After striping it all down, filling holes, sanding to repair, and washing the filthy windows, even I am amazed that they are the same windows. Some drapery is in the works and will likely be up by the end of the week but for now we are enjoying some bare windows in all their glory.

 Lastly I thought I would show you a better picture of the "details" before. Like the sweet swag. Pretty awesome floral lined with pink, and the sweet aluminum blinds.

The details from after are of all the pops of color from around the room. 

Top Left: A set of Swedish bowls that I inherited from my great (great great) aunties. They are metal with bright enamel paint in the inside indestructible for kids and lovely eye candy for myself. 

Top Right: Vases from this project filled with some roses from the front yard, and of course they are placed right next to a little vase of fake flowers cause that's how I roll.

Bottom: A close up of the rockets in the painting. 

Well that's the living room makeover that took a pretty large chunk of our weekend, but we packed in a ton of other projects that I will share with you coming up. Also more sewing projects since it is finally hot hot hot, and my kids are running low on summer essentials...

See you tomorrow!

I will be linking up to some of these

Winner of the Fat Quarter Giveaway!

The time has come to announce the winner of the fabulous Fat Quarter SHop giveaway!
Random.org chose:

Who is....

Twelve30! She said:

Congratulations twelve30! I hope the library totes turn out fabulous!

I will be in contact with you!

You are my sunshine (dress)

 Today we are guest posting over at icandy handmade. The girls over there are putting on a fabulous series devoted to the one the only the Sundress. Summer is great. Carefree days out in the sun. A dress is the perfect breezy outfit to spend every summer day in. For this particular dress I took my inspiration from a dress I saw and added to my pintrest a while back and made it all about the sunshine...

 I added a couple bold yellow pleated curves to act as the sun.

 A pull up bustle in the back that reveals a perfect little pop of sunshine.

 A little embroidery to the front with words from my favorite sunshine loving song.

And there you have the perfect dress to spend every sun filled day in. 

So come on by to icandy and make on along with us. 

Super Hero Frames

Remember when I picked out fabric for Jude's room? Well I guess he had a different idea for his room. After having a long discussion with him about how HE wanted his room, my "classic" look with blues and browns and tans went out the window and super heros came into play. I still wanted it to have a fun but "classic" look to the room and not super cartoony. So we picked out a slate blue for the walls, with white trim. Then we did a search online for "Vintage Batman Comics" ordering the actually copies would have cost 20 bucks a piece so I decided to just copy the images we liked to my desktop and open them in photoshop. I resized them so they were all about the same size and made them a higher resolution for printing. Then I sharpened them a little and boosted the colors. Lastly I printed them out so they were centered on the piece of paper and that way they look matted. 

Then I picked up some 2 dollar frames at Walmart (the cheapest ones I could find) They were pretty ugly with some crazy silver lining, so I just picked up a can of red spray paint and gave them a couple coats. 

Then I put the pictures in the frame and hung them on the wall.

I love the pop of red on the slate blue walls and the bright yellow and green from the comics are fun for a super hero loving boy and the whole project came in around 13 dollars (less than the price of one print)

Now there is one happy boy with his favorite super hero up on the wall. The rest of his room is coming along but there are some pretty big projects so it will take a little while. 

Hemp Vase (with a second life)

 My last box has officially been unpacked and the contents have all found a new and comfortable home. It feel so good to be out of boxes and settled, and with kids I think it helps them adjust to their new home so much easier. (although they may be happier then we are to be in the new place :) I am getting my new sewing/craft area all set up and my fingers are itching to get going, but for today I thought I would share the hemp vase I made way back when. In our new place it got a new look. I loved the look of the twigs, my husband however was tired of the dead sticks as he said. So instead of retiring my favorite vase, I picked some of the lovely roses from our new front yard and added them to the vase.

 I love the bright "pop" of color with the raw natural look of the hemp.

It pretty much brightens my whole day. The best thing about moving I think is finding new ways to use all of your old things. Now I have 6 gallons of paint calling my name (yep 6 gallons) Won't it be nice to have a few for the home projects scattered here and there? (I have a list a mile long) See you all tomorrow!

Fat Quarter shop Giveaway!

*Giveaway is now closed!*

I have been soo excited to share our next sponsor with you! As someone who sews I of course love fabric! So it is no shocker that I love our next sponsor! May we welcome Fat Quarter Shop! They have amazing fabrics! Something for everyone! They have Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller, and treasures from the moda bake shop. 

I could (and have) spent hours browsing the wide selection of fabrics. With our new house in need of some major decoration, I found the perfect fabrics for each room...

 This one is perfect for Jude's room, the letter's and numbers are perfect for him since he loves to practice writing all day. I love that it has a little class to it. As a bonus it is from the Penny Lane collection and as a Beatles fan that just about seals the deal :)

I LOVE this pretty pink for Abbey's room. It goes well with most the things I have collected for her room and I love pink and white together.

 Lastly for the dining room. This fabric was love at first sight. I love the colors, I love that it is a bold print since the dining room can totally handle it. 

Well I know what I am going to be busy doing for a while. So do you have a ton of projects just waiting to happen? Fat Quarter Shop is about to make your day! They are offering one lucky reader a $50.00 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop!

Yes you read that right $50.00! 

To enter you MUST:(leave your email so I can contact the winner)

Visit Fat Quarter Shop Blog and become a follower.

If you would like an extra entry:

"like" Fat quarter shop on Facebook and leave them some love.

Follow Fat Quarter Shop on Twitter

Follow Shwin&Shwin

Blog, tweet, or facebook about the giveaway

Leave a comment about what project you just can't wait to get started on. 

That's all best of luck to you!

Giveaway closes Thursday June 23rd at 11:59 P.M (MST)

*Giveaway is now closed!*

Winner!

So the move is over, things are being put away in their places and projects are about to get started. Internet however? Not so much. So I am mooching off my in-laws internet while my kids and I take an unpacking break. So what better than to take this time to pick the winner of the Belva June Giveaway!

 Random.org chose lucky number 9! which is:

Congratulations Luci! You should have an email from me in your inbox! Thanks everyone who entered! Remember if you need to throw a party to check out all the beauty that is Belva June!

Bits&Pieces over at Living With Punks

 Hey guys! Today I am over at Living With Punks where Susan is holding a pretty awesome event called Scrap your Stash. I of course am so excited to participate. Like I am sure many of you I have tons of scraps. Waste not want not right? I go through my stash every now and then to throw away pieces that are too small to really use. (yes for some reason I do hold on to them for a while at least) So check out the whole series that is full of super creative guests and some amazing scrap busting projects. 

While you are there I will show you how you can put some of your scraps to use making a pieced together toss pillow. With lots of fun details, like embroidery...

 Buttons...

 Pieced together piping and iron on transfer graphics. 

The perfect little pillows for my daughters new room. 

So come on over and check it out.