Countdown to Hunger Games - Stencil Shirt Tutorial

Because The Hunger Games is coming out THIS FRIDAY, because I've had my tickets for the midnight premier for over a month, and because me and my boyfriend are stupid cute, I spent a lot of yesterday making these matching Hunger Games quote shirts for us to wear at the premier. I tried out the freezer paper stencil technique and it worked amazingly.

Materials

1. Freezer paper - Don't waste your money on the specialty quilter kind.  All you need is the regular freezer paper found by the Ziploc bags and Reynold's wrap.

2. A print-out of what you want the stencil to be. You could also draw it yourself on the freezer paper, if you're talented like that.

3. A shirt that you want the design to be on

4. An iron

5. An exacto knife and a cutting board.

6. Fabric paint - I purchased mine at Joann Fabric. It's the Tulip brand and the color is Gold in the glitter variety. You can find this by the t-shirts and appliques.

7. A paint brush - I used a cheap Crayola one from Walmart. Joann's sells "fabric brushes" but they're pricey, and the Crayola ones worked just fine for me.

First I printed what I wanted on the shirt from the computer. I kind of had to guess what size would work. My shirt used a size 400 on everything but you can eyeball it and then use trial and error to figure out what size works for you and your shirt.

After I did that, I placed the print-outs under the freezer paper and traced them onto the non-plastic side.

Once your design is all traced, cut out any inside parts to letters with your exacto knife and place them to the side. We'll be using them later. After that, cut out the rest of the letters.

Once everything is cut out, place the stencil on your shirt, add the inside pieces back in to the letters, and iron your stencil to your shirt. The freezer paper will adhere to the shirt, but it will peel right up after the painting is done. Placement is key, so be sure your design is straight and centered where you want it. You can do this by either measuring or eyeballing, whatever you are more comfortable with.

From there, use your fabric paint to paint over the stencil. I used two coats to get maximum glitter coverage. I put a layer of freezer paper inside the shirt to keep my paint from bleeding through. (I wasn't sure whether it would or not but I didn't want to risk it)

Note: I painted designs on both sides of my shirts. After I painted one side, I dried the paint with a hair dryer and left it for two hours before I turned it over to work on the other side.

Follow the paint manufacturer's instructions for setting the paint. I know that some paints require you to set it with an iron. Mine didn't, but be sure to check the bottle for directions just in case. 

Let it dry, and voila! You're done.

How I did the Mockingjay:

The Mockingjay pin stencil was difficult because of all the little intricate details. The part you want ironed to the shirt is actually the negative space, not the actual picture so I was worried about keeping the shape true. What I did was first cut out every piece, and then ironing the whole thing to the shirt by putting all the pieces together like puzzle. (It's easy when you're not just working with the empty space around the bird).

Then I peeled up the bird part so that the positive space is perfectly true to the picture I traced. Yay! 

My Design

The front of my shirts say <3HG in Black Jack, size 400 font. The heart was made by a capital A in the 2peas GGs Love Me font. 

The front of Eric's shirt is a small picture of the Mockingjay pin, found via Google.

The back of our shirts is a quote from Peeta and Katniss. I used the font Aubrey in a size 300.

If I was making this shirt for only myself, not as a "couple" thing, I probably would have combined the two quotes so the whole back of the shirt would say

Real 

or not

real?

...Real.

or something like that. Just an idea!

Enjoy.

Office Makeover - Fabric Covered Pinboard

I'm currently in my second year at the elementary school I work at.  I share an office with the head PE coach, and I have my own desk but not my own computer.  The other day I was sitting at my desk and all the sudden I thought to myself, "Why in the WORLD have I never done anything to beautify this place??"

That's my desk, and it's pretty safe to say that it is rather drab. I have a nice view of the gym, and a picture colored for me by one of my students, but that's pretty much it. Sad, no? I decided that it needed a change and I made a plan of attack, starting with a cute pinboard to hold all of the random notes to myself and other things I always have around. I have seen a million and one tutorials like this around the internet, but I have never seen one that tackled one of those cheap boards where the frame is completely attached to the cork part. That's the kind that I had, so I came up with a solution that I think worked out pretty well: 

Materials

1. A framed cork board - This is one that was given to me by one of my coworkers (she bought it for 50 cents at a garage sale), but I have seen inexpensive boards like this at places like Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Ikea.

2. A piece of fabric large enough to cover the cork part of your board - I used duck cotton because I like how sturdy it looks, but you can use any kind of cotton.

3. Ribbon that coordinates your fabric - Long enough to cover the perimeter of the cork part of your board. I used ribbon that was 7/8" wide, but any size would work.

4. Paint 

5. Spray adhesive

Other tools - a paintbrush, scissors, and an iron.

Step 1 - Paint the frame

I used some white paint and a cheap foam brush to paint the frame. I wanted a distressed look, so instead of priming and painting it nicely, I gave it a quick sloppy coat and let the wood show through a little bit. It's okay if some paint gets on the cork part like it did on mine because it will get covered up.

Step 2 - Prepare your fabric for adhesion

I cut my fabric so that it covered the cork almost entirely. It's okay if it's not perfect!! Then I ironed the fabric and placed it over the board, making sure that my pattern was straight and just how I wanted it. I also put some newspaper over the frame to give it a little bit of protection from the spray adhesive.

Step 4 - Use the spray adhesive to glue the fabric to the board

I did this by lifting up small sections of the fabric from the board.  I was really determined to keep my pattern straight, so once I had it right I didn't want to lift the whole thing off of the board again. I sprayed the exposed cork with a generous coat of adhesive, gave it about a minute to get tacky, and then smoothed the fabric back on to the board. When you're done there may be edges hanging off or cork still exposed. That's okay! IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE PERFECT (yet) :)

Step 4 - Trim the edges

If there are any pieces of fabric that overlap with the frame, cut them off.  It's perfectly fine to leave a sliver or cork exposed, like I did. When you're done you will see a lot of raw fabric edges. Gross! But don't fret, we will be covering them with some pretty ribbon.

Step 5 - Trim your ribbon to size.

I did this by measuring the perimeter of the cork and cutting pieces of ribbon to fit. Then I eyeballed the pieces to trim the ribbon border into those nice triangular corners.

Step 6 - Spray adhesive on the ribbon pieces

I flipped my ribbon pieces over, making sure to remember which piece goes where, and sprayed them with the adhesive.  Then I let them sit for about a minute to get tacky.

Step 7 - Attach the ribbon to the board

It will make a sort of border in between the frame and the fabric part of the board, hiding all of those unsightly raw edges. Smooth the ribbon out nicely. This is the part that demands accuracy, so I was very careful not to leave any cork exposed. 

Step 8 - Place it and admire!

Doesn't that look nice :) Next up, accessories!

Home Remodeling Binder

With so much needing to be done at the mobile home, Eric and I were getting overwhelmed by it all. I needed a solution. I'm a self-proclaimed binder freak, and whenever I feel overwhelmed, the first thing I do is make a binder.  This one was especially fun to make, because I had to get creative about the organization of it all. Here's what I came up with.


I started with a 1-inch binder.  Eric lamented a little bit that it had to be pink, but a pink binder was all I had on hand. :)

Then I used these dividers (purchased at Walmart) and used the templates from the website to make one tab for each room, like so:

(font used is Black Jack)

In each divider, I made a list of everything that I ever wanted done to that room, urgent or not. My printer came with downloadable forms, and this checklist was one of them.  It would be equally possible to write this on a piece of paper or make your own form using Word or Excel. The little box on the side was designed for check marks I'm sure, but I used it to color code each item according to urgency.  Red means it needs to be done before anyone can move in, yellow means you can move in before this is done but it needs to be done as soon as possible, and green means it's a more aesthetic item and can wait until we have more time and money. The page shown below is from my "Outside" section. 

I purchased some these photo pages at Office Depot. These are page protectors designed to display photos, but I decided to use them to display any samples or paint chips I happened to pick up.  These also go with their corresponding rooms tabs. Here is a sample of the counter I want, in the kitchen tab:

And my paint ideas for outside:

I also I used a list form to organize my to-dos in a different way, this time by importance instead of room. Eric liked being able to see all the things he needed to do immediately in one spot. Here are my greens:

You can also put in shopping lists, or blank paper for extra notes.

Well, there you go! Eric has been singing my praises since I made this for him, and it definitely has made things way less overwhelming for me. I can guarantee you that this little baby will never be far from me for the entire project!

Mobile Home Makeover - Introduction

My boyfriend Eric just bought an old mobile home.  He'll be living there with two of his friends, and he's given me free reign on it creatively, which is SO amazing! My creative energy is just constantly flowing. 

(I apologize for the horrible picture quality - I'm in the process of getting a new camera and for now am just using my iPhone)

It's absolutely a 100% fixer-upper. You can tell just from the above photo.  Let me just point out a few elements here -

1. No porch (we're using that bucket to climb in and out)
2. PVC pipe on the side because there's no plumbing
3. Rotted tree in the corner
4. Hideous, dirty windows
5. Nasty green color on the planks covering the outside.

Here's a little bit of the inside-
1. No floor

2. Ugly linoleum in front of the door

3. Open AC vents in the floor

There are a lot of other things that need fixing - basically everything. The entire place is coated in a layer of dirt. Almost everything needs replacing - outlets, light fixtures, toilets, bathtubs, counter tops, etc.

It's fabulous!

This is exactly the kind of thing I get excited about.  With a little bit of love, this place will be absolutely amazing.  This project is also the inspiration for creating this blog, and will be the perfect canvas on which to express and teach you what I know about design, DIY, and organization. 

Introduction/Mission Statement

Hi, I'm Audrey.

This is my introduction to myself and this blog. 

 Myself

     To me, functionality is wasted if it is not also beautiful. Likewise, beauty is wasted when it has no function. William Morris, even though he is not well known, is one of my favorite figures in history. He was a textile designer, artist, and writer. He had a passion for decorating and spent the first two years of his marriage building and decorating a house for his wife and himself. His most famous quote says, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." I try to do both. I have a passion for things I believe are beautiful, a simple life, planning for the future, and projects. 

This Blog

In this blog, I hope to spread my love of crafts and beauty. I have learned a thing or two in this journey and while I am in no way and expert, I hope to share what I have learned with you.  While the main focus of this blog is crafts/organization/DIY (especially, remodeling a mobile home - more on that later) I can't promise you that I won't throw in a thing or two about other areas of life that are important to me. Just like my life and projects evolve,  I am sure my blog will also. I love working and learning, and I hope to share this labor of love with you.