a friday DIY: painterly shirt

I've said it before, I'm addicted to stripes. I've never met a stripe I didn't like.

Feeling inspired by some of the painterly stripes I've seen out there, I set out to make a DIY version. I'd never worked with fabric paint before (those neon puffy paints from the 90s don't count), so this was a fun experiment.

the summery inspiration from J Crew

DIY Painterly Stripe T

materials needed:
plain t-shirt
fabric paint - make sure you pick the right paint for your fabric
paint brush
ruler or straight edge
tailors chalk
some sort of dropcloth

1. make sure you start with a clean, washed t-shirt. I had an old tar-jay T-shirt that I knew was clean already.
2. Lay out your dropcloth.  You may find it easier to work if you have the dropcloth taped down. I didn't because I'm deathly afraid of ruining the hardwood floors. My landlord put the fear in me when we moved in.
3. Slide a piece of cardboard or paper bag inside the shirt. You don't want to paint through to the other side!

4. Using the tailors chalk and your ruler, make lines to your desired width. I went for about 3/4 " lines with about an inch between each stripe. I wanted some extra space between my stripes so I went wider but you could certainly make your stripes bigger or smaller to get whatever effect you prefer!

5. Start painting!! I was extremely surprised by how quickly the fabric absorbed. The first line was definitely a bit more saturated then I had planned but I started to get the hang of it by about the third line. If I was smart, I would've painted a few lines on some scrap fabric first, but I have zero patience so I just went for it!

6. Wait for the front to dry. Mine took about an hour to dry to the touch.
7. Flip your shirt over and repeat the process on the back.
8. Once both sides are dry, follow your paint manufacturers' instructions for setting the paint. Mine called for ironing for 3 minutes on the reverse side. I decided to keep my cardboard inside while I ironed and I'm glad I did because some excess paint absorbed into it.

9. Turn your shirt back to right side out and you've now got a fun, painted T-shirt that you did yourself for a fraction of the $70 price tag.

I really like the way this turned out. The blue was quite a bit brighter than what the bottle and sample in the store showed. Next time, I think I would like to experimenting with mixing some of the colors to come up with something more custom. I also think this could be awesome with darker T-shirts and lighter colors or some metallics on top.

What do you think?

XO,

Chelsea 

fancy friday

Its hard to believe that Labor Day is actually here already! It definitely feels as though summer has breezed in and out way too quickly this year. In my neck of the woods, summer was a mild affair. I think we were all hoping for some more heat, but the last few days have proved to be plenty warm once the morning fog burns off. I love Indian Summers and although everyone seems abuzz with talk of Fall, I'm still hoping for warm days spent basking in sunshine. 

I'm definitely pumped to work on lots of projects in the long weekend ahead. A little family time, some time in the great outdoors and going to see David Gray and Ray Lamontagne are topping my list! 

Here's a little roundup of what I fancied this week:

Dreaming of this peanut butter tart ever since I saw the post. Does anyone else obsess about certain foods? Recently a friend told me about some salted caramel ice cream and I couldn't stop thinking about it until I got some. 

This adorable idea for gifting money. So much more creative than an envelope. 

Drooling over Hilda's $4 thrift find. Her photography is also amazing. Check out her color vignettes. 

These beautiful key-print blouses from Snoozer Loser's F/W Collection. 

Playing this song over and over. And over. 

Here's to hoping you all have a fantastic loooong Labor Day weekend!

Do you have any traditional ways of saying goodbye to summer? 

XO,

Chelsea

bedroom eye-candy

Have you checked out Lonny Magazine yet?

With the demise of Domino (thankfully I have all the back issues!!) and Blueprint, glossy-paged inspiration can be few and far between for those of us looking for real and attainable home decor. Most readers have taken to the internet for inspiring spaces and Lonny fits the bill.

I meandered on over to Lonny today looking for some above-referenced inspiration for our bedroom. While I'm more than pleased with our simple furniture, the mismatched drapes and worn-out duvet could use some updating. When we moved in, there were already some white drapes on the large picture window in our bedroom that is also at the front of the house. Fast forward to a few days after our move-in and I walked by our room from outside at night and realized you could see right in! I threw up some raw silk drapes I had previously used in lieu of closet doors and they seemed to work fine. Until I realized they made our whole room look red. Suddenly, "Roxanne" by The Police was on constant replay in my head. I figured we could live with it until a friend pointed out that we were likely going to go insane looking at all that red all the time. Here's some bedroom eye candy to help you get "Roxanne" out of your head. You know you're humming it right now. 

I'm feeling especially inspired by the all-white beds I'm seeing and thinking that may be the route to go considering the fabric I found for drapes is busy, busy. However, I'm still drawn to the image below, which is a nice mix of patterns. Could be the stripes, as I am a sucker for those. Or that dreamy light. Sigh.

What about you? 

Do you like your bedroom calm, serene and simple? 

Or do you like to use creative license to go wild with patterns and color?

XO,

Chelsea

paintballin'

I have become rather obsessed lately with wearing skater dresses. I love the twirl and the flippy skirt. Something about it makes me feel like a kid again. 

Perhaps I'm channeling my inner school-girl since my little guy started Kindergarten this week. I can't believe I am typing those words. It seems like just yesterday that he was a tiny little baby in my arms. I sure do miss his days as my sweet baby, but there is nothing more amazing than getting to know the super sweet and thoughtful, imaginative little person he is becoming. 

And he's becoming quite the blossoming photographer. Carl and I have decided its definitely something we want to foster.

Sutter took all these shots, directed me like I was a real model - and then quickly got distracted and starting snapping shots of the sky... 

These shoes have become a serious wardrobe staple as of late. A $4 thrift store score and I can't think of anything I don't want to wear them with. The soft, off-white linen is just getting better looking every time I wear them. For a self-professed heel addict, this is quite a leap. 

Going full force with the schoolgirl look, I also went for two french braids. Eventually, I started making hash marks on a sheet of paper each time someone called me Heidi or Pippi Longstalking. 

I only wish I could show you the bottom of this picture because my skirt is twirling so pretty and ruffling along the edges. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately for everyone), I'd have to stick a big black bar across the pic though. Nothing says classy like twirling along in a parking lot and later uploading pictures a getting a giant surprise when you spy your bum sticking out.

On that note...I've got a pillow calling my name. Not my bed though - a dahlia petaled number I've been working on for way too long. Its my first real sewing job from a pattern and boy do I know how to pick 'em! Lots of small pieces. But I'm super excited to finish it and I promise to post it soon. 

Good night!

XO,

Chelsea

a piece of furniture that's architecturally sound...

this ikea hack is seriously awesome. 

Based on a Power Plant by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, Jeff Carter of Chicago made this beauty using all IKEA materials. This is the first in a series of hybrid furniture-sculpture pieces he's making that are models of Gropius pieces around Chicago that are being demolished.

His feat is pretty amazing. I find it somewhat sad that pieces of historical value are being torn down, however, since this particular building is a power plant, I would hope that its to make way for something renewable in its place. Architecturally cool solar plants?

XO,

Chelsea

Happy National Waffle Day

That's right, folks, today in 1869, marks the day of the first US patent on the waffle iron.

I love waffles. They are amazing in their ability to be both crispy and soft at the same time. 

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Yes, this is an entire post dedicated to the deliciousness of waffles. 

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If I wasn't sitting at work, I'd be whipping up a batch of waffles right this minute to enjoy as an afternoon snack.

My waffle-maker is by far one of the favorite gifts I've received.

I life to put rainbow sprinkles in the mix because they melt into very fun tie-dye blobs. Although blueberries are pretty darn tasty too. 

How amazing does this chocolate-dipped waffle-pop look?

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I foresee waffle-coffee-ice cream-nutella-sandwiches in my very near future. 

How about you?

Are you a waffle or a pancake person?

How do you like your waffles? Drizzled in syrup or spread with jam?

XO,

Chelsea

last person on earth

So I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last person's on earth to do so, but

I finally got some Tom's yesterday!!

I know, not earth-shattering news, but I still wanted to share that I picked some up with my lovely birthday gift card from my auntie.

I went the plain-jane route and got gray since I feel like everything else I own is pretty loud. You know your wardrobe is colorful when your office-mates have nicknamed you Ms. Coral Pants and constantly remark on your electric blue high heels...

We decided to take a little post-dinner walk last night. I feel like a kid savoring every last bit of summer before school starts up again...except this time its not me starting school. Sutter will be in Kindergarten in about 3 days and I just can't believe he's that old. I need to sprinkle some anti-grow formula on him in his sleep to keep him from getting any bigger and less attached to his mama.

As you can see, we had some fun with the camera last night too. 

On our walk, Carl suggested that what if everyone wasn't inside watching TV and rather outside enjoying the sunset. How cool would it be to meet your neighbors out for an evening stroll at twilight?

What about you? 

Would you give up your TV and take a walk after dinner?

XO,

Chelsea