DIY: Making Your Own "Bling" Jeans

Today I am going to share a little post with you on how to

embellish your own jeans.  I rarely do DIY posts as I'm not

really into "crafty" things these days, but when the rare

occasion pops up, it's time to share!

I have been wanting a pair of embellished jeans for quite

some time now, but I absolutely refuse to pay the price

for them!  I saw a pair the other day that I loved, but they

were $140.  Yes, you read that right.  I don't think so!

Now if you are a woman under 30, you can get away with

an awful lot!  If you are a woman over 30 (and in my case)

quite a bit older, then in all reality, you do not need

that much bling on your butt!  Some of those jeans out

there are way overboard...at least for me!

So with a cute pair of boyfriend crop jeans from Apt. 9

at Kohl's...off I go...you will need jeans (obviously),

lace, buttons, sequins, fabric glue and a needle and

thread for attaching any buttons, etc.

I had this pretty lace trim that I wanted to use because I

wanted to make my jeans more "pretty" and less "blingy"

if that makes any sense.  Now it was time to figure out

where to put the lace on the pockets.  I tried seeing how

it looked going through the middle of the pockets...

At the very top edge of the pockets...

And then settled on putting it just under the line of

stitching on the pockets.  I just didn't like it on the very

top edge, but that is entirely up to you and what you

think looks best!

I bought this fabric glue at Hobby Lobby to use for this

project.  I have never used it before, but it had all of the

qualities I was looking for so I decided to give it a go.  It

dries clear and it states that your articles of clothing can

be washed so we'll see how it goes after I try to wash them!

The next thing I did was to measure and cut two pieces of

lace for the pockets.  I didn't want the ends to fray, so I

cut them about 1/4" larger than the pockets so I could fold

them over and tack them down.

The next step was to iron the lace, fold over the edges

and pin the pieces on the pockets to see how they looked.

The edges look a bit off in the pictures, but I swear in

person it looks even.  I don't know how the camera picks

up that stuff!  I fixed the edges a little bit and off I went

to the next step...

I spread the fabric glue down on the jeans and then pressed

the lace down and held it for a few moments.  I was quite

surprised at how firmly it seemed to hold the lace, but I

still wanted to take a needle and thread and tack down

the edges on both sides of each pocket.

I then added (and I'm sorry for this lousy picture!) a cute

blingy shank button to the center of each pocket along

with some pink sequins.  I used the fabric glue for the

sequins so I hope they stay put.  It says right on the bottle

that the glue can be used for sequins so we'll see.  It has

been quite awhile since I held a needle and thread in my

hand and I was quite proud of my accomplishment with

the button...until I cut the thread on the back, admired

my handiwork and realized that I had sewn right through

the pocket rendering my pocket useless!  Yes, way to go!

A seam ripper does come in mighty handy...yes it does!

So here is the end result...lace on the pockets, a rhinestone

button in the center, little pink rhinestone sequins on the

lace and a few little rhinestones on the actual jean material.  Of course you can do whatever suits your fancy!  The great thing is that the possibilities are really endless with this type of project.

The end result and if they hold up after being washed,

well great!  If not, I'm not out much...at least I'm not

out $140 for a silly pair of jeans!

If any of you have done this type of project, I'd love to

hear what type of glue/adhesive you used to hold your

embellishments in place and how well it worked.

Thanks for dropping by today.

I hope you enjoyed my post!

~Stacy~

Recycle Your Old Calendar!

For my first post of the new year I thought that

I would share a very simple project with you.

It's a new year and you have a new calendar on

your wall...now what do you do with the old

one?  It's too pretty to throw away so why not

convert it into simple artwork for your wall!

All you need to do is take apart your old 

calendar and trim off any excess from the edges.

For the frames, I used simple, inexpensive glass

clip frames from Hobby Lobby.  You can obviously

use any frame, but I wanted to feature the

artwork more than the frames so I used these.

I hung six of these gorgeous pictures in my main

bathroom in my hall and they look amazing!  You

may recognize the calendar from Jo-Anne of

Vintage Rose Collection.  It is so beautiful!

Now, while we are on the topic, I would like to

remind you that this is only okay if you are

recycling YOUR calendar.  It is not okay to take

photographs such as this and recopy them for

any reason.  That is copyright infringement. If

it is for your own use, then a-okay.  Any 

copying or reselling is unethical and takes away

from the integrity of the artist.  We all know

how hard artists and photographers work to

make something unique and beautiful!

So if you have a pretty, 2013 calendar still

hanging around you might want to try this!

~Stacy~

Stacy Fern's Semi-Homemade Tablecloth

If any of you are familiar with Sandra Lee and her semi-homemade recipes,

then you will understand the making of this tablecloth.  Sandra Lee is well

known for using store bought items such as cake mixes and other prepared

food and adding her own twist to them to make them her own without all

the fuss and time involved of a real home cooked meal.  While I don't really

subscribe to that way of thinking (I like to cook from scratch), I used this

this idea to make a tablecloth that I have been wanting to make for a

really long time.  Here is the finished product!

A few weeks ago I purchased a ruffled bedskirt from Overstock.com for the

purpose of tearing it apart and making a tablecloth.  I already have two of

these for my bed and they are so pretty so I decided to take the work out of

making a time consuming cloth and do it this way.  I know...I know...all of you

sewers out there are groaning!  While I know how to sew and have been doing

it since I was a child, it really no longer thrills me.  Also, the idea of gathering

yards and yards of fabric and having threads break did not sound appealing to

me at all.  This was the easiest and quickest way for me to get the end result

I wanted without all of the hard work involved.  I know, I'm a cheater!

I took all of the ruffles off the tablecloth just by cutting really close to the top

ruffle.  It worked perfectly!  There were slight overlaps of ruffles on the two

corners where the corners of your bed would be, but by cutting along the top

of the ruffles, the corners straightened out completely and I just left the

overlapped ruffles as is...hey, it's more ruffley that way!  Then I went down to

JoAnn Fabrics and found some heavier cotton twill fabric that matched my

bedskirt perfectly.  I laid it on the table and traced around the outside, with my

husband's help, and cut out my large oval for the top.  After that all there was

to do was to pin the ruffles along the pencil line that I had traced and sew them

on.  A few zigzag stitches around the whole thing and I was done!  There are a

few pencil lines that need to come out in the next washing, but it turned out

just lovely and I am absolutely thrilled with my end result!

Don't you just love ruffles?  I know I do and I love my tablecloth!

Two dozen faux cupcakes are sitting patiently on my kitchen counter waiting

to be put on my web site and in my Etsy shop.  They just need a few more

days to dry.   Lots of pretty pink and sparkles going on here!

My roses are starting to flop...I kind of like them this way...

I will leave you with this image for now and I'm hoping that you

are having a wonderful day whatever it is you are doing!

Oh yes, and my middle name really is Fern...  (*_*)

Until next time,

~Stacy~