STAMPED CLOTH NAPKINS (& DIY POTATO STAMPS)

Hi, dear reader!

I'm generally a very floral, flowy, nature kind of person (and our apartment is just like that), but I'm such a sucker for modern, minimalist design and geometric shapes. I have lots of little modern/geo decor ideas collected in the back of my mind, but I've had no way to realize them since our (small) apartment aesthetic is very vintage/rustic. I haven't figured out a way to incorporate the geometric themes I love with the homey, traditional style of our decor.

I was going to stamp up some pretty vintage looking napkins when I realized this was my chance to sneak in some shapes. Napkins!

Perfect.

It was one of those last-minute craft urges - you know, where you have an idea and you HAVE to make it right this very second? But I don't have any stamps. So I pulled out some potatoes, spent about 20 minutes carving, and voila! (Almost) free stamps for my new geometric napkins!

To make potato stamps:

1. Cut a potato in half (width-wise). 
2. Insert a cookie cutter about 3/8" into the potato (white part, not skin part), to cut the shape. 
3. Use a knife and/or your fingers to remove the extra parts, using the cookie cutter cut as a guide.

I used "soft" fabric paint - Washable. Got it at Michael's - some matte and some metallic. 

While stamping, you may get some extra paint around the edges of your shape (squished out when you pressed down on the stamp). Use a Q-tip to dab the extra paint away and smooth out the line. 

After the napkins dried overnight, I washed them in the washing machine, and they came out perfectly well and very soft (not stiff from the paint). 

Happy crafting!

DIY JEAN SHORTS: 3 PAIRS (CUT-OFFS & NO-SEW EMBELLISHMENTS)

Hello, dear reader! I hope you've enjoyed a wonderful holiday weekend. I had plans to go camping with my husband and some friends, but we ended up staying home because half of us were sick! I was bummed, but it gave me a time to do some little DIY projects around the house.

I've had this stack of old jeans taking up space in my closet for months now, waiting to be patched. And I finally faced the facts: if I haven't patched them by now, it's never going to happen.

So I put them in the donation pile.

And quickly took them back out...

Cut-offs!

I didn't sew anything. I used iron-on hem tape. 

1. Thrifted curtain sewn on one leg:
The first pair had some holes up high, so I had to add length. I lengthened them with denim from another pair of jeans, added some floral fabric, and then cuffed them. The fabric is from a curtain I thrifted :) Again, it's all done with iron-on hem tape!

2. Cut off, lengthened, and cuffed:
For this pair, I added some denim to make them longer, then cuffed them. I'd already cut up the legs from this pair for rags (whops), so I ended up adding length with denim from another pair of jeans. The hem looks a little funky, but they look cute on and will be great beach shorts!

3. Un-cuff hem (to lengthen), and lace sewn on one leg:
These are the shorts I never wear because they're a little too short. I finally took a seem-ripper to the cuff, unrolled it, and ironed it out. That extra inch makes a big difference! On a spring-cleaning spree, I pulled a out a lace shirt I never wear, cut it up, and sewed a pretty piece of it onto one of the legs. I love these!