Bleach Blotches and a Pin Spin Save

What do you do when you see a t-shirt with a cute design, but you don't want to pay 24.99 just for a tee? What do you do when you have a specific image you want on a shirt but you can't find it anywhere? 

DIY

I love making custom shirts. For Girls Camp we did a super-hero theme, so I was trying to have super hero shirts for as many of the days as I could. I decided I wanted some sort of pregger super hero shirt, but I just didn't find anything that I really liked. So I printed off the Incredibles logo onto an iron on transfer, along with "Incrediboy" in a font I liked, and ironed that onto my shirt. It was a huge hit and was really fast, cheap, and easy to make (I don't have any pictures, or I'd show you). Your options with DIY design shirts are endless. Iron-on Transfers, bleach, paint, heat n' bond, etc. You can do just about anything! But...as with all DIY projects, sometimes one method may be more finicky than another. Katie learned this when she was making adorable shirts for her daughters. She ended up with a Pinstrosity at first, but kept persevering and found out how to get the results she wanted using another method. Here's her adventure:

The Original Pin

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/diy-bleach-t-shirt-tutorial-perfect.html

The link I gave with the Original Pin goes to the actual original tutorial by Six Sisters...this isn't the actual pin that Katie used. The pin that Katie had pinned had directions in the caption that she followed. The pin itself didn't actually link back to the correct site...or a site that even had this photo on it. It did however produce some, ahem, lovely pop ups instead. So lesson #1 today...be careful what you repin. Some people pin a picture, change the link to a spammy or dirty site, and then change the caption to make you think all is well...and it's not until 50 repins later that someone finally realizes they've inadvertently pinned a cute and seemingly harmless craft photo that really links back to porn. Check you pins Pinstrosipeeps...don't help spread these spam pins.

The pin she saw on Pinterest had this caption:

"DIY Bleach T-shirt. Put bleach in a spray bottle (70% bleach/30% water), lay your stencil on a shirt with some double sided tape, place cardboard inside the shirt so the bleach doesnt leak through and spray. Could take 20 min for full color effect. Rinse shirt in the sink then wash to get all of the bleach out. :)"

So that's what she set out to do. 

"I wanted to make ladybug tshirts for my two daughters, featuring their ages, for my youngest's first birthday party this weekend. My idea was to cut freezer paper templates (which came out amazingly cute for my lack of skills and a dull exacto knife). I had shirts ready, bleach in a fine spray bottle, and was all set - just had to wait two days for it to stop raining so I could rush outside and spray."

"Well. First, I sprayed and sprayed and the shirt didn't even look wet. So I got closer and sprayed more. Then I realized that the bottle was dripping big wet splotches all over the bottom part of the shirt. I gave up and moved to the 2nd shirt - which worked better, I just think I oversoaked it. I didn't even wait the 20 minutes; I gave the shirts about 8 and then realized that the splotchy drips looked awful, and this was probably going down. I rinsed the bleach out by hand in the tub, and then in the washer three times. The result:"

The Pinstrosity

"I didn't cry. I just laughed and laughed. And went to the craft store. I came home with this:"

Katie started over with her project, simplifying her design and cutting it out again. 

"I ironed the freezer paper soooo carefully, making sure every  single speck of edge was really stuck to the shirt, I sprayed as the can instructed, and ended up with a goopy mess. My husband recommended brushing the goop around a little, so I used a sponge brush and smoothed it out - and dabbed a little, to keep some texture."  

I have used this kind of paint before, and it is goopy and doesn't spray evenly. It's a little finicky to work with. 

"The can said to remove the stencil and then let dry for an hour. I was nervous to touch anything, but after about 3 or 4 minutes the paint started getting tacky, so I used the exacto knife to pick the pieces of my stencil off the shirt. The results were much happier!"

The Pin Spin:

"If I had managed to check the 1 year old's shirt and make sure I painted the design on the FRONT of the shirt, instead of the BACK (facepalm) then I'd be totally ecstatic. Instead, I'm just glad my baby has a chubby neck and no one will know that her shirt's on backwards. :)"

The bleached shirts can be hard to get to work satisfactorily, but we LOVE how the painted shirts turned out. Way to stick to it Katie! If you want some tips on how to make your own bleached shirts, Emilee did a post on that last year with her tips, tricks, and advice. Check it out!

Doggone Cute Cupcakes

I am a pet person. Like REALLY a pet person. Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for my Husband who IS NOT a pet person) we live in an apartment. One day I will have my Irish Wolfhounds, a big back yard and my one sassy cat.

 

Until that day I live vicariously through Pinterest whose obsession with pets 1) Can be a bit alarming  2) Sometimes hilarious  3) Maybe a little over creative and 4) Awesome because pets are awesome and we love them to death. Also 5) Grumpy Cat...because I love her (my apologies Tardar Sauce, you are in fact a girl...misprint!).

http://blog.catmoji.com/2012/09/cat-of-the-week-10-tard-the-grumpy-cat/

 

 

Michell sent us this pin she made for a friends birthday. She said her friend really loves her West Highland White Terrier pooches.

 

If you don't know what that is...exhibit A:

http://blog.catmoji.com/2012/09/cat-of-the-week-10-tard-the-grumpy-cat/

 

Adorable right!?!

 

The Original

http://www.familycircle.com/recipes/desserts/decorate-playful-puppy-cupcakes/?page=1

 

Can I just say that people are SUPER inventive with cupcakes?!

 

Well Michell went to make these and first go round this happened...

 

 

The Pinstrosity

 

 

These puppies look more like an undercover Miss Piggy ( I think the eyes look like sunglasses lol)!

No worries, Michell had patience and persistence and tried again with MUCH better results!

 

The Pin-Win!

 

 

 

 

I think Michell's are WAY cuter than the original!

She said her kitchen was WAY to hot making all the icing melt on the cupcake AND the proportions of the ingredients weren't a good match.

She changed up some of the supplies, cooled down the kitchen and went to work. The size of the large marshmallows as the snout were way too big for her cupcakes, I think she either cut the marshmallow in half and used that as the base of the snout or just built the snout out of icing. Either way it looks awesome! Unfortunately you have to be subscribed to the original website to figure out all their design secrets, so she was going off a picture here! She did great (second go round), her final product turned out adorable!

 

Hope you all have a awesome Tuesday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multiplication Pin Explained

In today's post we featured this pin:

http://themetapicture.com/the-japanese-way/

It took me a while to figure out what they did, but it's awesome. We've had some requests to explain how to do this and make it work, so using my super high tech Microsoft Paint program, I'll walk you through how to do this multiplication trick. 

We'll start with multiplying single digits together. We'll do 3x4. I tried to "color code" each number (I'm sorry to those with color blindness, like my husband...the colors won't help a whole lot, I know). 

Start with the first number, 3. Draw 3 vertical lines. 

Next, go to your second number, 4. Draw 4 horizontal lines across the vertical lines you just drew. 

 Now, you are looking for the intersections of the lines (where they cross):

Count all the intersections, and you have your answer: 

So now, what about multiplying numbers with double digits?
Let's look at the problem in the original pin, 13 x 12. 

Start with the first digit of the first number. In this case that's the 1 of the 13. Draw 1 vertical line. 

Now move on to the second digit in the first number. That would be the 3 of the 13. Spaced to the right of your first vertical line, draw 3 vertical lines grouped together.  

Now let's move to 12. Take the first digit of the second number. That would be the 1 of the 12.
Draw 1 horizontal line at the top.  

Then take the second digit of the second number. That's the 2 of the 12. Spaced below your first vertical line, draw 2 vertical lines grouped together.  

 Now, we need to group the intersections. We do this in diagonals from the top left corner, working down to the bottom right corner. Circling the groups helps keep everything all in place in your head. See the graphic below:

Each circle/oval counts as one group.

 Now we count up the intersections for each group we just circled in the previous step. 

Working clockwise around the drawing gives you your answer. Always start at the upper left corner and then follow the numbers in sequence. 1, 5, 6. 13 x 12 = 156

Let's look at another double digit problem. Start by making you vertical lines to represent your first number in the problem. 

Add the horizontal lines for your second number.  

Circle your groups.  

Count up the intersections in each group.  

Now here's where this one changes a little. The answer to 15 x 23 is not 21315. When you run into a problem that produces groups that have intersections in the double digits (like the 13 and the 15 in this problem). You have an extra step you have to take. 

Start with the first double digit grouping in your drawing. In this case that's the 13. You are going to take just the first digit (the 1) and add it to the group directly to the left (the 2). See the brown underline I did in the graphic below. Write the sum of the two numbers above the drawing. I find it easy to draw lines from the numbers to their sum so I know for sure what numbers are referring to. 

 Still working with that 13, we are now going to take the 3 and add it to the first digit of the next number working clockwise around the drawing. So we end up with 3 + 1 (see the numbers I have underlined in purple in the graphics below). 

At this point it may be easy to cross out the numbers you used to add up to your new numbers. Was that clear as mud? Here:

 Now that you have just single digit numbers around your drawing, you have your answer. As before, start with the first number and work clockwise around the drawing: 3, 4, 5.   15 x 23 = 345

And finally I'll show triple digit multiplication. Start by drawing the vertical lines for your first number. 

Draw the horizontal lines for your second number. 

Circle the groups. Remember, you group them together in diagonals. 

Count up the intersections in each group.  

Then starting with the first number and working clockwise you have your answer.  

This method can be used for any whole number multiplication problem. 

3 x 28

11 x 121

1,985,343 x 3,546 (but for that one I'd just recommend getting a calculator)

Just remember the first number gets vertical lines, the second number gets horizontal lines, and group in diagonals. 

I hope this made some sense. If not, let me know and I'll try again to explain it. 

Mix It Up Monday: What?

Pinterest is full of good ideas, but then it's also full of pins that just make you sit and wonder

(warning...I think I woke up in a cynical mood today).

http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi1jMjA4YTZmYmJjM2YwZGU2

Really.

http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2012/12/50-dumbest-tweets-2012.html

http://themetapicture.com/why-old-music-is-still-the-best/

It took 5 people to write "Baby"?! Did they have a hard time agreeing on how many times to say the word "Baby" in the song? Were these the same people that decided to say "One People" instead of "One Person"? 

http://themetapicture.com/the-japanese-way/

This one took me a while to figure out. But when I did I thought, "I bet it's just that one number that works." So I tried out 4 more math problems and it works! Even when multiplying two triple digit numbers together. Who figures out these kind of things?! It'd be interesting to see their thought process..."I wonder what happens when I turn these numbers into lines and cross them?". I have no idea how they figure these things out, but I'm glad someone does! I'll have to show my brother and see if this helps.

update: For an explanation on how this works, check out our extra post today.

http://cuteoverload.com/2006/11/22/who_brought_the/

I can't decide if I hope the cat in this photo is really there or Photoshopped. 

You pick the best school lunch meal for this meme? Pizza day was the best. Unless they were talking about that fruit cocktail up there that doesn't have a single visible cherry in it. I hated it when I didn't get a cherry. What a waste of fruit cocktail.
I actually never really minded the school lunches, but I know some people hated them. 

If I were E.B. (in this particular film adaptation) and were making my choice based on being proposed to in the rain or in front of food...I'd have ended up with Mr. Collins. 

http://theteenagerquotes.tumblr.com/

So my favorite songs tell you how I feel. All the time? My favorite songs are my favorite songs when I'm happy, sad, or mad. I'm slightly confused at what this person meant. 

http://theteenagerquotes.tumblr.com/

 My first thought is "Do I get up and turn off the alarm clock or pretend I'm sleeping through it so he will." 

http://theteenagerquotes.tumblr.com/

 Then I suggest the following to the teenagers on theteenagerquotes site: go a day without your cell phone/iDevice and check out the local public library.