Friday, September 14, 2012

Day 1 - T-Shirt Scarf

A long, long time ago, when Pinterest was new and I had no idea how much time I would devote to finding the best inspirations, I pinned the instructional video below via hellogiggles.com.  It was my very first one, and I fully intended to do it.  I even said to my friend, Jackie, "Hey, these are awesome, we totally need to get together and have a craft night!".  Fast forward to nearly a year later, and I still had not made my t-shirt scarf from an old, unneeded piece of cotton.  I also still have not had my craft night with her.  Jackie, if you're reading this, we still need a couple bottles of Asti, a bunch of Pinterest activities, and all the necessary goods to create them for an entire day of crafting goodness.


Okay, let's get down to business.  Since I had the idea to do this blog, I have been debating what my first pin would be to tackle.  I thought about a hair trick, a cleaning tip (which I am sure my husband would have been very glad to hear was my first pick), making something for the baby, but in the end I decided to go back to the beginning, back to the very first inspiration I found, the t-shirt scarf! My husband should be happy about this too because rather than unworn t-shirts sitting up on a shelf taking up much-coveted space, they can be re-born into a new accessory!  Basically, the inspiration behind this pin was that I like doing crafty things, I have a ton of old t-shirts, and it seemed like a pretty quick, inexpensive project.

First, I found an old white t-shirt.  I have a few of these that are too big because when I was pregnant last summer, it was the most comfortable thing to put on when I got home from work.  Then I got some scissors for cutting fabric and an old bracelet I found in a drawer.

 
Next, I followed the instructions in the Pin.  I cut off the top portion of the shirt from armpit to armpit.
 

Then, I trimmed off the bottom hem of the shirt.



The last use of my scissors was in cutting strips for the loops of the scarf.  The video suggested doing no smaller than one inch, so that's what I did.



Finally, I pulled each loop to stretch it out, gathered at the "spine" of the scarf, wrapped around the fabric from the hem of the shirt, and attached the bracelet.  Tadaa!!! The first day of my Pinterest Challenge has been completed.  I would definitely recommend this project, it's quick, easy, no sewing-machine required, and best of all, an inexpensive way to add to your accessory wardrobe. Writing this piece took me longer than making the scarf, so what are you waiting for? Go find an old t-shirt already!







Thursday, September 13, 2012

Challenge Accepted!

After wasting hours, days….yikes…maybe even weeks, scouring through Pinterest to find cool stuff that I would like to do “someday” I have issued myself a challenge.  Every day for the next 365 days I will attack one Pin on my boards.  Challenge Accepted! Simply finding cool things, neat ideas, or amazing inspiration never did anyone any good without actually doing something with it.  I have done some of the Pins I find, and I have not been disappointed with various tips, recipes, hair tutorials, or fashion inspiration I’ve tried so far.  In fact, I usually get many compliments in my efforts, which has left me guilty of wanting more compliments. 
The next year will be spent trying out hairstyles, household cleaning tips, craft ideas, home improvement ideas, fashion, photography, books, recipes…I think you get the idea.  If it’s on Pinterest and it’s something I find rather pinteresting, I will add it to the possible choices for my year-long, daily Pinterest Challenge .  I plan on explaining how I found the Pin, why I was interested in doing it, what I did to execute the idea, how the execution faired, and any tips or tricks I can recommend for future use.  Maybe I'll even issue some vote-offs for you to tell me which Pinterest project you've been eyeing but would like me to try before you do.  Hopefully, my blog will serve as some pin-spiration for you to get off the computer, and into some activity you’ve always wanted to try!  I look forward to getting started, my first official Pin for this challenge will take place tomorrow, Friday, September 14, 2012.  You'll have to check back to see what it is!!!

In the meantime, if you don't already have a Pinterest account, go sign up for one!  If you do and you don't follow me, start!