State String Art (just in time for the 4th of July!)

If you're on Pinterest, chances are good you've seen some of the awesome state-themed string art around.  I wanted to make mine more red-white-and-blue, for the 4th of July mantle--I'm thinking I'll make a new one for every place Paul & I live together. :)  Anywho, it's a pretty straightforward concept, inspired by many people (The Ginger Penny Pincher, Curiously Wrought, and Andrea Arch, to name a few), but here's my take on it anyway.  :)  Aside from the final effect, which I love, I also love that this project hardly cost anything--the wood was $1.50, the paints were $2, and the nails were $1.  I had the thin string in my stash already, but it's cheap if you do have to go buy it--or you can do thread, which looks neat, too.

Sorry, I'm still figuring out Picasa and I thought I had rotated those bottom middle pictures...like 3 times. :)

1. Gather supplies--red & blue paint and paintbrushes, white string (or thread, if you want), small nails and a hammer, wood plaque and state outline that fits in it. (I made mine on the small side, 5x7, because it was cheap.)
2. Paint the wood block blue. (Let dry.)
3. Lay your outline of the state and position as you like it.  I put a nail in each of the "corners" to make it stay put as well as define my edges.
4. Hammer in nails all the way around your paper outline--when you have about an inch of straight line left, remove the paper.  I think mine were pretty close together--almost touching, really--but if you have a larger board you won't have to put them together as much.  (Or if your state is mostly straight lines...)
5. Paint a red heart in the area where you live.  Bigger is better--at least 1/3 of the width of your tall states or 1/3 the height of the wider states.  Hammer your nails around that heart, too.
6. This is the fun part!  Use a slip knot to tie your yarn around one of the heart's nails, and then go back-and-forth between nails.  You can do it kinda crazy and chaotic, like I did, or orderly, going from heart to outline to heart to outline over and over again.  Either way looks really cool, but I'm a controlled-chaos person, so I went with that.  NOTE: Most states are shaped kinda funny, so make sure you don't cross your string outside of the outline or inside the heart!  If you're doing it more orderly, you'll have to get creative about how to fill in the gaps. 
7. Continue until all (or nearly all) nails have been touched.  I recommend wrapping the string around each nail as an outline at the end of it all, especially if you went for chaos--it'll help confine it a little and define the shape better.  This goes for the heart, too.  When you're happy with what you have, tie it off with a double slipknot.
8. Put it on the mantle! (Or wherever you're putting it.)  And admire your awesomeness.

4th of July!

July 4th came and went in a whirl.  Paul worked during the day--a very long day--and then we went to downtown Lafayette for some Moe's, but it was closed.  Between that and the fact that the concert was really long and Paul accidentally ate dairy at Wendy's and was sick to his stomach by the end of it, you'd think it was a bad day.  And some of it was, especially by the end when we were tired and uncomfortable from sitting on the ground for 4 hours and not feeling well to boot.  But some of it was really great, and at least we did SOMETHING this year!  I love the free concerts put on by our city's citizen band, and it's extra great on the 4th of July...

We started off with the Purdue Jazz Band...and people watching...and some super cute kids...

Then we saw the debut performance of the Indiana High School All Star Show Choir (probably started thanks to Glee)...

The Citizens Band then performed, along with some vocals by the Freedom Singers...

...my favorite part was actually probably the "just buckets" drumline performance...

...and the same old people that are always dressed so festively and take it upon themselves to lead the crowd in clapping when a particularly clappy march comes on...

...and an intermission with the local Fife and Drum Corps!

We had a good time.

Of course, walking back through the crazy crowd during the fireworks so we could beat the rush (semi-unsuccessfully) while poor Paul complained all the way back (can't really blame him, he was in PAIN) ended the evening on a sour note, which was particularly unfortunate since it was our last night together until the end of the month because of his business trip.  But some days are like that.  I still had a pretty good time, and it was nice to go out there and actually celebrate the 4th together--it was the first time we have since we started dating!  So, it was a fun holiday...and I got a lot of compliments from total strangers (mostly old ladies) on my skirt.  :)  Win.

4th of July Bandanna Skirt and Shirt (TUTORIAL)

I started out with (something like) this...

$3 shirt on clearance at Walmart.

$5 skirt on clearance at Walmart.

 Added some of these...

$1/each bandannas

 ...and came up with this!

4th of July outfit for GROWNUPS for under $20!

Hahaha, okay, it was a *little* more complicated than that...especially without a sewing machine.  But it was still an easy project, and if you have a sewing machine it'd take you like 2 hours, and I *LOVE* how it turned out.  Can't wait to wear it on Monday!  Here how you do it! (Disclaimer: I'm not a seamstress, so none of this is technical.)

YOU NEED: 1 skirt, 1 red-white-or-blue shirt, 8 red-white-or-blue bandanas for skirt (I did 2 blue, 3 red, 3 white), and 2 bandanas to rip up for shirt flowers--I used red and blue for my white shirt, but you could do blue and white for a red shirt, etc..  Also: scissors and measuring tape and chalk and pins.  And stuff to sew it up with.  And maybe some pin backings and a hot glue gun.


FOR SKIRT:
1. Using chalk and a measuring tape, measure out the circumference of the bottom of the skirt and divide it into 8ths (I used the seams as 4ths and just measured halfway between each of those).  Draw a vertical line up at that measurement.  (See picture below)
2. Measure halfway in between your vertical lines, and mark a notch at the hem with the chalk or safety pins (this is where my pins are).  Now measure half your bandana's width, and draw a diagonal line from the notch to your vertical line that is that length...when finished, you should have 8 "triangles" or wedges, like shown below.  NOTE: this skirt is very long on me...pretty much brushes the ground as I walk...so make sure however long your skirt and bandanas are together is only down to your ankles, and make adjustments as necessary!

 3. Cut out your wedges.

4. Starting at center wedge, pin right sides of bandana and wedge together, first one side...

 ...then the other.  (A little awkward to pin, but it should look like this:)

5. Do another one, alternating colors.

6. Pin the right sides of the other half/flowing parts of the bandanas together (you don't HAVE to if your original skirt was long enough, but the skirt was too short for me as it was, which was why I decided to do this in the first place!).

 7. Continue around, alternating colors as you go.

 8. Sew everywhere you pinned!  Be extra careful about not leaving holes between the denim and your bandana up at the corners.  (This is what took me two full days, because I sewed BY HAND...a sewing machine would have been really nice here!)  Your skirt is finished!

FOR THE SHIRT:

I wanted to keep my white shirt plain so I could keep using it as an undershirt, so I made my ripped-bandana-rag-flowers/rosettes into pins so I could rearrange them and take them off when I'm all done!  If you want something more permanent, you can just sew them on.

1. SO, take your extra bandanas and rip them into long strips about 1/2" to 1 1/2" wide (I did varying widths for a little visual appeal).  Make those strips into fabric flowers of your choosing (there are a million tutorials of how to do this online, but basically make a basting stitch along one side and pull the fabric together tightly into a raggedy flower).  Make as many flowers as you want to decorate your shirt.  (I only used about half of a red and blue bandana, and I made 5 of each color.)

2. Hot glue a pin backing on to the back of each flower.

3. Pin them in whatever shape/form you desire.  I would have LOVED to make a ton of red ones and turn these flowers into a flag shape...maybe next year!

That's it!  Now your 4th of July attire is all set and you will look FABULOUS!

If you do your own take on this, share the link so I can see it!  Linking up HERE and HERE!