DIY Bleach Shirts - Birthday Gifts

So I made some more shirts, with a combination of bleach (see DIY here) and also some spray t-shirt paint. I wish I had stuck with just bleach for the eyes, but this is what I got. (For the price and result, the spray can fabric paint won't be a repeat purchace.)

I'm glad I got lots of comic book fans as family, it makes takes some of the stress out of designing.

Bike Painting

So this summer I decided to purchase a cheap but working bike. The price was right, the paint was not. No problem.

I took off the gear shifts, handle brakes, kickstand, water bottle holder, and the front tire. Sanded it all down until the paint was rough. The worst bit was sanding off the plastic decals, because I couldn’t get them off any other way.

Then I painted it, by brush, with a green rust guard paint. A tiny can of it was like $6, and I didn’t use more than half of the can. I did a second coat to touch up places. Make sure you let it dry for a good 24 hours before doing anything with it!

Then I had a stencil cut out, of birds, and proceeded to spray paint a white rust guard paint over the green. The spray can cost about $4 and I still have a bunch left. I plastic wrapped the places I didn’t want to get pain on and/or had it taped off.

My one mistake was thinking I could use the same stencil for both cross pieces. Two things happened:
1) I got paint on the top piece I didn’t mean to
2) I had bought my plastic adhesive that I cut the stencil out of from the dollar store, so it was thin and ripped when I went to remove it after the first use.
So I ended up having to cut a second stencil anyway, and have some mistakes that I didn’t want to go back and paint over with the green paint again.

Over all I’m very happy with it, but if I were to do it again, I would try and not rush the end.

Either way I don’t’ think anyone is stealing this bike!

Inspiring Speech

Chris Hadfeild spoke at NSCC Convocation for the 2013 Center of Geographic Studies (COGS) students.

It was great to hear and I want to pass it along to you.

More DIY Bleach Shirt

I got the third shirt done, but this one took a lot longer to do because it was way more complicated to cut out. Because of that there is only the one design of it. 

 

To see the my how to bleach DIY just click the link to see the older blog.

 

This one was a wrap around design and I'm happy with it, and so is Mike, so that's good.

 



The one thing I still don't like the little spots from the spritzer bottle. No sure why they happen!

Bleach T-Shirt DIY

Been wanting to try this one out for a while and finally did.

I took a design and used an exacto-knife to cut it into a clear adhesive plastic (the type you buy at the dollar store to protect books). I ended up with two copies of the design, a negative and a positive cut-outs.

So I put one on a red shirt and the other on a blue shirt.

 

The blue shirt I just wanted the image bleached so I used cling wrap over the rest of the material to prevent any unwanted marks. The red shirt I was trying to be more artistic with and bleach all around leave the design red.

 

Remember - Where the plastic is will REMAIN that colour, and the bleacj will change the rest.
Think backwards, it helps.

 

I placed old newspaper between the front and back of the shirts to prevent the bleach from soaking through.

 

 

 

Using a small spray bottle (the type in dollar store travel kits) I sprayed bleach on the shirts, slowly over time to see them develop.

 

TIP - Use gloves this is Bleach.
Also use paper towel to dab away extra bleach that settles on the non absorbing plastic to prevent drip marks.

 

This was the end result.

 

 

 

I worked the blue shirt a bit by cutting it and braiding the sides, and making it something I would wear.

 

 

Things I would change:

I wish the spray bottle was a more even mist, but I couldn't prevent the small dotting.

Also i would use less bleach on the red shirt, next time I won't do it outside on a sunny day because it was hard to see how much the bleach had developed.

 

All I all I think it was a great outcome though!

 

 

 

Hairs to me!

Todays 'change' is organic shampoo!

Avalon Organics

I have the Lavander Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner to try out.

Two things you should know about me
1) I obsess and abuse my hair on a regular basis.
2) I have redeveloped exzema over the past 2 years.

Related to he first part I am rather terrible for colouring my hair differnt colours. In October I was a rich red head, in Janurary I was stripped back to blonde, and then in February I added punky red tips. Now I'm in an ugly grown out phase with tinted pink tips. I don't use a lot of heat on my hair, but I not exactly sporting a 'natural' look. So I'm looking to be kind to my hair for a while, let it rest, before I bombard it again to make it suitable to be in my sister's upcoming summer wedding.

The second part is that I am realizing something has to change, I'm just too tired of living with exzema everyday on my hands, and being so constrained by that. (I'll expand on that later).
So here's hoping going natural will replenish and nurture my locks while preventing any further irritation to my skin and body.

Let me state I don't claim to be an expert on Organic Products.
I'm just looking for something slightly greener. It's the little things!

Verdict is in!

Cost(compared to equal products) 4
Likability (smell, texture, ect) 3
Green Power (recycled, organic ect) 4
End Result (compared to desired or expected results)4
Easy to Use(mess, hassel, feel) 3

Total Rating 3.6
Would I use it again? Yes
Try other Products by this Company? Yes

Having to Start Somewhere

As it is with many things in life it's hard to figure out where to start sometimes. Unlike books, movies, and races there is no beginning to start with.

I've been wanting to blog, because I feel a need to release some of my creative urges, but mostly because I need to make some changes in my life. I found it phenomenally helpful over two years ago when organizing my wedding from another continent (The Long Distance Bride). Hoping that a blog will guilt/motivate me into action I promptly sat down and considered it for about 2 months. Yep, I'm one for immediate action!.

The beginning is always the hardest part. So finally, today, I'm doing it. Sorry if this isn't the most exciting post, but it is a place to start, and that is a win in and of its self.

'The Little Things' is an attempt to make small changes to my everyday life which will hopefully make positive changes over all and better habits to live by. I'm trying to do almost anything here from going greener, more DIY projects, health and beauty, fitness and food. It's all about experimenting and trying out new things to see what sticks and what doesn't.

What is life is not a constant push to improve ourselves and try and be just slightly better than we are right now. Some days are better than others, but here is my effort and I hope you find some of these things 'stick' with you too.