Kraken maternity tee- Bleach design tutorial

There's a saying that Necessity is the father of invention.  I say, being unique makes inventing a necessity.

I've never fit into a specific scene with my tastes in anything.  I love pop culture, nerd culture, rock culture, hippy culture... music, clothes, food, lifestyle... all sort of mesh into a web of seemingly random, eclectic preferences.  

That's not to say I like everything.  I am actually very picky about the different things from different scenes that I enjoy.  So being a 20 something mom is hard.  Because I want to incorporate this small piece of that, with a dash of this, and a glob of that-thing-over-there into my personal and parenting style, but there's NOTHING OUT THERE.

It's become easier with the popularity of pirates, but they're slowly being elbowed out by things that I don't like, so I don't pay attention.  Most pirate things for women and girls are pink and/or insanely sparkly, which I don't mind in moderation, but I'd like to go out in public without making someone want to vomit rainbows.

So I've had to get crafty.  Which usually I am totally okay with.  Sometimes though, it's just a pain.  Why can't there be a designer out there that has a direct plug into my brain that makes the things I want, for a decent price?!  Anyway...  

If you follow me, you know that Baby #4 has been dubbed The Kraken.  The few maternity sites I have found that carry alternative style clothes are ridiculously expensive.

So, as stated before, necessity and invention. 

I needed a unique t-shirt for this pregnancy.  I don't have $60 to spend on said t-shirt.  Hellooooooo, Pinterest!  

I've seen dozens of bleach tutorials.  A lot of them say to use a spray bottle, make your own bleach pen, use parchment paper to put your design on and iron it to the shirt so the bleach doesn't bleed underneath.  I'm a rebel lazy, so I chose to skip a majority of the recommendations.

I got my t-shirt, got my bleach, a small glass jar, a new paintbrush, cardboard, tape and a piece of paper.  Sketched out my design, cut it out, and taped it to the t-shirt, which I put the piece of cardboard in to avoid bleeding through the back.  Painted around the edges of my design with the bleach then flicked it around a few times for some 'bubble' spots, and voila!!

One of the tutorials I've browsed mentioned that different black shirts will bleach to different colors!  Not sure how to tell the difference, but don't be surprised if your shirt comes out a color other than orange.

 
At the moment the shirt is in a gentle wash cycle with a touch of homemade laundry detergent to get any extra bleach out before it eats a hole in the shirt fibers (I took that pic while the shirt was still bleach damp, and now I smell like a sparkly bathroom!).

I am incredibly happy with the way it turned out (will update if the wash changes anything) and fully intend to raid my local thrift store for more plain maternity tees to play with!  I'm also thinking the baby needs a custom Kraken onesie, so keep an eye out for that post, too!

Have you done any bleach products?  I'd love to see/hear about them!

Pinterest Inspired Valentines: Salt Dough Ornaments (with link to tutorial)

Aren't these ornaments from On Clever Mode cute?!

Since we started eliminating sugars wherever we can, the idea of handing out dyed and processed goodies for Valentine's Day just doesn't appeal to me.  Between Cabin Girl and Cabin Boy #1, we needed nearly 40 Valentines.  These salt dough ornaments were just the thing and one batch was more than enough! 

NAILED IT!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

DIY Body Butter

I've made it no secret that the Cabin Kids and I have bad skin.  This morning Cabin Girl came downstairs complaining that she was itchy again.  I'd been procrastinating on trying to make my own lotion since my first lip balm batch was a bust, but her poor, dry skin was the push I needed to just try it.

Of course, I scoured Pinterest for various recipes and tutorials, and came across this tutorial from nataJane. 

With 1 adjustment/addition, this was the result!

One for Cabin Girl, and one for ME!

There are a few little lumps because I *may* have fallen asleep on the couch after I put the oil/butter mixture in the fridge to set, so some of the cocoa butter hardened a bit too much.  Nothing a little extra rubbing during application won't smooth out.

I made the alteration of using 1/2 Tbs. Witch Hazel distillate and 1/2 Tbs. Grapefruit essential oil instead of a full tablespoon of oil.  The cocoa/shea butter combination has a stronger smell, not unpleasant, but enough that you can't smell the super subtle grapefruit.  The butter is thick enough that I think I will try to use a full tablespoon of each next time to get more of the soothing effects of the Witch Hazel and the scent of the grapefruit.

I bought the distillate, shea butter, and cocoa butter off Amazon.com to use for various diy beauty projects I've been wanting to try.  The essential and coconut oils I get at our local healthfood store.  The little jar with the flip lid I found at Fred Meyer for about $3.

As I type my hands already feel more supple.  It was suggested in the original tutorial to apply immediately after getting out of the shower, before toweling off, to get the most out of the oils, and to make sure it's completely absorbed before getting dressed so you don't get oil stains on your clothes.  

Hopefully I can report back with a positive review from Cabin Girl in a week or two!