How to make your own Ranger's T-shirt ...Cute and Cheap!

With our beloved Ranger's making their World Series debut, most of North Texas seems to be scrambling for their favorite teams apparel.  If your like me, your pocket book and schedule can't justify hunting and buying a brand new shirt to wear for a week.  Since my heart beats thrift store blood I thought why not attempt making my own thrifty Ranger's tee.  The end product was a fun shirt that fits comfortably within my style, which means I can reuse it well after the World Series results are in.

Since I thought some of you might be interested or inspired by this idea, I thought I'd write a little "how to" for you.

Materials You'll Need

• T-Shirt (whatever style floats your fashion boat)
• Fun fabric (either fabric by the yard or from an old shirt)
• Homemade Stencil
• Scissors
• Sharpie
• Fabric Glue
• Thick Thread and Needle

Step 1

Find an image online that you'd like to copy onto your shirt.  Make sure it's simple, traceable and can easily be cut out.  I chose the Rangers "T" symbol and hunky Josh Hamilton's number 32.  Both these were easy to find and easy to stencil.  Print the image off (preferably on stock paper) and cut out.

Step 2

Lay your stencil on the backside of your fabric and trace it with your sharpie.  Make sure the image is flipped backwards as you trace it onto you fabric since your drawing it on the backside of the fabric

and it will be flipped on the shirt.  After you trace the image then cut it out. Make sure to keep the sides smooth and straight.

Step 3

Lay your shirt flat and measure out the placement of your fabric cut outs.  You might want to try the shirt on, as sometimes the shirt can be sewn to fit differently than it looks laying flat.  I found this out the hard way when I first started and glued my "T" down on the front of the shirt, only to find out that the shirt was irregular and my "T" was crooked. 

Step 4

Once you've measured it out, take your glue and apply it to your fabric cut out.  Hint: Make sure you have cardboard or a book or something inside the shirt so that the glue doesn't bleed through onto the other side of the Tee.  Apply to shirt. Let dry.

Step 5

Stitch around all the edges of your fabric cut out.  This is mostly for aesthetic and a little for security.  It's okay that it's not stitched perfectly, if its a little uneven it adds to the funky factor.







Step 6

Wear it, Enjoy it, and cheer for the Rangers!

Retrolutionize Your Sleep

When I moved into my new place back in May I decided I wanted a new bed. The more I shopped the market the more depressed I became by my options. These days most everything looks the same and little has any personality. Having already sold my bed by the power of craigslist, I started to grow tired of sleeping on just a mattress. After two weeks of unsuccessful shopping the thought occurred to me...."um, Hello! Why don't you just make a bed".  I set out in search of an old door for a headboard (which I still believe is an awesome idea and has much potential).  I found myself at a fun little antique shop that appeared to be wayyy overpriced.  After perusing the aisles for a little while I bumped into the owner.  He showed me a few door options they had, all adorable, but again all overpriced.  About to give up I noticed there was a yard, aka Junk Heaven, on the side of their building.  I asked him if I could take a look, to which he informed me that I wouldn't find anything out there but old rusted junk. UM PERFECT!  The second I stepped into the overgrown bee infested space I knew my headboard was hiding there somewhere!  I didn't know what it looked like but I knew there was a treasure waiting to be discovered.  Twelve spiders and four bees later I discovered it! Hidden behind a stack of doors and metal fences, was an old chipped fireplace mantel!  And how much was this beauty? A whopping 35 bucks!

The mantel find gave me quite a rush and I couldn't wait to get home and set-up shop. However, I still had a feeling that it wasn't complete. The headboard was perfect but I realized I didn't want just a boring old metal frame incasing my mattress attached to it.  As I was making my way through the grass maze I spotted a jackpot! Tucked away in all its rusted glory were 3 individual locker fronts.  Powder blue, vintage, and even graffitied a little!  John, the owner I was now on a first name basis with, made me a deal at 10 bucks a pop. I decided these beautiful babies would make for a pretty sweet bed frame. (I've yet to get them cut down and welded but thats the plan. As of now they stay proped against my bedroom wall awaiting thier overhaul.)

It was quite an adventure bringing her home. Half way to the house, squished in the back seat of my sisters SUV with my mantel and lockers I noticed a terrifyingly large black spider scampering out of the bottom hole on the piece. Since the highway makes abrupt stopping difficult my two sisters just opted for screaming while leaving me alone to deal with the infestation!  Needless to say we made it home, and made our guy friend do the de-spidering for us. That's what boys are for anyways, right?


The moral of the story is... Think outside the box and put up a good fight for something unique.  Having a story behind your piece makes it all the more special.  What fun would a story have been about getting boxes from the Ikea shelf and assembling by myself with the accompaniment of a few cuss words?


An old door, antique fence, mantel, distressed wood, all these could make for a fantastic statement.  Just keep your eyes out for something unique and different.  Great places to check for these things are Thrift stores, antique malls, an old farm (if you have access to one), and flea markets.


Get creative, think outside the box, and venture to places that you normally wouldn't.  This is where you find the good stuff!


Don't forget a tape measure and an open mind!

Tara & Bryans Wedding

Not Bad for a first shot at flower designing a wedding all by ourselves. First time flying solo with my partner in crime Amy.  The result was quite beautiful and unique. Enjoy and be Inspired!


    

Sweet Fact: Since Billy Balls and Scobiosa Pods (our two main flowers) weren't the right colors, we spray painted them the green and purple that you see here.  You couldn't tell at all, and infact they looked pretty fantastic!

 

Sweet Fact: As pretty as our Aisles looked with the shepards hook arrangements don't let them fool you!  It took Amy alot of jumping and a sledge hammer to get them into the ground!

Sweet Fact: Bittersweet comes as a green berry.  It's only after removing it from the floral cooler and placing it in a warmer enviroment that it develops its vibrant orange and yellow shades.





Sweet Fact:  The good photos posted are from the fantastic photographer Phillip Glickman.  www.phillipglickman.com  He was so fun to work with and the girls all agreed a nice bit of eye candy as well :)


In short the wedding turned out beautiful and after a week of recouping I'm ready to do it again someday!

 



Ok, Ok

Retrolutionary is a phrase I came up with a few years ago to describe who I am in terms of my aesthetic and creative inspiration.  I'm inspired by pieces that have a story, history, and look like they've been around the block a few times.  My desire is to create things and spaces that when you look at them you know theres more to it than the industrial revolution.  Sometimes my designs are 100% made from thrift store finds and dumpster diving, while others are simply inspired by it. 

I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here yet.  I know that I have alot of random projects that I do, all falling underneath a 'creative' umbrella, and I don't have a centralized place that I post them.  So here goes an attempt to show the world (aka a few friends that might read this) my stuff.

Enjoy. Hope you find yourself inspired.