DIY Disasters, & a new Art Apron

On the left is my new art apron, that I made this week. I wanted to make a new smock for the art room, since my old ones are getting pretty...uh...nasty. Just plain nasty. (Check out the turquoise one in the middle above. And this is AFTER it's been washed.) So I thought I'd make the cool apron I found on Pinterest, shown above on the right. It's made from a pair of jeans - the legs are the skirt part, and the seat is the bib. You'll notice MY apron doesn't look anything like that one, even though I started out following the instructions, using a pair of black jeans. Here's why:

First of all, my "tush" (my bottom) must be substantially wider than my top, because when I made the bib as instructed it was WAY too wide. So I took it in, and the pockets got cut in 1/2. This would have maybe been OK, but the seat of my pants had a bit of a curve to it (I guess to fit in my bottom) and wouldn't lie flat as the bib. So finally I gave up the bulging bib and bought a piece of fabric to replace it. I had to make other alterations as well, but in the end I think it's kind of cute, though not at all what I intended. The pockets came from an old barn jacket, and they are actually double pockets - there's the pocket I created by sewing them on, and there's a Velcro flap pocket on top of it, that had been on the jacket.

So then I decided to make some of the other DIY projects I've been saving on Pinterest, like the scarf and necklace below, made from strips cut from old t-shirts that are stretched to form rings. Aren't they cute? They seemed easy...

I can't show you mine. They are in the trash. I started cutting my t-shirts and stretching them to create rings, and let me tell you, not all t-shirt fabric will roll into the rings. And if you use a t-shirt that has side seams, the seams will come apart and you will not have rings. Anyhow, after cutting more than 1/2 dozen t-shirts and finding only 3 that worked OK, I started to make both items. The scarf was actually easy, but when done, it looked like....(drum roll please) SHREDDED T-SHIRT RAGS KNOTTED TOGETHER. Ugh. Hideous.

The necklace might have looked OK, but I gave up before I had an anxiety attack. All those narrow rings kept getting tangled together and no matter what I did, every time I picked it back up it was in a tangle again. BAD. It wasn't meant to happen.

There's another Pinterest project using T-shirt rings, making a round woven rug by warping the rings on a hula hoop. I was excited about this one, and I have a hula hoop, but after cutting up too many t-shirts already with zero success, I think I'll pass on this project for now.

Then there's this bowl, made from Perler beads:
I made one of these, and it actually came out really nice, though I don't think I have a photo of it. It wasn't hard, but it isn't something I can do with kids in school because it requires an oven, and anyhow could get pretty pricey getting enough beads for everyone. Anyhow, to make it, you need to coat the bowl you are using as a mold with veggie oil. It all worked great, but as many times as I've washed my bowl, every time I pick it up it still feels oily. Ick. And, what do I use this bowl FOR?

I still have a bunch of stuff to try out. I've already tested marbling with shaving cream (it actually works great so I'm hitting up the dollar store for more shaving cream) and I also tried a braided bead necklace that worked as well. So I'm not giving up on my Pinterest DIY projects, but I'm also going to be realistic and know when it is time to give up!