Hangin’ Out w/ Rachel @ Holy Craft

Each Friday all summer long I’m inviting blog friends over here to hang out with me and all of you! I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far.

Today I am excited to have Rachel from Holy Craft!

*****

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to be guest blogging here at HoH!

I’ve been following along with Allison since she started blogging and she’s been one of my favorite bloggers ever since! Allison is one of the most down to earth, hilarious, {real} bloggers that I know in the blogging world. We share a love of cheesy reality TV on TLC that just can’t be shaken! Now that you know that interesting little tid bit, let me tell you a little bit more about myself.

My name is Rachel and you can usually find me at my blog, Holy Craft. I’m a stay at home mom of three that likes to live well on less and I share my tips and tricks for a frugal lifestyle whenever I can. I also love to sew, craft and knock off any expensive decor that strikes my fancy.

You can find a little bit of everything from reading lists, to pottery barn, knock offs, to what not to buy at the dollar store.

We are still soaking up the last rays of sunshine on our summer vacation and while I realize most of you have packed your kids up with freshly sharpened number two pencils, we haven’t stepped into our new classrooms just yet. I know a big part of going back to school is back to school shopping trips.

While my youngest son hasn’t ventured into the world of caring what he wears {as long as it’s green and not stripped…oh, wait, seems like he does care!}, my older two kids are, let’s say, more opinionated than their brother.

Jeans are a staple in my kids wardrobe {as well as mine!} so finding the right pair is important. Getting the right color of dye for a jean is of utmost importance. The skinny jean has to be just skinny enough, but not too skinny {and no saggy knee}. The jeans have to be long enough to cover the back of the shoe, but not too long that they puddle. So do you see where we are getting with this?

I have found over the years, several tips and tricks to CREATING the perfect pair of jeans. Most of the time, working with garage sale finds that we have on hand in drawers, or future donated goodwill items that the kids have turned their noses up to.

My most popular method of jean transformation is taking an old pair of flare leg jeans and turning them into skinny jeans. Apparently, skinny jeans are what all the kids are wearing. You can find the full tutorial here, but promise me you won’t laugh. This was a post from two years ago and I picked the most hideous shirt to pair with my jeans. I’m pretty sure it was cool then… seriously, stop laughing!

It’s been a popular post, so I tired to update it with this post on how to make skinny jeans for kids.

My daughter is a much cuter model than I am!

Another jean transformation that is so simple, but that people pay big bucks for, is how to hem your jeans. I explain how to hem your jeans with the original hem without having to pay $15-$25 for the alteration. I scored and bought several pairs of designer jeans (Seven for all Mankind and Joe’s) for next to nothing and was able to alter them to fit my shortie petite frame. This is a tutorial you will want to pin!

And finally, I bought a pair of jeans off of ebay in the hopes of replacing my favorite jeans for WAY less than the retail price, but alas, the jeans came and were “mom jean” colored. In hopes of saving them, I bought a bottle of RIT dye and dyed my favorite jeans.

So there you have it. Next time you are searching for the perfect pair of jeans, sometimes you don’t have to look any further than in your very own closet!

In true Seattle fashion, why don’t you grab a latte and come and join me for a little while in my neck of the woods.

You never know what you will learn at Holy Craft!

Thanks again Allison for having me!

*****

Rachel’s blog is awesome and I enjoy it immensely. Aside from being hilarious she also has great projects.

Click here to see all the bloggers in this series.