easy home decorating tips and ideas
in this diy tutorial i'll show you how tomake beautiful shorts out of old jeans. we are making 4 amazing designs perfect for warmsummer days. hey guys! look where i am!? i am actuallydeep in the norwegian mountains right now, i came here for a couple of days and it'sso beautiful! and here's nobody. not a living soul. not even a single tree. wait... whatif a troll comes? but anyway, this is not the point of this video because now i'm goingto show you four different and totally amazing diy shorts ideas. i'm pretty sure you havesome old jeans at the back of your closet that you don't wear anymore, but you do needshorts for summer. and not just any shorts, you need cute, beautiful, amazing shorts thissummer and don't worry, i got you covered
because i'm going to show you how to makethem. so let's jump into the tutorial. first we are making these always fashionableamerican shorts. they are inspired by the american flag, so they are full of white -- redstripes and white stars. no, no, no, we don't have time to nap, we've got some work to do.you'll need old jeans, scissors, a needle, pencil or a pen, tweezers to distress thejeans, masking tape, star print outs, self-adhesive or just normal paper, piece of carton board,white and red fabric paint and lastly sponge applicator or paint brush to apply the paint.first we need to cut the shorts. try them on and mark the desired length. you can usea pencil but if your jeans are dark as mine, a needle will work better. remember to leavean extra inch of length because we will distress
the edge. and of course it's better to shortenthem little by little instead of cutting them too short at once and ruining your jeans.also you can use any other shorts you really like as a guide. i placed my favorite yellowshorts on top of the jeans and cut them a bit lower than the yellow ones just to besure. fold the jeans like so and cut the other leg. this way they will be exactly the sameon both sides. then try your shorts on! mine are to long so i am going to cut them againand i'll make them shorter in the front and a bit longer in the back.now it's time to take your anger out and distress the edge that we just cut. take your tweezersand start pulling random threads out. you'll see how your shorts will get this cool distressededge. then use a nail file or a sand paper
and rub them along the edges for a softerdistressed look. in the end i like to cut these white strands a bit to make them equallylong all around the edge. next we need to make some star stencils, whichwill help us create perfectly shaped stars on the shorts. i printed several differentsizes but in the end i chose to go with this one, so here i'm just cutting it out. thenplace your star on the self-adhesive paper and outline the shape with a pencil. repeatthis several times until you have enough stencils to cover one side of your shorts. and nowyou need to cut the star out of each stencil. if you don't have a self-adhesive paper, usea normal one and just apply a bit of glue on one side.before placing stencils on the shorts you
need to cover the areas you don't want topaint with a masking tape. at least the edges around the pockets, belt and zipper. thisway you'll make sure that no paint stain will end up there while you're making your design.plus the edges will be very straight and neat. let's start on the left side with the stars.put a piece of cardboard under the fabric. this will prevent the color transferring onthe back of the shorts and will give you a flat surface to work on. stick the stencilson the shorts. you can make a lot of smaller stars or few bigger. i decided to go witha medium size, because i wanted the stars to be seen in all details from distance too.and finally we are ready for my favorite part -- painting! dip the sponge applicator ora paint brush in white fabric paint and start
painting! make short strokes from the edgesto the center to get crisp and neat lines. if your shorts are very dark as mine, makesure to use paint for dark fabric otherwise, the paint may not show off well. i appliedtwo coats of white for each star to make it really bright and opaque. when you are donepeel off the star stencils and you are left with beautiful stars!put the cardboard under the fabric on the right side. here we need to make white andred horizontal stripes. stick tape stripes closely one above the other like so. thenpeel of every other tape stripe and now you can start painting. dip the paint brush inthe red fabric paint and color the stripes. for detailed painting i like to use a paintbrush, but for larger areas i'm using a sponge
applicator. if you don't have it, a pieceof kitchen sponge would work too. again, make strokes away from the tape edges to get nicesharp lines. when all the red stripes are done, peel of the remaining horizontal tapepieces. we need to color these bare areas in white so dip your paint brush in whitefabric paint and start painting. to help you out, you can also stick a piece of maskingtape over a red stripe to protect it. now you can quickly color the white stripes makingstrokes in the direction away from the tape. when all the white stripes are finished, removethe masking tape from around the edges and here you go - the front of our american shortsis finished and i am so happy with how it turned out. i love the contrast between thebright red and white and the dark jeans!
when the paint is completely dry flip theshorts around. protect the area around the pockets with the masking tape like so. theshorts look stunning already but we still have to paint our back pockets. on the leftstick the star stencils and color them with white fabric paint. on the right side sticktape pieces closely one above the other and then peel of every other stripe to get yourstripe stencil. color the stripes with red, using a sponge or a brush. again, i appliedtwo coats of paint to achieve the desired opacity. peel away the remaining horizontalstripes and color these areas in white. in the end remove all the masking tape piecesto reveal your amazing work! i think these shorts look absolutely stunning! i also addedsome silver chains on one side and paired
them with a white lacey buttoned shirt andwhite sneakers . you can really keep it simple and let youramerican shorts be the center of attention. because they deserve it, right?next we are making these fun shorts with beads and ribbon. you'll need old jeans, scissors,fabric glue, colorful ribbon and beads, some thread and a needle. start of by cutting theshorts. here i want to make a cuffed edge... similar to my yellow shorts. therefore i needto cut much lower from edge of the yellow shorts. about two to three inches below. foldthe pants and cut the other leg. try on your new shorts and fold the edge up a couple oftimes like so. if you are happy with the length you can use these paper clips to secure thefolded edge in place and then take your jeans
off. to secure the folded part, apply a bitof fabric glue on the inner edge between each clip. do this all around and remove the clips.now your folded edge will stay in place exactly how you want it.it's time to decorate the shorts with bright colored ribbon and beads! cut a piece of ribbonand simply stick it on one side of shorts using a fabric glue. next, i am going to makea row of beads. take some thread and a needle. fold the thread a couple of times, threadon a needle and make a knot on the other side. make the first stitch through the jeans. thentake your beads - i went for minty green ones - and thread about six of them on. make astitch towards the inside of the shorts, then go about one inch back with the thread andmake a stitch towards the outside of the shorts.
now go once again through the last two beadsto secure them in place. doing this will prevent that the beaded stripe would start hangingdown when you put the shorts on. add a few more beads to finish the row. make a stitchto the inside, then a knot or two and finally cut away the excess thread. now you just haveto make random beaded and ribbon stripes all along one side of your shorts. here i am goingfor a corally ribbon. this one i'm sticking in place with a fabric glue and a help ofa toothpick. you can also first apply the glue all along the ribbon and then stick iton your shorts. the glue is quite visible through the ribbon at first but is much lessnoticeable when it dries, so it doesn't bother me. but if you want to you can always sewthe ribbon stripes instead of gluing them.
here i am again making a beaded row, but thistime using neon yellow beads. thread on six of them and make a stitch to attach them tothe shorts. then thread on another six beads and make a stitch. just a few more beads,the final stitch and the row is finished. continue like this with some ribbon and somebeaded rows randomly for a fun pop of color and texture on your shorts. and there youhave it, the coolest looking pattern! with such a fun front, we have to balance it outand make a party in the back as well. therefore, i'm covering one of the pockets with ribbonand beads. here comes the first piece of ribbon, following with the row of beads and so on.i really like the bold colors of my beads and ribbon, which pop on the dark jeans.this is why recycling old clothes is so much
fun! you get to choose the colors, the materialsand designs that suit your skin tone, personality or go perfectly with that shirt you have layingin your closet because you never know what to pair it with.just the final ribbon piece and the pocket is finished. again, flip the jeans around,cut three ribbon stripes and wrap them around the belt loop for yet another fun touch tothese beautiful shorts. i love how happy and bright these shorts are, and they just screamsummer. with shorts like these you really don't need much accessories. i finished mylook with a coral top, some friendship bracelets and white sneakers. next we are making beautiful lace detailedshorts, for which you will only need old jeans,
scissors, nail file, tweezers, lace and fabricglue. first cut the shorts, and i am using my beloved yellow ones for the guide. i wantthe front a bit shorter, therefore i am making some small adjustments until it looks somethinglike this. try them on to see if you're satisfied! i am happy with mine so i am taking a pieceof tape and sticking it to where i want the holes to be. it's better to mark the holeswith the shorts on to avoid making holes on the wrong places... you know what i mean.take the shorts off and cut the holes on the marked spots. i made two imperfect rectangles.now we need to distress the edges and the holes with tweezers, nail files, sand paper,fork, anything you find appropriate. pull out some threads, rub the edges witha nail filer and quickly your jeans will get
all ragged and worn out looking.when they seem scruffy and destroyed enough it's time to grab some lace and cover theholes with it. cut out a piece that is a bit larger than the hole and place it on the innerside of the shorts, covering the hole. this is how it will look in the end, pretty niceright? apply some fabric glue to stick the lace firmly to the shorts. repeat the stepsto cover the other hole. i like making the holes imperfect rather thana perfect square, you could also do it in a shape of a diamond or a triangle. i justthink it goes better with a distressed look. now we need to take larger pieces of laceand decorate the legs of our shorts. so just grab a lace stripe and glue it all around,starting in the back, because that is where
you want the two ends to meet. i like to placethe lace on the shorts and then lift it to apply one glue dot every inch or so. as youdo this press it firmly to assure the lace sticks well to the shorts and won't come off.and this is how our finished lace shorts look like. i really like the mixture of edgy withthe distressed part and romantic with the lace. it makes the shorts look so cute andgirly but cool at the same time. i think these shorts are super easy to wear, you can combinethem with pretty much anything. here i paired them with a cropped white top, long goldennecklace, some rings and my starred converse. you could put on brown wedges or sandals,but i kept it rather sporty as i went to play tennis in the park.give another life to your old clothes and
be the creator of your own unique style. alongthe way you will freshen up your closet, save money and protect the environment. lastly, we're going to make these cool studdedspray dyed shorts. you need white or light wash jeans, scissors, nail filer, tweezers,a piece of self adhesive paper, two rounded objects like a glass or a lid, spray paintand studs. take a pen, mark the approximate length of your shorts and cut the jeans. trythem on and if they are too long, fold the edge to the desired length, secure it withpaper clips and take the jeans off. now you can cut the sorts again knowing that theywill fit you perfectly. this is just another way of making a flawless cut on your jeans.then take your tweezers and nail filer and
distress the edges to your liking. you canalso make holes, tear them a bit or do whatever you like. i decided not to make any holes,instead i will create a piece sign on one side. take a piece of self adhesive paperand draw a circle. i am just using a glass and outlining it. then make a smaller circleinside, i am using a lid of a moisturizer or something. cut the larger circle out andthen cut along the smaller circle to get a ring like this. now cut one longer paper stripeand two shorter stripes. combining this four elements will give you the perfect peace signstencil. before you start spray painting you have toprotect your working surface. it's better to do this outside but in any case put a pieceof plastic bag on the ground to protect the
grass or whatever you are working on. i alsoput an old towel on the plastic bag. stick the peace sign wherever you want to have it.i want to have it on the left bottom part of my shorts. put a piece of masking tape on the buttonbecause we don't want to color it and since i am using two spray colors, i decided toprotect the upper part of the shorts, while i am working on the bottom. and we are finally ready to start painting!spray your first color allover the bottom part of the shorts like this. you can leaveyour color lighter or you can go all out like me and spray a lot of it to get a more opaqueresult. use a paint brush for the edges and
corners that the spray didn't reach. flipthe shorts around and spray the back as well. this is how they look so far. now cover thebottom part of the shorts with a plastic bag and start spraying with your other color.i am using this fuchsia pink. don't worry if it looks kinda funny right now, becauseafter a while the colors will start blending and will create a beautiful gradient. againuse a paint brush to color the hidden areas around the zipper and under the belt loops.remove the bag give it a few final sprays and we're done painting the front. thereforewe can remove the stencil and voila, we are left with a piece sign on our shorts. spray the top part of the shorts on the backas well. here, i am again spraying it lightly
with the blue to make the gradient more beautiful,and that's it! let your freshly painted shorts dry completely and then you can decorate themwith studs. i decided to dress up my back pockets with these cute star studs! firstplace them on to see where you want to have them and then you can attach the stars tothe pockets. i am using scissors to twist the metal parts peaking out inside the pocket.i love how these stars pop on the blue color of the jeans! i like the studded details alot so i decided to add three square studs in the front as well. and here we go, ourfourth shorts are complete! i am super pleased with how they look. love how the studs anddistressed edges make the shorts a bit edgy and grungy but bright colors give them thathappy vibe. these shorts are just so full
of detail and life and i decided to pair themwith my "it's awesome" cropped top, white sneakers and some colorful bracelets. perfectoutfit for a happy summer day! so this were my four diy shorts ideas. i honestlylove them all and i am already wearing them like crazy, but tell me in the comments downbellow, which design was your favorite. also don't forget that i have instagram, twitterand facebook where you can follow me for more personal updates and also some giveaways.ok, i'm gonna go now because i'm really scared of trolls. did you know that they eat stones?that's why the houses here are wooden...
