Am Giant Ladybug

Have you ever wondered what random household item would make the perfect sized polka dot stamp?  Do you ever yell at your loved ones for actually using those adorable striped paper straws in drinks because you were saving them to make a wreath?

If you have, then have I got the support group for you!

Just kidding.

But, seriously, we should hang out and I want to follow you on Pinterest.

The aforementioned scenarios have actually happened at my house rather recently.  I have a little bit of a creation addiction, and so do my children.  No trash is safe from being turned into treasure.  Mike is continually under fire for throwing out packing peanuts, cardboard boxes/airplanes, and empty toilet paper rolls. 

That being said, the polka dot stamping dilemma?  Yeah, that (and the little moose I'm growing) kept me up several nights.

Until it came to me.  Like water being turned into wine.

Or a wine cork being turned into a stamp.

See, this pregnancy, I've been trying to step up my game style-wise from years past.  But, being preggo in winter means slim pickings in the ready-made department and a lot of drab "earth tones".  Not my style. 

And then I got some red skinnies...and worked on building an entire maternity wardrobe around them.

My undying devotion to graphic prints, combined with an apparent need to dress like a pirate

led me to eschew stripes in favor of the kinder, gentler polka dot.

But, the only dots I could find were of the mealy-mouthed, shrinking-violet variety.  

I love this tutorial, but the scale of the dots was just slightly off for my taste, even though we have plenty of bubble caps around our house.

And so sleep was lost.

Until the hubs bought an adult beverage one night, and was promptly threatened that under no circumstances was he to throw that gorgeous, glorious synthetic cork away.

So, what do you need to make yourself a little something polka-dotted?

•  Synthetic wine cork (the real ones are too uneven and porous although deliciously carve-able)
• Paint brush
• Fabric paint
• T-shirt or other garment to embellish. 
• Cardboard/freezer paper/child's school photos ;)
• Masking tape or painter's tape (optional)

 Step 1:  Put your freezer paper/cardboard or whatever else you have lying around inside the shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through to the other side.

Step 2 (Optional):  Make yourself a guide on your fabric.  Since I don't trust my ability to "just eyeball it",  I just took the masking tape and made some evenly-spaced vertical lines on the front of my shirt.

Step 3:  Brush the paint on the cork, and then stamp the shirt in whatever pattern you like.

 

Step 4:  Let the front dry.

Step 5: Flip that bad boy over and repeat steps 2 through 4.

Step 6:  Fill in any uneven spots on your, er, spots with a paint brush.

Step 7:  Let that dry.

Step 8:  Iron over your spots to set the paint.

Step 9:  Work your new look as you become the envy of all the Dalmations in the neighborhood!

This was so easy and cute, I'm thinking a gold-spotted snood is in my very near future!  Perhaps some rainbow-y dots for our St. Patty's Day (and possibly new-baby) celebrations?  The possibilities are well past my current energy level and attention span, but I shall strive to spot anything that stays still long enough.

Happy Saturday night!  

Things might get a little wild over here, if I can stay up past 8:00.

Superfluous belly shot.