Guest Post: Re-Purposing Old Clothes by Homegrown & Healthy

Hey friends!  Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you're all having a good day.  My plans include diapers, my new role as a dairy cow, and watching "Valentine's Day" (it seems fitting and I'm all about the romantic comedy).  I've got a 4-day-old newborn, so I'm exhausted and will be doing as little as possible.  Luckily for me (and you!) I have a great guest post for you.  


Amber, from Homegrown & Healthy, is here to share a fantastic secret!  I know when we found out we were expecting Little Monkey almost three years ago, and that he was indeed a "he", we started getting hand-me-downs by the box full.  For which we were incredibly grateful.  Baby clothes are SPENDY!  And your kid will wear them for maybe a couple months...  That's a lot of money on hardy used clothes.  But, with those boxes came some stained outfits that just screamed "Please throw me away!"  Kids are messy!  Life happens.  Come along with Amber and she'll show you a frugal and easy way to make those "throw aways" into "good as new".  Take it away, Amber!  

________________________________

If you’re like me then with each new baby announcement came a flood of hand-me-down baby clothes. Okay, with a thrift store in the family and a reputation for being, um, frugal, I may have gotten a little more than the “average” new mom. But when those nesting instincts kick in and maternity leave begins you may just appreciate this low key, work at your own pace, project. Regardless of your level of craftiness, with a little time and elbow grease anyone can up-cycle those used baby clothes and make unique outfits that are eco and wallet friendly.

With two little girls and an active lifestyle I just assume that messes are bound to happen. Between art projects, playing in the mud, and eating with our hands (for the sake of appearing lady like, I’m going to just pretend that one was for the baby) I end up throwing a lot of clothes away. But no longer! This project is easy enough to complete in a nap time, depending on how much you plan on dyeing.


The dye that I used is available at all of the grocery stores that I've ever been to and costs less than $3 and believe me, each packet of dye will cover a lot of articles. Follow the instructions on the package, and remember to read everything. Mine recommended adding salt and laundry detergent to my dye pot.  It also instructed me to wash the garments afterwards until the water ran clear. That was clearly a prank, as the water WILL NEVER RUN CLEAR, EVER. 


After I gave up washing it in the sink I even took my clothes into the shower with me, and it STILL NEVER RAN CLEAR. The next batch I got wise and put all of the newly dyed clothes, partially hand rinsed, into the washing machine together. This ensured that all of the extra dye came out all at once and I didn’t have to worry about the dye bleeding off onto our other clothes come laundry day.

Honestly, I don't know what got onto that thing in the before pictures. It's most likely tomatoes, as she tends to stain most of her clothes with those guys. You can see in the after picture that, like magic, the stain is gone!  I know that it won't cover all stains, but for all of the clothes I've tested so far it's worked (except to cover paint).


Now all you have to do is add a few cute accessories. With babies you need to be careful of choking hazards, but there is plenty of ribbon and other frills that you can use to embellish. Have you used iron on transfers before? They’re incredibly easy, inexpensive, and a great way to get a “custom outfit” on a shoestring budget.

Now find a cute model. Presto! New clothes in no time at all.

 _______________________________________

Look at that!  You can't even tell that dress was used and a little abused.  It looks fabulous!  Thank you so much for sharing with us, Amber!  I'm off to sort through some little clothes in search of stains, because I've got to try this!