Momfessionals: Spirit Jeans

When G was in 5th grade we decided to make a pair of "spirit overalls" for Homecoming and a tradition was born ;)

I really didn't go into this with a plan and in hindsight probably should have given ourselves a bit more time BUT it all worked out. I had these smiley patches and loved the idea of doing big flowers since they were retro (the theme was disco) with the flowers as the center and so I opted to do that on the front with STANGS down the legs. I used regular acrylic paint (not fabric paint) and brushes I had on hand and did sketch the design in chalk before I started painting.

On the front I also added some of these iron-on rhinestone stars, an MCA button and then some teeny tiny cowbells strung onto safety pins so that she jingled as she walked. Because, honestly, would it be Homecoming in Texas if you weren't jingling as you walked? NO.

These are the overalls that I ordered for G - I wanted them to by baggy-ish but not super baggy and these were PERFECT!!

Since the theme was disco I added a couple of these disco ball patches to the back as well as more stars and then her name and I heart MCA. Again, I used regular acrylic paint and the pink glitter patch was from Hobby Lobby.

So here's the deal... the iron-on stuff was kind of a hot mess. I followed the directions TO A T and the morning she put them on the stars started falling off, the disco balls were peeling and the heart pretty much came right off. I have no clue why because I really did follow the directions, ironed them from the front using a towel and then again from the back, etc. and even double and triple checked that they were on there good. BUT I was able to salvage them with some hot glue right before school and everything stayed put through a pep rally, school, etc.

If I wanted these to last a whole season of football games or pep rallies or something like that I'd probably avoid the iron-ons OR try to tack them down in the corners with stitching. You can do as much or as little and really can't go wrong. I've seen them with the marabou boa stuff on the bottom trim, fabric letters on the legs, etc. If you have middle or high school girls these would be a FUN project for them to work on - but make sure (especially if they're going to use paint!) that they leave enough time because you do have to wait for things to dry before you can flip them and do the back.

In 6th grade we stuck with just paint and her jeans looked like this...