proud to be an american.

First of all, I apologize for the lack of posts in the past few days!

I’ve been super busy & haven’t had much spare time…but, I hope this post makes up for it!

Today’s post is my first DIY post & I’m pretty excited about it!

Remember those American Flag shorts I had on my April Wishlist?

Well I figured out how to make them & now I’m going to show you!

To get started, here’s the supplies you’ll need:

<bleach, a large bucket, red & blue spray paint, some form of board to spray on, plastic bags, scissors, cut out paper stars, sand paper, painters tape>

<a pair of denim shorts: I chose high-waisted — these I found at a thrift store!>

Step 1:

Fill your bucket with enough water to thoroughly cover your shorts once you’ve dropped them in. Then mix in a cup of bleach.

Place shorts in the bleach water & let them sit over night.

After they’ve soaked over night, rinse thoroughly & wash & dry the shorts.

These were my results:

<front>

<back>

Step 2:

Next, find a place outdoors where your surroundings will not be affected by spray paint.

I worked on the back porch & sprayed in a dirt area in the back yard.

I started with the stripes side.

Use your painters tape to make vertical stripes on the left side (right if you’re looking at them) of your shorts.

Use your tape & plastic bags to block off the areas you don’t want affected with the spray paint.

Then take your shorts & board to the area you’ve chosen to spray them & spray away!

I went with a fairly light coat of paint because I wanted them to look faded when I was finished.

But, apply as much or as little as you would like to get the look you want.

Also, note that the paint will fade some once you’ve washed them.

<sprayed red stripes>

Remove tape & plastic.

<stripes>

Step 3:

Now that you’ve finished the striped side of your shorts, you’re going to want to tape down your cut-out paper stars.

For my stars, I used a thick piece of cardstock to cut them out of & I free-handed them so that they wouldn’t all be exactly the same.

Once you’ve taped your stars down, tape off your stripes side & any area you do not want affected by the blue spray paint with your painters tape & plastic bags.

Then, move back to your spraying area & spray over your stars side.

As with the red, spray as much or as little as you want depending on the effect you are going for.

<stars & stripes>

After you’ve painted the stars side, remove the tape & plastic & let the paint dry.

<drying>

Step 4:

Take your sand paper & sand any places on the shorts that you would like to look destroyed.

You can also lightly sand any areas of paint that turned out darker than you’d like.

I used 2 different grains of sand paper, a heavier to get the destroyed look & a lighter to lighten up dark paint areas.

<destroyed front>

<destroyed back>

<destroyed back up close>

Now, wash & dry one more time.

Step 5:

Wear these bad boys somewhere fun!

I decided to make their first appearance at the Luke Bryan & Jason Aldean concert this past Friday night!

I felt like it was an appropriate event for some patriotism.

<diy American Flag shorts, American Apparel leotard, Ray-Ban sunglasses>

I got TONS  of positive feedback on them!

You better believe they’ll be reappearing on Memorial Day, 4th of July, & Labor Day.

So, if you love them — make them!

& if you’re not up for making them, I’m taking orders!

$35.00 or $25.00 if you already have the shorts.

Email orders to prevailingstyle@gmail.com.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend & happy Monday!

xoxo,

jordan