The best way to dye your clothes

I love, majorly love, the Banana Republic "Ryan" style pants. They fit me perfectly! Sadly for me, BR discontinued the cut, and I'm stuck with thrift store finds. I also regularly hunt them down on Ebay, buying every pair I find.*
This shopping technique means I don't always get to pick my color, so I ended up with two pairs of straight leg Audry-type khakis.

I dyed one black...and here is how.
You need:
1. A large stainless steel pot - at least a large pasta pot, maybe larger.
2. A stainless steel spoon
3. iDye. It comes in natural and synthetic fiber. If your clothes are blends, you need one of each packet. I bought mine at a local art supply store for $2.00 a packet. Now here's the weird part. You have to consider the color of the clothes, too. I used navy dye and my pants came out black. Mostly. Basically. I mean, it's a shade of black.
4. Newspaper
5. Rubber gloves

This is why you need the gloves. 

 Here's what you do:
Put newspaper on the floor around your kitchen stove and any nearby counters. Put on gloves.
Put your clothes in pot and cover with water; clothes should move freely. Add dye packets. This type of dye has a dissolving packet, so use dry hands and toss it in: mess free. Yay. If you are using the poly dye, add the enclosed intensifier, too. Add half a cup of salt and stir. Bring to a boil. Boil for an hour, stirring clothes around with a long spoon every few minutes. BE CAREFUL. This solution has a tendency to form super heated pockets that will spit hot dye at you!

The splatters on the stove clean off easily with soap and water

Boil for at least an hour.
Allow to cool.
Wash garment by itself in cold water and dry twice before wearing. Then be careful when you wash it - the first few times it will bleed and should be washed alone!
Here's the results: notice that the formerly white pockets are vibrant blue but the pants themselves are black!

Or are they? The fabric on the left are another pair of actually black pants. On the right are my new pants  - slightly different shade.

And both pairs need to be washed.

Still awesome. I love them to death.
Have you ever dyed your clothes?
* P.S. Size two, regular or long (I'll hem them!), if you ever see any snap them up for me and I will love you forever.

Nike tempo shorts clearance

Nike has tempo shorts for $15.97 right now!
You can get solid colors here and prints here.

I don't like pink so I bought the "mango" ones instead

And to save you even more...enter the promotional code 3PTSHOT for an extra 20% off all clearance. It brings the price down to $12.78. DO THIS TODAY AS THIS COUPON EXPIRES MARCH 7th!
As of now (this morning) you can still find all sizes if you aren't picky about colors.

What are you wearing this weekend?

Me? For once I'm not wearing spandex and a slightly stinky T. That's right, no race this weekend.
So instead I'm going to wear one of these cute outfits:
Old-fashioned twill house dress, paired with almond-toe pumps (or maryjanes if I feel like going all-out 1940's). This dress begs for pearls, and I might wear one of my regular strings of pearls, or this double coral strand I wore all summer. See those wrinkles? That's straight out of the dryer. If I tumble it for a minute they'll go away. Love it.
The dress was $10 at my local 5 and dime.

I also have this cozy sweater dress with my favorite cowl neckline. Unfortunately you probably can't see the neckline because it looks like I took this photo in a dungeon. It's short enough to need tights, and I'll probably wear these kind of cowboy suede boots. Yes, I'm mixing brown and black. I'm a big fan of mixing the two - it prevents a monochromatic nightmare (for some reason this only afflicts dark-haired people; blonds automatically have color relief. Brunettes? Watch the all-black or all-brown scenario!). I have stacks of gold-tone bangles and some pretty gold earrings. I got this dress at the same store, same price.

Because I'm cheap, people!
What are you wearing this weekend...and for what event? Do you dress up on weekends or schlep around the house in sweats and your oldest T-shirt?

Monday...what are you wearing to work?

I have to kind of dress up for work. We have a dress code, but I cheat a lot: especially since I wear a white lab coat. White coats are the bathrobe of the medical profession. There's all kinds of wrinkly mess under most white coats.
For me, the most important component of my work wear is my shoes. 'CAUSE I LOVE SHOES! Actually it's because I stand up at work for 8 hours straight. I also move around a lot, and fast- so I need shoes that are practically athletic but look dressy.
The rest of my outfit varies, but I'm always well-accessorized. I don't want to look like I stopped caring. Once comfort > appearance, you look like you gave up on life. I make a lot of jewelry, so my collection is vast, and I usually wear at least 2 pieces. I'm also a fan of belts and scarves.
Today I'm wearing...

...black slim slacks, a yellow T-shirt (it's under the white coat! Who cares!), and a bright cotton scarf. I forgot to put my jewelry out... I'll probably wear a thick bangle and skip the necklace and earrings since I have a loud scarf on. Those boots are super comfortable for all-day standing. I like the rubber heel - lots of shock absorption. Should I tuck my pants legs in? It looks pretty casual, but sometimes I do it anyway!
Tomorrow I'll...

...recycle the same slacks, this time adding a wrinkle-free button down and some copper wedges. I dislike flats for work. There just isn't enough between me and the floor, and I tend to lock my knees when standing in flats. The 1" wedge on these shoes is perfect. In fact I have 4 pairs of these wedges, 2 black, one bronze, and one silver! I'll wear a few bracelets and this mother-of-pearl and polished gemstone necklace. I made these necklaces for my bridesmaids and kept one when one of my bridesmaids had a last minute outfit change.
Of course, I always wear support hose to prevent varicose veins! Just kidding, I don't. I ought to, and every so often I buy a few pairs and promise myself I'll wear them. I wear them once or twice, then give up. They are so hot and uncomfortable and they squeeze my toes in a death grip!
What do you wear to work? Do you have a dress code? Do you break it? Mine says no open toed shoes, but on the weekends I wear peep-toe wedges. I'm a rebel like that!