I really am kicking myself for not getting a better picture of the before, but who has time to think about photographing a set of high-waisted-short-legged mom jeans at midnight? Let me just assure you that they were hot stuff before I went and ruined them by cutting and painting them (wink).

I made these jeans for a sorority function/mixer that was American themed. I knew instantly that I wanted to try my hand at making a pair of flag shorts. I looked at tutorial after tutorial about what type of paint to use, how you should stencil the stars, how to add studs, and how to cut for the most flattering effect, but honestly just chose to go about it my own way. 

I picked up a pair of unflattering (slightly over-sized) mom jeans at our local Goodwill for $5 and had masking tape and all of the acrylic paint colors I needed at home (perks of being an art major?). Since these were more of a one-time-use pair of shorts versus a permanent staple in my wardrobe I wasn't so concerned about the type of paint I used. 

I tried on the shorts and marked off where I thought the shorts should be cut (while still wearing them), estimating about an inch longer than I wanted (just in case I messed up and because I planned to roll the bottom over in the end). I took the jeans off, taped off the hem and the areas (like the pockets and zipper line) that I didn't want to paint on. For the stripes side, I took masking tape and eyed where I wanted each stripe to go (for cleaner lines...by all means measure!). I free-handed the stars side, adding about 2-3 coats of white paint on each star. I also tried to vary the star size as I went randomly placing them. 

In the end I felt like the shorts needed just a little extra something, so with the extra paint, I dipped my fingers in and splattered the three colors randomly onto the shorts. Also, with a blue paint pen, I colored in parts of the pocket and zipper line. Wah-lah! American themed shorts and my second DIY of the season. Hooray!

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