Upcycle an Old T-Shirt

If you're anything like me you probably have a closet (or at least a drawer) full of old t-shirts that are stretched out, stained, threadbare, etc., but you just can't get rid of them. Well DON'T!! Make a tube scarf in less than 15 minutes with no sewing involved!

Go from this:

To this:

Scarves are the "it" accessory these days, so fill your closet with every color under the rainbow and dress up any outfit!

1. Choose your tee. Women's tees with a tapered fit are awesome because the tubes are automatically varied in length. Even tees with prints will work for a fun variation.

2. Lay the tee out flat on a hard surface (like a counter top or table).

3. Cut the hemmed edge off the bottom of the tee.

4. Cut strips (going horizontally, from side to side) to form loops or tubes. Try cutting them varying widths (mine were anywhere from 3/4" to 1.5" wide). When you get almost to the armpit you can stop cutting.

5. Stretch the tubes out firmly (but not too hard, you don't want to break them). IF you break one it's no big deal if it tears at the seam just tie it back together. The edges will automatically curl on themselves. Save one tube to use to tie them all together.

6. Double up each tube, aligning the seams.

7. Cut the saved tube at either seam (making one long strip). Tie the strip around all the tubes just outside the seam then wrap the strip tightly around the seam area (to hide them).

8. Once the seams are hidden tie off and tuck any remaining strip into the wrapped area.

Voila!!!!

Let me know if you have any questions and let me know how your scarf turns out!!

31 Days, 70 Miles

Yesterday I completed my first ever Run Streak. For those of you who are wondering, a run streak is a running challenge where you commit to run every day for a specified length of time. A typical run streak is a month; however, there are some really hardcore streakers out there who do year-long streaks. January is a popular month for streaks (resolutions and all), but I chose February (partly to take some of the pressure of New Year's resolutions off, partly because it's a short month). The rules for my streak were simple, run at least one mile a day everyday in February. During the last week of my streak my dear hubby observed that I was "cheating" by choosing February and should add 2 days to my streak for an even 31 days (in his words, "a true full month"). So I streaked from 2/1-3/2.

I had a few friends streak in January and I was so inspired and impressed with their results (and stamina)! I was hoping to work on my pace during my streak and had hopes of bringing my 1 mile time down to 9:30. That didn't happen. However, I smashed my previous "miles in a month" record (53) by running 70 miles in 31 days. That was HUGE for me.

I really enjoyed the Run Streak challenge and it certainly motivated me to get a run in on days I'd otherwise have skipped. I will certainly do one again and maybe that one will focus on pace.

Since I'm pretty competitive (at least against myself), I've committed to another challenge for the month of March.  March is "Sugar Busters" month; no sweets or candy for the month of March. I generally eat a pretty healthy diet (I'm vegan, so that tends to weed out a lot of the junk naturally); however, sugar has always been my downfall and there is plenty of vegan junk food. Did you know Oreo's are vegan!? So I will focus on cutting back the sugars this month.

My running goals for March are: run 4 days/week, complete 2 long runs (10 & 11 miles), and build strength (via lifting, hill workouts, and yoga).