Girls High Waisted Skirt Sewing Tutorial

High Waisted Skirt Tutorial

I made the most darling, super easy Christmas skirts for my girls this year! These are easy enough for beginners, and fast enough to make multiple (for the mom's of multiple girls, making a boat load of the same thing, if they take a long time, can be a drag).

 

The measurements fit a 5 to 7 year old, but can easily be adjusted by adding or subtracting to the length and/or width. For the width, I doubled my daughters waist measurement, then divided it by 2, and cut 2, a front and back. The length can be adjusted to your personal preference. These would be cute with up to a 2" wide elastic! 

 

For these, I used cotton flannels and a woven plaid, but you can get creative, these can be made in a dressier a fabric like taffeta, or a more casual with a solid cotton or cotton print.

 

I can't wait to see what you create!!!

 

Find the PDF tutorial here: High Waisted Skirt Tutorial

 

Deer Head Pillow Cover Tutorial

Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial

Santa or Deer Head Silhouette

I'm giving away my Christmas Pillow Cover Tutorial for FREE! 
Merry Christmas!!!

Includes step by step instruction and photos to make an 16"x 16", flannel, zippered pillow cover with a felt applique. Includes deer head and Santa silhouette. 

Download the PDF here.

I would love to see or hear about your projects!

Merry Christmas!

Monogrammed YETI Tumbler

DIY Monogrammed YETI Tumbler and Other Pool Bag Necessities

The highlight of my Christmas gifts this past year was my surprise Yeti tumbler from my husband. I had no idea what Yeti was at the time, and was not really excited when I opened up the package to find a large, industrial looking, silver sippy cup. 

My husband is very aware that I LOVE insulated cups, I have been using the same Tervis cup for 3+ years, it looks disgusting, but it has kept my water cold longer than any other cup. I really, really like water to be ice cold, when it's near freezing, I drink a lot more.

Along comes the best cup known to man... Christmas Eve night, I made an ice water in my new Yeti and sat it on my nightstand, with the hustle and bustle of Christmas day, I didn't look at the cup again till 9 PM the following evening. THERE WAS STILL ICE IN MY CUP 24 HOURS LATER. This it totally one of those silly little things that just makes my heart happy, every single day! I love this cup, I really do.

In the last 6 months, we have started a trend among our neighbors, friends and family, everyone has a giant Yeti tumbler now, and we use giant colored Bubba straws, and vinyl monograms to tell each others apart. Plus, they dress them up a bit! To customize my husbands, we have been sticking random stickers on it, like a mini ice chest. He has grown to have the same water cup affinity that I have, well maybe not as extreme.

You can order a custom vinyl monogram on Etsy for around $3 shipped, mine is a 3 inch round. 

You can get a 30 ounce Yeti tumbler HERE.

You can get Bubba straws HERE.

As I'm packing for a weekend lake trip, I won't be leaving our Yeti's behind, or my broad spectrum Rodan + Fields body and facial sunscreens. I reapply the body sunscreen every few hours, it's water resistant for up to 30 minutes, and it doesn't make your skin feel greasy and gross, it feels more like a traditional lotion. I use the Reverse SPF 50 on my face, because it's the best coverage I can get for my freckle prone complexion. And, the Essentials lip balm with SPF to protect my lips. 

Sun protection covered, hydration covered!

To purchase Rodan + Fields products, contact your consultant, or click on the links below:

Essentials Broad Spectrum SPF 30

Essentials Lip Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 25, 2 Pack

Reverse Broad Spectrum SPF 50+

Cheers!

DIY Gift Tags from Paint Samples

Paint Sample Gift Tags

Okay, I've seen a few things floating around out there using paint chips for art, and party decor, etc.  None of which I've ever actually done.  But, today  I ran out of all the cute gift tags I bought for Christmas gifts and decided to pull out my tag shaped hole punch and make a few out of some scraps of scrapbook paper and card stock.  As I was cleaning my counter off to make room for this simple task, I started to put some paint samples (that I picked up at Sherwin Williams this week), in my junk drawer, when I realized they were the perfect size to fit in the hole punch.  So I grabbed a handfull of paint samples out of that handy junk drawer... and, there was born, a stack of cute free gift tags!

While I got my hole punch at a garage sale (score!), you can find one here: Tag Hole Punch

Get one, you may never buy a gift tag again!

You will need a regular hole punch too, not all the tag punches have holes in them.  You will also need some twine, yarn, or ribbon to attach your little crafty tag.

  

Cheers!

DIY- Advent Calendar

Christmas Mantle Advent Calendar

Linen Bags Filled with Christmas To Do's

I made this advent calendar a few years ago, and it is now one of our favorite Christmas traditions!  Every evening we take down a bag, and as a family, partake in a Christmas activity.  The girls look forward to it, they start asking to take one down as soon as they get up in the morning!  I think it's a great way to ensure you do all the festivities you want to do during the season, since sometimes you get so busy you forget to do things that are important.   

We tie each bag onto a strand of green garland, and hang it on the mantle,  it's pretty and it's a great visual countdown for the kids.

They are made of a very lightweight linen looking muslin.  They measure 4.5 x 6 inches.  The numbers are black sparkly cardboard stickers I found in the scrap-booking section at Michael's.  You can hot glue them on for extra measure.  The ties are a black satin cording, you can find in the ribbon department at craft stores.

  I printed the activities in Word under the label set up, then cut them out and glued them to card stock quality scrap-booking paper.  The Christmas activities can be anything you want, anything that is special or important to you!  

These are some of the activities on our cards:

Decorate the Christmas tree

Go pick out a new ornament for the tree

Wrap Christmas presents

Go look at Christmas lights and get holiday ice cream

Go give change to a Salvation Army Bell Ringer

Donate Toys

Buy a new toy for Toys for Tots

Decorate and string paper gingerbread men

Make Christmas Candy

Make Christmas Bread

Make Christmas Cookies for Santa

Go look at Christmas lights and get hot chocolate

Open a new Christmas book gift

Read a the Night Before Christmas

Go Christmas shopping for a family member

Open yearly Christmas ornament gifts

Go to the Christmas Train

Pictures with Santa

Teach the girls a new Christmas Carol

Take gifts to our neighbors

Angel Tree

Attend Christmas Eve church service

Watch a Christmas movie

Fill our Operation Christmas Child boxes for Samaritans Purse

Write Santa a letter

We start our Advent on December 1st, so we have 24 bags.

Merry Christmas!

DIY- Homemade Play Dough

Cherry Kool Aid Play Dough

Quick, Non-Toxic Recipe that Smells Great

My 2 year olds preschool teacher has been making play dough and dying it the color of the week, and each time they play with it, it's the highlight of Sophia's week!  Everyday she tells me if Ms. Kerri gave her play dough or not.  Sometimes she brings a bag home and will play with it for a good hour or so at a time.  My 4 year old doesn't like the way it smells,and complains A LOT about it.  So, when I went looking for a homemade receip to make our own, I saw a Kool Aid dyed one, and I knew Phoebe wouldn't complain about the smell, in fact, I was afraid she might eat it because it smells so good! I found the recipe here:

The Connection We Share

It is a little softer than store bought Play-Doh, but we we're able to use it in almost all of our little molds & accessories.  The color was really vibrant, I suppose you could use half a package of Kool Aid to make a pastel shade. But made enough for me to give 3 littles a pretty good size chunk to play with.

 

 

 

Play Dough Recipe

 

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup salt

1 cup water

1-1/2 tablespoons canola oil

1 package Kool-Aid 

Directions:

Mix other flour, salt, and Kool-Aid in a medium mixing bowl.  In a small sauce pan, bring water and vegetable oil to a boil.  Pour boiling water mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Stir.  Knead for a couple minutes until the color and texture is smooth.  It will be hot, be careful!

This girl LOVES play dough, and she was the best little helper!

Cheers!