DIY Ruffled Tree Skirt

Happy Birthday Blog!

I've basically been blogging for one year now. In that year:

• I have 1 follower (thanks to my sister-in-law, Carrie)
• I've done 125 bog posts
• I've had 59 comments
• I have almost 14,000 page views.

I think that's pretty good considering I have a busy house with a 3 year old, 1 year old and a part-time 8 year old and I work about 60 hours a week including my commute. I have tried to make a commitment to blog at least once a week. Some weeks, I've made more; some weeks I've made less. Nevertheless, I have had a great time challenging myself to create new recipes and craft projects to better my family and my home. It's been great having all my recipes stored on my computer, especially my most-used recipes like my buttercream frosting and my chicken tortilla soup.  And, I'm most proud of my favorite creations: owl applique quilt, dinosaur hoodie, beer koozie  and my diaper bag.  

It's been a pretty good year and I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for me. It's very surreal that I've shared my crazy life and love for cooking, baking and everything crafty with so many people. 

Now...onto my current project. This actually took me a lot longer than I had thought it would. Finishing all the edges, ruffling and sewing it all together took about 2 weekends to complete. I love how it turned out and I plan to make matching Christmas stockings this week. Stay tuned...

For this project, I finished the edges of all my ruffles with my new rolled hem foot. This foot was really hard to figure out, but once I did-it's the best sewing accessory I've ever purchased. It makes finishing edges a breeze and cuts out a lot of time. The directions were confusing, but I watched a few YouTube videos and after about an hour of practice, I was a pro. One piece of advice if you buy this, you may have to adjust your stitch width so that your needle actually sews the hem. this wasn't in any of the instructions and took a while for me to figure out. This was the perfect tool to use with this project as there were a lot of edges to finish. 

Easter Wreath DIY

In an effort to keep my front door decorated throughout the year, I made this fun Easter Wreath. Michaels and Hobby Lobby both had their Easter decor for 40% off this week, but I didn't love anything they had. So I took elements from a few wreaths and made it my own. This wreath cost about $13 to make. I could have bought one a little cheaper with the discount, but then I wouldn't have had the fun of making it. :)

FYI- I used the metal wreath frame and affixed card board to it because I wanted the strength of the frame and the surface to glue on from the cardboard. You can just figure out what works best for you. I purchased the biggest frame I could get- it had about a 12 inch diameter inside the wreath.

Valentine Brownies

These heart shaped brownies are a quick and easy gift to do for Valentines Day.  You just need a brownie mix and a tub of frosting, but it looks like something you slaved away on. I won't tell if you won't!

Auntie Jeannie's Famous Butter Cookies

My Auntie Jeannie is amazing.  Growing up, my siblings and I would get excited to go to holiday dinners because we knew that Auntie Jeannie's cookies would be there. She made the most beautiful cookies that tasted as good as they looked. Each one is a little work of art that I knew took forever for her to create. Three years ago, she invited my sisters, mom and I over to learn how to make them. Mine are not even close to the caliber of Auntie Jeannie's but I keep in mind that it takes years of practice to achieve her level of perfection and my kiddos are glad to be the guinea pigs!

Don't be tempted to skip the butter cookie recipe and use refrigerated dough.  It might still be pretty, but DOES NOT taste the same. This recipe is the perfect combination with the sweet royal frosting. I always double the recipe because these cookies are so labor intensive that I want to give them to as many people as possible each time I make them.

Vanilla Pudding Filled Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Evelyn's birthday party was Saturday and I made these cupcakes for the party. I wasn't planning on posting them, however my husband hasn't stopped talking about them since he had the first one. He thinks the second anyone makes these and tastes one, I'll be famous for sharing the recipe... I'm a little more down to earth. These were very easy to make and were very tasty. I really love this frosting recipe, I would be happy just eating that and leaving the cupcake!

Christmas Tree Onesie

I made this onesie for Evelyn for Christmas Eve to go with the ruffle bloomers. This was a little more time consuming than the bloomers because I had to cut each ribbon at a different length and position them perfectly. Because of this, I needed to do each row separately, sew it on and remeasure the next ruffle. When cutting the ribbon, cut the ends on a diagonal to help shape the tree and burn the edges to stop fraying.

Ruffle Butt Bloomers

I made these bloomers for Evelyn to go with her Christmas outfit. They were very easy to make and I think they turned out fabulous. Now, I'm need to try to figure out how to incorporate them into her first birthday outfit that's coming up in a few weeks.

To start, I purchased a pair of plain bloomers from hobby lobby. You can find them near the plain onesies and t-shirts.  To make the ruffles, I purchased 4 types of ribbon at varying widths and styles. I had the tulle on-hand from making Elsie's Santa dress.

Santa Tutu Dress Tutorial

I love tulle! Elsie has had something made from tulle for every Christmas and birthday of her little two year old life. My only issue is how it bunches up. I'm going to experiment with spray starch on my next one to see if that helps.

This dress was made from 2 1/2 25 yard spools of tulle, a small white crocheted headband, small feather boa, black satin ribbon- 1" and a rhinestone buckle.

Christmas Card Holder

I'm in love with finding cheap old frames a thrift stores and turning them into something pretty. I currently have 3 at various locations in my house and I'm on the hunt for more to make an art gallery for Elsie's creations on my kitchen wall. This was a $3.99 framed needle point that I covered with fabric and painted to create a fun Christmas card holder. I just hot glued and stapled ribbons across the front and attached painted clothes pins to hold the non-folded cards. Unfortunately, it didn't go up on my wall until December 23rd, but it looked cute for a few days!

Picture Frame Christmas Wreath

I love the look of picture frame wreaths. I love the price even more- $6.50! I purchased the frame and the red beads at a thrift store in town, the ornaments came from the Dollar Spot at Target (greatest finds in there!) and the G was from Hobby Lobby. A little paint, glue and ribbon from my craft supplies and I gorgeous wreath that I'm ecstatic about hanging on my door!

Here is how I did it...