Beach Bridal Shower Center Pieces

It has been a Long couple weeks. This past Sunday I threw a Beach themed Bridal shower for my sister and her girl friend. Everything came together wonderfully. So I thought I would give you a tutorial for the super simple centerpieces that I made.

Here's what you need

Play Sand
2 bags each Seashells & Sea glass (cheapest at Christmas tree shop 1.00 a bag)
Starfish and/or sand dollars (Christmas tree shop had packages of 6 got 1.99)
smooth glass mason jars (found at the craft store so they don't have anything written on the sides)

First I opened all of the jars and took all the labels out of the inside

next I filled them about 3/4 of the way full with sand. As I was dropping in the sea glass I tilted the jar so the sand was at an angle. I dropped a handful of sea glass and then filled them the rest of the way with shells.

For the outside of the jar I wrapped Twine around the top, no special measurement just until it looked good! Then tied on a starfish or a sand dollar.

That's it now you have a quick easy beach centerpiece!

Hair Bow Holder

So if you are anything like my daughter and I there are a million of those cute little ribbon bows cluttering up her room! between store bought Mommy made and Auntie Made she has quite the collection. So here is a cute way to get them off the dresser and more organized. I got the idea from my sister in law who made one similar for my daughters 1st birthday. I re-created it a little differently for a friend who is having a little girl in a couple months.

To start I went to A.C. Moore and bought one of those wooden words that says Princess. Mine came white and I left it that way because the baby to be has all white furniture in her nursery but if you wanted to paint it, now would be the time. Next I picked out two ribbons that matched the decor of the nursery in this case pink and brown; I used a wide brown with a narrower pink over it so that if she has too many like we do she can use both strands. you could really use any combination of ribbon or any number of strands. I chose to have four sets hanging down so that it looked even. the next part is where the difference between my daughters and the one i made. My sister in law used one long piece of ribbon folded in half and tied it onto the bottom of the word, I on the other hand used my handy dandy staple gun and stapled the ribbons to the back so they would lay flat. That it clip some cute little corker bows on there and you haveit, a very simple girls gift in way under an hour! Here are pics of my sister in laws and the one I just made.

Linking up here today check it out they have some other great ideas too!

Quick summer skirt tutorial

I have been away on vacation in the woods so couldn't post but i managed to get it up by the end of the week so I'm excited! this weeks tutorial is for a super easy summer skirt. the pictures aren't the greatest but they should get the job done.

to start choose 2 fabrics one for the main part of the skirt and one for the stripe on bottom.

Measure around your waist where you want the skirt to sit, I added 10 inches to that measurement and this is what I used for a width of my skirt. ( If I make another one I would add more so that it was a flowier skirt.)

Next decide how big of a stripe you want at the bottom, cut your stripe fabric the same width as your main fabric and as tall as you want it to be. *Make sure you add seam allowance and hem to your height measurement.

 Next sew your stripe onto the bottom of your main fabric, I used a zigzag stitch to make a cleaner seam and it is also has a little more give then a straight stitch which is good when making clothing. Once the two pieces are sewn together fold over the bottom and iron and then fold over again and iron. This will enclose the raw edge of the fabric to create your hem. Stitch along the edge to hold in place. Sew the side right sides together to create a big tube.

once I had the skirt piece all set I held it up to me where I wanted the bottom to land, I folded the top down where I wanted the waist to be.

I ironed this fold and then stitched about an inch from the fold with a straight stitch to make the gathered look above the waist band.

 Once this first seam was in I decided what size elastic I wanted to use. I used a 2 inch and simply wrapped it around my waist and then cut it an inch or two smaller to allow for it to stretch and stay on.

Finally I folded under the flap for the elastic to create a clean edge making a pocket big enough for the elastic. I straight stitched along the edge leaving an opening big enough to feed the elastic through.

I have a large clothes pin for cloth diapers with a teddy bear head on it I attach it to the elastic end and feed it through the pocket making sure to hold on to the other end so it doesn't feed in. Once both ends are through I sew the two ends together and close up the rest of the opening.

This project took me about an hour from start to finish and was actually made using left over fabric from a romper I made for Little Miss!

Happy Sewing

Im linking up at The Girl Creative