DIY Custom Tablecloth Tutorial

Think making a custom tablecloth is hard? It's not!  Let me show you how!

DIY Custom Tablecloth Tutorial

Materials needed:

• Table you wish to cover
• Tablecloth OR Fabric to cover (see TIPS)
• Marker
• 1/4in braided elastic
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Scissor

TIPS: 

• Make sure that the tablecloth/material is large enough to cover the table and extends at least 5 inches outward
• A table with legs that are not flush with the edges works best
• I used a cheap flannel-backed tablecloth that I bought on clearance, but any fabric would work, maybe something from the outdoor section at the fabric store
• I used 1/4 in braided elastic, but anything similar would work fine, thin elastic is the key

Let's get started! 

Step 1: Lay the tablecloth upside-down on the table you wish to cover.

Step 2: Trace the edge of the table on your tablecloth

Step 3: Using a sewing machine, sew the elastic approx. 5-6 inches from the line you traced.
This may change, depending on the depth of your table, but the idea is that you're creating a pocket for the table.
Be sure to stretch out the elastic as you sew.
Note: It'll be under the table, so it doesn't have to be perfect! 

Step 4. Cut of the excess tablecloth, about 1-2 inches from your sewn elastic.
Again, this will be under the table, so it doesn't have to be perfect. 

Step 5: Put on your table and enjoy! 

And there you have it!  An easy, fun way to dress-up your table for the holidays, birthdays, whatever your celebration might be!  And once you're done with it (or your kids have poked holes in it and spilled nail polish all over it), you can just toss it and start again. 

Happy sewing!

~Patricia~

Countdown to Christmas!

Christmas is coming,

 the goose is getting fat

Please to put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a haypenny will do

If you haven't got a haypenny, then God bless you!

Anyone else remember this song? I remember singing it in elementary school, for our school "winter" program. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, not only for the music, but for the fun of giving (and sometimes getting too!) gifts. This year I wanted to make an Advent Calendar for my girls to help them count down the days. My oldest is also helping me make the "pockets," and she is loving it! 

I bought some glittery green felt, folded it in half
and cut out a Christmas tree.
It's about 35"wide by 60" tall.

We decorated "pockets" for the days out of felt and hot-glued them on. Halfway done!

Add a little treat or message inside the pocket!

I wish I could say that this amazing tree Advent Calendar was my idea, or that I even found it on Pinterest, but alas, it was from Pottery Barn. :)  For some reason, they started sending me their catalogs, and I'm hooked!! It apparently was a very popular item because I can't find it online anymore, so I'm glad I ripped it out of the catalog when I did.  Sorta how we used to get ideas for things before the internet, huh? 

It's still a work in progress, stay tuned for the finished tree, Happy Holidays!

(Pizza) Roll it UP!

I'm going to make a confession here: I love pizza. 

Really, I LOVE pizza! It's just so yummy!

Recently, we've been buying whole wheat pizza dough at the grocery store and experimenting with making our own 'homemade' pizzas.


While looking for ideas, I came across this idea for making a pull-apart pizza. So cool!  Here's the basics:

Roll out the dough into the shape of a pie plate that has been lightly brushed with olive oil.
Add yummies! 

Roll it up and slice, then place rolls into the pie plate.
Magically, it all fits!

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Enjoy! 

I couldn't believe how easy it was, and how fast we gobbled it all up! I used jarred pizza sauce, ham and shredded mozzarella in mine, but you can add whatever cheese / toppings are your favorite. Roll it up!

Two Minute Upcycle

Recently I got together with some friends for a night out and a clothing swap. A cute blue and white striped top caught my eye, not for the shirt, but for the fabric.  I was able to turn it into a fun skirt:

Don't mind my modeling! 

This upcycle took two minutes to make, literally. I was lucky enough to find a shirt that had an elastic empire waist, so all I did was cut the top part off. It was super easy and now I have a fun, comfy skirt to wear! Wahoo!

Update: I recently remade this skirt, adding fresh elastic for the waistband and taking it in considerably on the sides for a more fitted, a-line look. And I still love it!

Mmmm... homemade cinnamon applesauce!

Mmmmm....this was so good!  I was in a fall mood and whipped up some homemade applesauce on the stove the other day. I used 3 different kinds of apples, (probably 8 or 9 total), cubed them up, simmer them in some water and added about 3/4 cup of sugar and some cinnamon that I ground up in our coffee grinder. I just let it simmer until it "looked right" (the apples were nice and soft and the water was almost all gone) and smell up the whole house, seriously yummy!

What did you make today?

Trofast Ikea Hack

Does anyone really have enough storage?

I always ask myself this when putting away the girls' clothes for the thousandth time.  Maybe they just have too many clothes (darn you, Target clearance!) or maybe I just don't have enough places to put everything, so it gets cluttered.  I decided that the next time I went to Ikea, I would get another Rast dresser and jazz it up to match the one that is already in the girls' room. Here's a photo, and even though I am really much better at sewing than painting, I just have to point out that the middle drawer was completed by my daughter, who was 4 at the time, lest you think that was my handiwork. 

What I made.

What I wanted to make.

Now imagine my sadness when I finally made it to Ikea (it's two hours away) and their Rast dressers were out of stock. Ack!  What am I going to do? Thankfully, thanks to Pinterest, I had seen several different ideas already on making a storage bench out of their Trofast line.  Here's the original link I liked, as well as this one and this one too. I'm pretty handy, but actually building something without directions is out of the question for me right now (I'm also having a baby in a few weeks!), so I decided to go with the Trofast bench in solid pine (it's pretty solid and somewhat heavy).  After assembly, I spray painted it white and then added in the buckets / tubs from Ikea.  

Here's a snapshot of how the completed bench turned out:

Looks pretty good!

Obviously, I was inspired by the links above and wanted to make a cushion for the the top.  It just so happened that a few weekends ago JoAnn's was having a sale on foam (60% off!, that's a deal in my book!).  So I dashed over and grabbed about a yard of some 2 in. foam.  I found this girly print in the clearance rack for $5/yard:

This awesome print was a steal at $5/yard!

I ended up doing my own pattern for the cushion cover, and made the cushion just a little bit smaller than the entire top of the bench. It fits really nicely, and I'm super happy with how it turned out. I sewed the whole thing on the sewing machine and even got the corners to look nice, now that's an accomplishment!  The total size of the cushion is 35.5 in by 15.5 in.  It's has an underside like a pillowcase, so I can remove it and wash it. The cushion only took me one day to finish, sewing a little bit here and there so my feet wouldn't swell up too much, and I love how easy Ikea's furniture is to put together. I used one can of primer + white gloss to cover the wood.  The girls love it as much as I do!  On to the next project...

More storage = one happy mama. 

Let's use up those broken crayons!

If you're even half as much addicted to Pinterest as I am, you've probably seen this activity before. Here's a link I used to start with: Here. I was curious to see if itactually worked. (Spoiler alert: It does!) Another friend wanted to do it, but didn't have the space in her home, so I got some more friends together, and we got to work! It was actually really easy, but I learned a few tips and tricks along the way.  Check out how cool these turned out below!

It took me two tries to get these beauties!

My daughter thought they needed a friend.

Basic Directions:
Start by gathering all your broken crayons or pick up some cheap wax crayons at the dollar store. It's very important that they are wax, because I tried to use some fancy art crayons that the kids had already broken and they didn't melt at all. Then I had to try and remove them from a hot muffin tin of melted wax. Not fun.Ouch.

We sprayed our muffin tins with the tiniest bit of non-stick cooking spray and then filled them up as much as we wanted with crayons of similar color in each muffin cup. Let your imagination go wild here, any color combo would probably work and would make for some fun crayons! You can also use any kind of muffin tin that you want, there are some cool-shaped ones that go on sale around the holidays, so be on the lookout for a good deal. I think these would make fun presents!

Pop the tin in the oven at 225 degrees and check them every few minutes.  We found that some of the colors seemed to sink to the bottom and a clear-ish wax was left on the very top.  I tried to remedy this on my second go-around by mixing each color with a toothpick before letting it cool.  When the crayons are all melted, you can let it cool on the counter and then put it in the freezer to cool completely. This will also make the crayons pop right out of the tin! I did break one crayon by just dumping the frozen ones out on the counter, so be aware of that.

And that's pretty much it! Enjoy!

A tip:
One of the websites talked about using tin foil to line the muffin cups, I definitely don't recommend this! Either go out and buy a cheapo one or pick one up at a thrift store. Lining the cups with tin foil just made them look yucky and crinkly (I like them better smooth) and some of the wax leaked anyways, so it was a lot of work for nothing. I ended up combining the crinkly crayons with some leftover crayons and making new ones that I like a lot better.

Taking all the tin foil off my crinkly crayons. 

I like the color, but that's about it. Messy!

Happy Crafting!