Prettify My Life

No Sew Christmas Tree Skirt

2012-01-10T00:11:00.004-07:00

Yup... I'm pretty sure it's been a month already from my last post... sorry :( but that doesn't mean that I haven't been a very busy chick! I've made several new items, it's just that I've had so many different ideas running through my head lately and so many ongoing projects all at once that the last thing I thought about doing was blogging. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm back.
Now this project is a little late, but really, it doesn't matter when you make a Christmas tree skirt now does it? And if I show you this now, you'll definitely have plenty of time to work on it for next year!

The best part about this tree skirt is that it is absolutely no sew! It's really so easy to make that there really is no excuse not to make your own! Afterall, it totally beats paying out the big bucks for one that you buy at the store!

So here's what you'll need:
Queen sized top bed sheet (I just used one of my old ones)
An old fleece blanket, or large piece of fleece
Hot glue
Rotary fabric cutter

First, cut out a circle in your fleece to the size that you would like your skirt to be. Now cut a small hole in the center for the tree trunk. Then cut a straight line from the center hole out to the end.

Next, cut your sheet into strips about 2" wide. If you really like a frayed look, you could try to rip your sheet into strips. I just cut mine and it still ended up fraying a little bit.

Now your ready to begin to make the skirt.
First, take your hot glue gun and squeeze out just a small line of glue on the outside edge of your skirt. Make it a nice solid line, not too thin, but also make sure it isn't in blobs.

Now lay a section of your fabric strip over the hot glue and begin scrunching the fabric together by pinching and sliding the fabric along the line of hot glue. CAUTION: This step can be very hot! Don't burn yourself!

Continue like this all the way around. When your ready to move up to the next layer, I recommend you layer over the previous layer about a 1/2" so your top edge isn't showing. It can be kinda tricky keeping the spacing of your layers even so keep a close eye on what you're doing and how it's looking as you go along.

And that is it! Seriously! No special skills needed here, just a little bit of time and patience!

Here's a nice closeup of the final product:

This would seriously be cute and fun if it was made with colored or patterned sheets as well! Just use whatever you like and/or have on hand. I just had my old cream colored sheets to work with since I didn't want to buy any at the store, but I definitely think it looks really classy!

Snowman Blockhead

2011-12-09T12:15:00.001-07:00

Recently I had the opportunity to get together with a couple of my old friends from high school to work on some craft projects. In doing so, I was introduced to a place that I know could become a very dangerous place for me. It's called The Wood Connection. If you really love wood crafts and you live in the Salt Lake area, I highly recommend this place! They sell precut, unfinished wood projects that are so cute and their prices are absolutely incredible! I had a hard time deciding which one I wanted to do because there are so many, but I fell in love with the snowman!

Isn't he just so adorable?! This snowman project came with a large block for his head, a small block for his brim, a carrot nose, and a leaf... I added the ribbon, the berries, the paper and the paint.
After I had painted and assembled all the pieces of the kit, I added some scrapbook paper to the front of the leaf with a little bit of mod podge. I also took some sandpaper to rough up the edges a little bit, to give the snowman a bit of an aged look, which I love (can't really see it in the pictures, however). I then added the ribbon and bow to finish off the look of his hat. But as I got looking at him, I felt like he needed a little more. So I found some little berries in my Christmas decor and just poked them down into the bow. Now, he's perfect! Here's a little closeup:

With cute and easy projects like this, The Wood Connection could definitely be the death of me... or at least my bank account!

My latest craft

2011-12-06T23:15:00.001-07:00

So I have literally seen these yarn wreaths all over the place on Pinterest. They are so cute and simple and can be made for nearly every holiday so it's no wonder why they are so popular! When I first saw one, I just knew that I'd have to make one. So here it is...

I love my wreath! I really feel like it adds the perfect finishing touch to outdoor facade of my house. Now I posted this mainly just to show off my spin on the Christmas yarn wreath. There are literally thousands of ways you could make your own, so I'll post just a very simplified tutorial for how I did mine.
Supplies needed: foam wreath ring, yarn, felt, hot glue gun, a couple of hours

1) Take your wreath ring and start wrapping your yarn. Since I used two different colors of yarn, I started by measuring out how wide each section would be, marking it on the ring with a pen. This ensures that the sections would be evenly sized and also that there will be an equal amount of the two different colors. My wreath was 42" round so I made 14 sections that were 3" each (7 red, 7 white) Make sure you're pulling your yarn taught as you go. To tie up loose ends, I just simply wrapped them up as I went.

Here's a good look at the felt flowers

2) Add felt flowers with a hot glue gun. To make your own flowers, simply cut out five petal shapes for each flower. With each petal, sew thread across the bottom in an up-down-up-down pattern. Then again to the next petal, continuing with the same thread until you have all five petals on the thread. Then simply pull the thread to scrunch up the petals together to make a flower. (I know, I know, these instructions aren't the best. I really should have taken pictures of the process, but I wasn't originally planning on blogging instructions for the wreath so I didn't...sorry. You can, however, find helpful video tutorials on this very easily)

3) Hang your wreath using a ribbon
Once again, sorry this isn't a great tutorial, but this project is really easy anyways, just give it a try and you'll be able to figure it out. I hope I may have at least given you an idea. In the future I'll be sure to take more photos :)

Cute Christmas Decor!

2011-12-03T22:02:00.001-07:00

These past few days I have been working on some cute Christmas signs and I am so excited to be finished so that I can finally share them... I am so proud! Now normally I'm not great at coming up with my own ideas. I'm good at copying ideas that I've seen and tweeking them to make them a little more personal, but nothing original. This time, however, the idea was completely my own- you may have seen something similar, but I haven't so I feel I can actually claim true personal creative credit for this one! So here they are, my own fabulous additions to my Christmas decor! Love them!

Although I am so proud of my originality, I love to share my ideas and I'd love to be the inspiration for someone else's creativity instead of it always being vice-versa. So I'll share with you just how I made them in hopes that someone else out there will love them enough to make them their own as well. This project really only takes a few hours and can be broken down into less than 10 steps (or fewer if you do things a little differently- I chose the longer and harder process just because of what I had, and didn't have, at the time I started).

Supplies needed: canvas, paint and paintbrush/or vinyl letters, ribbon, glitter spray, glue

Step 1:Paint your entire canvas white. I did this just because there was some imperfections on my canvas and I also wanted it a little whiter, so you could skip this step if you're happy with the appearance of your canvas.
Step 2: Hop on the computer and find a font that you like. Now create your words using the Word Art function on Microsoft Word. Print it.
Step 3: Cut out your words, letter by letter- a long and tedious task!

You could completely skip these last two steps by getting some wood letter from the craft store. Highly recommended if you are short on patience or time! Then you could also skip to step 5.
And if you have access to making your own vinyl letters you can actually skip straight to step 6.

Step 4: Lightly trace your letters onto the canvas with a pencil.
Step 5: Paint your letters. This is where some painting skills can come in handy. I have none, however, so if I could do it, you could do! Also I recommend using a paintbrush with a nice straight edge!

If you bought wood letters, painting them is a lot easier because you don't have to be exact and within the lines. Let your letters dry, then adhere them to the canvas.

Step 6 (optional): Spray your entire canvas with some glitter spray. This step is totally optional, but I love the little bit of shimmer it adds. I used a white glitter called Diamond Dust from Michaels Craft Store.
Step 7: Add some ribbon. I cut my ribbon about an inch longer than the canvas so I could glue the ends of the ribbon to the back. Be sure to pull the ribbon taught after you glue one end before gluing the next.
Step 8: Add a bow or any other sort of item you please. I chose a bow just because I thought they looked a little like presents, but also a Christmas flower, bells or pinecones could look cute!

I made my own bow like this:

lay your ribbon down in a zig-zag pattern like this

pinch the center of the ribbons together. don't worry if it doesn't look great at first, you can always adjust it.
secure with some thread tied around the center.
cover the thread with a small section of ribbon and hot glue to the back.

Step 9: Attach the bow wherever you please.
Step 10: Repeat for as many signs as you would like!

Now I just have these signs leaning up against the wall, but I think it would be really cute to hang them by a ribbon. I may decide to do that later, but for now, I'm on to my next craft project...Christmas is only a few weeks away...eek!

Lil' P's Birthday Party!

2011-11-27T21:06:00.001-07:00

Just a couple of weeks ago, my little munchkin turned one! Holy cow... time flies so fast! Now, anyone who knows me knows that I love birthdays, so of course I had to go all out for this one!

   First and foremost, I knew that I had to make her a special little outfit for her special day. Without a doubt, making a tutu was the first thing on my mind (little baby tutus are sooo adorable!!!). I just used some leftover purple tulle from my halloween wreath and bought a spool (yes a spool! not a yard..haha- wasn't going to repeat my wreath mistake) and tied it around an elastic which I had fit to her waist. So simple and so freaking cute!
   Next was the shirt. I took just a simple white onesie and sewed some layered felt flowers onto it. Once again super simple and cute.
   To finish off the outfit, she just had to have a bow... she just wouldn't be quite the same lil' P without her bow! I had a couple of failed attempts before I was able to make this one. It's what's called a "boutique bow", I think, made from two different ribbons. The bottom layer is a plain purple ribbon, and the top layer is a pink sparkly ribbon. I really think it topped off her birthday ensemble quite well and everyone was just absolutely in love with her total outfit. I'll have to admit... I am quite proud of it myself!

But, of course I couldn't just stop there... afterall this whole birthday thing has got me feeling crafty! So I also made so hanging string pendants, a sparkly P door hanger, and a year of memories banner (didn't get a picture of that :( I blame my husband!). All together with some balloons and streamers, I think I was able to create quite a cute party setup! Not bad for my first little one's first birthday party!

Now it just wouldn't be a birthday party without a cake right?! I got the idea for her cake months and months ago and was so excited to make it! Her cake was a big giant cupcake! Ya, you see that big cupcake set up among all those little cupcakes (closeup picture at the top of the blog), that was all hers! I even made my own frosting and it was so amazing! Get the recipe here.

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end. I looked forward to her birthday for so long and worked on so many things to make it perfect, that I was kinda sad when it was all over, but at least I know I'll have plenty of more birthdays to come! It was all so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year!

My beautiful cupcake all destroyed!!! But I wouldn't
have it any other way!

Glitter Ornaments!

2011-11-26T09:40:00.001-07:00

Okay now that Halloween and Thanksgiving are over, I can finally get into the Christmas mood. I guess I'm a little late to start thinking about Christmas since it's literally been all over the place since mid-October, but I really just can't get myself to do it before now (please people! one holiday at a time!). So to kick things off my sister and I made these super cute glitter ornaments. Glitter, of course, is a staple in Christmas decorations and is so much fun, but it can leave your house looking like a disco ball exploded all over your living room! So what's so great about these glitter ornaments is that all the glitter is inside so there is no mess! (well there is still a little bit of glitter explosion when you're making them, but not bad really). They are also super easy to make and would be a great family activity that even the little ones can get in on. I'm sure I'll be making more of these next year with my little girl!

-So to start off, get yourself some clear ornaments. They can easily be found in any craft store around this time of year. Now pop the top off all of them.

Ha! There's my sister with the ornament that she dropped literally
2 seconds after I took this photo!

-Take your glitter adhesive and squirt just a little bit into the ornament. I used Glitter It by Beacon Adhesives (also found at the craft store), but I've also heard that you could use floor wax. Now swirl it around to coat the entire inside of the ornament. Add more if needed. Avoid shaking it or else it can become frothy. Pour out the excess.

-Next, immediately pour glitter into the ornament. I recommend using fine glitter because I think it looks best and covers the ornament more evenly, but play around to see what look you like best. To avoid a glitter explosion it's best to use a funnel of some sort.

-After you pour the in the glitter, swirl and shake the glitter around to coat the inside. Do this fairly quickly so the glue doesn't dry out on you.

-Shake out any excess glitter and allow to dry for about 20 minutes or so. Pop the tops back in the ornaments and Voila, you have super cute ornaments!

Notice the missing one...ya, that's the one my sister dropped! Haha :)

Can wait to get these up on my tree!

Check out my cute Halloween Tulle Wreath!

2011-10-22T00:14:00.002-06:00

This is my second project of my creative Halloween kick, and don't you just love it... I sure do! I've seen tulle wreaths as I've scoured around the internet before and I've always thought they were so cute. Recently I saw a wreath that was all black with some orange flowers and a black bird. I thought the idea was really great and just perfect for Halloween, but I also wanted to take my own spin on the wreath. I love the color purple and since purple can be kinda 'witchy' I added it to the typical Halloween palette of black and orange to spice it up and give it some color. I also made my wreath a little 'fluffier' than some of the ones I've seen. I am so pleased with how it turned out and once again, it was pretty cheap! I'm pretty sure I'll be making one for Christmas soon as well!

So if you think you might like to make one as well, here is what I did:
-I bought some tulle just at the fabric store. Sadly I did it the hard way and bought it by the yard being totally oblivious to the fact that I could buy it by the spool! Still works ok, just takes A LOT longer!
So if you're silly like me, or maybe if it's cheaper to buy by the yard and you have the time, you'll need roughly 4 yards of tulle (I bought my tulle for $1.49/yard at Joann's)

I used 2 yards of black, and 1 yard each of purple and orange. If you buy by the spool, I think you'll need about 50-55 yards
I cut the tulle into 10"x6" strips (this is where tulle by the spool comes in handy)
I cut roughly 84 strips of black, 48 strips of orange, and 54 strips of purple (don't quote me, my math may be wrong)

-To make the wreath a little fluffier, I bought a wire wreath ring instead of the foam wreath ring which I've seen so many wreaths use, and did a double layer.

-I tied each strip using a slipknot and pulled the ends of the strips through the front to fluffify. Of course you can pattern the colors any way you like, but this is the pattern I used:

for the outer ring: p, b, b, o, b, p, b, o, p, p, o, b, p, b, o, b, b, repeat
for the inner ring: p, b, o, b, p, b, o, p, o, b, p, b, o, b, repeat (p=purple, b=black, o=orange)

-I continued tying all the strips until I covered the entire ring. You may use more or less strips depending on how loose or tight you want your knots together. I'd say mine were fairly tight.

To finish the wreath up I tied a cute orange bow on the front just to class it up a little, but with it being Halloween you could really get away with anything, just make it as cute, whimsical, or ghoully as you like!

Halloween fun!

2011-10-21T21:40:00.000-06:00

Yay! It's Halloween time! I absolutely love this time of year. Even though I'm all grown up now and supposedly too old to trick-or-treat (boo!), Halloween has continued to be one of my favorite holidays. I love it because of all the fun ways to decorate, from ghoulish and ghastly to fun and whimsy, and also because I love to dress up and see all the little kiddos in their costumes. This year will be especially fun for me 'cause I now have a kiddo of my own that I get to dress up for her first Halloween! She even has two costumes: a duck and a bumblebee... I just couldn't resist!

So for the past four years or so I've tried to increase my collection of Halloween decor so that I can one day have an awesome decked-out Halloween house. I could spend hours in the Halloween aisle just looking at all the fun things, but I usually only end up with a few new items due to our budget (that's it... next year I'm making a Halloween fund!!). This year, however, our budget was especially tight so instead I thought I'd try my hand at creating some things of my own using inexpensive materials and stuff that I already owned. I searched around for inspiration and found a couple of fun things to make and I'm really excited and proud of the cute new additions to my Halloween collection this year.

So these guys here were my first project. I got the inspiration for this idea while scanning through Pinterest (my new favorite website!) When I first saw them I immediately fell in love and wanted to make them for my own (here's the link to the original). They were super easy to make and at least for me, nearly free!

So here's what I did:

-I took an old 1x4 baseboard that we just had lying around in the garage and cut it up into 4 pieces (not sure of the sizes, just whatever looked good). The original used 2x4's.

-Then I grabbed some cheap craft paint at Joann's (I think I spent a total of $1.50). Sure, the paint was cheap and it took a couple of coats, but for the price I wasn't complaining! I handpainted each of the characters.

-For the mummy, I only painted a small black strip and yellow eyes and just covered the rest with some tan scraps of fabric. To create the distressed look I simply ripped the fabric into strips instead of cutting it. Then I hot-glued the strips to the back using just a dab of glue on each end.

-For the base, I used a 2x4 that I again just had lying around, and painted it black. I then used some small wood letters that I found at Michaels ($3.00 for a package of letters) to spell out trick-or-treat. I painted those orange and then glued them onto the front.

-To assemble the whole thing together I drilled some screws up from the bottom of the base into the characters. You may be able to just use some glue, but I wanted to make sure they were really secure.

-Viola! My super cute Halloween sign that now sits proudly on my front porch. So easy to make, and because of some random stuff I just had lying around, it only cost me $4.50!

I've never really been a super crafty person, but I enjoyed doing these things so much that it has kinda jumpstarted me into some creative kick. Now I'm planning on doing crafts more often, hence my new blog. I also thought of how much fun it would be to do a new craft for each holiday, especially now that I have a little one, it seems like such a great mother-daughter thing to do. So here's to hoping that this is just the first of many things to come!

-p.s. I don't have pictures of the creative process 'cause I decided to blog about them after I had already made them. Next time I'll be sure to post photos with the instructions!