DIY Ruffle Christmas Tree Skirt

I have seen several pictures of ruffled Christmas tree skirts and here are some of the great examples I was keen on below:

This awesome one from Puttin' On the G.R.I.T.S. She even has a link to her Etsy store where she has some for sale.

                                    

So I decided to try to make one of my own but I am attempting to make mine machine washable, so there is no hot glue and all the ruffles are seamed!

Materials:
5 yards washable quilting cotton fabric, I chose a slate grey
a 5x5 canvas tarp from Home Depot

Making the canvas skirt form:

1.  Fold the canvas into an even square then fold again.  Make a curved line using a pencil on a string to use for your cutting mark.  Also mark a curved line where the opening for the tree trunk will go.

2.  Cut the canvas with a good pair of scissors.  Also cut a straight line back side, that will later get tied together with ribbons which will be sewn on.

3.  Unfold the canvas and now comes a time consuming step.  Peeling the plastic backing off so that you can throw it in the wash.  It took my husband and I about 20 minutes to remove all of it.

Making the Ruffles:

1.  Cut 3 inch strips from folded fabric.  I folded the fabric over to a workable length and then started marking off 3 in sections, pinning the entire bulk and cutting across.  These don't have to be perfect because they will be hemmed later but just to keep wasting the fabric to a minimum, it worked out nicely.

2.  Make a 1/4 inch hem on one side of each strip and iron, (don't use starch because you need to be able to move it around to make the ruffles).

3.  Pin the strips in overlapping ruffles one layer at a time, starting from the outer part of the skirt and sew into place.  Make sure to fold over the opening edge in the back to hide the canvas.

4.  Repeat step 3 until the entire skirt is covered.

5.  Optional: Find some washable ribbon and sew or button to the under side of the skirt in the back.  Make sure these line up nicely, even though no one may see it.

Done!  Only took a few hours over several days and for about $40 I have a great, washable tree skirt!

You can try to variation where you use hot glue to put the ruffles in place, you can skip removing the plastic from the back, but remember, if you do these things, you should not put it in the washing machine!  With three dogs and a major party planned, I prefer to be able to wash it, but if you are short on time there are some tricks to make the process go faster.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake Cones

Hi Folks,

I just wanted to share this really easy party desert recipe with you.  Everything is vegan but surely you can substitute in dairy products if you want.

Chocolate Cupcake Batter (also available here):

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Combine wet ingredients into a bowl and whisk well.  Combine dry ingredients, sift well, and slowly whisk into wet ingredients.    Fill ice cream cones (with flat bottoms) up to the last line before the top with batter.  Arrange in a baking pan so that they all stand up and will not shift (packed snugly but not so tight you can't move the cones around).  Place in oven and back for 35-40 minutes.  Remove and cool.

Peanut Butter Icing (recipe also found here):

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegan margarine or vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp soy milk

Blend peanut butter and margarine/shortening with beaters.  Slowly add in vanilla.  Add in powdered sugar 1/4-1/2 cup at a time, blending well and work out any clumps.  Add soy milk as necessary to achieve desired consistency.    Once the icing is well blended, you can take a big gallon ziploc bag, cut a small hole in one corner.  Scoop icing into the bag and work down towards the cut corner.  Twist bag as you apply the icing and you have a DIY disposable pastry bag!

I garnished mine with sprinkles and put them on a clear cake stand for our party this past weekend.  The nice thing about this recipe is that aside from the icing, the cake is not overly sweet so it turns out to be a great combination!

Mirror Reflectors for Christmas Tree

Hi Folks,

Rather than pile on 3-4 sets of white string lights on the tree this year and potentially creating a massive fire hazard, I decided that one or two sets would do if I could come up with some mirror reflectors to brighten up the tree.   I have seen lots of posts on other blogs about creating reflectors using mirror mosaic pieces and I had some extra ribbon from the ornament project, so I thought I would give it a try.   

Cut 2 inch strips of ribbon and flip all of the mosaic pieces over so the mirror is face down on the table.   Plug in your hot glue gun and start sorting out the materials out in front of your to create a little assembly line.   Put a little glue on the back of one mosaic piece and attach the ends of the ribbon to it first.

Then press the matching mosaic piece so the backs are facing and press firmly.  Don't press to hard, the pieces are glass, so you don't want your fingers to slip and end up cutting or scratching yourself. 

Repeat this process until you've used up all the ribbon or all the mosaic pieces.

Making the reflectors was the easy, just as I thought.  The real test will be if they reflect enough light to make a difference on the Christmas tree. 

Here is the picture before the reflectors with just the lights.

Here is the picture with the reflectors.  It definitely made some of the lights appear brighter. 

It certainly doesn't replace an additional set of lights but I still think it was worthwhile!

Hanging Door Monogram

Rather than put a wreath up at our side door this year, I wanted to try a monogram piece.  Luckily this piece was beyond easy to put together. 

All you need it a wooden monogram letter (I got this one from Michaels), some pearl beads, glue gun, and about 2 ft of ribbon.  

Since our party is this coming weekend, I wanted to finish it quickly, so I didn't take any pictures of actually gluing the beads onto the letter.  I ended up putting a set of beads around the perimeter of the letter and then filling it in.  At Michaels they have these small tubs of various sized beads and I used the medium and small beads to fill in the space as efficiently as possible. 

Once I let it set and cool for about 30 minutes.  I looped some grey ribbon over the top of the monogram and presto: one hanging door monogram!

Hope you enjoy this post and try it out at home!

Silver Ornament Trees

Hi Folks,

Just a quick tutorial on how to change the metallic finish of an ornament tree.  I an not really a big fan of gold or brass, except in limited quantities.  However; when I saw these ornament trees from Pier1, I had to buy two of them.  They will go on each side of the buffet in our dining room where we usually set up all the food for our holiday party. 

Unfortunately they are this brassy-gold color and my preference is sort of a chrome/pewter/silver palate.  So why not spray paint?  The first thing you have to do is clean down the tree and make sure you remove any dust or grime.  Mine were set up once last year before being stored away in the closet, so a decent dusting did the trick.  Then you need to set up a safe space (on a tarp, in a well ventilated area) and prime it with the same Rustoleum metal primer in a black finish.    The primer actually dries into a nice black matte finish so don't be put off by the pictures of the primer below, it was still wet when I snapped these pictures.

 

Let this dry for a few hours and then you are ready to spray with Rustoleum Metallic Spray Paint in Pewter.  Note: I needed two cans of the metallic spray to properly cover both trees with one coat.  You should only need one coat and just be sure to spray in short bursts so you don't waste paint and it doesn't end up dripping down the branches. 

Let this dry for one to two days and then spray with a clear coat.  Let this dry for several days and you're all set to bring it in and set it up!

I used some of the clear chandelier pieces placed on ribbons to hang on the trees.  I'll update this post with a picture of both trees out together for our party later this month!  Hope you enjoyed this post!

Chandelier Piece Ornaments

Once of the perks of living in the south is access to antique stores!  There is a great set of stores about an our from our house and they usually have some great Christmas odds and ends, but what I always check out every time I go, is the lighting section.  They have a plethora of orphan chandelier pieces that I was determined to collect and turn into ornaments.  Here are the pieces I came home with on my last trip there and how easy it was to string them on some satin ribbon and create a whole set of nice sparkling ornaments.

For the crystal chains, I just took a pair of jewelry pliers unwound and cut every other ring to give each pieces a hook to string the ribbon through.

I washed the pieces in a mixture of warm water and mild dish soap.  Rinse and dry them thoroughly and then cut out a 4-6 in satin ribbon section for each piece.  To keep the ribbon from getting damaged or snagged every year on the real tree, I plan on putting the ribbons on hooks, rather than on the branches themselves.   I tied the bows on the flat sections of the wires, rather than the remaining loops so I can use extra hooks to actually hang them from the tree!

I'll post an updated picture with the other ornaments actually on our Christmas tree!

Crispy Tofu Nuggets

Hi Folks,

Here is my recipe for tofu nuggets.  Just a warning these are not supposed to be healthy in any way really, they're just a nice cheat meal!

Ingredients:
One container extra firm tofu, drained and cubed (can press before you cube but for this recipe it's actually better to have it a bit more moist
One cup bisquick or flour
One cup corn starch
Rosemary
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
Canola Oil

First heat up about 1/2 inch of oil over medium heat.
Combine dry ingredients and season to suit your taste.
Toss about half of the cubes in the dry batter and as you toss them, press the batter around them with your hands, this will ensure the corn starch sticks well.

Please cubes in hot oil and fry until golden brown on the bottom then turn and repeat.

Drain cubes on a plate covered in paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

Plate up and serve!

This is great with any kind of mustard or barbecue sauce! This could also be a nice item for parties and entertaining, just add toothpicks.  Enjoy!

DIY Draft Stoppers

So with the cold weather already settling in here, I have decided to weather-proof our house a little earlier this year.  Last year we were blind sided by the ridiculous cost of our oil heating and so I have gone to some lengths to cut down on heating/energy losses.  Besides shrink wrapping all the windows in the house, several of our doors are bit draft.  Below are how I turned two kink pillow protectors, ticking fabric, and lots of rice into draft stoppers.

Decide how tall and wide you would like to make the stoppers.  I chose 4 inches by 36 inches for mine.  I bough two king pillow case protectors to keep the filler from getting wet or moldy. 

 First thing to do is cut the zipper out of the pillow cover, this will cut down the size by about one inch total after you sew up the filler, so just keep that in mind.  I measure about 4 inches in height and then cut about 1/4 inch away from this line. 

Next sew along the line you trace, I went over the line once and then outside the line once to make a nice  strong seam.  If you cut it along either the top or bottom edge, one of the ends will already be sewn up from the original pillow seams.

This next part ended up being a two person job.  I had several old bags of rice hanging around and figured they would be decent filler.  I rolled the cover inside out and held it open as my husband kindly helped pour it in.  I left 2-3 inches at the top unfilled so that I wouldn't have any trouble sewing it up.  Since this is only the waterproof cover it's ok to just sew it closed without folding it in.

I went over this seam twice as well, just like along the length of the cover.

I chose some ticking fabric to keep it simple and make sure everything lined up well.  I marked where 8 inches would reach after leaving 1/4 inch at the bottom edge (where my hand it).  Cut 1/4 inch away from this line further out.  The stripes on the fabric make this extraordinarily simple.  

Fold with back of fabric facing out and line up your start and end marks.  Pin and sew down the line.  I went over the line twice to make the seam sturdy. 

Don't forget to sew up one of the edges.  Here is what it looks like filled with the piece already filled with rice.  By the way getting the washable cover over the already filled bag, I found this was also a two person job to make it fit in the ticking cover more efficiently.

Now for the unsightly unfinished edge.  You can hem the edged and make the markings for your snaps.  

Sew the snaps onto the outside of the cover but do not sew the sides together.  Using the ticking stripes to help you match up their placement.

Once that is done, fold the fabric in so the snaps match up and click them together.

And that's it, you're done!  By far the most time consuming step was sewing the snaps in.  I'll post an update of an easier way to fasten the ends but still allow the fabric to be removed and washed as necessary!