Apron Made From a Bed Skirt - Tutorial

I have wanted to make this apron for a while now. It has taken the Ucreate "create with me" challenge for February to motivate this project into action. Thank you Ucreate!

A friend told me about an awesome deal at a local discount store. They had eyelet bed skirts on for $5.00. At the time, we were making pioneer clothes for a pioneer trek, so I thought I would check out this good deal. When I got to the cashier, the bed skirt ran up at 50 cents. I had to go buy the rest of them. I have been thinking of projects to make with my eight bed skirts and one of those projects was going to be an apron. I have another outdated bed skirt that would also make a good apron too. Maybe another day.

I went to the blog that had the apron tutorial that was issued in the February UCreate challenge to get the inspiration on how to make an apron. Check out that tutorial BY CLICKING HERE!

Keeping that tutorial in mind, I set off to do my own apron made from a bed skirt. Here is how I did it:

The measurements are for a medium sized apron (size 5/6). Adjust measurements accordingly.

Make the bottom half of the apron:
1. Measure and cut a 20" wide piece from the bed skirt ruffle. Cut at the top of ruffle, just above the gathered seam. Cut a second 20" wide piece from the bed skirt, cutting 6 inches above the gathered seam.
2. Iron ruffle. Press in sides to finish seams. Top stitch.

3. Place short ruffle on top of the ruffle with 6" top. Pin 4 inches above the other ruffle. Sew.
You could stop here for short apron. Add a ribbon for a tie.

Make the top:
1. Cut out a piece of the bed skirt ruffle for the top. I cut just underneath the gathered seam and ironed it flat. I fancied up the top with lace. I finished all the edges. The finished measurement of the top of my apron was:
BODICE LENGTH - 10 inches
WIDTH AT TOP -  11"
WIDTH AT BOTTOM - 15"
Adjust the measurements to fit you. I kept holding up the pieces to me to make sure they would fit. I started bigger than these measurements and adjusted accordingly.

Join the top to the bottom.
1) On the front of the bottom ruffle, I folded the unfinished fabric a 1/2 inch and pressed it. I turned the top and bottom around (back facing you) and pinned the top on to the bottom  making sure the top was centered as it is a little more narrow than the bottom piece. Sew.
2) Flip the apron over to the front. Sew on your tie. I purchased ribbon for my tie. You need to make sure the ribbon is wide enough to cover the middle of the apron as there will be unfinished seams you will need to hide with the tie. The ribbon for the tie for my apron was 1 inch ribbon. This is the minimum you can use. A little wider would give you a little wriggle room. I used 72 inches of ribbon and finished the ends by folding them over and sewing the ends secure.

Finish up:
1) I cut two 20 inch pieces from my ribbon. I finished an end on each one.
2) I hand sewed the unfinished ends to each side of the top.

From a bed skirt to a pretty apron... why don't you give it a try?

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Ranger Cookies

Last year I was on a quest to find new cookie recipes to save our family from the same old cookies I made consistently. Don't get me wrong - I love my GINGERBREAD COOKIES, and the cookies I call BEAR POOP, and good ol' chocolate chip cookies - but I was in a cookie gutter and needed a new recipe lift. I got a cookie book from the library and scored some pretty good recipes. This recipe is one of them. I have taken these cookies to pot lucks and to friends and they always get compliments because they are delicious. FYI -  There is a fine line between cooked and overcooked with these. I take them out of the oven at the 8 minute mark even if they don't look thoroughly cooked. Once they have cooled and you take them off the cookie sheet, you will see they are golden brown on the bottom and crispy on the outside and moist in the middle. Every oven is different though, so you will have to experiment. The recipe gives the option of crisp rice cereal or rolled oats. I have not tried it with the crisp rice cereal - I am a rolled outs kind of girl. For the dried fruit, I always double the recipe so I put in 1 cup of craisins and 1/2 a cup cut up apricots and 1/2 a cup cut up prunes. The prunes might sound weird - but I bought a huge bag that no one in my house wants to eat, so ssshhhhh - I am getting rid of them by putting them in these cookies. To my surprise - the prunes taste pretty darn good. So the craisin, apricot and prune combination is good BUT just a suggestion - use up what you have. Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 egg   1 teaspoon vanilla 

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups crisp rice cereal or 1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup mixed dried fruit chopped (craisins, apricots and prunes, etc.)

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda; beat until combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Stir in cereal or oats, coconut, dried fruit.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven about 8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack; cool.

Here is the recipe card...

One Tough Cookie - Get Well/Encouragement Gift

Okay, I get so giddy every time I look at this picture because I think it is so darn cute! I know a lot of people right now who are going through a variety of challenges. I plan on making many more of these - this was my prototype. I made this post card and tied it on to a styrofoam container that I filled with cookies.
Instructions:
 I used kraft paper for the post card and cookie. I printed out the saying on white cardstock. I punched two small circles with my Spellbinders die cuts. I cut out the cookie with my 2" Marvy punch and then free style cut a bite out of the cookie. You could use a scallop punch to cut out the bite. I inked with brown around the cookie, pasted on the eyes, drew in brown circles for the eyes and chocolate chips, and drew on a mouth. I pasted the cookie on the white card stock and drew in the arms and legs. I cut a couple small strips of black cardstock and pasted them above the eyes to give the cookie a tough look. My next cookie I am going to draw in some crumbs at the feet. I pasted the white card stock on to the kraft paper leaving some room to punch a couple holes to feed a ribbon through. I wrote a little message on the postcard before tying it on the container. I also added a recipe for the cookies that were inside.
These are the cookies I made...

This is a recipe I found on the Seven Sisters blog. This is one of the fifteen blogs I gave an award to (click here to see awards) . These cookies are called Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies - and boy are they good. I am always on the hunt for a new delicious cookie recipe that has some healthy ingredients in them. I cut the icing drizzle in half and it was plenty. I used sultana raisins instead of golden - only because I didn't have golden on hand - and it tastes good.
Click HERE to go to the recipe on the Seven Sisters blog.

How many people do you know who could use a "tough cookie" gift package?
Thanks for looking!

I have linked up

HERE

and here:

Compliments are Verbal Sunshine

Compliments are verbal sunshine - and I have got to say when I was sent these awards - the sun was shining!
Thank you to the Honey's at 


Homemaking Honeys Blogspot

and to Tim over at

ladeladeda blog spot 

I received two messages within days of each other from these two, so I was feeling pretty special.
 I enjoyed visiting  both these blogs - so go check them out!!!
Here are the awards they bestowed....

Here's how the award works:

Thank and link back to the person(s) who bestowed the awards
Share 7 random things about yourself
Award 15 recently discovered great blogs

Contact those bloggers and inform them about the award

So here I go : Seven random things about me .....

1. I have a donor ear drum because I stuck a popcorn kernel in my ear when I was little.
2. Growing up I had a pet cow named Twinkie that I used to ride like a horse.
3. I dirt bike with my hubby.
4. I love chocolate.
5. I was told that my hair follicles are triangular, thus giving me naturally curly hair.
6. My favorite song right now is "Love Like Crazy" by Lee Brice.
7. My first craft obsession I can remember was making pom poms. To "do" something with the pom poms I made toilet paper roll people and gave them pom pom hair, arms and feet. I was going to make a living selling them. I would use extra toilet paper to keep up with the pompom people production. 

There are so many awesome bloggers out there and I love way more than 15 blogs
Here are some recently discovered blogs that I have been inspired by ....


1. Lauren from Young Nester
2. Kristyn from Lil Luna
3. The many hands that make up  Seven Sisters
4. Brenda from  Deck the Halls of Home with Joy
5. Hani at  Craftionary
6.Michelle  at Life Made Creations
7. Alisa at The Tidy Nest
8. Nike at Choose to Thrive
9.Danielle at Homespun with Heart
10. Lenae at Sugar Gem
11. Michelle at Its a Hand Made Life
12.Deidre at A Craft a Day
13. Emily at Not So Idle Hands
14. Pam at Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Beautiful
15. Alison at Oopsey Daisy

I would like to thank all these bloggers for all the lovely ideas and inspiration they share with us in blog land. I hope you check them out and find something on each one of them to try and make yourself. 

Pot Holder Organizer For Your Purse - Tutorial

This purse organizer is made out of a POT HOLDER. It is an easy and cute organizer that you can put in your purse, diaper bag, car, gym bag, suitcase, etc., etc. I am thinking it would also be perfect to bring to someone who is in the hospital with handy items in it like lotion, mints, lip balm, etc., etc. The possibilities are endless. Here is how I made it:

The supplies you will need are:
1) a pot holder with the hangy hook thing in the middle
2) needle/thread and sewing machine
3)1/2 to 3/4" ribbon to match pot holder
4) large button
5) re-sealable lunch bags (I used five)


Directions:

1) Fold the pot holder in half and draw a line down the middle crease with a noticeable color. My pot holder was black, so I drew thick white line. You will need to see this through the plastic.

2) Place the desired amount of bags on the pot holder one on top of the other. It is a bit tricky to get them to stay perfectly square on each other so a little two sided tape may help on the bottom half of the bags as those will be cut off soon. Making sure the bags are far enough down so you won't see them when you close the organizer, baste stitch across the pot holder - through the bags - with big enough stitches that you can easily remove them later.

3) Trim the bottom of the bags just below the basting stitch.

4) With a ribbon trimmed to fit the width of the pot holder, and the middle of the ribbon resting on the drawn line, sew one seam just above the basted stitch, and the other seam just below it. I used the edge of my ribbon to guide my sewing when I assured that the middle of the ribbon was aligned with the drawn line (which is the center of the pot holder). After stitching on the ribbon, remove the basting stitch.

5) Sew on a button. To find out where to place the button - fold the organizer in half and determine where the button will go. The hangy hooky thingy (I don't know what it is called) will need to be able to hook around the button to secure the organizer closed. The button I used was off a little girls pony tail holder that I got at a $ store. I love the bling it adds to this organizer.

6) Add what you want to the re-sealable bags. I added safety pins, toothpicks, floss, Tylenol/Advil, bandaids, and cotton swabs.
There are so many things that could go in here.

Now fold it up and tuck it in your purse. It is a handy little accessory!
Thanks for looking!

I have linked up here...

Flower Topped Gift Box

I made three boxes like this for a special Valentines gift. Click HERE to see what I did. The gifts were well received.

Here is how I made the flower topped box.
Supplies:

Crepe Paper Streamers
White Poster Board
Hot Glue
Ribbon
Twist Tie
Small Paper Doily

For each box, cut two pieces poster board 8x8 inches square. The finished box size will be 4x4x2 inches. (I was able to make three boxes out of one poster board. The poster board cost me 50 cents).
There is a video on how to make boxes on the Martha Stewart website CLICK HERE.
The bottom box is scored at 2 and 6 inches on all sides. The top of the box is scored at 2 and 6 1/8 inches. Fold paper on scored lines (the "valley" of the score should be on the outside). Cut scored lines through to corners at two opposite sides. Fold flaps in to create box shape, and secure with glue.

After the lid is scored and flaps are cut and before gluing, I trim an inch off each side. 


Now for the flowers. 
For a great tutorial on how to make these click on the link below. 
Crepe Paper Flower Tutorial 
I bought several different colors of streamers. They were 50 cents each. I made five flowers for each box and one of the flowers was bigger than the others.

Putting it all together:

Have all your supplies ready to go. You need approximately five flowers, 3 leaves, a round piece of cardstock (mine was a 2" circle) , twist tie or wire, small paper doily.

I used the circle to glue everything to, but I wanted it a bit elevated so I cut a slit in it, folded it a bit to extend the cardboard over itself and glued it together. Then I glued the leaves and flowers to the card stock circle starting with the big flower.

Take the twist tie and feed it through the paper doily. Then glue to the bottom of the flower bouquet. Secure the twist tie by putting a blob of glue so it doesn't tear through the doily. This will be how you secure the bouquet to the gift.

And there you have your bouquet. Tie a ribbon around the box and twist tie the bouquet around the ribbon at the center of the top.

Thanks for stopping by!

I have linked up here....

Brownie Cheesecake

We had our family Valentines Day dinner tonight because my hubby works shift work and he won't be home for Valentines. I made this for dessert and oh boy, I had to share it with you just in case you didn't have anything planned. I have really come out of my shell the past few years in trying new things. My old self would have looked at this recipe and said - no way, it looks too hard. I found this recipe in the Women's Day magazine. Of course the professionally made and photographed dessert looks way better, BUT mine does not look all that bad. Here is the link to the recipe....
BROWNIE CHEESECAKE RECIPE LINK - CLICK HERE!
From making it - this is what I learned....
1) the recipe says to cook the brownie but not so much that it is fully cooked. Next time I am fully cooking mine. Although it was good, it was a little doughy.
2) I made my brownie from scratch. I am weird that way - I think making things from scratch is just as easy. I added chocolate chips to make the brownie fudgy.
3) I cut the cheesecake topping recipe in half and it was plenty. We only have three in our household and so cutting the cheesecake topping in half still gave the cheesecake effect but with a lot less calories.

I found making this recipe surprisingly easy and therefore I took lots of enjoyment in the final outcome. Oh yeah, did I mention it is delicious! I better go. Another piece is calling my name.

Happy Valentines Day!

I have linked here...
It's So Very Cheri

Valentine For a Widow

I know a few people who have been widowed recently. My heart would be aching if I couldn't celebrate Valentines Day with my sweetie so I wanted to do something for these ladies. I am not a poet by any means but this is a saying I came up with to put into a box of homemade chocolates.
Here is the file in JPEG format if you would like to download it...

Right click on picture to download

Here is the box I made to put the goodies in....

I will post a tutorial another time on how I made this. The topper is an assortment of crepe paper flowers glued on to a doily. I love how the box turned out.

Thanks for stopping by!

I have linked up to this linky party

Crazy in Love - Valentines Day Card For Your Man

Here is the card I made for my husband this year. I used a font called Emoticons.  I put these onto a JPEG if you want to download them. You can also find the font on the web for free.

Right click picture to download

And here is a picture of the inside....

I am so proud of myself. I came up with the saying all by myself. Hopefully my husband gets the play on words - "crazy" and "committed".

On to more Valentines Day preparations. Thanks for looking!

I have linked up to this linky party...

Homemade Gift Box - Baby Girl

This gift box was made from two 12x12  pieces of card stock. I have the Martha Stewart scoring board that has measurements on how to make different sized boxes. This finished box measures 6x6x3 inches.

There is a video on how to make this box and other boxes on the Martha Stewart website. Click HERE.

For the tag, I made my own background on my computer and also printed a "baby girl" label, which I inked the edges and then glued on the background (that I cut into the shape of a tag). The flowers are from the dollar store and I just twisted them around the bow. To see how I made my own background check out this post -  "What Cancer Cannot Do" Encouragement Gift Idea.

I think I am a gift box making fanatic now. It is so easy and fun. I will definitely have more gift box posts.

Thanks for looking!

Pretzel Rolo Turtles

I had to make something to put in my Valentine goodie cans and I had to have it made before I went to work - YIKES! These little gems are awesome! A little boy my daughter babysits gave a bag of these yummies to her for Christmas. His mom said that he made them. He is four. I had to get the recipe. 

So ready.... here it is:

pretzels

Rolos 

pecans

All you do is line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and fill it up with pretzels. Place a Rolo on each pretzel. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 2 minutes. Take them out of the oven. Squish a pecan on top. Let them harden before you package them. 

WARNING - These are very easy to make. These are very tasty. These are very addictive.

Thanks for looking!

This recipe is linked up to a linky party on these blogs...

Valentine Goodie Can

I have a lot of empty cans. Hot chocolate, cocoa, peanuts, cashews - I guess we went through a lot of this stuff during the holidays. I didn't want to throw them out, but since they were stacking up I thought I should actually do something with them.

I save these cardboard cans because of the lids on them. I rinse them out with water and dry them with a paper towel. You don't want to immerse them in water because they are cardboard. 

Scrapbook paper is a lovely thing isn't it? I measured the can and cut the paper to size. I glued the paper to the can, tied a ribbon around it, added a tag and there you have it. I did cut out a circle to go on the lid with the same pattern paper but I forgot to take a picture of that.

I like this cocoa can with the tin top. I definitely needed the pattern paper circle on it as it had some glue residue left from some tape that secured its contents.

So save up your cardboard cans and get out your scrapbook paper! I am going to start saving tins for Easter, Halloween, Christmas. Fill them up with candies or cookies and they make a lovely little gift.

Thanks for looking!

I have linked up to these parties....