My Ruffled Tree Skirt

Finished the tree skirt! And just in time too. One of Cory's co-workers just commissioned me to make a quilt by Christmas! I've never been paid to be crafty! Well, cutting & coloring hair is definitely an art, but this is different. I'm excited!
On facebook I asked my friends what kind of tree skirt I should make, and the vote was unanimously "ruffles"! I'm glad too, it turned out SO CUTE. (patting myself on the back, which is still a little sore from all the crafting) :)

It's made of burlap & muslin. (And the little bows are lace ribbon)
I wasn't excited to work with the burlap at first, I've never used it before and it frays like a beast. Once I Mod Podged the raw edges (which was a little tedious, but it had to be done) all was well & the beast was tamed.
I used this tutorial I found on Pinterest for inspiration, but I did a few things differently. They left all their muslin edges raw, which seemed like a nice way for this tree skirt to self-destruct over time, so I hemmed the outer edges of my fabric before ruffling it. Also, they applied Mod Podge to seal the brulap at the end of the project, which seemed like the messiest way it could be done. I did it as I went along so I didn't get it all over my finished project.

Apply Mod Podge row by row to all raw burlap edges.

 

Hem raw muslin edges for a stronger end result. 

To give my skirt a finished look, (the edges looked like a mess before this step) I sewed my ribbon on first, and then bound the raw edges with muslin, similar to how a quilt is bound.

Doesn't that look so much more polished? I did like their use of lace in the original tutorial, but for Cory's sake I kept the floofy level down a bit since the ruffles are already pretty feminine :)

I'm in love with it!

Stockings

To steal a phrase from The Nightmare Before Christmas, my "Making Christmas" rampage continues!

 The past couple days I've spent a significant amount of time designing and assembling Christmas stockings for Cory and I. My inspiration for the look of the stockings came from pictures I found on Pinterest (surprise, surprise) but the only tutorial I actually followed was for the nice thick cuff at the top of each. The rest I can chalk up to my own invention. (beaming with pride!) Since they are quilted, (with batting even) lined, and cuffed, it honestly was a lot of work, but well worth it!  (and the second was easier than the first since I had the hang of it)

I also want to point out that these stockings are made entirely of remnant pile fabric (bolt ends sold at a huge discount) and muslin ($2-$3/yd). Which is pretty cool. That's called creative crafting! All the fabric I use is inexpensive.

Cory hubby LOVES the Christmas throw-blanket-quilt I made last month and requested that his stocking look "just like the quilt"....

How did I do? :)

 Close up of the quilting

 

And, of course, if you'll excuse my "photography"... the pics don't do them justice :)

We need a little CHRISTMAS!!

This year we're pretty much starting over as far as Christmas decor goes. Basically, our Christmas stuff is stored in Idaho, we can't go get it in time, so we decided to heck with it & well, started over.
On Black Friday we bought a new tree, (which I actually like way better than the old one) and since then I've been crafting up a storm! So this is a close up of my Christmas tree in its current state of merriment.
Crocheting the snow flakes and stars was so fun, but the best part is that gratifying sensation you get when you stand back & survey your work. SO much better than buying ornaments :)
See the fluffy/fuzzy looking white tulle garland? I MADE IT too! Skills.
Hahaha....hello?
In fact the only thing I didn't make on this tree was the ribbon. (and the beads) I bought that at... Target I think. Just a heads up, 25 feet of ribbon will wind fairly well around a 6 foot tree, but if you're like me and you don't like to be bothered with making due or running out, buy more even though hubby laughs and tells you 100 feet of ribbon is too much... He just doesn't get it.

I have plans and supplies for even more lovely craftiness to grace my tree, but this is it as of now. I'm in love! I'm thinking about maybe posting some tutorials so others can join me in my craftiness. That might be fun!