Knock off Buckle skirt

Do you have a Buckle store where you live? Seriously I LOVE that store. I do a workout 4 times a week with this motivating momma at the mall because it is too stinkin' hot to do it outside. So I walk by there at least 4 times a week drooling over whatever they have in their display window. Too timid to go inside because I know I will spend WAY too much money!

Last window display they had several tiered ruffle skirts which are so simple to make. One in particular stood out to me.

This one!

After drooling over it again online I decided I was going to make one! On a trip to Phoenix this past week I stopped at hobby lobby. While they didn't have the greatest selection of lace or ANY nylon chiffon (which doesn't fray like polyester chiffon) they did have this great 4" lace trim that was kind of scalloped on the finished edge and shirred! Yeah I don't have to hem it or ruffle it!

Since I am totally an instant gratification kind of girl and live in the biggest small town where no one has any nylon chiffon. And I'm trying to use what I have and not buy so much fabric...I just decided to do without the extra white ruffle under the lace and just do several lace ruffles with a white knit underskirt and a t-shirt waistband.

Materials List:

Several yards of 4 1/2" lace trim (I used 6 yards, but it was pre-ruffled and had a elastic on the underside almost like shirred fabric, if you have to ruffle it up you need double)
1 Yard-ish of knit under fabric
matching thread

First make a t-shirt waistband. I totally forgot to take pics of this part because it is second nature to me so I'll try to talk you through it. Start by cutting the bottom 6" off of an old T-shirt or a 6" strip of your knit fabric. Measure your waist then divide it by 2 and subtract 4 inches. So I wanted mine to sit lower on my hips I measured and they were about 29".

29 / 2 - 4 = 10.5 + 1 (for 1/2 seam allowance on each side) = 11.5

Then cut your 6" strip to 11.5 inches (x2 one for front and one for the back) and stitch a 1/2 seam down each short side. Fold over so the seams are on the inside and Voila you've got a 3" T-shirt waistband!

If that was confusing check out this link and Ms. Disney will show you exactly how to do it, pictures and all!

Then take a strip of your lace and pin it right sides together to your waistband and stitch down with a zig zag stitch (to maintain the stretch).

Cut a strip of knit to 4" (because you want the next layer of lace to be just under the first layer of lace in this case about a 1/2") and ruffle it up. Either with a ruffle foot or by basting your longest stitch length and pulling the top thread until your strip is all ruffled up. Then stitch it down (again with a zig zag stitch) on top of the lace. Then pull the ruffle basting stitch out of the knit or break the ruffle-ing stitch ever so slightly making sure not to break the zig zag stitch. Otherwise it will not stretch properly. Now you should have a little lace sandwich!

Turn the knit strip down and stitch the next layer of lace onto the knit right sides together with a straight stitch. With the knit fabric all ruffled up there should be plenty of room for your hips and no need for any stretch to it really!

Then add another 4" strip of knit to the lace making another little lace sandwich. No need to ruffle this layer of knit. And repeat until you have enough layers to cover your bottom!

Two layers, ideal for a little girl. But who am I kidding! My booty would hang out the bottom of that!

Now that is better!

This principal can be applied to any ruffled skirt using regular cotton too but you would have to ruffle it before you stitched it down to the knit. I chose knit because it has a nice stretch to it and you don't have to hem it!

Linking up to Ms. Jennifer's weekend wrap up party!






And....





And...

Seriously! Who doesn't heart naptime?

My Crinkly scarf ala Ruffles and Stuff

I saw this scarf Disney from Ruffles and Stuff made back around the end of April. I loved it so much I made one of my own!

I followed her directions other than I only got a yard of fabric so I only had a 36 x 44 inch piece of fabric. So I used the longer side and made the scarf about 18 x 44 instead of the 60" Disney suggests. It turned out fine, not as full as I had hoped it would be. It probably would have been, had I used the 60". But it took me all of 10 minutes and it looks like one of those ones you would find at Buckle!

So head on over to see Ms. Disney and make your own non-chemically treated crinkly scarf!

PS. Excuse the kookie look on my face, I'm still getting used to being in front of the camera!

Shabby Table and Chairs redo

When we moved into our house we bought ALOT of Pottery Barn furniture. I wanted everything to match and it did! Everything is a dark cherry color our large rectangular dining room table, small round nook table, armoire, kitchen, and bathroom cabinets. Very cohesive, yes. But I'm bored with it!

I decided to paint our small round nook table black. It was kinda dinged up and either needed to be re-stained or completely repainted. I chose the latter. The table looked good by itself but the chairs had to go! They are an off white slipcovered chair and the girls used them as a napkin. Seriously they had to be washed every other day and frankly I was sick of it! What was I thinking buying off white slipcovered chairs?!

I mentioned to my Dad one day that I wanted new dining room chairs and he offered to give me a set that he had laying around! Then he called the next week and said he had painted them black for me already! Yippee! I was stoked. So I went over and distressed them a bit (or made them look like I had pulled them out of the dumpster, according to my Dad) and then sealed them. All with Dad's help and his awesome paint gun! I got them home and it all looked really good together. There was just one problem, they weren't very comfortable and it still looked kind of bland.

So I decided to add a cushion to them! I got online and started googling laminate or vinyl fabrics since I didn't want to be washing them all the time like the other chairs. I found this fabric by Amy Butler from her new Love line of designer cotton laminate.

I ordered it from Ms. Sabrina over at  Grace and London on Etsy. She had the best prices on etsy and shipped it to me super fast. I had it within 2 days of payment!

Materials List:
Foam (I chose 2" foam, but pick whatever you like)
Fabric ( I needed about 2 yards, but measure you chair bottoms to be sure)
Staple gun

First take the bottom seat part off of the chair. Just turn it over and unscrew it. Be careful not to unscrew the legs though...that wouldn't be good!

Then lay the seat bottom on the foam and trace it. Then cut it with an electric knife, like the kind you use to cut a turkey on Thanksgiving. OR take your seat bottom to the store and have them do this step for you. I got my foam at a store down on 4th Avenue called a Fabric and Foam Store. They were very helpful in helping me pick just the right amount of foam even though I forgot my measurements and gave them a rough guesstimate. I splurged on foam because I wanted the  cushions to last awhile. But you could totally get it at JoAnn's with a coupon. Even still it was only about $30 and I've got some leftover to make the girls some cushions for their little chairs.

Next layer your foam on top of your seat bottom then place you fabric right side up on top of the two. Then turn it over. Staple one side down, then pull taught and staple the opposite side down. You should have something that looks like this.

Then do the two other sides in the same way. You should have something that looks like this...

Then do an upholstery tuck on each corner so that the seam points toward the back of the chair. The corner seams should look like this.

And the underside should look like this.

Then trim the excess fabric and screw it back onto your chair. On the first cushion I glued down the edges but you really don't need to so I didn't do it on the other 3. YEAH! New dining room chairs! With a nice bright pop of color!

Next up...those white slipcovers. I thought I could either die them a dark burgundy red to go with the darkest color in the Amy Butler fabric OR making new covers for them completely. I think I will die them first and if I don't like the color then I'll find another fabric to make them some new slipcovers!

Linking up to Ms. Jennifer @ tatertotsandjello! First link up ever with one of my favorite bloggers! 

A Few Introductions

Hello. I'm Tracie (the procrastinator). I have two adorable little monster girls, I'm married to my best friend, and have a bear of a dog BooBoo. I procrastinate about everything, cleaning, laundry, meal planning, craft projects. You name it I can put it off! Except maybe going to see a Twilight Movie! I do get things done eventually just on my own terms. Scrapbooking is my favorite craft but I'll try anything that involves glue, spray paint and creativity.


Hi! I'm Jessica (the planner). I have two sweet and beautiful little girls, an amazing and supportive husband, and one wonderfully playful little doggy. I plan just about everything to a T from my family's meals each week, everyday activities, even what crafts I should accomplish for the week. Seriously I am a planner. This is a good thing though, I get things done and feel accomplished at the end of the day. Not to say I dont ever procrastinate. Because I do! Just not usually when it comes to crafts...we'll leave the procrastination to the housework! I love to sew, craft, scrapbook, take photos, spray paint anything that doesn't move, and just craft in general.

Tracie and I became friends in 2006 when Hailey and Emma (our older daughters) were just little. Hailey was less than a year and Emma was just over a year (they are almost exactly a year apart). When we were part of a monthly craft night and became fast friends. Back then we mostly scrapbooked and made greeting cards. Since then we've expanded our crafting horizon to include many, many other things.

In 2009 Tracie's husband Brian took a job out of state. At first it was so surreal we knew we'd stay friends, we knew we'd see each other again, and we knew this move wouldn't be the end of our friendship. In March of 2010 I made the first trip (of many I'm sure) to see Tracie. In the months before the trip we planned many crafts, a trip to Cincinnati to see Taylor Swift, and all the different places we could eat at. We accomplished many of the crafts we had planned, had a blast at the concert and ate some great food along the way. I think on this trip I truly realized how much I missed crafting with Tracie.

Since then we spend just about every night on the phone together talking about anything and everything but mostly the crafts we are doing. Usually followed by an email of pictures and then a detailed explanation of how we did it. So the other could do it also if she wanted to!

And so our crafty blog is born!  If we still lived 15 minutes away from each other, I’m positive we would still be crafting together like we used to.  Since we no longer live down the street from each other and can’t craft during nap time, we decided to start this little craft and life blog.  Here we will chronicle our lives, all of our crafts, funny stories, and maybe even a sprinkling of recipes.  We’ll share our experiences with each other and with you too!