ReStyled... Mexican House Dress

Sorry I didn't do a tutorial for this one I was in a hurry. Like I made it literally an hour before the baby shower I was attending! Needless to say this was super easy if you want to give it a go...

I bought this dress at a garage sale a month or so ago for a dollar and couldn't decided what to do with it. I have a white one that is similar that I bought on my honeymoon in Cozumel and didn't really see the need for two white house dresses.

I decided a little crop top would be really cute and easy to dress up or down! Armed with a serger these days I just couldn't resist taking her out for a spin...


* measure where you want the from of your top to end
* position the dress evenly on the diagonal so you have half of the front and half of the back showing.
* using a ruler measure an inch down from where you want the front of the shirt diagonally to the back. (I wanted my crop top to have a fishtail look)
* cut that sucker!
* serge the edge, fold over once and sew a hem



Super fast, super easy and super cheap! I received quite a few complements at the shower all the while thinking to myself how I just made it an hour before...
Let me know if you have any questions or leave a link if you try this yourself!

loves- Cookie Louise

Throw Pillow Re-Do...

This past weekend I decided that the mister and I could use a new look in our master suite. By new look I really mean a look as we had pretty much turned our backs on the place when it came to decorating. So off I went searching for lots and lots of layers! I was pretty pleased with the final product however the bed could use some smaller throw pillows. I had two pretty plan beige and white pillows from our last bedding set and thought there had to be some way to pretty them up...



Up to the craft room I went in search of some way to make these little pillows match our new decor. Months ago I had purchased the most adorable canvas fabric at Jo Ann's just waiting for the perfect project to come along and I think I've found it.

The Ruffle Throw Pillow Tutorial...

You will need:

Throw pillows
12 x 12 square of fabric
Four 24 x 2 strips of coordinating fabric
Heat n Bond
Iron
Hot glue and gun



First, the beige square in the middle of my pillow was 12 x 12 so that was the amount of fabric that I needed to cover as there is no more beige in my bedding. Once the fabric is cut out set your iron to the medium setting and apply the same dimensions of heat n bond to the back of the fabric per the instructions.



Once you have your fabric square ready to go heat n bond attached and all you will peel the paper backing off and position on your pillow then iron that puppy on. It's kinda awkward at first but just press down and it will work.



Now that the fabric is bonded on it's time to add more interest and clean up the edges with some ruffles!

To make ruffles you are going to need to cut your fabric about twice the length of each side of the square.



To make a ruffle on your sewing machine set your tension, length and stitch to the longest setting. On my machine that is the highest number. Place your fabric strip on the machine and sew a line down the middle. Do not backwards stitch at either end or you will not be able to pull the thread and ruffle the fabric.





Once you have sewn each strip of fabric take one thread from one side and pull and you will begin ruffling the fabric. You will have to slide and pull the fabric and move it around until it suits your taste.

Once all of the ruffles are made I pinned them to the pillow to see exactly where I wanted them positioned. Then I just hot glued them down and WA-LAH!



How cute is this little bee pillow? All of the tools I had on hand so this was a free project that only took half an hour, how awesome is that?



Today I am linking up to...

Not So Spooky Halloween Sign Tutorial...

So around my house we are just starting to collect things to decorate for the fall season... as newlyweds we focused on getting our Christmas stash built up before we moved on to fall! Now that we have successfully completed our "Griswold Family Christmas" collection it's time to move on... and on a budget!

Today I would like to show you how to make a "classy" Halloween sign to hang around your casa. I really don't decorate for Halloween since I feel like the fall decor can stay out longer and frankly our budget won't allow me to go crazy for three holidays three months in a row...ya feel me?

So lets get started with your materials:

Mod Podge
Foam Brush/Paint Brush
Staple Gun
Cardboard Letters (I got mine at Hobby Lobby for a buck seventy seven a piece!)
Scrapbooking Paper
Raffia/Yarn/Ribbon



Ok... once you have all of that you are going to trace your letters onto the scrapbooking paper then cut out. Remember letters like "B" will need to be traced backwards...



This project is so simple, all you do next is cover your letters with Mod Podge, place your paper cut outs on top then cover those with Mod Podge and let dry...



Once dry turn your letters over and use your staple gun to attach your letters to one another. Next use whatever you have laying around raffia/yarn/ribbon to use for hanging your new sign... I choose yarn from a previous wreath I made.



Wa-Lah! Look how pretty and classy my "BOO" sign is next to the fire place...yes I leave my God Bless America up all year because I love this country!



Hope you enjoyed my little project, feel free to comment and tell me about what you are making. Today I am linking up to the following: