My Favorite Posts of 2011

So the holidays came and went and I didn't post a THING.

I really meant to! I got busy with holiday events, making decorations and gifts, and just trying to enjoy being with my people, being present. That's one of my goals for the upcoming year, but that's another post.

So I started looking around on here and seeing what I have and what I haven't posted yet, and I thought it would be fun to post a recap of my favorite projects and look back on what all I've done.

Last January I posted a tutorial on a cute wreath made out of old T-Shirts! I love this wreath and can't wait to show you how I changed it up to make it part of my Valentine's decor! Check back soon for that post!

Back in May, I posted my most popular (AND most pinned!) tutorial is my Rosette Bracelet :) I STILL love these, love wearing them, and making them for gifts!

This was a quick little post on a sweet, cheap and easy photo gift idea! It's great for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparents, birthdays, it's great!

I also posted the CUTEST little tutu and painted pearl shirt outfit (with tutorials). I just LOVE this for little girl gifts :)

This was a quick little post about an adorable outfit I found on clearance and added some FLAIR to. SO cute! Still want to do this to a few things of mine!

In this post, I prettyfied some dishtowels for a housewarming gift for some friends.

One of my PERSONAL favorites :) A tutorial on my jewelry organizer! I still use it and I LOVE it!

Then in June, I did a 6 part series of posts about redecorating my teenage daughters bedroom:
Part 1: Prettifying a Lamp Shade
Part 2: Easy Throw Pillow Makeover
Part 3: Easy Inexpensive Curtains
Part 4: Freezer Paper Stenciled Pillow & Mod Podged Lamp
Part 5: Painting Furniture

In July, I posted about my daughters 6th birthday party, a Tiki Tiki Pool Party including a tutorial on how I made the banner!

I also posted about a white board weekly calendar I made for myself. I can't tell you how much I rely on this thing that cost me absolutely nothing to make :)

Then I took a break for the summer ;) But in October I came back and posted about the AWESOME tutu costumes I made for my girls in 2010, complete with a tutu-orial :)
Part 1: A Darling Devil
Part 2: Witchy Woman
Part 3: Zebra's ROCK

And my last post was about my super awesome Halloween Wreath :)

I haven't posted as much as I would've like to, not even HALF of the projects I've done, so I'm hoping to make more time in the day to post more regularly in the new year. Here's hopin ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And the Tutu MANIA Continues ...

It's a tutu for my DOOR :D

So I saw this tutorial (lol) on Pinterest, and I just fell in LOVE. I am in the midst of what looks like a tutu sweatshop around here so I thought, what's ONE MORE tutu related project ;)

That, and I cute 3 rolls of black tulle with the brilliant idea of adding it my 6 year olds Lady Bug costume but it didn't jive. SO I had apx 75ft of 12" long strips of black tulle and nothing to do with it. I figured WTH! and got my supplies together! Here's a quick tutorial ...

Supplies I used:
75ft of black tulle cut in 12" strips ($3)
Dollar Store wreath ($1)
"BOO" sign from Target ($1)
Roll of 1.5" ribbon ($1)
Total cost of wreath = $6 :D


Because the wreath was a lighter wood and the tulle was on the thin side, I ended up doing my wreath just like I do my tutus, POOFY ;)

1) After the tulle is cut (here is the EASIEST WAY EVER to cut tulle), take two strips and criss cross them. Then grab same sides together so they interlock.

2) Feed loop under the wreath

3) Feed strips back through the loop and tighten.

4) Continue until the wreath is covered :)

5) I used the ribbon to hang the wreath from a nail in the door and tied a pretty bow.

6) Then I took the Boo sign and hung it from the nail behind the bow and moved the ribbon to hide the strings.

Easy Peasy :D Isn't it ADORABLE?!?!? It's SO easy and SO cheap! I just love looking at it :)

If you make one, let me know, I'd LOVE to see it!!

Linking up to these parties ...

Halloween Tutus! Part 3 - Zebra's ROCK!

For my final installment of Tutu PANDEMONIUM, my 13 year old's Zebra costume :) My tutu-orial is here {along with some much more helpful links ;)}

I was SO thrilled that when she saw all of the tutu ideas I had that she was EXCITED about dressing up! I almost lost her ... she tried telling me that she was too old and didn't want to dress up any more. I was sad :( I thought about my baby growing up, Halloween photos with only TWO dressed and was SAD.

So I made hers and she was over the MOON for it!

She loved it and I was just so happy :)

We got some stripped tights and I added a hot pink satin bow and ribbon to the waist band for a fun pop of color. I LOVE how it came out!

I Freezer Paper Stenciled a shirt with white paint and added some zebra stripes using a sharpie ;)

My Zebra :) She ended up liking the costume SO much that she's dressing up again this year!! She's going to be a peacock and I am SOOOO EXCITED to see how it comes out!!

Linking up to these parties!!

Halloween Tutus! Part 2 - Witchy Woman

As I mentioned in my last post, I was/still am on a bit of a tutu kick ;) Last year, my 5 year old said she wanted to be a witch so I made a costume that centered around a black tutu.

She looked just ADORABLE!

I did a basic black tutu {here's a basic tutu-orial with other helpful tutu related links} and then added some strips of purple satin ribbon.

We already had the hat that gave us the color scheme of black and purle so I got a t-shirt at the dollar store and freezer paper stenciled the phrase "Wichy Woman" on it ;)

I used purple fabric paint. After it was dry, I went over it with silver glitter! You can make this SOOO easily either with a cricut or by hand. If you don't already know how, look up Freezer Paper Stencil on google, it's AWESOME what you can do!

I ended up tying the purple ribbon into bows because it made her stand out from her sisters costumes ;)

SOOOO CUTE!!

My Witchy Woman :)

Next up: Part 3 - Zebra's ROCK!

Linking up to these awesome parties ...