Long & Lovely DIY Tutus

DIY Tulle Tutu Tutorial

Get a catalog look for a bargain price

While this tutorial is originally meant to accompany a witch costume, the materials and process can be used to make a tutu for any occasion: princess, ballerina, or fairy parties... or just regular ol' dress-up! Just choose your favorite colors and follow the directions below!

My girls decided they wanted to be witches (specifically, scary witches) this year for Halloween, and I had a lot of fun putting together these costumes. This tutorial shows how I made their tutus, which ended up costing less than $10/each. I wanted them to be long and full, so if you shorten the length and spread out the strips, you could easily make one for even less! I let the girls pick out their colors for the skirts, and they were thrilled with how they all came together. Their vision came to fruition... because really, what's scarier than a witch in a tutu? ;)

And here's how I did them (p.s. everything is NO-SEW except for the elastic. If you don't want to sew that either, I would get a thin elastic and tie a double knot to close it):

Materials for DIY Witch Tutu Skirt 

• Rolls of tulle (anywhere from 50-75 yards total; probably 3-4 rolls depending on how many colors you want. I got some at Hobby Lobby and some at Joanns. The sparkly tulle is more expensive and you get less yardage, FYI. So of course, that's what the girls wanted. I told them they could pick one sparkly each, but I compromised with B2 so she got two sparklies.)
•  Black 1" Elastic (I needed about 18" for my 4 year old and 19" for my 5 year old so I got one package and had plenty leftover.)
  
  
  

 

Instructions for DIY Witch Tutu Skirt

• Cut your elastic according to size. To get the right size, measure your little one's waist and then subtract roughly 2 inches. This allows for some stretch and ensures the tutu won't fall down when she's wearing it.
• Sew your elastic closed. The best method I have found to do this is to basically sew a rectangle over the part where the two ends overlap. That give you a really strong closure.
• Cut your tulle to length. The easiest way to do this it to wrap your roll around a scrap of cardboard that is cut to your desired length (pics are below). Wrap-wrap-wrap until you're done, and then it's easy to cut across so that all your pieces are the same length. Make sure you only cut one side!!! I made the mistake of cutting from both sides the first time, and I wasted a bunch of material :( Repeat this wrapping and cutting step for each of your colors. Then lay each pile of tulle so it is accessible. 
  
  FYI: {Sizes I Used: I wanted an 18" skirt for my 4 year old and a 22" skirt for my 5 year old. In total, I cut 54 36" strips for my 4 year old-pink/orange skirt; I cut a total of 62 44" strips for my 5 year old-purple/black skirt}
• Place your elastic band on a steady, round object. I used vases for mine because it was the only thing I could find that was roughly the right circumference. This helps hold it in place for the next steps.
• Determine your color pattern, and start adding the strips! The pics below show the method I used. Continue until you reach the desired fullness of your tutu.
  
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  And that's it! It's amazing how truly simple this project is.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  As you can see from the pics, I also spruced the costumes up with some inexpensive accessories that you can read about here. Also, here's my tutorial on the black fleece DIY Witch Capes.
  
  
  

  Happy Halloween season!
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DIY Burlap Chevron Bunting for Fall

Easy, Cheap, and Quick Decorations for Fall

Make a cute bunting from leftover materials and save $!

With the nights getting colder and the official arrival of fall, I was craving some autumn decorating, but I didn't have the motivation to get in the car and go to the craft store. In an effort to satisfy my instant-gratification "itch," I tore apart my craft room and came up with this quick and easy solution: Burlap Bunting with a Chevron Trim.

Burlap Bunting with Chevron Trim Tutorial

Materials:

• Burlap Chevron Ribbon (I got mine from Hobby Lobby and had left over from our Scavenger Hunt) 
• Scraps of Burlap 
• Hot Glue Gun 
• Scissors 
• Twine

Directions:

• Make the triangles: Cut your scraps of burlap into triangles of desired size. I made six {roughly} equilateral triangles with sides about 6" long.  
• Add the ribbon: Using a hot glue gun, adhere the ribbon to the top of each triangle, overlapping at the ends. Then snip of the excess ribbon to maintain the triangular shape.
• Add the twine: At first I tried to weave the twine through the top of the ribbon, but that was a big pain, so instead I glued it onto the back. 
• Measure and repeat: Decide how big you want your gap between the triangles to be. I ended up with about 7" of twine between each pair (this was through trial and error, I started with 10" and slowly decreased it to 7"). Then finish up by gluing the twine to the back of each triangle.
• Adorn something! You can see that my bunting went on a little photo shoot... the trees, different mantels, planters... it's ended up back in my family room, but it was fun seeing how it looked in other places, too. 

This was totally easy project that's helped me get into the mood for fall... although it could easily be used for birthdays or other occasions, too!

 

Vintage Children's Desk {Super Quick} Makeover

This Vintage Kids Double Desk is Our New Computer Table

But not too much has changed since the old days... this desk still holds an apple! :) 

For the past year, I've been struggling with how to set up an empty corner area of our family room. I was hoping to make it into a kid-friendly space without the over-stimulation that often comes with kid-friendly spaces (my Vintage Chifferobe for Toy Storage was the first piece I acquired with that goal in mind). At the same time, I had been thinking about wanting to set up a desktop computer for my kids so they can learn to use a mouse (they're pretty iPad/iPhone savvy, and they're not bad at using the trackpad on my laptop, but they do not know how to use a mouse... although maybe it's all in vain. Who knows how long we'll even be using computer mice anymore...). 

I didn't want to set up a generic desk, and I wanted to be able to use kid-sized chairs in the space. So I scoured Craigslist and consignment shops until I found the perfect solution (on Craigslist, as it turned out). And really, it couldn't be any more perfect: an authentic vintage children's double desk.

This was the absolute easiest makeover ever. It didn't need much, but those ugly brown legs HAD to go! I'm not sure who ever thought that dingy brown was a good color for kids! I didn't want to touch the top. I love all of the imperfections.

 

I picked it up on a Thursday and planned to wait until the weekend to do anything to it, but I just couldn't wait. I basically started spray painting as soon as I got it out of the car.

I love the shape of the legs, the awesome pencil holders, the cool way the wood is seamed together in the corners, the stamped imprint on the front...

It was by far the simplest update ever, and it makes me happy to look at, especially when my kids are gathered around it.

 

And onto the next project to complete this space. Want a hint? Well, I'm planning to make over a few pieces that I literally found outside a dumpster... wish me luck!