The Idiot's Guide On How To Make A Table Skirt

As a part of my new living room makeover, I made a round table skirt. I must give credit to my mother, she provided me with the instruction.

To start you need some fabric (obviously).  The amount of fabric you need depends on the size of the table. I used two 2 yard pieces for my table. Take one of the pieces and cut in half. To help myself, I took the fabric and folded it in half, ironed on the crease, then opened it back up so I had a perfect line down the middle. Then, I just cut on the line I pressed.

Now, you have 3 pieces of fabric. One big piece and the 2 half pieces you just cut. You are going to attach the smaller pieces of fabric on both sides of the big piece to make one humongous piece of fabric. Does that make sense?  Make sure to line up the grain of the fabric (or the print if you are using something with a print) that way the fabric is all facing the same direction.

Pin the the pieces together.

And sew.

Open up and iron the seams.

Now, you need to measure your table so you will know exactly how long the skirt will need to be to dust the floor after it is completed. To do this, cut a long piece of string or yarn (or a tape measure if you want to be really precise but no precision needed for this project!).

Place the string in the middle of the table

Cut the string where it touches the floor. Easy peasy! 

Then take that big piece of fabric and lay it down on the floor, right side down. Pin your string down in the center of the fabric. 

Now here comes the scientific part. Jeff was impressed with this.  Take the string and make a dot with a fabric pencil or pen at the end of the string. Move the string a few inches and make another mark. Do it again and again and again until you have come back to the first mark you made.

Then, la la la la connect the dots!! 

Cut along the line and then you have a gigantic circle! 

Pin up the hem and iron.

Sew the hem up.

And viola! You have  table skirt.

Run to your local glass cutter and have them cut a piece of glass to complete the project. 

Cheers! 

Birthday Dinner

After my completely lazy Birthday day, we went to my parents house for happy hour and then to the Cowtown Diner for dinner.  I wanted to go to this place for dinner because it was featured on the Food Network for their 64 ounce chicken fried steak! This thing is 10,000 calories! Yikes! Needless to say, I did not have a 10 pound chicken fried steak from my birthday, rather, a half pound. My hubby had the same. I have a special place in my heart for chicken fried steak and so does he! 

One of the things that fascinated me the most about this place are the bacon wrapped and fried deviled eggs. They featured them on the Food Network too.  I LOVE deviled eggs so I had to give these special ones a try for my birthday! 

They were delish! 

The little one, aka my niece, had sliders. 

My chicken fried steak half eaten! 

My sister had chicken mac which was fantastic! 

After dinner we went back to my parents house for cake and presents! My sister and brother in law made this cake. They are awesome and it was sooo yummy! They made it from scratch too! German Chocolate, one of my favorite cakes.

My mother's cat, Harry, enjoyed helping to open gifts. 

Cheers! 

Happy Birthday To Me

First rule of birthday number 32: Take the day off of work. Second rule of birthday number 32: Sleep late. Third rule of birthday number 32: Relax.

A nice little birthday surprise.

I think I will curl up on the couch, relax, and flip through it now!

My BIL is making made crepes, yum! I will post a picture when they are ready! 

Yum, yum, yum! From scratch too!!!

Later this evening I will be getting together with family for dinner and cake! 

Living Room Reveal

So, finally here it is! I don't have the best before pictures because I started to prep the walls for the paint, moved all the furniture around, and then realized I needed to take before shots.

Front door 

As you walk in the front door 

Yep, I know the color of the wall changed on this pic, like I said, horrible at before shots. This is an important picture though. You will see why in a bit!

The green just made everything so dark!

Now for the after. The one major thing I am lacking a a rug to go under the coffee table.  I am thinking a black shag rug will be nice.  

 Yep, that's a blue towel under that piece of furniture. I put it there so it would not scratch the floor and forgot to put it away! 

I had a Gorman print hanging here before but it did not go with the room anymore. I love Gorman and could not give it up so I put it in the bedroom instead. I picked this print up at Garden Ridge for half price! 

 The vase for the center of the dining room table I got at Kirklands. The chairs I recovered (take a better look over here) with fabric I picked up from Cutting Corners.

There is my Mod Podge Tray I recycled! I used some wedding moss in a jar for a little accent piece :-)

 I hung black curtains that I found at the Family Dollar for next to nothing! I think that black shag rug will look really nice in here.

 I recovered some pillows that I already had with the fabric that I picked up from Cutting Corners. I also found the red pillows at T.J Maxx and the green pillows at Anna's Linens. I think I may add a few more.

Can you see me waving in the mirror, ha! I am still not quite done with this area. I'm not crazy about that floor vase and want to find another one. I think I may also find a wall decal for in here too. Maybe a word or phrase.

I made a table skirt to hid that ugly little table! I also had a piece of glass cut at Ajax Glass for the top. I made a rather interesting tutorial for the table skirt and will post that soon for anyone interested. 

 I put the remote controls in a Southern Living basket that I had hidden away. That lamp I also found at Kirklands for next to nothing! I think I may do something to jazz it up a bit or maybe put it in the bedroom and find a more modern looking lamp to put here instead. 

I found the most amazing soft little throw at T.J. Maxx too. The kitty slept on it all day on Sunday!

So, that is it for now.  There are still a few things to tweak but all in all I really like the improvement! When I tweak I will post about it. I wish my camera was able to take better pictures. I really does look better in person.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since Jeff is in school (again) and it was a workday for me, we kept V-Day low key.  I stenciled him a t-shirt, this seems to be the common theme for his V-Day gift the past few years. I found this stencil over here. I thought it was perfect because when we were in Victoria for the honeymoon it was one of the "warning" signs that we saw and had to laugh. Victoria seemed to be a very visual area, there were warning signs  for everything! When Jeff opened it he laughed and said, "Like in Victoria!" I guess it is our little joke. 

I made Shepherds Pie for dinner and garnished his with a ketchup heart. :-) 

Jeff and I have been together for 11.5 years and he is the only person I have ever shared Valentine's Day with. I wouldn't change that at all! He is a lovely husband (and smart too!).

I know I said that I would post the living room makeover this past weekend and I did not. I had a curtain issue. But, stay tuned because tomorrow I will post it! 

Cheers!