{DIY Pallet Shelf}

OK, so i kind of lied.. Not intentionally though. I told you we were only working on one project this last week, when really we ended up working on two! We have been wanting to make a pallet shelf for a while now. Finally, we broke down & made one, using the left over pallets we had from our Pallet bench. We Simply cut the bottom portion of the pallet off, Scrubbed it down really well to get all of the yucky outside stuff off of it, Made a bottom for the shelf, & hung it up in our kitchen! It was super simple & it looks so cute!

Happy Monday! 

{DIY No Sew Ruffle Christmas Tree Skirt}

My secret Project is finally finished! 

You know me, im always working on something. But this project was a big deal for me. As you know, our baby is due Christmas eve {Yay!} & with all the excitement that will be going on around Christmas time, there will be very little time {& honestly, i think i will be too lazy by then} for me to work on some of the Christmas projects i have been wanting to do. So, I am trying to finish them now while i still have the energy :) 

The project i have been working on, if you hadn't already figured it out by reading my last post, is a Christmas tree skirt. I wanted to revamp our tree skirt this year. I kept seeing plenty of fun ideas online. I finally decided on the style i wanted & just went for it. 

This photo, from one of my favorite blogs, was my inspiration:

{Photo found here}

So, here is our tutorial on how to make a Pretty, Ruffley, No Sew tree skirt! {Its a long one!!} 

{DIY NO sew Ruffle Christmas tree skirt}

You Will need:

A rotary board & cutter

Scissors

GLue gun & Glue sticks 

about 4 yards of fabric

Your old Christmas tree skirt

Start by prepping your old tree skirt {Or whatever base you chose to use} I had to cut & peel off the felt pieces on ours.

Bye bye Santa! you will be missed :) 

Cut your fabric in strips. The length doesn't necessarily need ot be a certain length. But you need ot have a set width. I did 3 inch strips of fabric for both my linen & Burlap. 

Cut until you have a big pile of fabric strips. {Lots of work!}

Make your first line of glue at the edge of the tree skirt.

Place your fabric on top of the glue line. 

To make a ruffle, pinch a portion of fabric between your fingers& press it down, overlapping the previous ruffle.

Keep going until you have completed your first row. Looks good huh?

At this point, i would suggest stopping for a snack. {I did} This project takes lots of energy!  Soy butter & apples, Yum!

Now back to the project. A couple of inches above the first row, make your second line of glue. 

Make your ruffles the same way on the second row.

* If you are using burlap like i did, You may want to make your ruffles & pin them down before you glue them. Burlap does not like to stick to felt very well :(  Doing this will prevent bad finger burns & Will make it a whole lot easier. 

After you have pinned, then glued, Be sure to pull all of the pins out of the burlap layers.

Keep going! Your almost done! 

Keep making the ruffles until you reach the middle of the tree skirt.

& you're done! Tired yet? 

If you would like to add ties to keep your tree skirt tied around the tree:

I used twine. Thread your twine through a big yarn needle..

Choose your tie placement, Thread the twine through the bottom of the tree skirt

Once it is pulled through, tie a knot.

Tie a knot on the top portion as well, to prevent the twine from pulling through.

& a few hours, 50+ Glue sticks & a couple burnt finger later, you are REALLY done! 

It looks so pretty & ruffly! 

Especially now that it is under our tree :) 

{Last 2 pics added long after original post} 

Also, i will add, our Christmas tree is Humongous! It is 9ft tall and super puffy. So, the tree skirt looks tiny but in reality, it is a good size. 

{An easy meal}

Lately we have just been so busy, that we are looking for the easy route in anything & everything. Including eating. We love to eat at home & cook together, but with everything we have constantly going on {Work, family, School}, we don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. One meal that we really love that we have found to be quite easy is A fennel Salad & Tilapia. We LOVE tilapia. Its super easy, super light & usually, super cheap :)

The Salad we make consists of Arugala, Thinly sliced white onion, Thinly sliced Fennel {The base of the fennel bulb}, Feta cheese & Salt & pepper. We top it off with a homemade vinegrette. 

For the Tilapia, We like lots of flavor! So, we season it with Olive oil, Salt, pepper, garlic salt, Cayenne pepper, & Some cajun seasoning. Yum!  The tilapia only takes about 20 minutes in the oven, so it's done pretty quick.

Serve those two things with some brown rice & you're good to go! A quick, yummy, & healthy meal :) 

Happy Thursday everyone! 

{29 weeks & a secret project}

{29 weeks}

The count down has really begun! only 11 weeks left until we meet our little sweetie. I can hardly wait! Seems like lately, she has had the hiccups a lot. not sure why. But it sure feels funny :) It is so hard ot explain what it feels like to have a little munchkin in your belly. I can feel every move, shift, Hiccup.. its so surreal. The more i feel her move around, the more anxious i get to hold her in my arms. 

William is just as anxious as i am. She seems to be playing a game with him. She will be moving around like crazy & ill tell willy to put his hand on my belly & she stops... willy gets really bummed. & of course, the minute he moves his hand away again, she's moving around like crazy! I think she is playing hard to get ;) 

This week, willy had me choose one project to work on. He says i have been trying to do to many things at one time {which is kind of true i guess}. So, this week i chose a project i am really excited about... Can you guess what it is? 

Figure it out yet?
Will post about the finished project soon, with a tutorial! 

Happy Wednesday!

{Homemade Chai Concentrate}

It is getting to be that time of year, Hot drink time of year that is :)

 You have no idea how excited i am about this. Living in Arizona my whole life, i always look forward to this time of year. It finally cools down & you can sit outside with a sweater on & not melt! 

In our Home, we drink a lot of hot tea & coffee year round, but this time of year calls for something special, that warms you a little extra :) We both really love Chai, especially homemade chai. We have tried a few chai recipes over the years but none of them have really stuck out to us as "repeat" recipes. I finally found one this year that we really, truly love, & i woudl like to share it with you. It is quite easy too, which makes it extra great!

 {Home made Spiced Chai Concentrate}

You will need: 

4 1/2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 {3-inch} piece of fresh ginger, chopped
7 whole green cardamom pods
2 whole star anise pods
10 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange zest
10 bags of black tea
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon vanilla

Prepare the spices and the tea, and set aside. 

In a mid sized pot, bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat. 

Add the spices and the tea bags, and allow the mixture to steep for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, strain the mixture into a  large bowl, discarding the spices. 

Add the sugar, honey and the vanilla, and stir until all have dissolved. 

Pour the mixture into a bottle or jar {However you want ot store it} and store in the refrigerator.

{To prepare a drink with this concentrate, you are going to use 1 part concentrate to 1 part milk.

This can be served Hot or cold.}

I like  it hot with a little bit of nutmeg on top :) 

Enjoy!