Projects

Terrific Holiday TuTu {Tutorial}

When my best friend Stephanie and Sister-in-law Tara told me there were pregnant and expecting girls I couldn't have been more excited to make TuTu's for their little ones. Everyone I knew had boys and while they are fun in other ways, you can't dress them up in frilly lace, ribbon, rhinestones, or TULLE! I have since began making these TuTu's not only as gifts for holidays, birthdays, and special occassions, but have begun selling them to the general public as well. They are fabulously easy to make and customize. Below are the step by step instructions to make your very own TuTu for your own little princess.



Items you will need:



6" tulle in assorted colors of your choice* (sold by the roll at most fabric stores or available online)

1-2" Satin Ribbon in color of choice

Scissors

Yard stick

Measuring tape (used to measure waist of the child you are fitting)

Large table or work space



*Note: depending on the length of the TuTu you are making and the size waist of the child you will need anywhere from 3 rolls at 20 Yards each (infants), 6-8 rolls at 20 yards each (toddlers age 2-4), and 8-10 rolls at 20 yards each (young children age 5-7. You can always add more tulle depending on how fluffy you want the TuTu.



Additional Items for your TuTu {Optional}:



Ribbon with stripes, polka dots, plaid, etc.

Silk flowers (mums, daisies, sunflowers, etc.- something big and bold that can stand alone)

Rhinestone add-ons (applied with adhesive or fabric glue)

Pom-Poms in assorted sizes and colors

Leaves



Use you imagination to add a creative twist to the TuTu...the sky is the limit!

Measuring your child:

Measure your child's waist first. You will need a piece of ribbon that is 24" longer than the measurement of the waist, to allow enough extra ribbon to tie the bow. (ex. waist=16" you will need 40" of ribbon.)

Measure from your child's waist to knees or ankles (depending on the length you want the TuTu.) You will need to double this length and cut the tulle into strips to prepare for tying to the ribbon.

Directions:

1. Take your piece of ribbon that was cut per the directions above and lie it flat on a surface.

2. Take the first piece of tulle and fold it in half, making two equal lengths. Place the loop under the ribbon 12" from the end and pull the ends through the loop making a loose knot around the ribbon.

3. Repeat step 2 until you reach the 12" mark from the other end. If you are using more than one color of tulle you may alternate colors individually or make sections of colors by using 3-5 strips of one color first then adding 3-5 strips of the second color and continuing to alternate.

4. Add any additional embellishments you would like to the TuTu(see list above). Tie the two 12" ends together in a pretty bow to finalize your TuTu and voila...you have a TuTu fit for a princess!

My fave 5 in Non-fiction

I should first preface this blog with the fact that I LOVE TO READ. My new found love and one piece of electronics that I cannot leave home without is my amazing new Kindle. It is all my brain craves wrapped up into one...my gossip magazines, crosswords, brain teasers, books, newspapers, journals, the list could go on and on! In every room in my home you will find a bookshelf full of books I have read over the years. (did I mention I have kept every book I have read since college) and as you can imagine, they have taken over my house. When I told Daniel I wanted a Kindle for Christmas, so I could spare the last little bit of our home for items other than books, he was more than happy to fully the NEED, and yes, I mean need...not want! :) So I have decided to blog about my FAVE 5 in Non-fiction, as this is my favorite catagory in books.

If you are anything like me, and love a good book that is actually a true story based on someone's life, trials, tribulations, achievements, etc. or in general just enjoy reading about someone's elses problems to avoid your own, then any of these books is the book for you.

1. Mistaken Identity by By Don Van Ryn, Susie Van Ryn, Whitney Cerak, Colleen Cerak, Mark Tabb
Meet Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak: one buried under the wrong name, one in a coma and being cared for by the wrong family.This shocking case of mistaken identity stunned the country and made national news. Would it destroy a family? Shatter their faith? Push two families into bitterness, resentment, and guilt?Read this unprecedented story of two traumatized families who describe their ordeal and explore the bond sustaining and uniting them as they deal with their bizarre reversal of life lost and life found.

2. My Lobotomy by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming
At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital—or ice pick—lobotomy.Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn’t until he was in his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But even as he began to live the “normal” life he had been denied, Howard struggled with one question: Why?

3. Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali.

4. Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy
A MOTHER WARRIOR IS . . .a mother who hears there is no hope for her child and, instead of retreating and mourning, breaks down walls, weaves her way through obstacles, follows her intuition even when people tell her she is crazy. She is a mother who believes in hope.

5. Beautiful Boy- A father's journey through his son's addition by David Sheff
What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted every moment of David Sheff’s journey through his son Nic’s addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery. Before Nic Sheff became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole, and lived on the streets. David Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs: the denial, the 3 A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the rehabs.

Happy Reading,
Meagan

Welcome to 2011- The year I turn 30!

At around this time 30 years ago, my mom and dad were anxiously awaiting and making plans for the birth of their first child. Being the stubborn baby I was, I chose not to cooperate with the sonogram, hence they could not tell my gender. What to do now but pick out a name for a boy as well as one for a girl ? (Kendall Austin if I was a boy, or Amanda Leigh if a girl...Amanda was later changed to Meagan after my mom's favorite book the Thornbirds) There they were, ready for the suprise. When my mom told her new friend, the homosexual man who loved Cheese Nips (and carried a box of them with him wherever he would go) that they could not determine my sex, he was convinced that I would be a girl, and insisted on calling me "little Belinda" and rubbing my mom's tummy every chance he got. Well it turns out he was right, and hear I am... minus the Belinda of course. (Thank goodness) No offense to Belinda's out there :)

With 2011 going full steam ahead we begin to make plans for my ever dreaded (only because I don't wish to keep getting older) 30th Birthday, as it is less than 6 months away! How did this come on me so fast? How is it that in less than 6 months, I will be entering a new decade of life? My handsome, and ever so sweetly taunting husband never wastes a chance to remind me that being a year older than he is, I will get to "test" the waters a full in year in advance of him at 30, 40, 50, etc. How nice! But in spite of all my fears of turning the BIG 3-0, I will welcome it with open arms, as I have no other choice, and make the most out of this year and the many more to come. I will also promise myself to remember that age old saying as next year rolls around for Daniel's 30th, and that is..."Do unto others as they do unto you!" Let the good times roll...stay tuned for details on the BIG EVENT!
~Meagan