Shabby Chic Christmas Tree Skirt

This is probably the shortest post ever, but I had to share the idea. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was changing the color of my Christmas decorations this year. I typically use red and green but my living room is now shabby chic, so I have chosen pink and white colors this year. My Christmas tree is a white flocked tree so I have been searching for a shabby chic tree skirt. I encountered 2 issues in my quest, on-line shabby chic tree skirts are very expensive so this is not an option, and many local shopping trips have proven that I might be the only shabby chic lover in town! I finally decided my only option would be to make my own shabby chic tree skirt. As you probably know by now, my sister and I are always looking for ways to re-purpose items. So...I was looking around my house for something pink and white, and I found the perfect item! It was a bridesmaid dress from my own wedding! I have been using the material from the dress for other small DIY projects, such as the Simply Framed Vintage Jewelry Project in a previous post. Luckily, I still had most of the dress intact, so I folded the top half of the dress underneath to the inside of the skirt portion, my daughter lifted the Christmas tree a few inches from the floor and I slipped the entire dress under the tree stand! I fluffed it up a little and I now have a very special shabby chic tree skirt! A simple, re-purposing DIY project and you know how we love it when the price tag is .... free!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Thanksgiving Day Has Arrived!

We are celebrating Thanksgiving Day today! It's early in the morning, the sun is shining through the windows, and it is perfect, peaceful morning. In a mere 5 hours, the house will be filled with the aroma of turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, squash, sweet potatoes, fresh fruit salad, freshly baked sweet buns, and warm peach cobbler! The sounds of laughter will fill our home, children talking (all 7 of them at the same time), and the clanging of pots and pans will ring in the background as we place the food on the table. Then it happens, we are finally sitting at the table, ready to eat. But first, we give thanks. After the Thanksgiving blessing, we all share what we are most thankful for. The most touching and humorous responses are from the children - I can hardly wait!
I am most grateful this year for the everyday blessings. I am grateful for each morning, for my family and friends, my health, my faith, my freedom, and the tradition of holidays. As we begin the holiday season today by giving thanks, my hope is that each of us will find a way to give to those less fortunate. May you be blessed today and remember to give thanks for what you already have. My sister and I would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi and Angie

Recovering a Vintage Chair

I recently started using my grandma's old sewing cabinet in my craft room and paired it with my husband's grandma's sewing chair. It made a perfect duo and the chair is exactly the right height. I was not too fond of the material on the chair since it goes with nothing in our home. I had one piece of my shabby chic material that I used for the DIY Shabby Chic Ottoman Project and a few other little projects, so I decided to use that. Then the chair can serve as an extra dining room chair when we are all together for special occasions.
I tipped the chair upside down and removed the 4 screws underneath and the seat fell off, just what I wanted! So I measured my material, leaving a couple of inches all the way around the outside. I cut the material and using my rather new staple gun, stapled 2 sides, then stapled the other 2 sides folding the ends like the ends on a present. One side underneath and then fold the remaining corner over the top, staple and done!
My new old sewing chair! I love doing projects with items from the family, they are the most special!

After

Before

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Simply Cute Cupcake Decoration and Colored Plate

It was craft time at Nana's last weekend. My 9 year old granddaughter spent some time with me and she made a cupcake decoration. We had a house full of family, helping me with my Christmas tree, stringing lights around the deck, and making some new holiday decorations. Usually I decorate using red and green but this year I really wanted to change to a more shabby chic, vintage Christmas. You know what that means, lots of pink!
How to make cupcake decoration:
Styrofoam balls (use any size) I used the hard foam
Mod podge
Acrylic paint
Epsom salts
Glitter
Cupcake wrapper
Decoration for the cupcake top

Start with the size ball that will fit in your cupcake wrapper. Paint the ball with your favorite color. Let it dry, it only takes 15 minutes. Brush a coat of mod podge over the ball but don't brush over the top. Sprinkle glitter over the mod podge, we used pink glitter. When this is dry, paint mod podge over the top and dip the top into Epsom salts. Sprinkle glitter over the Epsom salts. Top with a decoration. We used a decoration that looks like a gum drop, it had a little wire in it, so we poked it into the top of the ball. You can glue your decoration on top if you ornament doesn't come with a wire. Place the cupcake into the cupcake wrapper. This is great project for children, you could use glitter glue rather than sprinkle glitter for younger children, it might be less messy.

Colored Cake Plate Directions:
For the cake stand we followed the directions for the Simply Homemade Party Cake Stands on a previous blog. We wanted a pink cake plate so we mixed 2 drops of red food coloring with some mod podge and brushed it on the underside of the plate and the candlestick holder. It took a couple of hours for it to dry. It's beautiful, it looks like vintage pink glass!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi