Beautiful Christmas Pillows ~ From a Re-Purposed Skirt!

So I was cleaning out my closet recently, and came across this skirt that I've never worn! It was given to me in a bag of used clothing a few years back. I was trying things on, making piles of 'give away', 'too small', 'too large'... (Ok, so this last pile wasn't very large. Enough said.)

ANYWAY, back to the important stuff... I found this skirt and I actually tried it on before I realized it had some tan paint all over it, in places not seen from the front view. I loved the ribbon embellishments and not seen in the photo are the sequins and beads that are decorating it, also. I immediately realized I would never be able to wear it with the paint on it, but I could turn it into a Christmas pillow!! I was so excited! I could see it in my mind already. I ran the idea past my youngest daughter. She thought it was a great idea, only she suggested I make two smaller pillows instead of one larger pillow. Even better! So off to my craft room I went!

I started by trying to steam out the deep wrinkles. It didn't work as well as I wanted it to, but I figured if I stuffed it full enough it may not even matter. So now it was time to start cutting.

I cut the upper part of the skirt off, which included the waistband and the pleats. I also salvaged the zipper and the inner lining. (To use later...on another project, hopefully!)

I cut the front section in half up the middle, cutting the back of the skirt at the same time. I measured the two sections (right and left) and trimmed them up to be as close to the same size as possible.

Then I turned them wrong-side out, and started sewing. I started with the bottom, where the original skirt hem had been. Then up the left side, then the right side. Then I sewed along the top about 1/3 of the way. Then I sewed from the other side along the top edge about 1/3 of the way, leaving about a 1/3 opening in the middle for turning and stuffing. (The edge that's facing the snowman mug is where I left an opening.)

I had this bed/chair thing I was given from my Dad. It was only used a few times, but since I also had no use for it... I decided to make use of the insides! (I also plan to save the outside tan corduroy for another project.)

So I turned the pillow pieces right-side out, pulling them through the opening I had left earlier. I used a chop-stick that I inserted through the opening and helped to shape the corners before I started to stuff.

I then started on the bed/chair. I cut a slit along a seam to get out the stuffing and try not to ruin the large pieces of corduroy.

I just started pulling clumps of stuffing out and put them inside one of the pillow pieces, stuffing until quite full.

I then hand-stitched along the small 1/3 opening I had left earlier and... ta-da! The finished pillows!

Beautiful! All ready for Christmas and they didn't cost me a cent!

Homemade Foam Soap

What a quick & easy $$$ saver!!

This is so easy and quick and will save you lots of $$$$!

What you'll need:

(1) 1 new or used foam soap container (I purchased mine full of soap, used the soap, then made more!)

(2) Any liquid soap/body wash/dish soap/ baby wash, etc without moisturizers or lotions. (If you can't see through the soap, it won't work well in the pump.)

*Optional (3) Another cool option is to simply purchase clear liquid soap refill containers and add a small amount of food coloring to make the soap match the room it will go into!

STEP 1: Clean out used container.

STEP 2: Add: 2 tablespoons liquid soap of your choice & 2/3 cups water. If you're adding coloring, do it now. Just a few drops at a time.

STEP 3: Put the lid back on and gently agitate, mixing the soap with the water without creating lots of bubbles.... DON'T SHAKE!!! Or you can just use a straw or chopstick to gently mix,.. even a butter knife will work.

That's it! Enjoy your super cheap and highly color-coordinated homemade foam hand-soap! (Whew...tongue twister!)

Harvest Spice Pancakes

Boxed cake mix, an egg & applesauce. Delicious!

So my husband gets the credit for these delicious pancakes....(thought I'd just get that out of the way now!). He's a big fan of pancakes, and we've had a few variations over the years: whole-wheat, buttermilk, cranberry~orange (made with craisins and orange zest or extract) and of course chocolate chip, pecan, etc. But one day he asked me if I could use a spice cake mix to make pancakes. I thought, "Why not?" I mean, they turn cake mixes into everything else...if I just used the mix itself as my dry ingredients and add the required wet ingredients.... mix it into a batter. Ta-da! Yummy pancakes. Right!? So off to the store I go...

Ingredients:

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix
1 egg
1 snack cup applesauce, sugar-free (1/4 cup)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

I decided to add the flaxseed just for the health benefits. No one ever seems to notice it's even in there, and it's so good for you!

Mix all ingredients until well combined. Add more water if your batter is too thick. Cook. Enjoy.

The pancakes turned out great, so much more flavor than a regular pancake. Doesn't need syrup or butter since it was so tasty, but I think my husband used it anyway! By the way, he loved them!