My Finest Craft (so far;) - Double Ruffle Burlap Tree Skirt

Before I decided to make wreaths and sell them, I ordered a Brother sewing machine from Bed Bath & Beyond with the last of my wedding gift cards. I needed some sort of project to get to know my machine, so I undertook making a Christmas Tree Skirt for a co-worker. Little did I know 1) how long it would really take to create 2) how much I wouldn't want to give it to her when I was done because I loved it so much!!! But, since she paid for all the materials, I figured it was only fair. I now have planned in my mind to make one for myself - but until that time, here are pictures of the one I did complete. What you can't see is that it is fully backed with a muslin type material and the ribbons are even hemmed. This tree skirt was my baby! Behold...

~Rachael Leigh

Dining Room Decor

Our apartment is slowly (but surely) looking more and more like a home. I'm quite positive that the moment I hang the last bit of decor, it will be time to move into the house we hope to purchase this summer. Regardless, my most recent home decor bit to be proud of is my dining room. I got a new bar height dining room set from a extended family member for free! It needs some love (refinishing), but until we have a yard or garage to refinish the table in, I have opted for a beautiful honeydew table cloth from Bed Bath & Beyond. In addition, I finally hung the beautiful wreath my mom made me as a wedding gift (she made it out of coffee filters, how crafty is that?!).

~Rachael Leigh

Christmas Baking!

Yes, this post comes a bit late - but here is a flash back to December and what I made for gifts and parties^_^

Ritz and Peanut Butter Cookies in White Chocolate

Coconut Truffles

Party Tray with Ritz Cookies, Coconut Truffles and Scotcharoos!

Sausage Cheese Rolls

Amish Friendship Bread (banana version)

~Rachael Leigh

Wreaths, Wreaths and More Wreaths!

Turns out, the demand for wreaths around Christmas time was more vast than even I had hoped! I ended up making TWELVE wreaths in two months! Plus a couple other (LARGE) projects, to be shown in a later post:) In addition to the three wreaths I previously posted, check out the other wreaths I made this year:)

This red chevron one was probably the most popular wreath I made, I had two order for it!

Mini wreath for the MIL!

Can't wait for next year and new wreaths!

~Rachael Leigh

Wreaths Galore!

Wreaths are like potato chips - you can't just have/make one!

I made two more for gifts (shown below) and still have one more for gift-giving planned. Meanwhile, I decided I may as well try my hand at selling them since now is the prime time for people to be buying them...in one day I have already received FOUR wreath orders! So pictures of those wreaths will be coming soon (once I've made them, of course;)

Christmas Wreath^_^

Harvest Wreath^_^

~Rachael Leigh

Home Decor

Samuel and I moved into our apartment a little over two months ago. At first it was crazy getting into a routine with work and getting all settled - but after about a month, I finally started planning some decor. For the past couple years I've pinned things on Pintrest, hoping for the day I had my own place to decorate. So a few weeks back, my sweet hubby hung some frames and mirrors. I don't have pictures of all the wall decor, but this is by far my favorite arrangement. More decor to come!

~Rachael Leigh

First Burlap Wreath

As you may have read in my "About Me" section, my husband and I got married 6 months ago. We had the dream theme for our wedding, Vintage/Shabby Chic/Southern (if you can really call that a theme). This being said, I have TONS of burlap left over from the wedding that I have decided I need to put to good use. Oddly, there aren't many burlap crafts/DIY home decor projects that I am attracted to, but the one thing I LOVE is burlap wreaths. So last week, I decided to try my hand at one. 

Sadly, it was hard to find a tutorial video that was thorough and well recorded to show how to make the loops (obviously for a beginner). I ended up just having to try it (with the bit of knowledge I did reap from the various videos I viewed). But I don't think it turned out half bad.

I ended up weaving the burlap on the two outer loops (this probably doesn't make sense if you've never made one), and then alternated the colored ribbons over the middle loop. I didn't actually pull the two color ribbons through the wreath, they are simply wired to the top where the vertical pieces of wire run from the inside of the wreath to the outside.

Trying to figure out how to tie the bow probably took me the longest, I actually ended up doing it in three pieces - but it was definitely more manageable this way. In all, it took me the length of "Age of Adaline" to create this wreath:)

Excuse the random toes and socks in my pictures - I will work on my photography skills.

~Rachael Leigh