My $9.56 Fall Mantle

I can NOT even believe this summer is almost over!  Or that I'm about to have another birthday, or that my little boy is almost ONE.  The past few months (more like the past year) have seemingly disappeared.

I am not particularly excited about the end of the summer because it seems like we didn't get the chance to do many fun summery things due to a busy schedule and the infernal temperatures for most of the past 3 months.  HOWEVER, the end of summer means the beginning of fall, which I am definitely excited about.

There is a new epic time-waster in my life (Pinterest) which I'll write more about later, but the upside to the countless hours I've spent on that dang website is lots and lots of inspiration for all kind of things, including fall decor and recipes.  I've been wanting to change up our mantle for awhile now, as it has been the same since we moved a year ago and it's not really anything to write home about; just a smattering of some random vases, candles, and so forth.  I got a lot of ideas on Pinterest for a fall mantle, but I really didn't want to spend a lot of money.  So here's what I came up with:

Things I already had: mason jars (they seem to be all the rage these days, good thing I have lots!), coffee beans (used to fill a couple of the jars), yellow vase, votive and pillar candles and jar candle (I seem to hoard candles, I forgot I had all these), candlesticks, and frame.

Things I bought on sale at JoAnn: garland ($4.79), berry sprigs (2 @ $1.79), and a package of leaves ($1.19) one which I put in the frame, and the rest I'll also use for a centerpiece.

I would be prouder if I had done it for less, but 10 bucks isn't bad, right?

Easy Summer Skirts

I saw this online awhile ago, and it is just BRILLIANT.  Luckily I already had some elastic thread in my sewing stash, so I quickly set out to make one of these. 

It turns out, they are so easy and fun that I've made 3 so far and have material and supplies to make even more!  I bought some men's 2XL shirts on a super-cheap clearance rack and made a couple following the directions (although, I found out I had to take in the sides of the top of the skirt about 4 inches BEFORE shirring). 

I also had some cute fabric that I wasn't sure quite what to do with, so I whipped up another skirt using plain old fabric.  I took a skirt I already had to use as a pattern, cut 2 pieces of fabric the width of the bottom of my pattern skirt, and cut a slight A-line to the top (but made the top much wider because the shirring takes in several inches).  Then I sewed the sides together and hemmed the bottom, and did a very simple hem on the top before shirring.  At first it was a little loose around the waist, but I was thankful later because washing and drying the skirt shrunk it to a perfect fit.  It took less than an hour, and the ones I made using t-shirts took even less--about 20-30 minutes!  So fun!

Excuse the bad picture--It's a self-timed shot!