Fruit Kabobs

Today we went to a family Memorial Day BBQ.  If there is ever a time to make a Pinterest food item, it's for a BBQ.  Share the Pinterest love!

My Aunt-in-law had asked us to bring fruit.  No problemo, because I had seen some adorable Fruit Kabobs on Pinterest recently:

While these are adorable, they are a little too perfect for me - I mean the raspberries must be genetically engineered to be the exact same shape, size and color!

Anyhow, I set off to the grocery store and collected strawberries, green grapes, watermelon, cantelope, blueberries and pineapple and some 12" wooden skewers.  Nom nom.

The Pinspiring Husband helped slice the fruit and I skewered away.  The BBQ attendees thought the presentation was really cute, and it turns out, 12" holds just the right serving size of fruit.

Sorry there aren't more photos, my hands were coated in fruit juices - not conducive to handling the fancy camera.  :-)

Unintentional Break

Guys, I have been MIA from posting due to a few things:

1) My back went out in early May.  It sucked, and I've been doing Physical Therapy a few times a week.  My PSA to anyone who has had a baby - start building your core back up ASAP after you have that baby.  I was a total slacker after little man came along - before him I was a Spinning instructor, worked out a few times a week, I was in great shape.  After him I didn't set foot in a gym until he was 13 months old.  And when I did, I thought, "Hey, Spinning class!" and I felt awesome until a few hours later when I couldn't even get off the couch or walk because I had raw nerve pain shooting up and down my back, in to my legs, etc.  Essentially, because I had done nothing to build my core back, my back was overcompensating and doing all the work, and I must have twisted, or lifted wrong, and my back just couldn't do it anymore.  It sucked.  I couldn't pick up my (25 pound) baby, couldn't go to work, I honestly laid on the couch for 3 days trying not to move. 

2)  I was working on some non-Pinterest projects!  I replaced a zipper on a super cute Steve Madden motorcycle jacket that my colleague's daughter recieved as a gift - but it had no zipper pull!  And I did some alterations on a friend's Ellen Tracy dress - there was some draping that had gone all wrong, which is probably why she was able to snatch it up from a thrift shop for like $6.

3)  I have been getting myself ready for some work travel that I will embark on tomorrow.  When I say get myself ready, it's more of getting myself mentally and emotionall ready to leave the family for the week.  Business travel lost its luster quite fast once I had the little man.  So I've been making some deposits in my cuddle reserve, since I will be withdrawing a bunch between Tuesday and Friday.

Before I check out completely for the week, I will post a quick little project I did today, because it's friggin easy and cute.

Ciao! 

Three Seam Skirt

When it comes to summer in the DC area, skirts and dresses are where it's at if a lady is going to keep her cool whatsoever.  And Pinterest is where it's at to get inspiration, tutorials and motivation to make skirts.  Just check out my Details in the Fabric pinboard and this skirt in particular by Dixie DIY and you will see that I've been a little obsessed with skirts as of late. 

I wanted to make something really easy, light and fun, so I settled on a basic elastic waist, knee-length style.  I had fabric that had been waiting around for me to decide what to do with it...seriously, I'd had this fabric since 2009...  I found it on the $2.97/yard table at G Street, and I bought the entire piece, which ended up being like 4 yards.

A while back, I had made some pajama pants (that I loved so much, and that recently they basically disintegrated on my body due to years of wear) with a super wide elastic waistband.  I thought that this concept would carry over well to a skirt, so I busted out my 2" elastic.  And of course, basic white thread.

The fabric was 54" wide, and most of the gathered skirt tutorials I had been reading said I should be able to wrap the fabric around my waist/hips one and a half times.  Without releasing my exact measurements to the world wide web, let's just say that 54" was plenty.  I went with it.  I guestimated on the length -- I knew I wanted the whole height of the pattern, with a little white at the top, and that turned out to be 27", factoring in a 2" elastic waistband foldover, and 3/4" hem.  The finished length is 22".

As for the assembly...

Folded the fabric in half, width-wise, and sewed the two selvadges together to create the back seam. 

Pressed the seam allowance open.

Folded over the top edge a 1/2" and press.  Then fold over again 2 1/2" and press.  Sew with 1/4" seam allowance at the first fold, leaving a 3" opening to feed the elastic through.  This makes the elastic casing.

Attach a large safety pin to one end of the elastic, and feed it through the casing.

Once the elastic goes through the whole casing, stitch the two elastic ends together.  Stitch the remaining 3" opening of the casing.  Adjust the elastic inside the casing so the gathering is even.

To hem the skirt, fold the bottom raw edge 1/2" and press.  Fold again at 3/4" and press.  Stitch 1/8" from the folded edge.

And there you have it!  A three seam skirt!  Easy peasy, and cute to boot!

As I mentioned above, I went with a 2" elastic waistband...in this case, I think a smooth 2" waistband would have been more flattering than a gathered elastic waistband.  I think it adds some unnecessary bulk, which is why I styled it with a chunky belt.  Nevertheless, this skirt will be in regular rotation this summer, both at work and at play!