DIY: Burlap Sack Wall Art

I've been a bit obsessed with burlap lately, and last year when we went to Bailey's, I bought a bunch of burlap bags for super cheap. (Everything at Bailey's is inexpensive, and I think I'm needing to make a trip again this year...) You could also by burlap from a fabric store. It even comes in different shades of browns and sometimes different colors. I also had some canvases laying around and decided to put two and two together to make a piece to put up in our dining room.

First off, I bought clearance paint at Home Depot for 50 cents. (In case you didn't know, most hardware stores have a small selection of discounted paint that customers have brought back for various reasons.)

I painted my canvas with the tan paint so that you wouldn't be able to see any white showing through once the burlap was on. Obviously, the paint job doesn't have to be perfect.

Next, my handy dandy model of a husband shows us that we had to measure and fit the bag to the canvas. I really love Germany (and want to travel there someday), so this coffee bag had me at "hallo". Get it? Yep.

Here's the back of the canvas. It was hard to get the bag to fit around the canvas. We toyed with the idea of actually putting the canvas in the bag, but there were a few holes that appeared when we did that, so we had to leave the bag on top.

Once we got the bag where we wanted it, I tried to staple it to the canvas. Apparantly, my muscles aren't big enough to actually work the staple gun, so Dan followed my directions and stapled the bag to the canvas.

Here is the finished product today. The sides are a bit unraveled. I can't decide if I like that look, or if I need to put it in a frame. Any thoughts?


This whole project including the nail for the wall cost about $4.00 and took about 20 minutes. Cheap, easy, fun!

DIY: Tutu

Finally I've had some time to post! Woo hoo! I'm done with my Transition to Teaching classes for the semester, and we've had tons of snow...which means no school for the past couple of days! I love to have 4 day weekends, but I don't love not being paid... However, I've had lots of time to relax, hang out with my hubby, watch 30 Rock season 1, wrap presents, and be crafty.

Here are the step by steps directions on how to make a tutu. Let me know if you try it out!

Step 1: Pick out your favorite colors.

Step 2: Cut the tulle to the desired length. (Dan bought me this handy little cutting board and rotary cutter which has made the process waaayyy easier than using scissors.) As a rough estimate, I usually use around 100 pieces of tulle per tutu.

Steph 3: Cut elastic to the desired size. (Measure around the child's waist. If the child isn't near you or its for a gift, I usually make a 1 year old's waist band about 16-17").


Step 4: Pick the pattern of colors you'd like, and then evenly place them on the elastic.

Step 5: Tie the tulle on the elastic in a double knot. Every once in awhile push the knots together so you can fit more tulle on the elastic. The more tulle, the fluffier the tutu!

Step 5 1/2: Once I'm about half way done, I sew the two ends of the elastic together with my sewing machine. You can also do it by hand, too!

Step 6: Enjoy your tutu!

You can also add fun ribbon, feathers, flowers, etc. to really make your tutu stand out.

Shameless Plug:
Now, if you like the tutu but think that you don't have the time or patience to make one...don't worry! I sell them!

For babies through 2 year olds, it is $20 plus shipping. This price includes a matching headband.

Children 3-6 it is $25 plus shipping. This price includes either a matching headband or ponytail holder.