[TUTORIAL] Hooked on Fishtail Skirts

I'm at it again! Ever since I made that fishtail skirt the other day, I've wanted a lighter, flow-y one that would flutter behind me as I walked.

Outfits I devised to go with my new fishtail skirt. I like the far left and far right best.

So, I decided to use some vintage floral lightweight fabric I found in my stash that I inherited from my grandmother. I have devised a mini-tutorial of sorts on how I made it.

There was a lot of flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants in this post. I made up stuff on the fly and nearly literally set my skirt on fire. We'll get to that part in the tutorial....

Comforting Tuna Casserole

As a Southern girl, I love comfort food. My husband and I have lived most of our lives in the South so we grew up with awesome dishes like casseroles, real barbecue, fried chicken, fried catfish, grits, and corn bread. In reality, I never took a liking to either grits or cornbread, but my husband loves all of the above.

Today's post is about a casserole. No, not green bean casserole, mind you. I won't post that recipe until closer to the holidays along with my infamous sausage balls recipe. I present to you...... tuna casserole!

As usual, I've made variations of this tuna casserole through the years so there is no definite recipe. The one I made last night was as close to the original as I hoped to get.

Hmmm.... Doughnuts!

You guys! My air conditioning is working again! Hooray!!!

So, my nonexistent sweet tooth got the better of me. You can ask my husband because I rarely crave anything sweet. He, on the other hand, LOVES sweets. His ideal desserts would be cakes, pie, cookies, ice cream, and candy. My mom usually gave me fresh fruit for dessert as I was growing up. We rarely got ice cream or cake for dessert and that was only a few times a year.

I saw this amazing pin on Pinterest a few days ago and I had to make it. I used this recipe by Christy Jordan from Southern Plate. It is AMAZING!

Fishy Fishtail Skirts

You guys. It's freaking HOT! So my air conditioning has been broken for over 24 hours now and our landlord won't send anyone to fix it till Monday morning! UGGGH... I know I grew up without A/C, but I'm now spoiled by it's goodness. I would like it back, plz. :(

My craft room is sweltering but I shall keep on crafting!!!! I have managed to make one using Morning by Morning's maxi skirt tutorial.

I didn't want one maxi length so I made a shorter version above the knee length that tapered to right above my calves in the back

JWo's Super Awesome Spaghetti Sauce

Hello everyone! Let me start today's post with a moment of silence for the victims and families affected by the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting.



Today's post is going to be a recipe of my infamous spaghetti sauce. I've made this sauce for about 6 years now for many friends and family and they LOVE it. I've had people request it even though I haven't seen them in years.

The problem with me and recipe blog posts is that I am a cook. Not a baker. For those of you that are confused, cooks don't measure ingredients, but bakers do. I NEVER measure anything. I just throw in about how much I think it needs and hope to God that it tastes good. So far, I haven't messed up......... much.

Also, another problem is that about every time I make this spaghetti sauce it tastes different because I add different spices every time. I actually don't remember what the real recipe is so..... yeah. So, today I am going to make the basic sauce! Let's begin!

[TUTORIAL] Dress Pants to Skinny Ankle (Cigarette) Pants

Woah! I've been up FOREVER! Well, since 1pm yesterday, took a small nap, but I've been up since! I even ran this morning at 6am!

So, this post is about what I've done all night. I'm a little slow on fashion trends, but I LOVE those ankle length skinny pants, otherwise known as "cigarette" pants. While I was studying abroad in London in June 2007, these were already in style and I saw them EVERYWHERE in Camden Town. The one thing that's different with these new pants are that they're more sleek and office-approved than the skin tight cigarettes of the UK.

MONTHS ago, I bought 3 pairs of dress slacks at the thrift store: navy, black, and grey. I had the intention of making these into cigarette pants, but I FINALLY got around to trying one this morning. I found Miss Allie Jane's tutorial and was inspired! Don't get me wrong, I love her tutorial, but it didn't seem to go into deep detail so I decided to make my own tutorial covering all the little things.

Nail Fail: Scalloped French Manicures

I'm sorry everyone. I didn't post yesterday and this post will explain why. Today's post is not what you expect. Well, I would hope by now you could guess by the title.

So, I tried to do a nail polish manicure tutorial with something I had not really seen done. I was attempting a scalloped-edge French manicure. It took me 4 TRIES and I finally gave up. First time, I didn't wait long enough for the base color to try before putting on the scotch tape and it pulled up ALL of the base polish. :(

Second try, I let the base polish dry for 1 1/2 hours! And it STILL pulled up the polish when I pulled the tape off!!!!!!!! ARRRGHHHHH. The other 2 tries? Me just smearing the crap out of the polish and having to redo them. So, I just gave up and painted my nails neon yellow.

Tattoo Your Heart On My Shoulder

Today's post is a little different from most that I do. This one is a little more on the personal side of things. I saw a post on Twitter from a friend of mine asking for opinions on a tattoo she wanted to get. So I tweeted back with a few suggestions. She popped up online and we ran through a few things and I took out a 3x5 index card and started sketching away...

Sweltering Summer Days: Lemon (or Lime!) Mint Tea Recipe

I don't know about you guys, but it's HOT here in Mississippi. Who am I kidding? It's ALWAYS hot (and FREAKING HUMID) every summer in the South. Ugh.

In order to stay cool on these horrendously hot days, I make iced tea! Being the southerner that I am, it's gotta be sweetened, of course! To tell you the truth, I got out of drinking sweet tea for over a year since I moved out of my old place. My old roommates used to drink (VERY) sweet tea like water! I would watch my roommate brew sweet tea and pour an ENTIRE highball glass (12 ounces!!!!) of sugar in the pitcher.

I've been experimenting with different tea concoctions the last few weeks and my favorite is to brew green (or black) tea with peppermint tea since it adds a nice hint of minty-ness and refreshing taste. My husband HATES tea (he only drinks milk and water and very rarely some juices) so I get the entire pitcher to myself!

Alright! Let's get started!

DIY Sweetheart Bandeau Top [with link to tutorial]

Strapless tops were never one of my favorite pieces of apparel. I was a bit self conscious about my shoulders and since most of them were tight fitting, it made me dread my lower stomach pooch.

This summer, I've been looking for new pieces to wear and I found this tutorial by fake-leather via Pinterest. It looked pretty simple and I tried it out on a spaghetti strap tank I already owned but never wore.

The verdict?

I LOVE it! I've made 5 of them in different colors! The tops look especially cute with skirts and a big belt so it hides my stomach pooch quite well.

There are a few steps not covered in the tutorial that I'm going to run through.

I started with this coral colored tank:

In fake-leather's tutorial, it doesn't seem like her top had a built-in shelf bra. I really hate shelf bras with a passion and despite looking high and low for a tank that DID NOT have one, all I found were ones WITH shelf bras.

So, I'm going to show you how to cut out that shelf bra and take off the straps! All you need is a pair of sharp scissors, a steady hand, and patience. 

First, find the side seams and pick which ever side to start cutting.

Next, start cutting from the bottom where the elastic is. Cut along the seam and then veer off either left or right. Your preference.

From here, just cut carefully around the upper part near the top elastic all the way around. Be careful and try not to cut the fabric on the back side or you'll have holes show up when you wear it. A good way to prevent is to take it slow and keep your hand under the bra to make sure the scissors are between the shelf bra and tank fabric. 

After you've finished that, you can cut straight across on the front of the tank (see fake-leather's tutorial) but don't cut the back straps yet! I've found if you just cut it off, it's left with these irritating "nubs" that will dig into your backside when you wear it and makes it 100x hard to sew through on your machine or by hand.

So, take your seam ripper or your scissors and carefully find the threads that hold down your straps and snip them ONE AT A TIME. 

Do this for both straps and now you're just left with the strapless tank body to finish! Follow the rest of fake-leather's [tutorial] and you're on your way to a cute sweetheart bandeau top for summer!!!

Here's how mine turned out! (Disregard the dusty mirror and stomach pooch.)