Last year's Easter outfits were really fun to shop for, but this year I wanted to make something (like my mom did for us girls when were young). I didn't have much of anything in mind when it came to our outfits; especially with Penelope's, I just flew by the seat of my pants on that one. I just knew I wanted the boys to have matching bow-ties. I came across this rad bed sheet a few weeks ago & scored it for a whopping $2.50. I fell in love with the ikat-style pattern, the muted color palette and the hem. I hate hemming clothes, so I was particularly excited when I saw how great the hem was on this bedsheet. Inspired by the Cotton & Curls's paper bag skirt tutorial, I made a paper bag-type skirt with a few differences. Because I wanted a fuller skirt, I opted out of the box pleats & did an elastic waistband instead. Want to make your own? It's super simple:

• measure your waist & the length you want your skirt
• cut out fabric 2.5 times the width of your waist (for a full skirt like mine) at the desired length + 1 inch (two inches if you need to hem the bottom, too)
• hem the top & bottom of your skirt using a 1" hem
• cut out elastic at the same measurement as your waist
• pin the elastic about 1 inch down from the top of your skirt, in sections of eighths
• using your widest zig-zag stitch sew the elastic onto your skirt, stretching the elastic to match up with the fabric as you go
• sew the two ends of the skirt together & trim threads
• wear the skirt with a belt just below the ruffled top
• VOILA!!

If you'd like pics of this tutorial, give me a shout out in the comments & I'll get one published soon. For Penelope's dress, I flew by the seat of my pants. Again, being inspired by the box pleats from cotton & curls, I thought if I did a square dress + pin-tucks at the yoke + a ribbon around the waist, it'd be simple & still have shape. Done. Perfect. Looking back, I think I would've made her dress a little shorter. On the bright side, she is growing like a weed, so the length will be perfect in a month or two. BONUS, Penelope likes this dress!! YAHOO. She was more than happy to wear this ALL day, which says a lot. She opts to sport just the diaper most of the time. I totally cheated on the bow ties. I meant to make real bow ties, but since my sewing machine was almost completely broken at this point, I just made bows with my hot glue gun & glued them onto elastic. I cheated, but at least Chris (and his brother) didn't have to learn how to tie a bow tie just minutes before church. Each bow tie I made took 2-3 minutes. Not bad. Overall, I spent under $3 (including notions) for our Easter elements. For more pictures & a break down of all of our Easter outfits, head over to the fashion section.