Lunch Break Make: Pencil Skirt

Did you ever think you'd see a Lunch Break Make again? It's only been eight months since the last one! Honestly, I didn't even plan on this project being a part of this series, but I was pleasantly surprised that this came together so quickly! I found this tutorial on Pinterest and already had some fabric that my sister gave me so I ended up with a FREE skirt! Woohoo!

Easy and comfortable!

Like I said, I mostly used the tutorial on Pinterest, but modified it a bit so it was even easier. Be sure to use a fabric with a bit of stretch so you don't have to bother with a zipper or elastic thread. After measuring, I folded the top and bottom over two inches and made a hem and waistband. Then I sewed together the two ends, basically making a tube. I tried it on, and pinched the extra fabric in the back and pinned. Then I took it off, inverted the spots I pinned and sewed them to make darts (sorry there is not a picture of this). And you're done!

See through fabric is better with a slip under it!

I loved pairing it with my flats for work, but I first tried it on with some nude pumps and loved that look too. The possibilities are endless with this skirt! I hope you'll try it out, and if you do I'd love to see pictures!

Lunch Break Make: Button Ornament

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Friday night, Marcus and I decorated the house while watching Home Alone (one of my top five favorite movies of all time). I just love this time of year, and it's such a fun time in our lives as we create new family traditions and combine the traditions we grew up with.

My family never really had a tradition of making ornaments, but my mom insisted on keeping EVERY (and I mean every) single ornament I ever made in school or church and they ALL go up on the tree year after year.  We joke that we have the tackiest tree on the block, but it really is fun to see all our "artwork" and it's special to have a tree that's so personal to our family and full of stories and memories.  

This is the second Christmas for Marcus and me as a married couple and we don't have any handmade ornaments on our tree yet, so over Thanksgiving, I decided to make one!

This is a perfect Lunch Break Make. It takes about an hour, and once again, you can do this at your desk at the office, or on your couch, or if you're like my sister, on the train while commuting into the city!

Here's what you'll need:

Styrofoam ball, ribbon, glass-head pins, buttons!

Starting with a larger button, stick two pins through the button holes into the foam ball:

Repeat!

Continue to cover the ball with buttons, using small ones to overlap.

Tie a pretty little bow with your ribbon, and pin it to the ball.

And then you have a lovely handmade ornament! 

I used a combination of green and red, but you could use any color combo you like.  Wouldn't a white and silver one be pretty?

I originally saw this ornament at Curbly, and I'm linking up at Tip Junkie- check it out for lots of fun ideas!

Introducing: Lunch Break Makes!

I'm so excited to share with you what will hopefully be the first in a regular series of posts here on the all-new Wish You Were Here blog! If you're anything like me, you've probably been spending a lot of time on Pinterest and discovering new blogs chock-full of inspiration for cooking, decorating, gifting, and wearing.  While my list of projects continues to grow, my time to work on them seems to get shorter. Many of the bloggers I follow are fortunate to call blogging their full-time job, but most of my friends do well to find the time to even read a blog every day, much less try out those awesome free tutorials they read about.

Thus, the idea for Lunch Break Makes was born.  In each post, I'll show you a tutorial for a project that I was able to complete in under one hour- on my lunch break!  It will be a way for me to tackle some fun and easy projects, and hopefully serve as some encouragement for all you working women!

So are you ready to get crafty? How about a really cute scarf to start things off?

This first project is one that I finished in exactly one hour. The best part is that the only supplies required are old t-shirts and scissors- so you can even do this at your desk without leaving the office!

I found this project on Pinterest and followed this tutorial at Kevin and Amanda. I had tons of t-shirt scraps leftover from my quilt, so I picked out some favorite colors and got to work!

I chose four different colors, but you can use more or less! I think if I were to make another one, I might go with a solid or two colors at most. After you have your shirts picked out, cut off the hems and set them aside.  Then, cut the shirts into strips, 3/4 inch wide.

I used my rotary cutter, but scissors will work fine. And don't worry about getting each strip exactly 3/4 inch (you can tell I definitely didn't!). The tutorial suggests 32 strips. If you want a longer scarf, cut more! I stuck to 32, so 8 strips from each color.

Once you've cut all your strips out, stretch them out! Then wrap them around your hand to create little ringlets.

Now take those hems you set aside and cut them into five inch strips. Then, just tie your ringlets together, and you have yourself a scarf!

I hope you'll give it a try!

This week I'm linking up at Tip Junkie for Tip Me Tuesday!