cute cascade ruffle skirt

Here’s is the tutorial. The measurements used are for a 4T/5T size so you’ll just have to adjust it slightly for other sizes.

Step 1: Cut 2 9.5″ x 20″ pieces of cotton lycra or stretch knit. This will be the front and back of the skirt.
Step 2: Cut the sides of the 2 pieces at an angle as shown in the photo
Step 3: Fold both pieces in half and use a marker to draw a curve at the bottom of the skirt as shown in the photo.
Step 4: Cut out the curve at the bottom of the skirt.

Step 5: Take one of the pieces for the back and cut it into 2 using the fold.
Step 6: Place the two newly cut pieces face down onto the front piece and sew up the sides shown.
Photo 7: This is how your skirt will look at this point.
Step 8: Print out the template at the bottom of the post and use it to make a full template shown in the photo (i.e. not on the fold). Cut out your ruffle pieces (cut one to test first….see next step).

tep 9: Before you cut all of the ruffles stretch one out and make sure it is long enough for your skirt. If not, lengthen or shorten the pattern as needed.
Step 10: Cut all of the ruffles. I cut about 4 at a time……I needed 15 ruffles total for my skirt. You may need more or less depending on how ruffly you want it.
Step 11: Mark the center of your skirt.
Step 12: Tick off 1.5″ or 2″ increments all the way around the top of the skirt starting at the center point.

Step 17: Fold the skirt in half right sides together. Carefully sew the back shut so you don’t sew over any ruffles.
Step 18: Cut out one piece of stretch knit 4″ x 24″ for the waistband and fold in half long ways (right sides together) and sew the edge shut as shown.
Step 19: Mark the waistband in quarters.
Step 20: Fit the waistband over the right side up skirt (waistband should be inside out) and pin in quarters all the  way around the top of the skirt.

Step 21: Carefully sew the waistband to the skirt.
Step 22: Cut a piece of 21″ piece elastic and sew the loop shut.
Step 23: With the skirt inside out, carefully sew the elastic to the top of the waistband all the way around. You will have to stretch the elastic to fit the waistband.
Step 24: Once the waistband is attached, turn the skirt right side out and flip the waistband under. Top stitch the waistband on top of the elastic all the way around, stretching to keep it smooth.

Wedding vVideo made by my sweet Husband

E-mail I wrote today About my Weightloss.

Tonya,

  I believe Plexus Slim has indeed been the key to my weight loss. I too asked Darrah many questions before I even bought the trial pkg. I tend to have shakes or sugar levels drop from appetite suppressants. I decided the 3 day trial pkg would be worth trying that way I wouldn't be out all the money. The first day I felt so empowered and focused at the same time and not jittery, shaky or too caffinated to function. The first comment I made to Dan was, "I have never felt so energized and focused at the same time!" I imediately ordered 2 more sample pks so I could try it for 9 days and see what the results would be. First thing u do is measure your waist or wear a tight shirt. I did both as well as weigh myself. After the 3 days I has lost 3 lbs and 1 inch!.
  First and foremost I hate having direct sales products crammed down my throat. I liked this type though because you aren't pressured to have a" party" for the product. Actually I should have told you this. In Oct. I had been feeling convicted strongly by God to quit putting food before him and lose weight. I started trying out other products and ways and no they didn't do a thing. I came across a post for Plexus from a total stranger and was intrigued because it was a normal person and not someone who turned into a body builder or super model. I looked it up but quickly didn't believe it could be effective since it was a drink once a day and/or a accelerator if u choose. i even showed my husband and he looked at it and he was skeptical too. "I distinctly remember telling him, if I knew someone personally doing this it would help me decide to try this".
 After going to our small group one Sunday night I felt so convicted to ask for prayers to get my weight under control. THe next morning is when I made the post about christian weightloss blogs/ sites u had responded to. After looking for the book I come across a post in a blog with a sermon about glorifying God with our bodies. I just kept receiving confirmation that he was telling me to lose it! Then Darrah made her post about losing 20 lbs on Plexus. I was excited because now I knew someone in real life using this product.
  Let me tell you how it has worked and effected me. First I told u it gave me an huge surge or energy and focus. The next day my body had settled from the sensation of the day before but not a bad settle more like adjusted. You have to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day which shouldn't be a problem because if there is a side effect it is I'm thirsty only for water all day long. This means my mouth gets a little dry but once I drink water I'm ok. It did increase my urine for a few days. Now, I wouldn't say that this product has supressed my appetite where I don't want to eat but it has curbed my appetite to where I make healthier choices for my meals and not crave all the carbs, sugars,caffiene, and Chocolate! I must be the weird one in the adventure because the week before Christmas i joined a gym too.

 Now back to day 6 of the trial i have to tell you is when I decided i must get the months worth. For so long now I have felt dibilitated after my 3  yr olds birth from pain in my right hip and lower back. After the 6th day and 6 pounds off my body I had imediate relief and slept the entire night with no pain. I was amazed how 6 lbs made such a difference. This is when I started doing some areobic type excercises prompting me to join the gym. I feel the not eating so much junk and no soda had given me the freedom to move. I fully believe God pointed me to this product to jumpstart and maintaine myself.

I'm try to hurry and wrap this up but first i want to tell you I have 70 more lbs to lose. I know outrageous right. If I lose 10 lbs a month I'll be at a desirable size by my anniversary in Sept. I wasn't going to sign on until I lost at least 40lbs where people would see big results but I couldn't wait. So any way. I hope this helps.

I am ashamed of myself...but I refuse to stay this way.

  This blog I have been fighting to not write for over a month now. Embarrassed, ashamed, digusted, are just the start of how I feel about myself. Being over weight for so many years and it spiraling out of control I have been scared I would never get my health back on track. There has been certain events this past year that really has pulled at my heart strings. 

  I've always felt I needed to do something to get back into motivation. Thank goodness my husband Dan has not given up on me through it all. He has bought me so many different things I've asked for to get down to a decent size. There was a break through so I thought a few years ago by going to a weight Dr. and I did lose 30 lbs but it was at a high price where my health was concerned. See this drug phenermine suppressed my appetite down to nothing. It even made me not want water which is really bad. I had two episodes around 2 Am where I thought i was going to die. I got extremely dizzy cold sweats. I grabbed a slimfast drink from the fridge and drank it quickly. It turns out I was having low sugar attacks since I was only taking in about 500 cal. A DAY. I also started losing my hair from lack of nutrition.

  God has really been throwing me curveballs trying to get me to pay attention to what is becoming of myself. He confirmed more than once last month that I need to change my habits, no that is putting it nicely my addictions to food. The Holy Spirit  has put in my heart I am sinning by making food my idol. I have denied this as truth for far too long. I should've started this blog then but I was still being prideful. I didn't want to air out my dirty laundry to the world.

 Last year God called me to fast but not the conventional fast but The Daniel Fast. I ate so clean my skin looked better, my dry scalp was clearing up. With the anointing of the spirit it is entirely possible to 

eat only foods that glorifies "Him". When I turned my focus off him during the fast and was focusing on" what can I eat?" I felt I needed to end the fast. I made something that was supposed to glorify God about me and that was wrong.

 Looking back this last year I am thankful to be given painful "insights". We had to a Pizza Buffet there was a table of two women sitting in front of us. The mom of two young children was sitting in her booth on the same side I was to where I could see her from behind. This sounds totally judgemental and it is but she had very trashy look going on. Dan had gotten up to get more to eat while I was still seated and when he returned from the buffet he sat down at the wrong table. He saw this woman from the corner of his eye and thought she was me! I was so appalled and disgusted. She way she was dressed , the way she had her hair was similar to mine the only difference was she sported facial piercings and tattoos. It really hurt me. It wasn't what he did, it was I let myself go.

If I don't vent...I may just blow!

You know what this is going to be a pity party. My whole life I have tried to be myself and rarely does this seem to be good enough. I feel like being "me" is not at all interesting to the world to people I'd like to think is my friends my family... my husband. It seems like my appeal to others is about as good as a 2nd hand bag from Good Will. I'm not that desired coveted purse in the department store window, I'm the one that someone bought because it was convenient got the job done but when something fresh and interesting come along I was tossed in the pile to be donated out. At least I'm not totally outdated to where I'm tossed in the garbage I suppose.
  I feel as though I must be a bore to talk with because anymore, I'm lucky to get a text to see how I'm doing. I hate texting, I feel like people use it as a mechanism to avoid a meaningful conversation or to waste their valuable time one me. If I do get conversations it is from someone who has idle time while they are DRIVING!!!! It's like I'm driving across town so I thought  since I have this 10 mins of driving I'll chat but when I get out of the car I don't have time for you any longer. great ,thanks, so glad I'm just worth your drive time.
 Oh I can't on with this it is not helping me at all.

God's Chosen Path

So today was kinda amazing.  What seemed to be a simple outing to the park with the kids turned out to be so much more!  I knew we need to get out of the house while Dan was gone taking Jordan to his dentist visit and back to his mom.  I went back and forth which park to go to (our neighborhood park or public park) in my thinking we should go to the public park with hopes that there would be kids for my kids to interact with. Our little neighbor hood park just never really has kids there just older people walking their dogs. Kyle just doesn't get out to meet kids in this neighborhood like he did in our old neighborhood so I decided to drive over to the public park and try to encourage him to go over to the skate park while the little kids played but he was firm in not doing so. The air was deceiving and was a little more chilly than anticipated so I lured the younger two back to the van to go home and get heavier jackets and myself a cup of coffee. Dan was home so I decided to leave my van and purse home this time and we would walk and ride bikes over to the neighborhood park. So I sent Jayden and Kyle a little ahead of me and Gracen so I could take my coffee back home. I arrived their just a moment after they did and noticed there as actually a family there.  THe mom had a little yorkie puppy mine and jayden's favorite little dog.  Jayden immediately went to ask if she could pet her and her opening line is as always,"I like your dog".My daddy won't let us have a dog and I really want one." I noticed she had two teen boys and a teen daughter close toKyle and Jordan's age so I had to know if they were from our neighborhood.  I don't usually just start chatting up people I don't know but it's kinda killing me Kyle hasn't made friends well enough to socialize with outside school. Something prompted me to ask her if her boys likes to throw a football because my son brought his and has noone to throw it too. She began telling me her 12 year old was really shy and kept to himself and it is killing her to see him so withdrawn from people the way he was. (Hello! THis was my son she was talking about ) No but they sound very much alike with very similar stories.  Kyle and the older kids played for a bit. She and I began to chat more and interesting enough they aren't even from our neighborhood but like our park. We both started realizing we are women of faith and have similar family situations. Something else prompted me to suggest we exchange numbers so maybe we could get our two shy sons to connect. She seemed glad I asked. We talked some more and the things we talked about we both realizing this wasn't just a casual chance encounter that God had led us both to this park today. THank you God for knowing I need a friend to relate to as well as my kids. I pray Jayden's turn will be next and even Dan! 

My new home feels like and old familiar place.

So We bought our home Oc†. 7 2011. THis is a place we all fell in love with as a family. Since being here there is times it feels so strangely familiar, almost like it was built just for me. THat couldn't be so since this home was built when I was in the 8th or 9th grade. Sometimes I think "well, maybe it is because I looked at the listing so many times before and after we put a bid on it.The tile in our kitchen is identical to the tile my parents layed in their home and the carpet is the same color they had. Maybe that is part of it but I Believe there is much more to this feeling. While we were viewing for the first time I knew THe Holy Spirit was already living here. First glance at the house and seeing christian theme wind chimes was a good sign. The as we entered the home I noticed a bible verse on a workout machine. Then as we were upstairs Dan pointed to another bible verse written on an index card taped to the bathroom wall. The sense has grown stronger as I see my family united in The Lord. Since Dan has stepped up and opened his heart back up to God and started going to church on his own free will. I've realized this familiar place isn't a place at all , it is the Spirit Of The LORd! It is the same spirit that was in home home as a child when my family walked closely To God and loved going to church as a family. THe spirit that calms, the spirit that purifies, the spirit of joy. The spirit of love and devotion. The spirit of unity and reassurance. Lord thank you for never giving up on me and your grace that is upon us in this familiar home.