DIY: While the government is shut down

So last week, I blogged that I was considered essential and was working through the shut down. Well, on Friday afternoon, I was told that I was no longer essential and only needed to check emails from home on an intermittent basis.

So this week, I have been at home and it has been a rather productive week.

On Monday, I made arrangements for JOE's birthday cake. That took a while. I felt like I was ordering a wedding cake!
The cake will look something like this with some variations.

Then I cooked 2 dishes for the week which is unusual for me cause I typically make just one dish with different sides here and there.

On Tuesday, I made a variation of this dress. I thought it looked semi-ok but then I took a picture and sent it to my sisters and friend. I received the following comments from my sister, sister in law and good friend.
Sister: It's cute but please don't wear that out
Sister-in-law: Holy cow! That looks like a house coat reject!
Good friend: It's very costumey. Great execution though.

Ummm...why couldn't they lie to me? It was my first adult dress afterall :-(. Needless to say, even though it isn't fit to go out in, I will be wearing it as a "house coat" dress.

Fast forward to later that evening (I am a planner by nature so I need to always keep busy), I made a long maxi skirt that I have been loving on Pinterest. The material was $5 and the elastic was $1. Can't beat a $6 maxi skirt. I plan on wearing it this fall. This one got the stamp of approval from my sister.

On Wednesday, I embarked on 2 projects. 

Project #1:

The front of our house has been looking bare so I decided to get a couple of pumpkins and some mums to beautify our front door. I love the fall! The door looks so festive now.

Project #2:

I love long jean skirts. I have paid $60+ in the past for a jean skirt so when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it.

I got a pair of jeans and some materials from Wal-Mart (my go to place for my "frugal" sewing finds). The jeans was $18.54 and the material was $7.50 (it would have been cheaper but I got more than I needed. Better safe than sorry). I spent part of the day on Wednesday taking apart the jeans. I did it while watching Dr. Zhivago. Have you ever seen the movie? It is a romantic tragedy. A good cast of actors but somewhat sad love story.

This morning, I cut up, pinned up and sewed the jean skirt. Here is the final product. I will blog this actual process later.

While all this was going on, my princess turned 11-months! Gasp! She is a month away from ONE!