The $7 Ballerina

You are going to LOVE this!!! And there's hardly any sewing involved either.

When I realized that I'd have two little girls here for our Christmas celebration, I immediately thought of this project, and this is what you'll get:

Cute, huh? And boy oh boy do kids love them! Okay, go grab a pen and pencil and this is what you do. First, get two rolls of tulle from Michael's, or Joanne's ($2.99 ea. from Joannes without a coupon) and some 3/4 inch elastic. One package of elastic should give you enough for two tutus.

Cut the elastic 1 inch shorter than your child's waist measurement. (I had no kids around, so I cut mine at 17 inches.) Overlap the ends about 1/2 inch and sew together with the zig zag on your machine or by hand. Next cut your tulle the length you want the skirt times two plus one inch. I just used a tablet of 9x12 tracing paper and using the shorter side, twirled the tulle around until there was no more on the roll.

Then I cut it on ONE side. My pieces measured about 18 inches long.

After that, you put the elastic up your leg, past your knee, sit down and place one tulle piece through the elastic and holding it halfway, tie a knot. Continue in this manner until you have used all the cut tulle from both rolls.

And when you're done, you should have a lovely tutu that some child will adore!! That's all there is to it! All for only about $7. (Unless you have a coupon, which would make it less.) I made two...aren't they cute together??