Dream curtains

Do you dream of curtains like these??

I do! I see them in magazines and online, but have yet to find anything similar at Target or Bed Bath & Beyond. And these, from Ballard Designs (a place I LOVE) go for a whopping $120 a panel! Too rich for my blood. So I recently set out find my own fabric & make my own.

Now don't mistake me for an experienced seamstress. I'm not even sure how all of the gadgets on my sewing machine work! But how hard can a straight line be?? I at least knew the first step. Buy fabric! I rummaged through wholesale shops to find the perfect ones. Check the back of the store first, before you fall in love with something full price.

Measure your windows & cut your fabric. For full curtains, like our faves from Ballard, you'll want to double the width of your window & add 4 inches for side seams. My windows are 30" wide, so I cut my fabric at 64". If you're a sewing newbie like me, you may want to use a measuring board to help with those straight cuts. For the curtain length, measure from your curtain rod to the floor. Add 10" for the top & bottom hem plus an additional 3-4" if you like your curtains to drag the floor.

See again, the pros at Ballard.

Start with the sides. Fold under 1" all the way down. Then fold again 1". This will tuck away any loose threads. I pin & iron my seam before attempting to sew it. It may seem like an extra step, but it makes my straight curtains...well...straight.

Next, sew the top and bottom hem. Turn the fabric under 1" and then an additional 4". Again, pinning & ironing is optional.

Attach your curtains to the rod with rings clips, and "voila", you're done! Here are the new curtains in my dining room! They only cost me 2 hours & $45, for 2 panels. Totally worth it!

I quickly took inventory of the rest of the rooms in my house.

My daughter's room needed some color so I made this turquoise panel.

It came out too short. Oops!

But hidden behind the chair, who needs to know, right??

For the guest room, I got bolder & braver and attempted to combine 2 different fabrics. What do you think??

Because I'm terrible at math, it took me a little longer to measure and cut the fabric, but sewing it all together was just as easy.

To sew the fabrics together, simply lay one on top of the other (FRONT to FRONT) and sew, leaving an inch or so on the other side. For you perfectionists, open up the seam and iron the "wings" back flat so that they lay smoother.

I then sewed a chocolate cord right on top of the seam where the to 2 fabrics met. Super easy! Just allow an extra inch or so when cutting the cord, so you can wrap it around to the back. Gives it a little extra something, don't you think?

Last but not least, I thought the shower curtain in the girls' bathroom could use a facelift. I bought it from Target a few months ago, and while I think it's super cute, I wish it was longer. That way I could hang it higher and make this little jack n jill bathroom look bigger.

The original curtain was striped on top with toile on bottom. I simply added the pink fabric to the bottom. I did the sides and bottom hem of the pink fabric first and then sewed the whole piece right to the the toile fabric. I should note here, to remember to lay the material front to front when sewing. Rookie mistake that I'd never admit to. I came back with a pink pom-pom cord right on top, just like the brown cord of the guest bedroom. Nothing to it.

Seriously! If I can do this, YOU can do this!

Grab an extra shower rod from Wal-Mart so you can hang your shower liner at the correct height. No need for cuteness to trump practicality!

So there you have it. Dream curtains, made simple, by YOU!

Loving the ABCs

Ever wondered what to do when you stumble upon 26 random letters?

I want an alphabet wall! Have you seen these cute things? I think it would look so great in our playroom. Some are vinyl, some are painted, some are wooden letters nailed to the wall. What a great idea for a kid-friendly area of your house. It would take up a significant portion of the wall which for me is good...less space for me to try and figure out how to fill up! Maybe you'll be inspired to attempt this too.

This is the first picture that inspired me...I WILL have one of these walls one day (I hope). I just hope I collect all the letters before my kids are out of preschool. Somehow I don't think this will be cool when they are teenagers!

Project Nursery

Design Dazzle

Kiddy Cat

Baby Gadget

Olli and Lime

Gotta Love Garage Sales

This weekend I went to what may have been my first garage sale to actually look for something! I have worked them in the past but have never really gone to one on the lookout for something to bring home! Well I am so excited about my find! The kids have had a white table in the playroom for a while but there are only two chairs (one of which is broken) so my three little ones often fight about who gets to sit! I'd been on the hunt for a new table with 4 chairs. As a arrived at this garage sale I saw this table and chairs set that drew my attention. Once I saw the price I decided I could easily overlook the fact that this is actually a dining table. Kid tables I'd seen the day before at an antique show were well over $300 which I do not have the luxury of spending thank you very much. The table was in great shape but I knew I'd want to paint it a little bit before adding it to the playroom. Antique lovers beware: what you are about to see may pain you.

The Chairs {BEFORE}

The Table {BEFORE}

Spray Paint bought for $2.47 per can at Wallyworld

One handsome helper

And three happy kiddos later! {Excuse their appearance...we'd just gotten them ready for bed!}

All this was done for less than $60 in one day. Whoo-hoo!

Linked to:

The Lettered Cottage

Crafty Friday {Camera Strap Cover}

Have you seen those cute camera strap covers for Digital SLR cameras? I have wanted one for a while but just hadn't pulled the trigger yet. I was searching around some blogs and found some easy tutorials to make my own. I've seen some really cute fabric at Hobby Lobby lately and have always thought to myself "what could I do with that fabric??" Today you get to find out!! Let me begin by saying clearly...I AM NOT A SEAMSTRESS. I got my sewing machine by requests as a graduation present and in the 7 years since then I have probably used it less than 10 times. You'll notice in these photos that there are several fabrics shown... that's because I planned on making several because of how fun and easy they were going to be. However, due to human error & machine error (most likely caused by human error) something was wrong with just about all of them. Nevertheless...here it goes.

Choose your fabric. I made my straps to have a front and back with coordinating fabrics - so 1/4 yard of each fabric will produce two straps. If you go this route you could probably get away with 1/8 of each fabric.


Get yourself reaquainted with your old friend (and prepare for battle if you are a novice like me!)

Make your pattern by measuring your strap length & dividing in half. Add about 1/2" to each side to allow for seams. I used wrapping paper for my pattern.

Cut your fabric out. Mine were roughly 27" long when opened up.

Make sure you sew the sides RIGHT SIDES together (this was one of my human errors at one point). Press the seam down.

Prepare a strip of fuseable batting (if you choose to have a little padding in your strap). Mine was about 5" wide .

Fold the ends about one inch and again about another inch for the hem. I sewed three *straight* lines across.

Fold in half and sew RIGHT SIDES together again.

For the avid seamstress this part will be the hardest. Flip the strap inside out and VOILA... you're done. String your camera strap through and it's done!

I am determined to try again with the last of the fabric I bought because my sewing skills are finally warmed up. One of these days I'll be able to sew one from start to finish without a single problem! Stay tuned because one day when that happens I'll do a giveaway on here and you can have one without the work or the $$$.

An Obsession with Monograms

I love monograms! I think they are just so pretty when used in random and pretty ways. Everyone knows they can be used on stationery but I just love when people have them around the house. Maybe you can get some inspiration from these photos.

Country Living

Inthewindflags.net

MonogramGoods.com

Creative Nursery Rooms

(as the mother of boy/girl twins I especially love this one)

HGTV

Southern Living

Southern Living

Southern Living

Happy 4th of July!

In honor of July 4th here are some things to remember for next year when you want to make your house cute and festive!

Real Simple

Martha Stewart

Grandin Road

Country Living

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Crafty Friday - Kids Room Artwork

Last weekend George was out playing golf & the kids were with my parents so I had a morning to myself to be all crafty. Everything began as normal until this happened....
Yes, that's my camera lens from my new camera (birthday present from February!). I was so angry at myself!! Luckily I had an old lens from the old film SLR that fits but still... how frustrating is this!

Back to Crafty Friday... I have been on a mission to decorate Hudson & Hallie's room since they moved to big girl/boy beds in February. We've rearranged the furniture a few times since then and finally have settled on a final arrangement. But the walls have been screaming at me for love. I finally had the time and motivation to get working on it.

First, I bought a 30x24 canvas at Hobby Lobby and had a paint color matched to one of the colors in their bedspreads.
Because I am impatient.... waiting for paint to dry to get started on the actual decorating!
My original idea for stenciling didn't work out because I ran out of space so I had repaint the top and planned to start over. You could faintly see the old letters underneath so I had to come up with a Plan B on the fly... here's what I came up with.
After painting the stripes they felt incomplete so I decided I'd put circles on either side of the canvas since their bedding is covered in circles.
I got all technical and used this cup as my circle guide.
Then I decoupaged this verse on top. I had made this verse (and one for Hallie) on the computer and had them printed. I planned to hang it in a frame with a mat, but didn't ... so luckily my Plan B needed it.
It's home above Hudson's bed. Hallie's will look the same - just with a different verse. Once Hobby Lobby puts their canvases on sale again I'll start hers!