Light. Airy. Blue.

It was hard to know what to do with our blue tiled bathroom when we first moved in. Blue's not really my cup of tea, but we happened to have an old set of navy bath mats so down they went, and that was that.

But they kind of bugged me. And since this is the bathroom our guests use, I thought it could stand a little improvement. So, I did a little switcheroo with our long white rug from the master bath. What an improvement!

I also refilled our little woven basket with T.P. It's funny how toilet paper can look nice with a little bit of arranging.

This framed fabric is worth noting- this was a totally free project when I did it back in the fall. I already owned the frames and the fabric (it was supposed to be a baby quilt but never got there, same story with my bible cover). Oh and the frames used to be gold, but got spray-painted white a couple of years back. And thanks to these lovely windowsills, they've got a nice place to perch.

So anyway, what a refreshingly easy way to improve our blue bathroom! I'm learning that when something's bugging me (like the navy bath mats), I can usually "fix" it by swapping around what I already own. By His grace and longsuffering, Jesus is teaching me to be content with what I have (which is abundantly, abundantly more than I'll ever need).

I remember when we first moved into this home and it took about three weeks to get our furniture shipment. That was three weeks on an air mattress while about seven months pregnant, with nothing but a couple of lawn chairs and cardboard boxes as tables. I was so anxious to get our furniture, but I kept reminding myself of the verse that says "having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" {Luke 3:14}. Along with that, I'm getting better and better about repurposing what we already own rather than buying new things every time I think I want something. It's actually a fun "challenge" to see what I can do with what's around the house. No trip to the store necessary! Not to mention the buyer's remorse that often accompanies.

One more thing about the blue...it's actually growing on me!

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P.S. Here's another good verse to remind us that we have all we need (and more!) in Christ. If, in fact, we do have Him... As well as a good reminder of what our behavior should be Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." {Hebrews 13:5}

P.S.S. See more fabric and frame ideas here and here.

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Playing Dress-Up with Detergent

Hey all- just wanted to share a quick way to add a little fun to your usual laundry routine. I came across this idea when I was surfing the net the other day and had to try it for myself.

All it takes a pretty bottle or two, I got the kind with the lever cap from TJ Max for $2 each. I've read that you can also get them from the grocery store (I assume with products in them?) That would be a great way to reuse and recycle!

Just pour your detergent into your bottle, and you've got instant "style" in your laundry area! Might as well make the most out of mundane chore. A funnel would have been great for the pouring part, but a Pyrex measuring cup worked well.

Bye bye big bulky bright yellow plastic container!

Hello, bottles!

I'm using the clear bottle for our free & clear detergents and the red for anything with perfumes and additives in it. (I have to keep them separate and distinct, since we need the free & clear for our cloth diapers.) And having two different colored bottles makes for a pretty display. One more thing- I've done a few loads of laundry since I made the switch from plastic to glass, and I'm pleasantly surprised to say that pouring isn't a problem. I half expected detergent to go running down the side of the bottles every time I tipped them, but so far this hasn't happened!

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P.S. This was just one part of my little spruce-up-the-laundry-area efforts over the last few days...more to come!

~Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. {Psalm 51:7}

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Let the {Light} In

This is one of my favorite verses. Isn't it beautiful? It comes from the gospel of John, my favorite book in the bible.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." {John 8:12}

Speaking of light, our guest room (that doubles as an office) has one oddly placed window. It sits in the very corner, all by its lonesome. I thought that putting my peacock curtains up in this room would improve it a little, but it was just the opposite. The window looked just as odd, if not more so once extra attention was being drawn to it, and the curtains didn't look great either. Not only do they not hang to the floor- this old house has high windows and needs the long 95" inch curtains- but they did this funny "balloon" thing where they looked skinny at the top but large at the bottom. Kind of like the bottoms were fanned out. But what else was there to do? I was too busy working on Asher's nursery at the time, so just getting them hung was an accomplishment in my book- awkward and balloony or not. (Excuse these really terrible, grungy photos.)

But I've turned a new page since coming back a couple of weeks ago. In case you couldn't tell, I'm in the oh-my-gosh-we-live-in-a-real-house-again so let's spiff-it-up! mode. Needless to say, I've really learned to appreciate the freedom to customize our own space after living in the hotel for four months. With the exception of painting (sigh) it's been such a treat to put some new life in this old place!

Anyway, back to the peacock curtains. Light has always been a problem with the front side of this house. The sun doesn't naturally rise (or set) towards the front, and we have a huge tree that blocks what light we do get. The guest room/office is no exception, and our dark and lovely peacock colored curtains weren't helping. So the wheels on the bus (I mean brain) started turning, and on comes the bulb. Why not lengthen the rod so that the curtains could be pushed farther apart, so that they weren't blocking any of the actual window anymore?

The problem; the rod is already installed, and the brackets don't move without starting from scratch and totally redrilling new holes. (Which was not happening, these walls are a weird mixture of plaster and concrete, except in totally random patterns making it impossible to know where you can drill and where you can't. And that equals one heck of a rod-hanging-nightmare. For Thane anyway, ha! Thanks honey...you're the best!)

But wait a minute! What if we don't close these curtains? (Which we don't, they're too high and difficult to close and we have blinds that work for privacy.) If they don't need to close, then it doesn't matter where the bracket is, as long as the rod is lengthened so that the panels can hang on the other/outer side of the bracket!

So, that's exactly what I did. In about five minutes or less, we went from having light-blocking curtains that made our window appear smaller to non-light blocking ones that showed off the full size of the window!

Here's a before shot...

And after...

We have light!!!

You might have noticed that I also did a little re-arranging. The bed moved, and the little night table came out of our living room where it really wasn't being utilized. The lamp has always been in this room, but now that it sits on the new night table in front of the curtains, it draws attention away from the the fact that they don't hang to the floor. And you can't really see the balloon effect anymore. Lastly, I'm pretty sure the new furniture arrangement makes the odd placement of the window appear not so odd as well.


So there you have it, possibly the easiest yet most effective little improvements ever. All done in a few minutes time. Well, the rearranging took longer, you know how that goes.

Going back to the verse I mentioned at the beginning, I wish I had something interesting to say about it other than just that "I like it". But I guess it's alright to keep things simple. After all, Jesus did. Which (here comes something, haha) reminds me of the story of the criminal who died next to Him on the cross. I admire that story because it shows the true simplicity of Christ's saving grace. Here was this lowly man that lived a life of sin and rebellion against God. Yet all it took for him to be saved was the simple acknowledgement that he was a sinner deserving of death and the trust that he put in Jesus when he asked Him to "remember him". What a perfect picture. Here we see a man's faith, repentance, and salvation, all at once. And you might even say that the confession he gave before the crowd at the crucifixion was similar to the public confession we make when we follow Christ in baptism.

But there's more that makes this story great! Think about this; even though this man had no time on earth to yield any "fruit" after being saved, (something most Christians are worried about) God has been telling us his story and showing us his example for hundreds of years since. And what is that? Fruit! Another proof of how it's He who works in and through us by the power of His Spirit, totally apart from our own efforts.

So anytime I hear alternate (false) doctrines or disputes between Christians that have to do with minor issues, I think back to this story. It's so silly to try to add to, take away, or even dispute God's Word and His provision for our salvation. He makes it so simple...all praise to Him.

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Wedding Weekend To-Do List

Holy cow, we're flying to New York (with a baby!) in three days and I still have a gazillion things to do. Hopefully I'll be checking things off of the list sooner than later...

Feel free to give any and every bit of advice you may have about the items in bold. Those are the ones I haven't quite figured out yet...thanks in advance!

TO DO:

-Sew the sleeve of my dress that's coming loose.
-Find a little jacket or wrap to wear (it's an evening wedding).
-Decide which shoes to take.
-Paint my toe-nails.

-Do we need to take Asher's car seat base?
-Are we going to check a bag for the sake of baby food and toiletries? Yes.
-What kind of overnight disposable diapers should we take?  Taking regular ones, thanks Tina and Petra!

-Make a welcome home cake for my sweety Thane, assuming he makes it back to Georgia before it's time to fly out.
-Speaking of which- go to the commissary and stock up on food, but nothing that will spoil during the trip.

-Clean my house.
-Clean the car out.
-What's the best parking option for the Altanta airport? PreFlight- directions and 30% coupon printed- thanks Bethany!

-Finish unpacking (from the move).
-RE-PACK for the trip.

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One Man's Trash...

You got it- "is another man's treasure".

Thrift stores and antique shops may be my absolute favorite places to go shopping. It's so satisfying to find low cost/high potential items that can be just as nice as what you pay full price for at a real store. Some of it needs a little TLC, but it can be fun to repurpose and reuse rather than buy new all the time. And of course there's the unique, one-of-a-kind factor that comes with finding these little treasures.

Here's a little peak at some recent thrift store finds...

$1

I'll never pass up a little tray like this! Especially when it's a buck. It could stand a fresh coat of paint, but it's nice enough to use as-is until I get around to it. I'm thinking it's going to display the Iraqi tea set that Thane brought home from his year spent overseas.

$1.25

You've seen these before. These little pink tea light holders were too fun to pass up. (See more pink things here).

$2

I recently saw a similar bowl at Target for about $17, except that one was a little smaller. This guy's going to hold Thane's keys and wallet in the front entryway. That is, if he cooperates.

$2 (silver plated)

My neighbor has a pair of beautiful antique silver candle holders that really caught my eye the first time I saw them. These tarnished silver plated glasses reminded me of them, and for $2 you just can't go wrong! I might polish them one day, but for now they're sittin' pretty on our built-ins.

$4.25

I mentioned wanting a pineapple figurine in a previous post to represent our time spent in Hawaii- just like the horse we found in Kentucky, and the white elephant I'm keeping my eyes open for here. Well, this didn't come from Hawaii. I saw it in the thrift shop here on base and couldn't resist. This picture doesn't really do it justice; it's a beautiful, lustrous gold, and apparently a symbol for hospitality in the South. The top lifts off and there's storage space on the inside. Maybe it'll be hard candy jar. It also lives on the built-ins now.

$1.50

This plain wooden tray has so much potential! I'm thinking it might get a coat of red spray paint and go in our kitchen.

What good deals have you guys found lately? What do you think I should put in the pineapple?

Speaking of trash and treasures, I'm reminded of this parable;

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field {Mathew 13:44}.

Through various studies, my husband and I have been learning about the kingdom of heaven over the past couple of years. We never realized that this isn't referring to the second coming of Christ or God's final Kingdom, as we always assumed, but that this is referencing the church age... now. Christ's Kingdom is already here, although hidden, until He comes again and establishes His throne on earth. This probably sounds strange if you haven't yet studied it...but the proof of this Kingdom being present is demonstrated in other parables (all of which paint different pictures of the current age in which we now live). In one, Jesus speaks of the mustard tree and the birds that perch in it {Luke 13:19}. In this parable the mustard tree, a small bush grows into a great tree and birds perch in its branches.  Trees represent earthly kingdoms and birds are consistently used as symbols of sin in the bible. The unique unnatural growth of the mustard tree into an enormous tree that birds perch in represents those churches out there preaching a flavor of Christianity that doesn't hold true to the Word of God. Of course there is no church that is perfect, but all Christians, as the collective church of Christ, should be striving to live in obedience to Him. Something I need constant practice/repentance to do.

So, thinking about the treasure in the field again, I have to ask myself- do I live as if I found Christ and was willing to give up everything in order to possess Him? Would I give up my things, my home, even my family, if it were necessary? A few months ago I would have said yes! Of course I would! Then, when I saw how hard it was to leave our home, church, and friends here in Georgia for just a short time, I realized that I was giving myself way too much credit. If that was hard for me, I certainly couldn't give up more without a serious struggle. So that was a little wake up call. Jesus showed me that I'm not as faithful as I would have liked to think. And I'm thankful for that, because now I can at least work towards getting better. But only by the enabling of His Spirit, of course. (As if I could do it by myself, ha!) Staying in my comfort zone never yielded any spiritual growth in my life. So, though it's hard to be challenged, it's totally necessary and I'm exceedingly thankful for it in the end.

So let me say it again- praise God!

-P.S. To see a really amazing sermon series on the Kingdom, go here.

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Updated Wish-List

We're making progress! It's nice to be able to check some things off of the list, as well as add new ideas. Most of the finished projects have been blogged, just click on the links to see them!


Note: Highlighted tasks are finished, and bold ones are new to the list.

Re-purposing & Re-Organization
-De-clutter our fireplace mantel and built-in shelves in the living room.
-Put up some sort of graphic print or color on the back wall of our built-ins to make them pop.
-Sand and paint our sofa table that's currently standing in as the TV console and possibly move it to the dining room to use as a buffet.
-Paint our Italian stone dining table (it's ugly with a capital U).
-Touch up the scuffs on some of our dining room chairs.
-Bring in an extra desk from the office to use as the next stand-in media console. (I'm starting to think we'll never actually own a real TV stand, but that's okay.)- Note: Did this, but it ended up in the dining room for the time being...
-Move one of our new white love seats down from the attic room and put it into the office/guest room.
-De-clutter the living room bookcase.
-Hang our framed photography in a nice arrangement.
-Mix-up the decorative pillows in the living room, using the two new ones I picked up in KY.
-Spruce up our laundry area by adding a few decorative touches.
-Find some candle sconces mirrors to hang in the spaces on each side of our fireplace above the built-ins. (Mirrors will hopefully reflect more light into the space and won't compete with the lighted sconces that flank Lee Chapel).
-Grab my chunky gold thrift store candle sconces I have at the ranch during our trip and paint and hang them.
-Find a ceramic "white elephant", or possibly a wooden one that could be painted white, to be a fun piece of decor and a memory-piece that reminds us of our Georgia home over the years.
-Find a horse figurine in Kentucky.
-Pack up the baby's 0-6-sometimes 9 month clothing that no longer fit him.
-Re-organize the nursery now that Asher's a little older and it's being used!
-Rearrange the guest room/office. Note: Photos coming...
-Widen the curtains in the guest room/office. Note: Photos coming...

Art
-Paint a set of graphic fabric-inspired paintings to hang in the dining room.
-Frame some fabric that goes with (or doesn't, who knows) the fabric-inspired paintings. Note; these may go in our master bedroom now instead of the dining room now...see the new ones here.

-Design, print, and frame graphic bible verses for nursery and kitchen.

Sewing
-Make a new cover for my bible- this time without fabric scraps that were meant for a quilt. (See the current one here).
-Find cloth napkins at a good deal so that we no longer need disposables, and possibly dye them to match our dining room theme. "Green" and pretty! Just like cloth diapers. (Haha, you knew I was going to throw that in there.)
-Sew a dining room table runner and possibly place mats using a neat, graphic fabric.
-Sew (or buy) some bright, fun window valences for the kitchen. Note; made them myself, see 'em here!

Photos
-Make a photo wall using my many framed but un-hung pictures (which will help to de-clutter the shelves).
-Print some photos to hang. Can you believe that in four and a half months we don't have a single printed photo of the baby?
-Speaking of which- start a photo album with all of Sweet Pea's weekly photos to date, that we'd continue to add to every couple of months as we periodically ordered prints.
-And another thing along that line- make a wedding album. We still don't have one and we've been married four years! (Thane will argue that our book full of 4x6 proofs is our album. I like to argue otherwise, ha!)

Landscaping
-Maybe do a little planting and mulching.


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Cleaning House; From Dust to Cable

I know. Gross.

This is what was waiting for me at home. And this little "bunny" had friends. Lots of them. All I can say is thank goodness Asher's not crawling yet!

In comes another friend; the swiffer. Except without his disposable wipe buddies. It's hard to bring myself to buy those things; they're not cheap and they don't last long. So, rather than retire the swiffer altogether, I came up with a simple and practical way to save money and throw away less- reusable swiffer wipes!

All you need is an old towel and a pair of scissors. (Yes, that's my new kitchen curtain fabric...before it became curtains, haha.)

Lay out your towel, and set your swiffer on top so that you can measure before cutting.

The marker's just for the purpose of demonstration. But you can see how the towel can fold around the swiffer base and be secured just as easily as the swiffer wipes.

Cut- and there ya go! Easy as 1, 2, 3.

I got two wipes out of this one towel, and then I actually used the long skinny section of the scrap to make a third wipe. The "ends" folded up instead of the "front" and "back".

And here it is in action. All the power of a swiffer, but better! Lower cost, eco-friendly, and you can even customize your cleaning solution this way. I usually dampen the rag with water before attaching it, and then spray down our wood floors with Pledge or an all purpose cleaner before going over them.

Ah, that's better.

In addition to the fuzzy bunnies, another sometimes "hairy" thing I'm glad to be without is cable TV. We haven't had it in our home for a few years now, but we did have it in the hotel in Kentucky. When I first got back to Georgia, I missed it. It was nice to be able to turn on the news or any other channel just to have some noise, if nothing else. So getting used to a house without Thane and without TV was a little hard at first. But with that void came the opportunity for better things. Like the Word of God. But let me explain.

I'm not saying that cable TV is inherently evil. There are good things as well as bad on it. And I'd like to say that I restricted my own cable watching to a news, HGTV, cooking shows, etc, but more often than not, the Kardashians & co. would end up on the screen. Not exactly wholesome... Instead of keeping up with them, I want and need to be keeping up with Jesus. Listening to sermons throughout my days as I clean, cook, and tackle projects around the house is so much more edifying! Like a constant dose of truth, fellowship, and great learning in general. No hate for the Kardashians...I don't pretend to be "too righteous" to watch their show. I'm nothing but a sinner saved by grace and I sincerely hope they meet Jesus one day too. In the meantime, I need as much of Him as I can get!

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-P.S. I'm watching a series on the gospel of Luke right now, and it has live footage from Jerusalem and all of the historical spots from the life of Jesus. It's excellent- if you're interested, check it out here- http://marshill.com/media/luke.

-P.S.S. Have you seen my new {Faith} page???

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Hang Curtains for Less

Who's hung curtains lately?

When we moved into our Georgia home last fall, one of the first things I noticed we'd need was curtain rods. And if you've looked lately (or ever) you know that they ain't cheap. Not the decorative ones, at least. And with more than a panel or two to hang, we were looking at hundreds of dollars for standard decorative rods.

Well, you know me. When it comes to cash, I don't drop it like it's hot. I'd much rather hold onto it until it's burned a whole in my pocket. And because we'd need at least nine rods to hang curtains in the main parts of the house (living space and bedrooms), that would add up quickly when you consider that the cost of one rod is about $20-30. The longest ones can even get into the $50 range. But for the sake of the discussion, let's just say they're $20 a piece. $20x9 rods=$180. And that's just way to much to ever conceive spending.

So, I racked my brain for a way to hang our curtains without breaking the bank. And then it hit me; spray-paint!

Well, spray-paint + cheap rods. I can't remember how the idea struck, but Ross- the discount retailer- was the first place I went to make it happen. If anybody was selling rods at a deal, it was them. I'm a bronze fan when it comes to hardware. I like the rich, warm, antiqued feel of it. (You might have noticed that the spray-paint top and the actual rod in the first photo look black, but they're actually a dark metallic brown). Anyway, Ross' big chunky rods weren't much less than the ones at Lowes, but they did have quite a few thinner ones in a variety of finishes- silver, brass, black, etc.

This is where spray paint comes in. These thinner (but still very nice) rods were only $6 a pop. And it didn't matter that four were silver, two were black, and three were brass. With a little Rustoleum spray paint and a couple hours time, they were all bronze and ready for hanging!

So let's talk cost: $6x9= $54. Which admittedly still seems like a lot, (to me at least), but it's much less than $180. And, I have the long-term in mind. I've counted up the number of windows, hence rods, we'll need for the ranch house when we move there. And we almost have enough! These here are definitely going with us, and it's nice to know that we'll get years and years of use out of them.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures from the day of the undertaking, but here's a tip I gleaned from the experience. If you lay the rods out on a large piece of cardboard, you can easily paint the rods and hardware at the same time by poking the screws into the cardboard so that they're standing up. You don't want a silver screw standing out against a bronze rod.

I was so excited to stumble upon this creative way to save money. Have any of you guys had a similar light-bulb-on! moment lately?

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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James 1:17

Kitschy Curtains & Shoddy Sewing

Let's talk kitchens. First- big news- we've ordered the ranch house kitchen! Installation is scheduled to happen during our upcoming trip next month. We're going to attempt it ourselves, which means a cabinet-installation-DIY-post is coming your way.

But until then, there's another kitchen that's in need of some love. You guessed it, our current one in the Georgia house. What's wrong with it? Nothing, functionally. (Other than the bad light switch placement and burnt out bulb.) So how do I say this the nice way... Basically, she's getting along in years and her two most predominate features are blue speckled linoleum flooring and orange slab cabinets.

I like to pretend these unmatching tiles are a kitchen sink rug.

And these over here get hidden by a real rug.

Thane slapped a big VETO on any sort of painting or flooring. (Flooring in a rental, you say? Our neighbors laid carpet down in their kitchen, and it looks amazing! Not happening here though.) And here's the thing; not only are we talking blue speckled linoleum flooring and orange slab cabinets, but we're talking GRUNGY blue speckled linoleum flooring and orange slab cabinets. No amount of sweeping, swiffering, scrubbing, and/or sweating will put a dent in this kind of dinge. So, what's a devoted stay-at-home-wife/mom to do with the shabby heart of her home?

The bible says that a good wife is like "a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house" {Psalm 128:3}*. In comes the beginning of my little makeover. Hopefully the "fruit" of my efforts will indeed bring some new life to this little space. (By the way, the rest of the verse talks about little vine babies...do sweet peas grow on vines? Hehe.)

So anyway, we'll dub this my "Kitschy Kitchen" redo; from dingy and outdated to funky and eclectic. Or that's the goal, anyway. If it can't be fancy (and who wants a stuffy kitchen anyway?), we might as well make it fun!

First up- curtains! If we can't hide the not-so-chic features of our little space, we'll do the next best thing; divert attention elsewhere. To something bold and fun, like red geometric flower print window treatments. I found this fabric at Hancock on clearance. (And what do you know, it's got coral- pink- in it.)

Now for the shoddy-sewing portion of this post. I have the most basic, rudimentary skills when it comes to using a sewing machine. Which means I can make anything as long as it doesn't require a pattern. This is how I got my valence, crib skirt, bumper, and decorative pillows for Asher's nursery. The common denominator is that they're all super easy projects! Not only do I stick with what's easy, I don't even do a good job when it comes down to it. I'm extremely lazy about doing nice hems or correcting mistakes. The faster I get something sewn, the better.

That being said, here were the few simple steps I took to making some very very easy curtain panels.

First, I did a little photoshopping to figure out how I wanted the curtains to hang, and thus what their measurements needed to be. We have these really big, old school windows and window frames, so no standard size was going to work. These are definitely the best features of this kitchen.



These curtains aren't meant to shut, just to hang as if "open" and look pretty. Which means their width will be very skinny. We live on the second story and privacy isn't really an issue in this case. So I decided on panels that would be 46 (L) by 18 (W). To account for rod pocket at the top and the hemming on the sides and bottom, I added some inches and cut two panels that were actually 50 (L) by 20 (W). That gave me plenty of wiggle room for the hemming.

So out came the supplies... fabric, scissors, measurements, tape measure, pencil, iron, and a flat surface. And of course a sewing machine and straight pins.

Measuring and cutting a straight line was easy since I could follow the pattern. (Went straight down the center of a row of flowers. I wish all fabric made it this easy!)

 

(I got a little scissor happy before finishing my measurements.)

I used a regular pencil to mark the "corner" of the rectangle.

After cutting out my 50x20 rectangle, I ironed a quarter inch hem and secured it with pins.

Here's one panel- the sides are cut, ironed, pinned, and ready for sewing!

Once the sides were sewn, I started on the top.

I folded the top down three inches in prep for sewing. Since I had four total inches of fabric to use for the hem (I cut a 50 inch rectangle in order to make a 46 inch panel), that meant I would have one inch left over to hem on the bottom.



I also ironed the fold down so that I'd have a smooth crease to work with. See it? Once I had my crease, I then ironed down a very small sliver before folding the big portion over again. This made a smoother hem. And let me just say that this is the first time I've actually "double-hemmed" anything. Usually I'm too lazy to go to the effort so I have very sloppy, stringy hems. I guess I was feeling fancy and extra motivated today.



Before sewing the top of the panel closed, I used pins to secure it and actually hung it on the rod to test it. It hung exactly like I planned, woo-hoo! 

See this angled corner? This is the only special sewing trick I know (and I'm sure it's not all that special to someone with real sewing skills). This prevents the folded edge of fabric from peaking out (to the front) once it's sewn. It doesn't require any special treatment on the machine, just sew from the edge like you would even if there was no angle in the fabric.

First panel; check! I followed the same steps for the second panel, except I only hemmed one side. After hemming the first side, I laid it on top of the already-completed panel to see how well they matched up. It turned out that they matched perfectly with only the one side hemmed. Which meant my two fabric cuts weren't exactly the same size... But lucky me, since this fabric is technically meant for outside, it's a little stiffer than normal and didn't fray. SO I skipped hemming the opposite side of the second panel altogether. I'm all for a good shortcut when opportunity strikes! 

Speaking of shortcuts and overall shody-ness, here's a great example of my less-than-stellar-technique; Can you see how I totally missed the hem here? The line of thread runs right off of it...

The right thing to do would be to redo it. But who has time for that? Asher certainly doesn't, so it stayed this way. (My Grandmother, the master sewer, is probably laughing and shaking her head, ha!) Speaking of Asher, usually he would be demanding to be in my arms right about now, but he happened to take a super long nap today. How else do you think these got done in one afternoon?

Alright. Two scrappy-but-functional curtain panels, coming right up! Take another look at the "before" windows.

Ta-da!

And now for a curtain montage;

 

The fact that these things are hanging exactly where I wanted them- in line with the bottom of the window trim- must have been a stroke of good fortune. As you can see from the rest of my sewing practices, clearly it wasn't skill that made it happen.

Once the curtains were up I made one more small improvement. I traded out our black dish-drying rack for this red one. We had it sitting around being unused. It's smaller and little less functional than the black one, but so much funner. 

Alright, as always, let's talk cost; I bought 1.5 yards of upholstery fabric on clearance for $6/yd. I used a little over one yard for this project, so the curtains went up for about $6 and some change. And now I have some left over for a project that's yet to be determined. Suggestions?

This little makeover is just getting started. I'd like to find a good deal on a microwave cart so that we can better utilize the empty space to the right of the sink, as well as free up some counter space. It would be great if we could continue to have a trash can there, but disguise it so it's not in plain sight. And of course I'd also like to add more fun decor... So stay tuned for hopefully near-future updates!

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*Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table.
{Psalm 128:3} NKJV

-P.S. Kitsch. -noun. "something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste." Derived from the German word kitschen which means "to throw together" (a work of art).

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