The Nursery

Woohoo. The nursery got done. Insert a happy little jig here.

Thanks to many, many helping hands for getting the big things done...aka the board and batten and the painting.

I am still amazed that I got 99% of my projects done. The fabric pile was ridiculous...gorgeous, but ridiculous. My sewing machine is probably ready for a big ol' break.

Since I am pretty sure this is the cutest nursery we have ever had...I might have gone crazy with the photos for you guys...just humor the 9 months pregnant lady.

Here is a little run down of what got done-

walls painted two different colors (hubby's parents)

board and batten put up in the whole room (hubby)

dresser painted a new awesome turquoise (me and sister)

bed skirt got a new dark brown bottom border

new crib bumpers

new pillow on chair

recovered stained chair cushion

canvas wall art painted

embroidery hoop wall art

curtains sewn

plastic elephants painted

ADORABLE chevron blanket crocheted (my mom)

added some new storage thanks to Target

Whew! I think that is it.

Okay here is my little photo gallery of Bean's nursery. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

There ya have it. Now all I need is a new, sweet, soft baby for the nursery and it will be perfect.

Soon...fingers crossed soon.

Guest Room Reveal

Our guest room has been done for a couple of weeks now. It has even had it's very first residents. I was so happy to even have an extra room to hold guests. Then I was even more excited when it became a possibility to redo the room into it's very own special and beautiful space.

I hemmed and hawed forever about exactly what to do with this room. My choice in how to redo the room finally came down to one major thing-WHAT DO I ALREADY HAVE? Basically what can I do to make the room cute by mixing what I already had and what I could find that was affordable.

Everything fell in to place when I decided to use this homemade quilt that Hubby and I got 10 years ago as a wedding present.

Then we found the black iron bed frame at IKEA. $149 people!!! I got all the rest of the bedding at The Mart. Really if you can overlook that you are actually at The Mart, it is one of the cheapest places to buy things for home decorating. Especially if you can think outside the box.

I had the black and white pillows from a previous couch. Then I just bought some fabric that I thought looked vintagey and farmhouse fresh, and I made some extra throw pillows.

I can't go without adding some plates to a wall. I know it is a sickness. Alas, I love how it looks so there will probably always be plates on my walls.

The curtains are two white flat sheets hemmed and hung on a simple white curtain rod.

I gathered up a lamp and clock we already had. Added the simple white teapot that I found at Ross. I spray painted an old TV stand a sunny yellow and turned it into a nightstand. I wasn't super thrilled with the paint coverage on the top so I used some scraps and sewed a tiny cloth covering for the top.

I added one simple frame that we had to the wall. Painted yet again another plate...that we had and hung that up. Then We hung up a mirror, again that we already had.

I am just about in love with this room.

Seriously, it is nicer than any or our master bedrooms have EVER been.

I could seriously just walk in this room and stare at it all day. Love. Love. Love.

DIY Striped Curtains Tutorial

I really wanted striped curtains in Oldest's Star Wars room. Really, really.

In my head that is what went best with all the bedding, the gray, black, and navy blue color scheme, and of course our favorite villain Darth Vader.

However, with all the room redo-ing lately, I didn't want to spend a lot of money and time. So I came up with a cheap, creative way to make my own striped curtains for his room. These curtains took about a day to make and cost me less than $20. A-whoo-hoo.

Since they turned out so well, and because they were easy and affordable I decided to share with you guys how to make your own.

DIY Striped Curtains

What you need:

1 flat sheet-mine came from The Mart and were SUPER cheap

1 pkg of 84" length curtain panels-again they came from The Mart

coordinating thread

rotary cuter

The first thing that needs to be done is to prepare the curtains and the sheet to cut the strips from them. I laid out each lengthwise and folded them in half (hot dog style...yeah I am technical like that) and ironed.

First I cut out strips of the sheet. I cut out 5- 8 1/2"x 30" pieces for each panel. That made 10 total.

The bottom strip will need to be bigger since you will have to hem the bottom. So I cut out 2- 12 1/2" x 30" pieces out of the navy for the bottom strip.

Next I started with the curtain. Start with the top and cut off 7 1/2". Keep this strip. All of the curtains strips you will use will be cut at 7 1/2 ". I cut one strip at a time because the curtain material was a little temperamental.

Take the first cut curtain strip and lay right side up. Lay one of the 8 1/2" strips from the sheet with right sides facing. Pin at the raw edges. There will be excess on each outside edge.

Sew with 1/4" seam to attach the strips. Iron seam when done. Then open and press stripes again.

Here it gets a little tricky, but next you want to cut off a 8 1/2" strip of the curtain and just throw it out...you won't be using it. Then cut a another 7 1/2" strip. Pin that strip to the sheet strip, right sides facing. Sew again a 1/4" seam along the raw edges.

Repeat pressing.

Repeat this pattern until just after the last 8 1/2" sheet strip is sewn on.

When you get to the bottom of the curtain, you will forgo the last 8 1/2" discard cut of the curtain and just cut another 7 1/2" strip to use. Then discard the bit of the bottom of the curtain.

Sew on the last curtain strip like before. Then sew on the 12 1/2" strip of sheet to the last curtain strip.

All the strips should be sewn together. Whew...a lot of work. Almost done.

Hem the bottom by first ironing a 1/2" from the bottom. Then fold to 4" hem and stitch hem in place. Hemming the bottom should achieve the last 8 inch strip.

The last step is to fix the overhang of each sheet strip to match the side hem of the original curtain. Can you notice the extra special treat in the photo below???

Okay, back to finishing the curtain. Fold in the excess once and iron. Then fold again to match the curtains original seam.

Then sew the side hem in place. Repeat with both sides of each strip.

Then repeat the whole sewing process with the other panel.

After that you can hang those beauties up and admire your hard work.

I am super happy with how they look in the room. Nothing better than a DIY set of curtains...and these look super polished because of the pretty-precise ( I wouldn't dare say uber-precise) stripes.

Now I just need to add all the stuff on the walls. Imagine it with me.

Until I get all the pictures/posters up, I will just stand back and admire my DIY striped curtains. Woohoo! Ehem...sorry I still get excited about them.

Hopes this helps you guys with all your striped curtain dreams...I mean I assume, like me, you have had them.

Linking up:
Ta-Da Tuesdays: Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night
Share Your Awesomeness: The 36th Avenue

Canvas and Fabric Decorating-Baby's Room

8 weeks until our newest Little Man should make his debut. That might seem like a long time...believe me there are days/minutes/seconds where I feel that. THEN I start looking at my legen....wait for it...dary to-do list and I realize 8 weeks is not  that long.

This week I got a couple things accomplished for his new room. I painted canvases and made embroidery hoops cute by  adding coordinating fabric.

Both of these projects were super easy and fairly fast.

Of course once I found all the fabric, the planning could begin. I was so happy when I finally went to a store here in town that was rumored to sell home fabric...you know the kind on the giant rolls...for super cheap.

Jackpot!

Can you just imagine, home fabric for anywhere from 4.99-9.99 a yard? Say what? Yeah it is true.

Isn't it all so lovely.

This is the curtain material. I got 6 yards of this cute print for just over 30 bucks. Again, I must say it...

JACKPOT!

The curtain material is where I started coordinating all the other fabric.

Some of the fabric is going in hoops. I am adding more sizes of hoops to these soon.

This is one of my favorite fabrics and is inspiring the accessories of white elephants.

I also decided to use my handy dandy, always in stock, canvases to make some more wall art.

I simply gathered my canvases and taped off the edges with painters tape.

I picked out some coordinating craft paint.

I painted my canvases with 2 coats. Then I removed the painters tape.

Next I used white vinyl and my Silhouette and cut out a chevron pattern for one. The first letter of new baby's name for another...

and then of course a white elephant on the biggest canvas.

I LOVE the colors together.

I am getting so excited. Middle and Littlest's room is all done. Oldest's is SO close. Newest's room is on its way.

This room is going to be so sweet and hopefully ready just in time for our sweet new Little Man.