Owl Print Kitchen Curtains

So, I needed some new kitchen curtains. We moved and all my old curtains were worn out! My kitchen here is very retro.... That's just my way of saying OLD!!! LOL Seriously, the stove is older than I am!!! My cabinets are those really old dark wood with the hammered metal handles... Yes, it's THAT old! LOL But I think I can work with it. At least there's a new dishwasher, right???

Anyway, I bought a really cool owl chalkboard with the gift certificate that Jacob gave me for Mother's Day.

I wanted to use it in the kitchen and I wanted my curtains to tie it in.

I mentioned the other day about the recent 50% off sale at Hancock's, well, I bought about 4 yards of white broadcloth to use with an owl print that I have had in my stash forever!!

Here is the result!

I am so pleased at how they turned out!! They brighten the whole kitchen up!! And I think they go well with the age of the kitchen. Very late 60s, early 70s, yes??

I used flowered nails to hang the valance over the sink and the panel on the door. I really like the way it looks. The nails match the hammered metal on the cabinets. 

I also made some very simple little flower buckets to use on my dining room table.

I bought the buckets at Target for $1!! They already had the chalkboard stars on them!! Then I grabbed a $3 set of yellow flowers. I pulled all the flowers off and placed them in the buckets. Simple, cheap but cute!! Well, at least I think so! ;)


Next I'll be working on some simple black curtains for Joshua's room. After that the girls need new curtains. Wait until you see the print they picked out. OH, BOY!!!

DIY No Sew Burlap Valance Tutorial

I am very excited to bring you this SO SIMPLE, SO EASY tutorial. I am loving the way it turned out!!!

We moved and got new furniture so I needed something new for our windows. Our living room window is 9 ft long!!! And we have this amazing view that we didn't want to completely block. What to do.... AH!! A valance! But not just any valance! A chocolate burlap valance!! 

Thank goodness Hancock's was having a 50% off sale!! I bought 7 yards of chocolate burlap for about $25!! Enough to do the valance and a straight panel for the other living room window.

I have sewn with burlap before and while it's a fairly easy fabric to work with, it makes a HUGE mess going through a sewing machine. That's when I decided to go no-sew with them!

I bought fusible bond for heavy fabrics.

This was my first time using the fusible bond so I was a little nervous at first. I should not have been. It was SO FREAKIN' EASY!!! You just iron it right in, it couldn't have been more simple. 

For my 9 ft window I used about 4 yards of the burlap. It had a very wide width so I decided to turn it sideways and use the width as my length, if that makes sense.... In other words, the selvage became my hem. 

All you do is cut the length of fusible bond that you need and place it between the fabric. Add a hot iron and VIOLA! You have a hem!

Since I was working with such a ginormous piece, it took several cuts of fusible bond.... LOL 

This is what the hem looks like afterward. 

For the space where the curtain rod goes, I just measured and folded the top over. Then I placed my fusible bond on the edges and ironed. 

Easy Peasy!!! 

After I put the valance up I took some gold toned ribbon and looped it under the valance, tying it at the top. 

I have to say that I absolutely LOOOOVE it!!! The Hubby thinks I should pull it up even more. He wants to see more of the view. 

I am still trying to decide if I like the other window.... It just looks a little wrong to me somehow. If I figure it out I'll post about it and let you know!!!

Fly on the Wall - July 2014

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 14 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/                                Just A Little Nutty

http://themomisodes.com                                          The Momisodes

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                                   The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                          Follow me home . . .

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                  Stacy Sews and Schools

http://www.menopausalmom.com/                          Menopausal Mother

http://www.gomamao.com                                    Go Mama O

http://www.kimulmanis.com                                    Kim Ulmanis

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                        Dates 2 Diapers 2

http://dinoheromommy.com/                            Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                         Someone Else’s Genius

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                      Battered Hope   

If you've been keeping up then you know how absolutely CRAZY it's been around here. So then maybe you'll forgive me when I tell you that I don't have a nice list of all the crazy stuff that everyone has been saying and doing. Hopefully you will like what I DO have for you, lots of pics of all the stuff we've done over the past month. :D

We went to the art museum! I LOVE THAT PLACE!!! It's amazing and FREE!!!

I even managed to get a picture of Joshua and Deanna! GASP!!

(BTW, if the pics are showing up small, just click on them to expand.)

We had VBS! Once again I was in charge of the 4s and 5s (and Colin). The kids had SUCH a great time!! At the end of the week we had a water slide! I caught a picture of Deanna on it! Hee hee hee hee!!

We went to one of our favorite parks and got lucky enough to catch a view great pictures. 

We went to a local ice cream place that I had been wanting to try for YEARS!! Colin got the Purple Dinosaur flavor (naturally) and managed to get it from head to toe! LOL 

We did 2 more Lowe's Build and Grow workshops. These are ALWAYS free and so much fun for the kids. We missed the one at Home Depot for July. :(

I got 2 cool cups! The first one has "RUN" at the top where the "KEEP CALM" is crossed out and at the bottom it says, "ZOMBIES ARE COMING". The other is Grumpy Cat, of course. I LOVE THAT CAT!!!

Cailey begged me to cut all her hair off so I did. She LOVES it. SHEW!! You never can tell how that might go. LOL She's always had long hair so I guess it was time to try something new. ;) 

Breeze Top Pattern Test

About 2 months ago I got the wonderful opportunity to test a pattern for my friend Shannon over at Little Kids Grow. She is an AMAZING sewist and pattern designer! Guess what! She also does TWEEN patterns!! WOO HOO!! If you have a tween then you know exactly how hard it is to find cute patterns for them. Most pattern makers, independent and otherwise, focus mostly on smaller kids or adults. 

I wanted to be in the blog tour and give you all a big discount on the pattern BUT we moved.... AGAIN! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take part in it. Really, with that awful wifi at the hotel it's a wonder I ever got anything posted here at all!

So, now I bring you my pattern test of The Breeze Top (click there to buy).

If the pictures appear too small, just click on them to enlarge.

It was such an easy pattern to follow. The directions were very clear. 

I used the knit pattern but there's also a woven version included.

This quickly became Cailey's favorite outfit!!!

I whipped up a pair of capris to match. ;)

All in all this is a perfect pattern for summer!

I think I might try a dress version next! 

Use Your Words - July 2014

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them. 

I’m using:               

They were submitted by:   

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

http://bakinginatornado.com                                Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                      Stacy Sews and Schools

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                              Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/         Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                        Dates 2 Diapers 2

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/                  The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                        The Sadder But Wiser Girl

http://themomisodes.com                                    The Momisodes

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                   Someone Else’s Genius 

http://followmehome.shellybean.com                 Follow me home . . .

http://www.crumpetsandbollocks.com             Crumpets and Bollocks

Your words are: Graham crackers ~ blankets ~ flashlights ~ sandy toes ~      ~ stars

They were submitted by: http://followmehome.shellybean.com  

I am going to go about this post a bit differently. We just moved (no surprise there I'm sure) and the kids and I have been very sick. VERY sick. Sigh.... 

So, anyway.. I am going to do a little free association with my words and see how that works out. 

Graham Crackers - Cailey and Colin's first time making s'mores. It was just a few months ago, actually. We built a tiny fire on our concrete walkway and let them have at it. They LOVED it!! We need to do it again soon!!!

Blankets - My sick kids. All of them have been sick except Deanna. Not sure how she managed to steer clear of it but I am thankful that she did. This has been one nasty virus. As I type this Colin is sitting in a lukewarm bath. These fevers have been hard to break. 

Flashlights - The Hubby's obsession with them. ARGH!!!! He loves nothing more than to shine a bright light into my eyes!! What's up with that??? GRRR!! His newest flashlight has a strobe button. I'm not sure but I think he may lose that one soon. ;)

Sandy Toes - The first time each of my kids went to the beach. For the older 3 it was back in 1998. We went to my aunt's house in Myrtle Beach. They older 3 don't actually remember that trip, they were almost 4, 2 and 1. I have a great souvenir. Hee hee hee. My cousin took a pic of them in the bath while I washing the sand off and had it made into a t-shirt for me. I still have that shirt. It has been wonderful for blackmailing purposes. 

For the younger 2 it was last year when we went to Jekyll Island. They were so awed by the sand and the vastness of the ocean. 

 - My friend Karen at Baking in a Tornado. She is such a wonderful friend. For those of you that don't know, when my blog got frozen over at Wordpress she helped move the whole thing over here and set it up!!! Who else but a GREAT, WONDERFUL, AWESOME friend would do that????? She's an excellent cheerleader, always knowing what to say to make you laugh and smile.

Stars - Cailey, Colin and I were just having a discussion about stars and constellations the other day. Colin brought it up, talking about all the pictures the stars make. 

Well, it's about time to get Colin out of the tub. I sure hope this breaks his fever. I can't give him anymore Tylenol or Motrin for a bit. :( 

I promise I will get you all caught up with what's been going on around here very soon!! If I can just get a few moments to myself to compose my thoughts! LOL 

And in a couple of weeks (do I keep saying that??) I will back to my normal blogging.*

*Barring any unforeseen disasters

Just Call Me a Tumbleweed

I am finally taking the time to sit down and tell you about why I've been so absent from blogging lately. 

We moved. Again. 

Now, if you've been keeping up you'll know that we had a major plumbing disaster in May and it took WAY TOO LONG for the rental company to fix the issue. Apparently that was their M.O. It took 6 weeks for them to have that huge fallen tree removed!! And remember how that house was supposed to be temporary?? How we were promised a bigger house in a few months?? Yeah, apparently that was never going to happen. GRRR!! Be careful when you are looking for a new house!! Check out the rental agency very carefully before deciding!!

Anyway, we spent about 6 weeks in a hotel. We had 2 rooms, thank goodness. The 3 youngest kids and I spent most of every day at the pool and each night watching fireworks. Now that's the life! ;) 

We got very brown and the sun and swimming did wonders for my fibromyalgia! 


I am trying to get everything unpacked and taken care of but first Jacob got really sick. He missed 2 1/2 days of work. Then I got sick. I am STILL trying to get over it (it's been 5 days!!!!). Then Joshua picked it up. Now Cailey and Colin are both sick. High fevers and terrible coughs. BLECK!!! So far The Hubby and Deanna have managed to stay healthy! Fingers crossed that they stay that way!! This crud is TERRIBLE!!

I will have a sewing room again!! WOOO HOOO!!! Well, it will also be the homeschooling room but that's OK, I'm not picky. ;) I have most of everything else unpacked, I just need to put up pictures and curtains. Speaking of curtains, I will be making a bunch of new ones and trying out new techniques. TUTORIALS!! ;) But first... that unpacking... sigh..... Wish me luck!!!!

OH!! And there is an AWESOME homeschooling group that meets at a park that is in walking distance of the house!!! WOOO HOOO!! Today was supposed to have been our first meet up but with the kids sick we had to miss it. 

Secret Subject Swap - July 2014

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado

http://themomisodes.com                                       The Momisodes

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                      Stacy Sews and Schools

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                                    Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                        Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://dates2diapers2.blogspot.com                        Dates 2 Diapers 2

http://www.crumpetsandbollocks.com                      Crumpets and Bullocks

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com                               Climaxed

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                       Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                  Someone Else’s Genius

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/             The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

As a kid, did you ever have a chance to go to work with your mom or dad? What did you experience?

It was submitted by: http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/           

I can remember a few times when I was about 7 or 8 that I got to visit my mother at work. She was a secretary at the local power company. 

I loved sitting at her desk. I remember thinking that she must be very important to have such a big desk! 

She had tons of papers and a typewriter, pens and pencils, and stuff! LOL I loved all of it. I can remember thinking that she must have such fun typing and answering the phone all day.... Yeah, I was delusional. ;)

She was always dressed to the nines when she went to work. I used to love dressing up in her clothes and pretending to be her. 

I can also remember a big Christmas party there. They had Santa and PRESENTS! I even remember what I got, a Barbie Doll, my favorite thing!

My mother didn't work outside of the home for very long. About a year later she was placed on permanent disability. 

I can't imagine how hard it must of been for her raising me on her own. 

I miss her everyday. In less than a year I will be older than she was when she passed away. It's so strange to think about it.