Wood Signs and New Photo Prints

Have you seen the etsy shop Old and New Again? They have the coolest handmade wood signs. I want everything in their shop. But for now I settled for this amazing sign that now hangs in my kitchen. They custom painted it turquoise. (Gee, there’s a shocker, me choosing turquoise!) I can’t wait to work with Liz again!

I also love my new Red & White food stores print behind. My brother took that photo somewhere in the southern United States. The sign is all scratchy and oh-so-vintage looking. Contact him if you’d like to purchase a copy at his website, Automotive Photography. I also bought the canvas print below from him, taken in southern Utah around some gorgeous red cliffs. Pretty impressed with Costco’s canvas printing. I wanted something colorful but not sappy or childish. I think this about does it.

Goodness, I love new accessories.

Upcycling

Upcycling has to be the dumbest word ever. But I don’t care, it makes me sound environmentally friendly when really I am just cheap and trying to give new life to old clothes. This pair of khakis belonged to my 7 year old daughter last year. She wore them during 1st grade. At the end of 1st grade they naturally became too short.

So I set them aside in my sewing room knowing that I would cut them into shorts or capris for her and add some fun embroidery to give them a new life. Well, they sat in my sewing room. All summer long. I finally got around to giving them a make over last week. 

I cut them off to capri length first. Then I added bias trim to the bottom that was leftover from this quilt. And to cover the stains on the knees I added these cute “paint splashes” applique designs with the perfect Ta-Dot fabric by Michael Miller. I even added an extra one to the hip area, because well, the fabric is oh-so cute.

Total time? Probably a good 1 1/2 hours, too long in my book. I was excited for my now 2nd grade daughter to arrive home from school and try on her new capris!

And guess what, they didn’t fit anymore.  Color me angry. That’s what I get for trying to be frugal.

Screw frugality, that’s my new motto.

But I made her squeeze into them long enough to snap a few photos before giving them to  my friend Allison’s kindergartener.

Honey Glazed Chicken

You gotta try this recipe from ourbestbites.com.

I really think it might be the best chicken I have ever made. Ever.  click here for recipe

I think I’m hooked on spice rubs now. They add tons of flavor. We made 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs and my small family of 5 ate them all. That’s how good it all is.

I also used the excess spice rub to sprinkle on our corn, which we grilled. And the tomatoes are from our garden. I mashed gorgonzola bleu cheese with mayo and thinned with milk for my favorite ever bleu cheese dressing.  Notice the paper plates? Yup, I’m lazy when eating outside.

This is why I dream of summer all year long—backyard barbecues with my kids and hubby.

Sewing up a Storm: Roman Shades for a New Home

My sister-in-law and her husband bought a new home this summer. Winnie is a school teacher and has a small window of time each summer before she has to return to work. Seriously, I knew nothing about how hard teacher’s worked until Winnie lived with us.  For the first few months of each school year she works 15 hour days. She would leave our home by 5:30am and come home around 10pm. All to teach our kids to read. That’s what teachers do and I had no idea.

So for two days I helped her (and my mother-in-law who was in town from Chicago) sew, staple, cut wood, and drill into window casings for six windows. After a couple of days three window were done and hung with shades. Those two gals knew the routine and finished  hanging the last three over the next two more days. How good do her windows look now?

Aren’t these fabrics gorgeous? I suggested fabric.com to Winnie and boy did she find some gorgeous ones! She said she spent 8 hours trying to decide. I don’t blame her! There really is a great selection there right now in their home decor section. Can’t wait till fall when I have more time to sew and can dress up more of my own windows.

Want to make your own roman shades?

Tutorial for Roman Shades part 1

Tutorial for Roman Shades part 2

I am featured on Etsy’s blog

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. My home is featured on Etsy’s “Get the Look” home decor blog this entire week.

Click here to read the article.

This is the column that I read weekly at etsy and was thrilled when the fabulous Christine contacted me and asked if they could feature my home. Now, I love my home, because, well…..it’s my home, but I didn’t think others would find it anything special.

It’s filled with inexpensive upholstered furniture from Ikea and my own handmade pillows. I rarely pay retail for anything as I have busy fingers that can work a sewing machine pretty well; hence, I work like Cinderella’s mice to save money for things like pianos and barter for other items like a green buffet in my kitchen.

Someday I want custom club chairs in the above room—with a really modern fabric print that will mask all the dirty hands and feet of my kids. Seriously, you should see the arms of these sad Ikea chairs—nearly black with dirt from grimey hands. (New linen covers from Ikea run $179. Each!) Thankfully the white slipcover of at least the sofa removes in seconds for washing. I have two extra of those anyway. Phew, bases covered there.

And someday (hopefully in just months!) I can get rid of those rustic knotty alder cabinets in my kitchen. Who pays extra for rustic is what I want to know? Why would you want your kitchen cabinets full of knots and holes in all the doors? They’re just grease catchers and a real eye sore. But here in the intermountain west, folks love knotty wood. Check any local listing for homes here in Utah and they list knotty alder as an upgrade. Are you kidding me? This stuff is garbage. Craigslist will be seeing these kitchen cabinets soon. Did I mention these same cabinets are in all the bathrooms and laundry as well?  When we walked through this home the first time with our realtor, I said to Paul, “You have to let me paint these cupboards. They’re awful.” He agreed. And then reneged once we moved in. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not, repeat not, ask my husband for permission to do things. Gag this feminist with a wooden spoon. But when it comes to our home, both should agree on major stuff like that, hence my unusual resignation. Sigh. Adding the white subway tile backsplash and under cabinet lighting helped diffuse the black hole look—brown cabinets, black countertops, and dark brown walls.

Well, five years later I couldn’t take it anymore, went all postal,  and at least painted the island bright white just last month. Filling the holes worked ok. Still holding out for white cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. And a 36” range.

Still, I tried to avoid any close up shots of my kitchen for the etsy article.

Please don’t think I’ll walk into your home and think ‘Wo, ugliness abounds’ if you love rustic knotty wood and dream of owning pieces from the Timberline Collection (huge here in Utah). I promise I don’t think that. The cabin look just isn’t my style, although I think it’s nice for cabins. And even then, I am grateful for a nice kitchen although I kind of sound like a snooty-tooty snob describing it. Growing up in California we had several earthquakes that eventually rendered our kitchen cabinets permanently tilted. The only way to keep them closed was to slide a butter knife between the handle pulls to keep ‘em shut. (Yup, my parents have different cabinets now, don’t worry.) So I know my kitchen hasn’t stooped to that level yet.

A few years ago I read this line in a book by Nate Berkus:

“The idea of living well has always been important to me. It’s the best investment you can make in your well-being….your home is the place to invest your money and energy.”

Those two sentences changed it all for me. I can’t afford to decorate my home and go to Europe yet so for now, I choose to spend the pennies I have on the place where I spend 365 days a year while my passport sits still new and unstamped in my desk. Europe isn’t going anywhere.

Picnic Quilt

I was 17 years old in 1991. That was year I made my first quilt. I knew nothing about quilting, but luckily I had a fabulous Young Women leader from church, Keike, who became much more to me than just a church leader. She and I just talked on the phone yesterday. Love having friends through the years….

Anyway, I needed to complete  a ‘Personal Progress’ project to eventually complete my Young  Woman Recognition award. That’s an award that is similar (although not really) to a boy earning his Eagle Scout.  I wanted to make a quilt, and since projects then had to take more than 20 hours each, I knew making a quilt would be perfect. Being a teenager, I lacked commitment to finish this project, so in stepped Keike. (Bless you Keike!)

The summer before my senior year of high school I stayed with Keike’s family in Portland, Oregon. (Can you believe they moved away from California by choice? Crazy!) We made that quilt. And trust me, it was very stylish back then. Filled will soft blues, dusty rose, and plenty of references to farm animals. It was like, yea, so completely 1990s. (Repeat last sentence in Valley Girl.)

How cute is the bunny painted with simple acyrlic craft paint?

 

It is now literally falling apart. I’ve fixed so many of the seams, but this quilt has fulfilled it’s blanket destiny.

It’s time to retire it before it literally falls to more shreds.

Over the last twenty years, this quilt has been so loved. It was on my dorm-room bed in college for a few years. After that, it became our picnic quilt once we had a family. For years I have toted this quilt around in the trunk of my car to make happy babies and Mom comfy at the park. (I know, the nostalgia is dripping in this post!)

So fast forward from 1991 to 2011. After 20 years, it was time for a new quilt.

This is the back:

This is the binding—sewn on with a modfied zig-zag. Too lazy to hand sew binding like real quilters. Snoozer.

I love stitch 16 on the Bernina 830 for attaching bindings to pillows and quilts. Perfect for lazy quilters. That would be me.

 

Yup, my new picnic quilt is just a bunch of scrappies. No pattern was used because well….I just can’t be bothered with patterns. Time is not on my side these days and without anyone to help me make this quilt, I was left to my own devices.

I used a random funky-squares  to free hand embroider. That dang quilting took so long. Thank goodness I used my BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) so that all my stitching lines are exactly 2.5mm. Love technology.

And this time the year was added with machine embroidery, not acrylic paints. That’s my antique sewing machine design. I just added the heart and year. Clever, huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve decided I love quilts, but I don’t love quilting. Too much repetitive sewing for my taste. The above picture was take 9 months ago—that’s how long it took me to finish this ultra-simple and wacky quilt.

So here’s to another twenty years before I need another picnic quilt.

Check back in 2031.

Refusing to Raise Idiots

If my kids grow up to be idiots, well, it won’t be my fault. I am a mean mom and force my kids to ‘learn’ and ‘appreciate’ things that otherwise they would simply ignore. I honestly believe that my 13-yr. old has no interest in doing anything that isn’t purely entertainment and that requires more than just a handful of brain cells. Tough.

Because I believe that learning musical instruments is beneficial to the brain, makes them well rounded, and teaches children discipline, I make them take piano lessons. (Ok, so those are my hands on the piano, but that’s because once again I am taking lessons too.) And if they grow up to hate music of any substance, well it wasn’t my fault.

 

Because I believe kids should never eat hamburger helper and rarely, if at all, eat anything made under golden arches (smiling stars are ok though), I force my kids to try food like arugula and curry. It’s more than just good nutrition I want them to emulate—I want them to appreciate different cultures, and food is the best way I know how to do that. Not only do they have to try these foods, they have to cook with me as well. If they grow up to hate vegetables, well, once again, it' wasn’t because I didn’t try. Here’s Nathan cooking some Tikka Masala:

And because I believe God loves us (we are his children), Jesus Christ is my Savior,  and has given us a plan to guide our lives, I make my kids go to church. We pray together everyday, we read from the scriptures nearly everyday, and do our best to follow the commandments. I believe these things add value and meaning to our life. Will my kids agree someday when they are adults? I sure hope so. But once again, if they choose to abandon our  faith, it wasn’t because we didn’t try. (Disclaimer: I do NOT believe you are an idiot if you are not religious. These are just my own personal values.) Here we are at the temple in Laie, Hawaii:

I correct their grammar, refuse to let them say “like” too much, and make them scrub toilets and dust around the house. But hey, in 20 years, there just might be three more adults in society who go into therapy because,  lo and behold, it turns out, they had an idiot for a mother.

I’m ok with that.

How to Make Roman Shades part 2

Part 1 can be read here.

This post will show you how to make a Roman Shade for an inside mount. Meaning, the shade will sit inside of your window frame. Most of the sewing details are the same and can be found in part 1, but some are different. Here goes!

My window is 41” side so I want my shade exactly 41” wide for the finished width. When I was a beginner I used to make the shade 1” narrower than my window so that it fit perfectly inside my window frame. However, the problem with that is that if your shade isn’t perfectly straight you will see it hang crooked once it is installed. We are amateurs after all, right? I have made that mistake many times, which isn’t a huge deal since your shades are mostly pulled up, but trust me, make them the exact width of your window to achieve near perfect results.

Use to tape measure to measure every inch of the way up and down your shade to acheive the exact width of your window. Normally, the sides seams are about 1 1/2 inches, but I had to adjust the pins as necessary to get the exact measurement of 41”. Then sew. Again, this is all explained in my first post.

The length of your finished shade will be the same as my previous post.

For this shade though I am not starting my rings at the very bottom of the shade. I am starting them a bit higher up so that the bottom section doesn’t get sun bleached by the sun when in the raised position. You will need to make a dowel pocket out of leftover lining. I used black out lining which is kind of ‘plastic-y’ and it doesn’t ravel, so I cut a strip 3” wide, folded it in half and sewed it 6 1/2” from the bottom.  Obviously, don’t sew the sides shut or you won’t be able to get the dowel in you moron.

Why 6 1/2” inches up from the bottom? Patience grasshopper.

Here’s the math. My rows of rings will once again be spaced 10”, which means I will have 5” pleats when pulled up. So if I want to see about an inch of the very bottom of the shade when it is pulled up I need to add about 1 1/2” to the to 5” to get the the point at which I want my rings to start. Consequently, you will need two dowels. (Hey, 7/16” inch dowels are only $1.24 at Lowes, so don’t be cheap.)

 

Attach your rings the same as part 1, either by hand or by using the button sew-on feature on your sewing machine.

Staple your shade to your 1x2 board. You’ll notice my board is just raw wood this time. On my outside mount shade I wrapped the 1x2 in fabric because it would show otherwise. Here it will not show so I don’t care. I have seen professionally installed roman shades and they usually paint the 1x2 to match the inside of the window, but I can’t be bothered. Hence, raw wood.

Attach your ring eyes and if you want the best roman shade ever use a cord lock!! Cord locks can be found at draperysewingsupplies.com.  What a cord lock does is allow your roman shade to be pulled up and down like mini blinds. Meaning, they will lock into place just by pulling them to right, and pulling to the left releases them. BRILLIANT!!! Totally worth the $9. As a side note, I have to just rave about Drapery Sewing Supplies.com because they sell really high quality products to make roman shades and they have videos to show you how to use the items. I never would’ve figured out the cord lock on my own, but thankfully the video explained it P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y. Their nylon cord is superior to the crap at Joann Fabrics. (See below photo to understand how crappy the nylon cord is I use from Joann.)

And if you use the cord lock you don’t need the wall cleat anymore. But you can still use a cleat just to keep the cords all nice and gathered. (The roman shade in the below photo is 5 years old, hence the dirty dingy falling-apart string.)

The only way I knew about the cord lock was that I went and toured this amazing gorgeous home for the Utah Valley Parade of Homes and noticed all the gorgeous roman shades at every window in this house. I lifted up the blinds and saw the cord lock, and of course snapped this  photo below because I was on a hunt to figure out where that little contraption came from. Bless you Google search. (Noticed the 1x2 is just painted? Awesome!)

And instead of tying knots at the bottom row of rings, I now use these little orbs instead. Makes pulling up your installed shade with perfectly even rows much easier because you don’t have to untie the knots to get them even anymore. About $1 each. Worth it. But definitely optional.

All ready to be installed! (I have the shade obviously in the pulled-up position.)

You’ll need another helper to install them. For this 41” wide window 3 screws, 2.5” long is all that was needed. Woops, you can see how the board split on the right side.

I think my guests will never wanna leave now that they have black-out lined roman shades to keep out the glaring light of the street lamp just outside this window. (Thanks Provo city. Actually, I do like that light, great for security.)

Before (These gorgeous curtains were too long (heaven forbid I hem them) and never made for this window—they used to hang in my office and are now for sale for $40. Contact me!)

After!

Breakdown of project cost:

fabric: Waverly Print from Joann $10, Blackout lining, $6, Rings $1.50, dowels and board $4, Orbs $4, 0.9 mm Nylon Cording $3, Screw Eyes $2, Cord lock $9, Cord condensor (for the end of the strings) $1. Most supplies purchased here.

TOTAL $40.50 AND 3 HOURS OF MY TIME.

Not bad compared to $350 for these shades at The Shade Store.