Window Mistreatments

Raise your hand if you are a fan of The Nester's blog ... Me, me, me!! {my hand is up, you just can't see it through your computer.}

The Nester is famous for her quote "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." and for her window mistreatments. She calls them MIStreatments because she frequently takes shortcuts in order to make them look pretty. Now that is my kind of decorating! That must be why I love her blog so much ...

Anyway, I do sew. A little. But I'm lazy and I'm impatient and I frequently take short cuts too! In fact almost every single curtain that I've made has some type of hidden mess up or short cut. If you're reading this Mom, I'm sorry! You taught me how to sew well, but I'm just too lazy to do it right most of the time! {My Mom is an amazing seamstress ... I only wish I had her patience with sewing things to perfection.}

So today the Nester is hosting a mistreatment party in which her loyal blog readers can tell on themselves and reveal their own window mistreatments. Since my blog is private (and I like it that way) I can't really participate in the Nester's party, but I can share my mistreatments with you, right?

Now, I am about to reveal to you some astonishing things. So, you have to PROMISE me that the next time you are at my house you WILL NOT go around looking at the back of my curtains, or checking for glue gun strings or any other imperfections ... ok?? Promise? All right, let's get down to business ...

First we have my kitchen curtains ... they may look good, but that cute little fringe was actually HOT GLUED on there - gasp!
This is my new downstairs curtain (got this fabric super cheap too!) -- see below for the big reveal ...
I was too lazy to sew, so I hot glued the whole thing! No sewing whatsoever! {my daughter Haley helped me and said I was cheating - ha!}
AND, that cute little gathered look ... is just a couple of clips holding the back!
This is our downstairs TV cabinet. The glass area was empty for a long time until today when I decided to use it for storage space. But I didn't want all the junk to show through the glass so I 'created' this little curtain to put behind the glass ... it hides the junk well, right?
Inside it has frayed edges and was completely done with hot glue! {I love my glue gun!}
Here is the upstairs bathroom curtain ... notice the cute layer that goes behind the striped fabric ...
ha ha, it's not really a whole layer! It's just a piece large enough to cover where you will see it from the front! {I'm SO lazy}
Haley's new roman shade ...
...was another hot glue project! I hot glued the pieces of fabric, then hot glued the ribbon to cover up the seams of the fabric. This view from the back even shows a bit of the old fabric that was on it before!
This curtain is in my dining room. It's actually a pair of store bought panels. I didn't like how thin they were though so I decided to back them with some heavier fabric after I got them home. See below ...
The only problem was I bought some green fabric (from my cheap store) and got it home and realized it wasn't enough! So a few days later I went back to the cheap store to get more ... but because it's a cheap store and nothing is consistent there I couldn't find the same fabric again. Now, I know it's a cheap store, but I'm even more of a cheapskate ... I COULD have just purchased a big piece of something new and just used the first piece I bought for something else ... but somehow I thought the colors and patterns would match up OK and I could get away with using two scraps ... so this picture is the back of my curtain ... two patterns, two greens - the color actually looks more similar in daylight - but they don't match at all! But who will know? Well, now you all will, but I trust you won't tell!
And lastly, here's my final mistreatment ... my shower curtain. It really turned out pretty, I was so happy with the results ...
But once again I measured wrong {I'm really not that dumb, I just don't take the time to pay attention to details!} and I ran out of the pretty trim with about a foot left to go! And guess what, I haven't even gone to buy more ... the curtain is usually bunched up anyway and no one really sees that part ... so who cares?
This concludes a look into my completely imperfect, yet totally beautiful life. Hope you have enjoyed it, and promise to never tell a soul what you have seen here today. =)

My project

Have I kept you waiting long enough? Are you dying to know what I used all those fabrics for??

Well, those who know me well know that I always have some kind of project going on. I just love to re-decorate and make changes around my home. I love how a can of paint and some cheap fabric can completely change the look of a room. I love to be creative and keep things fresh. Most rooms in my house have been changed many, many times. Several rooms have seen more than one color of paint, and most of my windows have have several different curtains on them. I even enjoy the simplest act of re-arranging the furniture in a room - just to change things up.

So I've been wanting to change things in H's room for awhile. Her comforter was getting very old, very worn and looking pretty shabby. I wanted to buy her a new quilt set but was frustrated at the cost. I also needed to change her window treatments - all she had was some fabric that I'd stapled to the window with ribbons to tie it up when we wanted to let the light in.

I was excited to find fabrics at my favorite discount fabric store, and at Walmart which were all between $1-2 per yard!! So these pictures are the results of my projects ...

I made a 'quilt' with the new fabrics, then slipped the old comforter inside, sewed up the edges, and used glittery silver yarn to hold it together at the corners of the squares ...
Then, I took some old roman shades (that I made years ago and were sitting in the basement) and recovered them with the matching fabrics ... and finally made a swag from all the leftover scraps of fabric.
I confess. I cheated on the shades. I hot glued the new fabrics to the old shade, then hot glued ribbon at the seams to cover the rough edges.
This swag idea came straight from the Nester's blog, I have one in my bathroom too and I love the way they look!
Here's the bed, curtain and swag all together.
I am so happy with how it all turned out! And H was too, she loves her 'new' room. =)

Book List Additions

My hubby has never liked to read. In all his adult life he's read only a small handful of books, and they were all related to a sports figure that he liked.

I've been trying to encourage him for years that he should try reading right before bed. He always has trouble falling asleep and I told him that reading helps relax you and take your mind off your day.

So this summer he's finally decided to start reading ... and he's gone CRAZY!!! He is flying through books so fast that I can't even keep up with him! I love, love, love to read ... but often fall asleep after only a page or two. Bob on the other hand is wide awake at night, and has been flying through book after book every night!

I am so proud of my honey! He has really gotten into the books by James Patterson and even went to the book barn the other day to pick up a bunch more books.

So far this summer he has read:
Uncas of the Mohegan-Pequot {A historical book about Bob's tribe.}
Beach Road by James Patterson
Step on a Crack by James Patterson
4th of July by James Patterson
Sail by James Patterson
Swine Not by Jimmy Buffett

And I'm still working my way through The Postcard by Beverly Lewis ... =)
I'm going to add Bob's books to our summer reading list. His books will get # next to them so you know who's reading what.

If Walls Could Talk

This wall says how much I love and value my family ...This wall says that I adore my husband, and thank God for our wonderful marriage...
This wall helps me to keep things in perspective ...
This wall says that I love collecting similar items, and reminds me that family = love ...
This wall says that I have a love of words and phrases, and again a love of collecting similar items ...
These walls reveal one of my addictions ...

This wall reminds me of all the people who mean a lot to me ... especially those that have passed away like my Dad and Grandparents ...
This wall says that a little princess lives here ...
This wall says that we love the beach, sun, surf and sand ... and reminds me of countless hours spent together enjoying God's creation ...
This wall says that a budding artist lives here ...
This wall says I am blessed to be able to teach my children at home ...
This wall says that a sports nut lives here ...
This wall says that my work is never done ...
This is my only unpainted wall, it's a new wall, and the paint is already bought for this wall ... so this wall says "PAINT ME! PLEASE!"

Weekend Vacation

A couple weeks ago Bob and I had the fantastic opportunity to go away for the weekend ... with some friends ... with NO kids!! Our friends have a time share condo that was right on the water. It was incredible! The condo was beautiful, it had fabulous views, was within walking distance of hundreds of shops and restaurants, and was surrounded by water, harbors and gorgeous yachts. It was amazing.

Jake and Samantha are our friends who invited us. They don't have any kids yet ... but are expecting their first in the new year. So the four of us got to be adults and have a fun weekend with no kids. =) (Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but getting a break is sometimes nice!)

It was gorgeous. There is so much to do and see there. There was no way we would have come close to seeing it all in the 2 days we were there. And you might think we'd try to cram in as much sightseeing as we could ... but instead, we simply sat in the sun by the pool for most of the time!! Well, we did walk around the shops and go out to some pretty cool restaurants too, but most of our time was by the pool. Total relaxation!

Looking out our bedroom window on one side of the condo we could see this ...

This is the condo building we stayed in ... Looking out the deck on the other side of the condo we could see these views ... This is a view of the pool area taken from the rooftop ... And another one of the pool area where you can see the harbor right there on the left ... More amazing yachts ... makes ya wonder who owns these boats and what they do for a living??



This is what we did most of the time ...
Right here next to the pool, which overlooked the harbor ...
Jake and Sam ... Bob taking a dive ... On the rooftop, you can see the bridge in the background ...
More rooftops photos ...
Sam and Jake ...

At the a cool Pub for dinner - YUM!

Thanks so much Jake and Sam! We had such a great time with you!

A little preview

Here's a little teaser of a couple of projects I'm currently working on ... I know you will all be anxiously holding your breath to find out the end results! =)

So sorry

For the lack of posts lately and even more sorry for the lack of pictures ... I have so much to share but I've been so crazy busy lately ...

VBS is done, it was amazing and we had such a great week ... then I went straight into 3 days of working at the flower shop on 130 arrangements for an event that is going on tonight ... had a couple hours to visit with Dan, Kristin and their boys last night while they were in town for a short visit, and have out of town college friends coming in about two hours! They will stay with us for 3 nights, then I have another work event to do Thursday, and finally a double birthday/pool party for the girls this coming Friday ... so you see, I have much to share and much to tell you but just not enough time!

I promise when this week is through I will add photos and updates!!

We're more than halfway there

VBS continues to go really well. Tonight was 'water night' in which we rented huge waterslides and the kids have a blast getting all soaked. Well it poured cats and dogs all day but I kept on praying that it would stop in time for VBS ... and it did! YAY, praise God!

Even though the air was a little cooler than normal the kids didn't seem to care ... although I did see quite a few chattering, blue lips ... but they kept on playing and enjoying the giant slide and the fire truck hose.

OH, and the 'treats' tonight ... oh my goodness ... in addition to their regular snack they also had sno cones and cotton candy!! Oh yeah, how many parents are cursing us right now as they can't get their kids to sleep???!!!

Anyway, the kids are having a blast ... my own kids are already complaining that 'there's only two more days of VBS!' ... but let me tell you, I'm EXHAUSTED and although this week has been great I could not have handled more than one week!

I have been terrible about getting any pictures but I know there's a couple people running around with cameras every night so hopefully at the end of all this I can get my hands on some photos and share them with you. Until then, I'm goin' to bed. Good night!

First night

of VBS went very well! YAY! I am sorry to say that although I am usually a very organized person I really cut myself short yesterday and ended up arriving later than I had hoped. So my first hour I spent scrambling around trying to make sure everything got done that needed to be done. Other than that our night went great, the kids had a blast, and even though it was hot - it wasn't unbearable.

Tonight should be great as well, I plan to arrive a little earlier so I'll be more prepared. =)

Oh oh oh it's a big backyard, yeah yeah a really big backyard ... everybody's serving and doing their part in God's big, big, big, big big backyard!!