20 Minute Curtains

I wanted to do a little something on the windows for Mistress's room, but really didn't want to put up curtains or toppers. We love the moldings around our windows, and don't want to cover them up. When we first moved in here we tried some curtain toppers in her room that matched her bedding and I hated them when I got them up! So they came down and went back to the store. I had resigned myself to having bare windows when I came up with this super simple, inexpensive, and easy way to add a bit of color and whimsy to her room.

I bought 1/2 yard each of three different colors of fabric, and pulled two from my stash. FYI, 1/2 yard was WAY too much. I only ended up needing about 3 triangles of each color, so I have tons left over. Anyway, I spent about $5 on fabric, and another $2 on 3/8 inch white ribbon. I cut a bunch of triangles using a paper triangle that I had made for a pattern. Make sure to use a pinking rotary blade or pinking shears so your fabric doesn't fray.

Then I just stitched the triangles in random patterns to the ribbon and stitched a loop at each end. A few small tack nails in the top of the molding where the holes won't be seen if they are removed and I had an inexpensive solution for curtains!

These would be great in a boy's room as well with boy colors, or in a playroom in bright primary colors. The possibilities are endless! I actually first made these several months ago for the baby shower that I helped throw, and they would be great for decor for any party you could imagine.

And here's the full effect! I love the color that it adds, and am happy with how much impact a simple little project can have. Be impressed that her room is clean, I cleaned it this afternoon and then banished all the kids to the outdoors. It was 65 and sunny here today, way too nice to be inside!

Growth Chart

A while back I found a really cute growth chart at my favorite store, Pottery Barn. It was 6 feet long and shaped like a ruler and was perfect for our home. Unfortunately I just couldn't get past the price tag. I don't remember exactly, but I think it was between $80-$99. Ouch. So, when we had the laundry room painted and our painter covered over the kids' height marks, I decided it was time to finally get around making one for our house! I didn't take step by step photos, but the process was the same as our family name plaque. (Only on a much bigger scale!) The only thing you need to remember is to see how high your base molding is, then add an inch or so and start your growth chart at that point. Our base molding was 4 1/2 inches, so I added a 1/2 inch and started the bottom at inch number 5. That way you can hang it high enough to clear the molding and none of your foot markers are at the top or bottom of the chart.

Check out the results!

And the best part? Mine only cost $6 for the piece of wood. Everything else I already had on hand. The paint was leftover from one of our bathrooms, the tissue was ironed out from a Christmas gift, (yes, you really can iron tissue paper. Lowest heat possible and no steam, works great!) and the inks, modpodge, and marker were all things I already had in my stash. I even had the hanging bracket for the back! I made sure to record all the kids' heights from the laundry room before our painter covered them over, so I'll add them back in and we'll have a family keepsake that will be around for decades to come. Lord willing, our grandkids will be on there someday!

Closet Organization

Happy New Year!!! I may be a little late, but I have a good excuse; I have been systematically organizing each and every room in our house. Every cupboard, drawer, closet, nook, and cranny in the entire house. It's taken me a while, but Goodwill has gotten a ton of stuff out of my way, the trash man hates me, and finally I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I love organizing. Seriously. I'm one of those crazy people who gets as excited about a trip to the container store as a child gets going to Disneyland. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I finish cleaning something and it's all neat and tidy, which is probably why I banned my kids from their rooms today. I wanted them to stay clean for a day. Kidding. Anyway, one of the areas of our house that was bugging me was the kids' closets. They are nice and large and have tons of space, but were completely poorly designed with a standard wire shelf across the top and nothing else.

See all the wasted space?

And do you see WHY we needed more storage space in the closets?

So I went to one of my favorite stores, Ikea, and bought each boy one of these bookcases for their closet. I liked them because they were really sturdy and durable and offered plenty of space for all those toys that were laying around the room. I used four bins for each kiddo that were given to us by a neighbor and organized the smaller things into them while keeping the top cubbies for larger toys. The best part is that I can rearrange as needed as they continue to grow. They could also be combined someday to make a larger wall unit. Very versatile!

And now I can breathe easy, knowing that my boys will be organized. For at least an hour...