How I made curtains

How to make curtains

1. Pick out fabric.

2. Cut out fabric. Cut fabric 2 inches wider than the curtains that you’d like and 10 inches longer.

3. Hem the side edges. Fold edges in 1/2 an inch. Than fold over again half an inch. Sew along the hem. (Sorry this isn’t pictured. Sometimes I forget to photograph everything.)

4. Create hanging loops for the top. (Also not pictured.) I cut out 16 squares that were 5 inches by 4 inches. I folded the squares in half on the 5 inch side and sewed them together to create 5 inch long loops. I turned them inside right and ironed them flat.

5. Iron the top edge of curtains as shown.

I’ll try to explain a little more. First lay fabric so that the front of the curtains is facing up. Fold the top edge fabric 1/2 an inch onto the curtain and iron flat. Fold another 1/2 an inch down and iron again. Turn the fabric over and fold the top edge half an inch that direction. You should now have a nice little pocket to sew the loops into.

6. Tuck the loops into fold as shown. And pin the loops down. I used 8 loops on each of my curtains. I placed the first one on the edge and then the others were placed roughly 8 inches apart.

7. Sew two seems along the top edge to hold the loops and such in place. In the photo above you can see that I’ve sown the top curtain together already.

8. Hem the bottom of the curtains. I folded these 3 inches than rolled it up three more inches so that the bottom has a little more weight and hangs better. It depends on how long you want your curtains. In another room I made curtains with a 4 inch hem on the bottom.

9. Package them up and send them on their merry way!

THE END!

Five Tips to Decorate a Bookshelf

This is something that I need to do in my house. I would love for my bookshelves to be beautiful. :)

If you follow us on Facebook, you have already read that our office bookshelf was featured on The Steven and Chris Show, a Canadian design/talk show.  To say I was thrilled is an understatement.  The downside?  The show doesn’t allow streaming outside of Canada, so I couldn’t watch it!  Recently, though, I received a dvd of the segment from a producer, so I’ve been able to bask in all the glory.  So, I guess I may be called an ‘expert’ on decorating bookshelves?  That’s pretty extreme, but here’s the photo that was shown, taken from this post.

Here’s the play-by-play on what was said about our bookshelves. 

Steven said, “This is well-organized.”  Chris (who is more minimalist) said, “To me, this is flawlessly done.”  Their guest, design expert Cobi Ladner, said, “That is beautiful because you’ve got your storage, you’ve got your books there, but it still looks great.  There’s a knack to that and there…

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Raised Bed Gardens

I recently made some raised beds that look similar to this. I hope that I am able to grow some amazing vegetables this year!

The Carson Gardener

After some experimentation last year, I discovered that the existing dirt in my yard was horrible for growing vegetables. I mixed in quite a bit of good soil, but it still seemed like it contained too much clay. This year I decided to get a bunch of dirt from Full Circle Compost and build some raised beds. Our most successful garden in Gardnerville was grown in soil from Full Circle Compost.

A near complete bed with one hoop attached.

I did an internet search for raised beds, and found great plans to build the ultimate raised bed on the Sunset Magazine site.

I skipped on the hardware cloth bottom liner, and used 3 1/2″ deck screws instead of the #14 wood screws in the instructions. I found that I couldn’t afford redwood with the number of beds I plan to build, so I used douglas fir. Only 1/3 the price…

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My Holiday Tablescape!

This is a nice and simple way to decorate for the holidays.

In preparation for our holiday dinner party tomorrow, yesterday I went grocery shopping. Today, I worked on completely decluttering the house and setting up our dining table (minus the dinnerware). I created a tablescape that’s super simple, organic, and festive.

And to be honest, it didn’t cost me a penny. I gathered everything from what we already had from yrs past. Except for the fresh pine, of course!

Here’s my little arrangement. You really don’t have to inherit Martha Stewart’s genetics to do this!

I added these teeny tiny iridescent glass ornaments to the pine needles. They look like little magical bubbles!

I knew that I wanted something fresh, organic, and appropriate for the season. What fits the bill better than pine and its pine cones? The scent of fresh pine is AH-MAZING!

And this is how it all came together! We are still in the midst of redecorating…

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Patterned Rollers for the Wallpaper Phobic

This is a really cool idea! I’m going to keep this in mind when I move to a new house in 2 months.

A Detailed House

Because of HGTV and the DIY Channel, I am a little nervous to hang wallpaper. It’s difficult to put up well and time consuming to take down. Bottom line: it’s a commitment. But it’s soooo pretty!

Pretty, right?

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Smart Little Laundry Rooms

Smart Little Laundry Rooms.

My husband and I are going to get (rent) a house in about 3 months, so I have become very interested in home decoration. :) No more small apartments for me!

The Color of an Ivory Tulle Skirt

I love to make treasuries of Etsy! Here’s one of my latest. Enjoy!

The Color of an Ivory Tulle Skirt