I'm Back Baby...

Whoa.  Whoa.  I cannot even begin to express the exhaustion that has ensued from the craziness of the past several weeks.  In the last month, I have closed on and moved into our new home, finished my first sick trimester of pregnancy number three, and have been preparing for little Marcella Jane's first birthday party all during the crazy frantic holiday season.  To top it off we have gotten the flu twice and I have been cut off from the rest of the cyberworld because of a month long battle with our internet carrier.  But I finally feel like we are settling in and that I can take a breath just long enough to start organizing all the things I would love to create for my new home.

I have been known to be several things: One: cheap or I guess frugal might sound nicer.  Two: stubborn.  And Three: creative.  Since moving into an older home where priorities like "fixing the gas line" and "Resealing toilets so they don't leak everywhere" have taken precedent over the important things like wall decor and curtain choices.  So, with finances limited and a blank pallet with endless possibilities I have begun the crafting marathon.   I am going to blog you out with all the happenings around here!

First project was curtains.  I searched for two weeks for curtain panels for my front window and just never liked anything enough to blow that kind of money on.  I had no idea curtains were so expensive!  So, I decided to make my own.  I know, crazy over-achiever right?  Nope.  I found a really simple tutorial on how to make basic grommet style curtains with very minimal sewing.  Since, I don't sew.  I waited in the craziness that was JoAnne's Fabric the day after Thanksgiving to nab 50% off on my fabric.  They also had a very, you can't mess this up, easy grommet kit that I got for an additional 20% off.  Also my new second home Lowe's, has clearance sections and I nabbed my designer pole for 80%!  Steals!

Now the fun part, sewing.  My sister knows the ins and outs of a sewing machine so I had her set it all up for me.  I can sew a straight line if everything is working the way it should.  I laid my fabric out and measured and cut it into the panel sizes I needed.

 Now, I learned later that grommets take up a lot of your measurement when you hang them.  Therefore, you really need almost double your fabric from what you would measure just straight across!  Also, I had to take in account my hem line.  I decided to do a roll hem, because that's all I knew and it's easy.  I literally just folded my edge a half inch, then folded it again a half inch and pinned.  I did this around the entire perimeter of my fabric.

 Then to the machine to sew straight lines all the way around.  Once both panels were hemmed, I used the very basic instructions to guide me through the grommet process. It took me a while to figure out the primary math on how far apart I wanted them but once that frustration was out of the way, easy street.  Pretty much trace the template where you want them, cut out your circle, and snap them together.

Voila!  Curtains.

It was really hard to get a good picture because there is always a lot of light streaming threw these windows!

I love them.  They match perfectly to the rest of my decor (can't wait to share those later!) and they literally cost me a third of what store bought panels would have run me.