Lengthening Curtains

The rule of thumb when hanging curtains is to hang them from ceiling to floor. Not right above the top of the window and not at the ceiling so the bottoms only touch the window sill. You also want to go wider than the window. 

Long curtains = larger-looking rooms = polished look

Courtesy of this adorable blog

CONFESSION. Literally every curtain I bought up to this point has been too short, but I was also a new college graduate with a tiny income so I didn't want to splurge on the correct length because we didn't have our house yet. Since we built our home last year, I've been putting on my big-girl pants and doing things the 'right' way since we'll be living here for a long time.


Now, in having all of these curtains and not wanting to waste them, I decided to lengthen them so they'll look appropriate for our tall ceilings.

New 108" curtain panels: $60/ panel

Remade old curtains: $35 for 3 panels

Step 1. Measure curtains and get fabric
For our 7' curtains, I needed 2 extra feet of length for our 9' ceilings and since each panel was 42" wide, I had to find fabric that was wider to allow for hems. Adjust the amount of fabric you buy for how tall your ceilings are and the width of your current curtains allowing extra inches for hems.

Reminder: When looking for your fabric, keep in mind mixed textures and complimentary colors are your best bet. My curtains were a darker orange and blues are a complimentary color, according to the color wheel, so I chose navy fabric.

2. Cut and Stitch

Cut your curtain panels where you'd like to add the new fabric. I chose to add mine to the bottom so I measured 24" from the end. 

Cut your new fabric to the correct length you're adding. Mine was 28" wide and 46" long.

Pin the new fabric's edge to the curtain's newly cut edge, fronts facing each other (back of the fabrics are facing outward). Stitch with your sewing machine (with appropriate color/ polyester blend thread) an inch away from the rough edged end to make a seam all the way across. Pin the other half of the curtain to the opposite side of your new fabric and sew another 1" seam across. Presto! One panel is complete :) Repeat these steps for your other panels.

3. Hang Curtains

My rods are from Ross for like &10 each... no lie... and they look like million bucks. Position your rod about 2-3 inches from your ceiling, allowing more room if the end pieces are chunky so they don't scrape your ceiling. Here are ours below....

I apologize for the awful photo quality, but I literally took this on the way out of the door this morning.  

Congrats on saving bukus of money while making your home super stylish :)

Happy crafting!

Turquoise Clock Tutorial

Tres chic, no?

Ya'll, this is beyond easy and makes a great conversation/ statement piece. My girlfriend sent me a pic of something similar she spotted online and it was love at first sight. This one measures about 22x19 in. with the smallest little gold clock pieces Hobby Lobby had.

Supplies:
-About 3 old pallet boards (depending on your desired clock size)
- 1 3/4in Wood Screws/ Bit to drill a hole for the clock piece/ Power Drill
-Minwax wood stain. I chose ebony
- Gems/ Stones of your choosing (we chose turquoise)
-Hot glue gun, glue sticks
-Clock pieces from local craft store. Hobby lobby and Michael's have a good selection
-Picture hanging kit. I used the eye hooks and wire in this kit from Home Depot
- Drywall screws


1. Break apart pallet wood
The pallet we used was aged and easy to split which helped us get the jagged piece look. It took about 10 pieces to make each of our clocks, but get creative with it and make it as big/ little as you want! You may want to use a saw if you're looking for specific shapes.

2. Fasten wood pieces together/ drill hole for clock hands
Flip all of your wood pieces so that what you'd like to be the front of the clock, is facing downward.

Take 2 extra pieces of decent (not going to fall apart) pallet wood and place them parallel to each other on the back of your clock face and fix them so they won't peek around the sides or be seen from the front.

Using your power drill, put a screw into each piece of wood, fastening the 2 parallel boards to what's going to be your clock face. If any of the screws are showing through on the other side, just hammer the point flat so it won't hurt anyone who may accidentally touch it.

Depending on the clock pieces you bought, you'll need to drill an appropriate sized hole for the mechanical part that holds the hands to fit through using a drill bit.

3. Stain
Brush the stain generously on the clock's front and back sides so the whole thing is covered. You could opt to leave it natural or use latex paint for a different look.

4. Bejewel!
Place your stones at the 12, 3, 6, & 9 spots on your clock face. Once they're where you want them, attach them with your hot glue. Lookin good ;)



Clocks in progress:

5. Attach Clock Hands
Fit the mechanical part of the clock works through the hole you drilled. There shouldn't be a lot of wiggle room if any. The package the clock parts come in will have instructions on the order of how the pieces need to be stacked.

6. Fasten wall hangers
I chose the eye hook and wire method, but there are a number of ways to hang your clock on the wall including drilling it directly into the wall using dry wall anchors, attach metal hooks to hang on screws put in the wall, etc...

Your clock is now ready to hang!! Once you pick a spot, insert 1 or 2 drywall screws/ anchors (depending on the weight of your work of art) into the wall until secure... mine took 2. Hang clock  and voila! A one of kind piece of chic that is sure to bring attention when guests are over.

Happy crafting!

DIY Crate Coffee Table

Have you seen this floating around in the Pinterest world?

How pretty and different! It reminded me of some things I've seen at Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, but what a home run of a deal costing a grand total of $60 or less!! Compare that to $350 (on the cheap end) at any retailer.

I HAD to make this... obvi. It's just too cute and easy and I followed the steps above minus the stencil design.

Shopping List:

-4 Crates: 10/ ea at Michael's Craft Store or FREE if you ask your local liquor store.

-Reclamed wood. Mine was free pallet wood from the curb, but you can ask a local store for a free pallet or buy wood at Home Depot/ Lowes

- Minwax Stain. I prefer dark like Ebony or Jacobean. $27, but a little goes a long way

-Legs or wheels. Mine were 3 ea.

-Paint Brush

- 1 3/4 inch Wood screws

-Power Drill

-Dremel or saw to cut the center pieces and base from the pallet wood

1. Assemble Crates with wood screws

Arrange the crates like the above pictures and screw together. I used 4 per crate, but fasten how you deem fit so they make 1 sturdy piece all together.

2. Cut pallet wood to make base and center

I measured the base of the 4 crates (that are all now one single piece) and cut my pallet boards so that they can be fastened around the perimeter of the base. This helps elevate the table a bit and gives you a strong base to which you'll attach the legs.

At this stage you have a whole in the center of the table, which would look fine if you left it as is. You could always cover it with a pretty tray. I chose to add the 2 cut wood pieces so it can act as a surface as I planned on filling the cubby with wine corks. You could also attach them to where they'd be flush with the crates on top to create a flat surface.... so many options! 

3. Attach Legs/ Wheels

There are tons of options when it comes to furniture legs and the prices can range from $1.50- $30/ leg or wheel. Mine were $3 each and I actually ended up cutting off 1/3 of each one as I didn't like how high it made the table. I then used those left over leg cuttings to add to a cool silver trunk in our guest room to make a side table. Hardly anything goes to waste in our house :)

4. Stain

I love to see a stain bring out the natural beauty of the wood grain. You could choose to paint the table with latex paint, but I preferred the stained look.... it's more Pottery Barn and looks expensive when it's complete :) Let the stain dry a few days so it has plenty of time to set.

Here is my work in progress:

Once the stain is dry, bring your work of art inside and add your wine corks or books/ candles and make it your own.

Happy Crafting!

Dining Set Makeover

I was very blessed to have a loving grandmother who passed down most of her furniture to me which was a huge money-saver when my husband and I moved into our new home last year. One of the pieces was a dining set with which we shared family dinners and sweet memories as far back as I can remember. Selling/ giving it away now just wasn't an option for me, but it really needed an update. The table is solid wood except for the table top which is some kind of particle wood with laminate glued on and the chairs are solid wood and early-American style.

I turned to Pinterest, naturally, and fell in love with these photos and knew I had to have that color combo.

My supply list:
-All-surface primer like Zinsser 123 primer (for table), spray paint primer/color in 1 for chairs (for convenience)
-Stain Stripper and plastic flat-edged tool (if your table is stained)
- Flat Cream chalk paint (used paint I already had and bought the chalk additive for a        FRACTION of the chalk paint cost! It has to be FLAT though... no gloss or satin)
-Bunishing Glaze like this one from etsy
-Glidden Sample size paint in Stewart House Brown. Cheap and didn't even need the whole thing!

***I was so excited to start the project that I completely forgot to do a before pic, but I have a few pictures along the way :)***

1. Strip stain
Brush on stain stipper with a paint brush and let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, then scrape off with flat-edged tool. The stain will easily peel away if it's set for long enough. This method is SO much easier, in my opinion, than sanding.

Wipe table down with damp cloth once all the stain is removed to assure table is clean of stain solution.


2. Prime
Apply primer with paint brush or roller. The primer will set after a couple hours, but I suggest to let it at least sit over night.


3. Paint
I painted the table's top first so I could easily correct any drips/ mistakes with the cream paint when I did the bottom half.

Here's a progress pic.... the curtains are another DIY that you can find here :)

4. Apply Wax
The wax does 2 things: Protects your paint from every day use and alters the color/ look of the paint.
I used a damp rag and a little wax goes a long way. Just dab and smear it around until you've achieved the look you want. The top color won't look much different but make sure you give it a good even coat since this surface will get the most wear.

For the chairs, once they're dried from the spray paint coats, apply the wax in the same fashion OR you can find pretty chairs for a GREAT deal at retail stores such as Marshall's, Ross, or At Home aka Garden Ridge.



Finished product:

I couldn't part with my chairs quite yet, but I'm in love with the mix of curved benches and banquet chairs pictured below. Maybe one day :)

This is just step one in our dining room makeover as I have so many other DIY's in mind.... watch out for those posts in the future!

Happy crafting!

Meet the Author

Welcome to my new digs.... again!

Well guys, I'm back for the *counts on fingers* 5th attempt in starting my own blog.... yeehaw! 

 I think my previous attempts have failed due to lack of interest, forcing ideas, and really just wondering if I had anything interesting and different to add to the blogging world. Then I thought, I search and Pin blogs DAILY and had those people thought my same thoughts, I wouldn't have stumbled upon that great 'How to paint your furniture to look like Pottery Barn' snippet or 'How to pack 5 days worth of clothes in a carry-on to go to NYC' blurp which, let's be honest, are both life-saving how-to's. 

Long story ....well... long, I am a left-brained, type A personality who loves nothing more than the freedom to express one's self through creativity, organization (think label maker addict), and the joy of 'balling on a budget,' aka thrifty livin! Hence this new place and the re-re-re-re-re opening of my little baby blog. Happy birthday, my tiny baby blog! I refuse to give up on you again and can't wait to see you grow :) 

Cheers!