Help!

I found a tutorial on how to make roman blinds on a blog and I was so excited to try it out. Our neighbors can see right through our back door windows and I have been wanting to do something to cover the windows. It seemed like a fairly inexpensive project because you use very little fabric and the $3 blinds from Target. But, now that I have put all the work into making them, I am very dissapointed. I don't think I like the fabric anymore. When I first brought it home, Peter said it looked like something from IKEA, and ever since then I can't help but think IKEA everytime I look at them. (Nothing against IKEA, its just too retro/modern for me) And the tutorial told me to use glue to glue the fabric to the blind. Doesn't work! It doesn't hold well and it is hard to create straight lines when you aren't ironing and sewing.

I hate when you put money and time into a project and then you don't like the end result. You can't just take it back.




Any suggestions on how I can improve them?

Kitchen Makeover

My least favorite thing about my cute house is the long, skinny kitchen with the washer and dryer at the end. Not that I am complaining because I love having a washer and dryer and everyday I feel so lucky to have one in my house. And even though the kitchen is small, it is at least 4 times bigger than my previous apartment kitchen. But I figured it would be pretty cheap and easy to change the two things I disliked most: the old, dirty cupboards and this hideous, plaid curtain separting the kitchen from the washer and dryer.
Before:




After:




It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. I had to do 7-8 coats and of course, you have to paint both sides. The painting isn't the hard part. It's the waiting between coats. It took 5 days to get the job done but it was worth it. I love how much more clean and open my kitchen looks.



I sewed the curtains with fabric I found on sale at Jo-Ann's. I don't miss that ugly plaid curtain at all!

I used scraps left over from Laura's quilt to make this to hang in her bedroom. I liked how it added some more color to the drab tan walls. (If this were my house, I would paint her bedroom with a fun color) Next project for her bedroom: Curtains.



I found this idea on someone else's blog where they hung a branch in their little girl's room and sewed these fabric birds. I decided to paint my branch white because the natural look was too rustic for me.



Total Cost: $0 (Everything was made with scraps. The branch I found in my neighborhood on one of our walks.)

Pillows

I used the scraps left over from my shower curtain to make some pillows for my bed. I've been wanting to do this for a while now because I wanted to make some pillows to make the red bedspread match the green walls. So much better than the black pillows we had on the bed before.

Fabric: $0 (left over scraps)
Pillow forms: $4.99 (only had to buy the little one because I used my old black pillows for the two large ones)
Total Cost: $4.99

Shower Curtain

My friend made a shower curtain with ruffled fabric that I loved. I found one at Anthropology that was solid white ruffles. I added some colored fabric. This was one of my more expensive projects and I am still deciding whether I like the way it turned out. It was really hard to keep all of the ruffles in straight lines because the shower curtain that I used as the back was crooked so my measurements also turned out a little crooked.



And I found this cool frame that matches perfectly at Salvation Army. Now I just need to find a picture to go in it.



Fabric for ruffles: $34.00
Shower Curtain Back: $5.99 (TJ Maxx)
Ribbon for Top: $1.97 (Wal-Mart)
Total Cost: $41.96

Pink Tutu

I learned how to make this on Martha Stewart. I love it because it is so simple and takes less than an hour to make. Plus, it is just so cute and girly.




Cost: tulle: $4.00
ribbon:$1.97
total: $5.97

More Onesies

Here is my silouhette onesie. I added some little flowers to add a little bit of color.



I made these for a baby shower. It was actually kind of fun making things for a little boy. I love the guitar one for thier little Nasvhille baby.




Cost: $1.75 per onesie

Next Project

I love these onesies. This will be my next project for Laura. I won't even have to go buy anything because I already have black fabric and white onesies.

http://lifefrosting.blogspot.com/2009/05/silhouette-appiquesmy-new-fave.html