Curtains! Finally.

 I finally found the other panel I needed. It's not really a curtain panel, but a cheap queen sized flat sheet from Walmart. Except they upgraded the quality of their cheap sheets. The old ones didn't have a very tight weave, and they looked a little linen-ish. Not these. I used them anyway. They don't look like sheets once they're up. 

At least, I don't think they do!

I followed a tutorial I found here. She does a fabulous job on her tutorial and I recommend reading it if you want to make your own curtains.
I sewed 6 straight lines on each panel using elastic thread. I used regular thread on the rod pocket. I haven't hemmed them. Right now they just puddle on the floor. If that starts to bother me, I'll hem them later.

I like them a lot better than what I had up before. Want to see?

 This shade is from way back. Probably 4 years ago. Back then, when it came to fabric, I loved burlap above all others. But burlap doesn't stick well to the 'iron on your own fabric' kind of shades. It's just not the right kind of fabric, I found out. (Also, not to run an old lover down, but it sheds, the smell never really goes away, and it's difficult to work with. I mean, sure, it has it's good points. It is visually appealing. Handsome, even. But I wanted something prettier. And still cheap.)

I think these are pretty. (Hard to take a decent photo of, but pretty.)

I hung the curtain rod off-center from the window. It goes over farther on the right side of the wall.

It goes to the edge of the window on the left. I wanted to make the window look bigger, but I have this table next to it.

 I didn't want the curtains hanging all over it, 

and there wasn't room on the wall for another doorknob since the table goes clear to the edge of the window.

 And that's why there's only one doorknob to hold back the curtains. Just on the right side.

 That might have bugged me a few years ago. And off-center curtain, and only only being able to tuck one side of the curtains back.

I guess I'm a little less rigid about things like that now.

I spend less than $40, including the curtain rod.

Thanks for reading!

 

More Easy Art

So I had all these cool old postcards I got in a giveaway package from the fabulous Cindy.

Some are receipts, for rent or a mortgage payment, I'm guessing. 

(did you see the date? 1915!! And if it's rent they were paying, it was $9.72! Most of the postcards have this receipt on the back, and the amount never changes.)

 And most of them are addressed to Ida. Whomever she may be.

Then there's this old french postcard from the Louvre. It was blank. A souvenir, I think.

This is the back of one postcard, and I don't think it has anything to do with Ida. She's not mentioned.

It's a little hard to read, but this is what it says.

"Dear Palm,

The Social for Saturday night has been postponed and Ethel is going away so you had better not bring that guy down. 

            Goodby From L."

(I know! That's it?!? What guy? Why can't Palm bring him anyway? Who names a kid "Palm"? Is it a family name? And where is Ethel going? Am I the only one who thinks "away" sounds just a little ominous? Who's 'L'? Is he afraid to use his whole name? And why doesn't he know how to spell "goodbye"? This fragment of history is far too fragmented for me. I want the entire story!)

I also had this.

I was tired of it, and burgundy has never been my favorite color anyway. But it's the perfect size for my odd little wall space.
So I framed the postcards.

 I painted the mat board with black craft paint, and spray painted the frame ivory. I distressed it and glazed it with some brown glaze.

The postcards are just held on some cardboard with double stick tape. 
(And now that I'm looking at that reflection of myself casually leaning against the wall, it looks like I might have some crazy armpit hair. I don't. That's a palm tree behind me.)

Total cost?
$0.00 since I just used what I had.
Time spent?
About an hour. Most of that was waiting for the paint to dry.
(Wouldn't that be a great name for a blog? "Waiting For The Paint To Dry"?)

Thanks for reading! 

 linking up 

Easy Art

I showed you this yesterday.

When I saw that all the paint wouldn't come off, I really looked at it. I thought all the paint layers were so pretty, and I left it. 

I decided to frame it, until I find another use for it.

Some of the paint layers are the same color as my living room walls. This couldn't have been any more perfect if I'd tried! 

 I already had the frame (it was painted and distressed already) and the fabric for the backing.

Total cost~$0.00

Time spent~20 minutes

My kind of project!

Thanks for reading!

Old Hardware

We had an old falling apart door, I mean, FALLING APART.  I used part of it for this project, and saved some of the rest. It had some nice old hardware on it.

Like this doorknob and these face plates. I liked everything but the color, so I stripped off the old paint.

 Some of the red is still there, and just a tiny bit of the cream colored paint that was under the red. I love that raised bead pattern along the edge.

I put this face plate on the wall. 

(on a side note, this is the best little screwdriver in the world. Yes. The entire world.)

I wanted the doorknob on the wall, too, so I used this to stick it on.

I coated the screw that's sticking out from the middle with the epoxy, and then the rim of the doorknob where it fits into the face plate.

 Then I used painters tape to hold it place while the epoxy dried.

How come I put it on the wall?

To hold my new curtains back.

 I do love how this looks. 

The other face plate had more paint on it. I think it must have been from the interior side of the door.

  I could see lots of layers, and it didn't all come off. I like it this way, so I'm going to spray some poly on it and use it for something else. 
So that's all you need~an old doorknob with a faceplate, Gorilla Glue epoxy, a drill, some screws and some painters tape!

Thanks for reading!

Wilendur

Do any of you collect vintage tablecloths? I used to. Mostly because I hated the top of my kitchen table. (EXTREME crackle. I don't know what I was thinking.)I hated my table so much I wanted to hide it all the time, and vintage tablecloths did that quite nicely. I found out pretty quick that some of the best vintage tablecloths are Wilendur. They're made from some very heavy high quality cotton. I like a lot of the designs, and they don't fade much. The designs are all so cheerful and they aren't usually expensive, so they're fun to collect.

You can read more about them here and here.

You can also buy some here, as well as on Etsy and Ebay.

Here are a few I collected.

I love this pattern. It's called "Princess Rose" and it comes in pink,

yellow and the ever elusive blue. 
(I was obsessed with finding a blue princess rose for a long time, but never did. They must be rare.)

I have two in this ivy pattern. I was going to make napkins out of one of them. (And since I love to sew so much, I still have two ivy patterned tablecloths.)

 This is the morning glory pattern. I don't love it, mostly because of the colors. I inherited it. It's in great shape and my daughter likes it, so I'm keeping it for her. 

I've never been sure if this is a Wilendur or not, but I love it anyway. I can't find the pattern listed anywhere, but the cloth feels the same as the others. A lot of these tablecloths don't have tags, so there's some guesswork involved. I usually go by how the fabric feels.

I got this tablecloth before I knew what I should be looking for and it started falling apart.(Not a Wilendur! And did you notice the top of my table isn't crackled anymore? I refinished it a few years ago and I don't use tablecloths all that much anymore.) The pattern on my raggedy cloth is nice, so I made

 dish towels out of it.
This must be my week for sewing. I'm still working on the shirred fabric project. I hope I'll get it done this weekend, but we're going to have a house full this weekend, so I won't hold my breath. (You probably shouldn't, either.)

Have a Happy Easter!

Galvanized!

I found these at Fred Meyer the other day.

 I think they were $13 each. They're pretty sturdy. You wouldn't want to store cannonballs in them or anything, but they could hold a lot.(Why is it that you're storing cannonballs?)

I wish they weren't so shiny, though. 

I like the dull weathered look that old galvanized metal gets.

Like this.

Does anyone know how to faux that kind of finish?

Shiny though they might be, they're still a good size for my cabinet, as long as I put them on top. They stick out a little, and the top shelf is high enough that I won't bonk my head on them.
When I bought these, an elderly lady in line in front of me thought they were "sure cute, honey." (I like it when little old ladies strike up conversations with me in stores. It's like I get to talk to my grandma for a few minutes.)

I'm working on another project, but it isn't finished.

So that's all you get to see. 

hehehe

Thanks for reading!