Home Maid Simple

Day: April 24, 2013

  • DIY Repurposed Roller Shade: Instant Kitchen Facelift

    DIY Repurposed Roller Shade: Instant Kitchen Facelift

    If you look really closely at the left side of my shade here, you’ll see a speck. It’s no ordinary speck. That my dear readers is a squashed mosquito. Very flat too. I have no idea how long this bug was a part of the kitchen decor, but upon buying this home I knew it needed to go.
    I LOVED the roller shade though. Personally I think they are the best kinds of blinds because it eliminates dangerous cords, and they are extremely easy to pull up and down.  I digress though.  Let me tell you how I turned this into that for an easy DIY Kitchen Facelift.
     
    

    I’ll try and break down into easy steps for you – but please leave a comment or email if you have any questions.

    Measure – You’ll want to start by doing a lot of measuring. First measure the height of your window, and how far you want the shade to reach down. Then you’ll want to unroll the current shade and measure the width.  Next you’ll pick out your fabric and measure. Give yourself a 1 1/2 inch seam allowance on the sides, and a few inches on the bottom.

    Cut –  Cut out your fabric.  Next you’ll want to roll your shade onto a cutting mat on the floor. Anchor the roller so it doesn’t get in your way while you do this. Measure from the very top of the shade down to where you want the shade to end, and then give yourself another 1-2 inches (just for good measure). 
    DO NOT do what I do, and just cut off the bottom. First make sure you’re shade is straight both up and down and side to side. Then go ahead and cut off any extra of the current shade (my shade reached almost to the kitchen floor. I didn’t need that much, and I wanted to get rid of the smooshed bug).


    Iron, Fold, Pin, Hem – Go ahead and leave the old shade for a bit now. Take your piece of fabric and measure out the seam allowance. Fold at the 1 1/2 inch mark, and iron it down. This will create an easy line to follow for a finished hem. After ironing the seam, unfold it. Now you will fold the edge back in, but just so it lies on the ironed crease. Fold over again, and you have a nice finished edge.  You only need to do this on the 2 sides and the bottom. The top can be left a raw edge. Pin the folds as you go. In the corners, turn the bottom edge in at a 45 degree angle to get a more clean and professional look – just make sure the pin goes through both edges to hold it in place.

    Now you’re ready to hem it up. You’ll be sewing blindly. Just make sure you know where your 3/4 edge is on your machine, and you’ll be good to go. For my Husqvarna Viking, that put my fabric right on the edge of the presser foot.

    Position Fabric and Glue it on – You are almost done! With your roller anchored still, position your fabric on to the front of the shade (you would hate to hang it up, and realize you put the pretty fabric on the wrong side, wouldn’t you?).

    The side edges will go right up against the side of the old shade. Only the bottom will fold under to the other side. Once you have the fabric positioned, make sure it’s laying out flat. You’ll see why a little further down…

    Start with the top edge and using fabric glue, glue the edge down. Let it dry before moving down the rest of the shade. If you want, and I think if I ever do this again I will do this, use a sponge brush and smear fabric glue across the rest of the old shade. Lay down your new fabric and press flat. Let dry.
    Or do what I did do, and just glue the edges…

    Once the front if completely dry, flip your shade over, and turn the bottom edge over. Glue down.

     
    Reattach the original, or add a new pull ring for easy up and down action.
     
    Voila You’re Done!
    Unless of course you made the mistake I did, and you now have a bubble of fabric after rolling the shade up.
     
    If this happens to you, find a coordinating fabric and add a decorative strip to cover it up. Just use the fabric glue sparingly here, or you will end up with some spots (DOH!)
    
     
    I hope you found the tutorial helpful. If you have any questions on this tutorial please leave a comment or send me an email.
     
    I would love to have you join me on Facebook and Twitter, where I frequently talk about other home designs, and share photos of in progress projects.
  • Rosie Posie….Bucket of Worms?

    Rosie Posie….Bucket of Worms?

    Today my 3rd Princess…Princess R…turned 3 years old. She acts a whole lot older with her clear vocabulary, and very grown up facial expressions. She can give a stink eye like none other, and she never gives up when she wants something badly.

    Awhile ago, I must have said this to her, but I called out one day “Rosie…Posie”, and she responded in a sly little voice “Bucket of Worms…*giggle giggle*”

    The truth: she is my bucket of worms – my squishy, sometimes gross, fish catching bucket of worms.

    Dear Princess R,

    You have always loved the camera, but don’t always feel like smiling for it. These days you prefer to smile and run away from the camera in hopes I’ll chase you down with it. 

    In your first year and a half of life you were prone to enjoy odd places, and loved getting into the most trouble you could find

    That eye wound gave me a good fright, but all turned out well.

    In your second year, you were determined to become one of the big girls, and refused to let your sisters leave you behind. Although sometimes that was difficult since they are closer in age, for the most part I get to witness beautiful moments of sisterly love. 

     
    Shortly after you turned 2 you were no longer my baby, but became a big sister.  You stepped up to the plate, and showed me that you knew how to be a big sister. But you continued to be my bucket of worms as I recently watched you use brother as your horse but also made sure to share your applesauce when he was hungry.

      Happy Birthday Princess.  I can’t wait to see what the coming years will bring as you continue to shine with your very unique personality.  Come fall it will just be you, Prince L and I at home. I have adventures planned for the 3 of us!

    I love you baby girl!

    Love, Mom.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Princess R’s only request for her birthday was an M&M cake. I was happy to oblige, but learned something in the process.
    Don’t mix the M&M’s into the batter. The will sink to the bottom, and stick to the pan. Of course cupcake liners would have worked just fine, I didn’t use those either. Next time I’ll try topping the batter with M&M’s just before cooking.