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  • 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.
  • A Potpourri of Repurposing and Organizing Ideas {Guest Post}

    A Potpourri of Repurposing and Organizing Ideas {Guest Post}

    He who was seated on the throne said, “ Behold, I am *making all things new!”
    Revelation 21:5
    **Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness; for they have been ever of old.
    Psalm 25:6

    I’m delighted to be offering this Guest Post on Adelina’s blog, as she is in the midst of moving this
    week!  I have moved MANY times and I know how stressful it can be –  My offering for today will be a
    potpourri of ‘do-over’ ideas for you –  ;-}

    I have learned through the years to ‘make Beauty from Ashes,’ so to speak, and I thought I’d share
    just some of my many Repurposed Items and ‘creative storage’ ideas.  Perhaps some of these may be
    helpful to those of you who are on tight budgets or in tight spaces – as I know all too well… I have
    been ‘repurposing’ items all my life – long before it became ‘fashionable’ to do so and I enjoy reusing
    ‘usable’ items, often making them more beautiful.

    So – there are times when I just have to acknowledge my Dutch Heritage…  Being very frugal,
    resourceful and drinking coffee all day are a few things I do that come from my ‘Dutch genes.’
    *smile*  Therefore, I have many empty coffee cans for which I continue to find ‘good use’ –

    My first project today is a ‘repurposed’ coffee can – decorated with scraps – and turned into a Gift
    Container for some yummy Christmas Cookies or candies.

    To cover the can, I stamped ‘sheet music’ in brown on parchment paper, inking the edges and then
    stamping snowy flourishes in silver in various places. (These don’t show up in the photos – sorry.)  I
    used the (www.PaperCraftingWorld.com) Bell .svg file – a scrap of red, one of ‘marbleized’ silver, two
    of plain silver and a snippet of silver ribbon to make the ‘Silver Bells,’ which I adhered to the red
    grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the can.

    I made a Recipe Card/Gift Tag for the top with a Circle Card file (I don’t know from whence I got it…)
    – topped it with a Scalloped Circle ‘wreath’ I made from the same file.  I punched ‘notes’ from silver
    scraps, placing them on the wreath.  I used the flourishes that were cut from the Bells under a red
    flower plucked from a red hydrangea stem, enhanced with a red, flower-gem center and silver
    ‘Scribbles’ paint.

    Another enjoyable passion of mine is ‘burning candles’ – for their relaxing scent, as I ‘burn mine at
    both ends!’  Therefore, I have several of these empty glass jars at any given time…

    These harvest-themed .svg files are from
    The pumpkins were cut with my Cricut/SCAL2
    and then embossed on my Cuttlebug. The
    pumpkin atop is for the recipe and a note –

                                                      

    These Christmas .svg files are from
    After cutting the pieces with my
    Cricut/SCAL2, I embossed them in my
    Cuttlebug and then adhered them to the jar.
    Both jars are ready for holiday Goodies!

    I’ve found many ways to reuse baking sheets – These are old ones that I spray painted, used
    discontinued wallpaper for the backgrounds and then .svg files as decorative elements, further
    decorated with gems, flowers (from the Dollar Store) and magnets for memos.

    I also use some cookie sheets and pizza trays that I picked up at the Dollar Store while working on
    scrapbooking pages or other projects.  Arrange elements on them with magnets until you have the
    whole page designed and decided upon.  Then you can secure them to the pages with adhesives.

    I have turned simple lunch sacks into
    Mini-Albums to keep memories –
    turning this – into these –  They include
    many pages for photos and pockets
    for memorabilia –

    As far as organizing my crafty supplies, I’ve repurposed things for this, also.  Here are just a few of
    my ‘bright ideas.’

    I got the box at Michaels, cut my
    ‘business/blog name’ on my Cricut
    and adhered it to the front of the lid.
    For the dividers, I cut pizza and cereal
    boxes to fit, covered them with cream
    parchment paper and punched tabs.
    Some days it’s filled with cards I’ve
    made, some days it’s not – Time to
    make more!

    I covered empty soup cans with the
    corresponding color to my Timeless Twine
    spools.  I put my baker’s twine in a Sugar Jar,
    of the ‘restaurant style,’ that I picked up at
    the Dollar Store.

    I made a cutting board lap desk from a
    postal box covered with Kraft paper.
    It’s lightweight, portable and I’ve found
    it to be quite handy for years.

    I saw a post recently about using knobs attached to wooden dowel pieces with Velcro added to hold pieces of felt to use for ink blending…  I looked around and decided to attach the felted ‘furniture leg pads’ that I
    had in a drawer to wine corks and lids that I’d been saving – FREE!  I also use makeup sponges for blending
    inks –

    Another idea for corks and lids:  glue them together and glue on the little foam shapes to make simple stamping fun – for you or for children!

    Jars and food containers can also be reused as ‘serviceable,’ too – I use many of them to hold laces, ribbons, chipboard shapes, buttons, pins, any decorative elements –

    I use all manner of food containers for
    various crafting implements –  Here are
    vegetable containers in which my felt
    marking pens fit perfectly and stack
    nicely on the ‘box shelf’ which is their
    home –

    I keep track of all of the Punches I have in a $1  Kraft-page journal book I got at Michaels – I punch on cream paper and adhere in this book for a quick reference as to what I have while ‘projecting.’

    I will leave you with another ‘make-over-magic’ project I made this week – turning a lowly, plain Dollar
    Store mini clipboard into a sunny gift for one of my Dear Friends…!  The .svg file is from
    www.PaperCraftingWorld.com    I used Mod Podge to adhere all of the papers and gems and protect
    and preserve it while in use – The mini-pads come in several colors and I look forward to making a
    rainbow of these to have for quick gifts –

    I hope that some of this has been helpful to you!  I’d love to have you come by MY blog
    (http://aneleganttouch-lynden.blogspot.com) and see what I ‘cook up’ each week – adding ‘An
    Elegant Touch…’ to all that I do!  If you have some great repurposing or organizational ideas, I’d love
    to hear them, too –  Have a Lovely Day wherever you are and Thank You from Adelina and me for
    stopping by and sharing part of your day with us!  *smile*

    About the author

    My PhotoI am a mature, educated, creative woman – a Mother of two grown children – a Gramama of two precious grandchildren – a proud Blue Star Mother of a Marine Captain – a daughter of the King of Kings – a woman looking for her place in the world in the winter of her life…sharing what I do and who I am – with You – adding  ‘An Elegant Touch…’ to all that I do…


    Lynden Blossom

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    Thank You Lynden for sharing these wonderful tips and tricks with us! Your papercrafting is a delight to see, and I hope I can use some of these ideas around my new home!