No Sew Shades

I have been busy this month working on our office and workout spaces.  For the workout room I wanted to add a pop of color and decided to do that with fabric and try a Pinterest project I’ve been wanting to give a whirl.
There are a ton of “pins” on Pinterest on how to make shade like these.  I used a tutorial from Imparting Grace. I felt like her tutorial was the easiest to follow.  You can see it HERE. I made a few adjustments and here is how I made it work for me.

DIY No Sew Shades

Materials Needed

• Fabric
• Liner Fabric
• No Sew Tape
• Measuring Stick or Tape
• Scissors
• Tension Rods (I used 8 for 2 windows)
• Iron and Ironing Board

Step 1
Measure your fabric.  You want the fabric to be 2 inches wider and 6” longer than the inside of your window.  My windows are 26”x 60”, so I cut the fabric to be 28” x 66”.  I also lined the shades with muslin fabric and cut that to the exact size of the window.
I used muslin to line my fabric.  The tutorial I was using suggest doubling over the fabric.  Liner fabric is cheaper so chose to use that. 

Step 2
Hem the edges and bottom with the no sew tape.  Lay your tape on the edge and fold over to 1 inch and iron.  Follow directions for the tape you purchase.

Step 3
Place a tension rod at the top and fold fabric over 3 inches, place the no sew tape down and iron the fabric together over the tension rod creating a pocket.

Step 4
Hang the curtain, then hang your tension rods over the fabric.


Here you want to simply pull the fabric under and over the tension rods to create your “folds” in the fabric. 

That's it!  Super easy and they look great.  Now I have that pop of color and I didn’t spend a lot or invest a lot of time.

Tips

• I used Heat n Bond no sew tape for heavy duty fabric, I like this brand a lot!
• I ran out of the tape (I needed 2 rolls for 2 shades) So I finished the last edge with Fabri-Tac

• If you can sew, it will save you even more time
• I had to adjust the folds to make it look like the pattern matched on both windows.  I wasn’t paying attention to the pattern as I was cutting and I got lucky it was close, pay attention.

This solution is great form me.  Our windows are not a standard size so I have to buy custom cut blinds or shades which are more expensive.  It is also difficult for me to find drapes because our windows are so high and close to our 10 foot ceilings.  The longer the drape the more expensive. 
Cost
I spent $18 on 4 yards of fabric at Hobby Lobby (used a coupon).  $14 on the muslin, $3 for the tape.  $3 each for the tension rods at $24 (which I already had).  Total of $59. 
Hope to be back in the next week or so with the final reveal of this room and the office reveal…I made mini blind roman shades for that room and I can’t wait to show you!!!
Have a great week!

April

Valentines

I made some cupcakes today since we are snowed in.  I try and spend my time wisely

These chocolate strawberry treats were super easy to make.  I had planned to make some cupcakes I made a few years ago on Valentines Day that were Neapolitan, they were really good but when I went to pull my recipe from Pinterest the link was broken.  So, I searched to find a really good strawberry icing and I found a “pin” from  Girl Inspired, Strawberry Dream Frosting.  This frosting was so easy to make, click on the link Here for the full recipe. Basically it’s marshmallow fluff, butter, powdered sugar and strawberry extract. With a little pink food coloring as suggested you could fool anyone into thinking this was real strawberry goodness! 
The frosting itself seemed a little butter heavy but when paired with the chocolate cake it is delish!  The cake itself is just boxed cake mix.  I used Fresh Market’s gluten free brand, only because I was there the other day and needed cake mix otherwise I would have used Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines.  The Fresh Market brand is tasty if you are looking for gluten free.
I am not a fan of Valentines Day but I thought my co-workers would like a treat and since Will’s Birthday is the 15th I made him a big cupcake!
 
I made sure I tried it for him, you know a love bite!  Wishing you a happy Valentines Day if you are into the holiday and wishing my husband a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
XOXO,
April

Pallet Art

This past weekend Will made the coolest wall art!  I just had to share with you guys.

The more I see it the more I love it!  I’ll admit I was a little unsure about the pallet art in the house but we found a great spot in our living room to add it.

We had company over for the Super Bowl Sunday and everyone was loving Will’s handy work.  Someone suggested we could add “home” to the sign and I have thought about painting it on, so just for fun I added it to the picture to see what it would look like. 

Love my handy husband!  I also love that he came up with the idea, I think my creativity is rubbing off on him!
What do you guys think?  Have you seen any cool pallet projects lately?  

April