Home Improvement Part II

So in all the excitement of the election (!!!!!) I almost forgot about my promise to share the second part of my home improvement project. I'm sure I left many of you on the edge of your seat in suspense. To provide a little context, those of you who saw my place in Albany will remember the constant damage being done by Rascal to my plastic mini-blinds. That problem was eventually solved by putting a hand me down curtain up. Unfortunately, that curtain didn't cover the window immediately behind our bed that both cats like to climb into in the middle of the night making lots of noise and breaking the blinds. So, rather just spend the money, I give you my own blinds:

From Blog Pics

I know, making curtains is not that difficult. You just hem three sides evenly then sew down the top leaving enough room for the rod, check. The challenge here was the fabric I picked out. Needing something Marcus and I could both agree on (meaning not too girly) was difficult, and I wanted something dark enough that I didn't have to line the curtains. So, we picked out this really nice silk home decor fabric, SILK. That was the challenge. Oh, and these curtains are two panels, to make it easier to open them and easier for the cats to get in. Another challenge: making two even panels. Now all I have to do is get my behind in gear and make the matching set for the other window!

Home Improvement Part I

So in an effort to personalize our anonymous ikea furniture I decided to add some pillows to the couch. Nothing fancy mind you, and I really only made them because I was too cheap to cough up money for all the expensive ones at Pier 1 and Pottery Barn. I also had to wait for some home decor fabric that I actually liked to go on sale at JoAnn's. So, once that happened I was able to produce this:

From Blog Pics

Now I know what you're thinking, anyone can sew a square and stuff an insert into it . . . very true. See, what I'm most impressed with here is something you can't even see in the pictures, ZIPPERS!!! That's right, I put zippers on the the bottom of the pillow so they're just like the ones you buy in the store. I can switch out the cover for others I make when I get more adventurous, find other fabric I like on sale, or just get bored. It was a minor feat, but I'd never worked with zippers before so I was pretty pleased with how they came out. It took a little navigating to figure out how to sew on the zipper so it wouldn't show and how to use the machine while there was a zipper pull in the way.

Stay tuned for Part II of Home Improvement!!!

New Year Treat!

First of all, to my (probably non-existent) Jewish readership, I wish you all a happy and sweet new year! Now, here's a little treat for all of you to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with. Before I show you said treat, let me give you the recap of the conversation between Marcus and I when he came home on Sunday to my little surprise:

Marcus (from the bedroom): Sarah Elizabeth Shafer
Sarah (from the living room): Marcus Lamont Wilson
M: What is this?
S: What are you talking about?
M: Come in here.
S (walking to the bedroom): What's wrong babe?
M (pointing to the new pillow on the bed): What is this?
S: A pillow
M: I am neither white nor a shirtless firefighter.
S (bursts out laughing)
End Scene.

Now, for your viewing pleasure:

From Blog Pics

Green Bags

One final glorious theme package to share. Thanks to the lovely folks at greenbagstudio.org I was able to send this:

Now I know it doesn't look like much there, but for full the story check out this post from the Green Bag Studio Founder/Master of the Universe. Trust me, it's worth reading the whole story.