Projects Keep Popping Up!

This post has turned out way longer than I intended, so settle in and enjoy. Sorry 'bout that!

You know how it is when you're excited about a new project and can't wait to see it to its fruition. That's how I've been feeling about my living room redo at the moment. Several days ago I ordered my new sofa but it'll take 8 to 12 weeks to arrive from the factory in North Carolina. I can hardly wait! But meanwhile I have some other projects in mind. I've been doing a bit of shopping. Bit?! That's an understatement! But I'm watching my pennies pretty well. If I know I can do it myself, I'll give it a try; if not, I'll think about it a lot before I buy something.

For instance, I saw a photo of a room that had 2 different curtains on one window. I mean one side of the window had a completely different curtain than the other side. Pretty neat actually. Then I saw a room that had 2 curtains on one side and one curtain on the other side of the same window. That got me thinking what I could do. So I bought the pink and cream taffeta curtains—btw, those curtains I got from Overstock.com and they are extremely well made, lined and everything—and then I purchased a french-looking floral print fabric to put with them, a yellow background with red/pink roses and a tiny blue morning glory. I'll put one of each on each side of the living room window. Here, let me show you what I did as I just threw the yellow fabric over the rod. In reality, this looks beautiful! I also knocked over a pot with a fern in it on the table beside the sofa, knocked over a bottle you see on the shelf, had to stand partly on the sofa and table, lost my footing and almost killed my self trying to hang those 5 yards of fabric for the photoshoot. What we bloggers won't do for a photo. :-)

Okay, I got back upon the sofa and pinned the fabric up there after cutting it into manageable lengths. I also think I should take down that shelf and extend the rods out further, but the other side of that window doesn't give me the ability to do it. I may be stuck or come up with another solution. Hmmmm...I have a feeling Love Bunny is going to kill me before I'm through if I don't accomplish the task for him by falling off the sofa.

Then I looked at my chandelier shades and decided I wanted some new ones, a different look. So I purchased 5 and am redoing them also. There will be roses on them and ribbon but a bit less fancy than those on there now. I'm so excited I could just scream.

Then I got the idea of painting a tall bucket I purchased recently from Joanns to hold wrapping paper for me. (Can you tell now I've recuperated just fine from the surgery 6 weeks ago?) It was a mottled green or slightly verdigris color. I wanted pink and yellow stripes. Hubs told me that would be very difficult since it was wider at the top than the bottom. I purchased some artist's tape at Michaels, which actually looks and acts like the blue tape house painters use but with a fancier price. (Don't be fooled, chicks, get the blue tape at Home Depot.) I measured a couple of times and put the tape on. (Hubs was still giving me attitude that it would be difficult.) I had to position the tape about 3 times and let it "fall" naturally to the bottom. Several trips outside to give it light coats—I say that but I screwed up at one point and had to wipe some serious yellow drips with a paper napkin—and then I looked for my pink gloss paint and had none. I had white gloss though, so as I was impatient to see how it would look and knowing I could repaint it if I wanted, I painted it white. After about a half hour of drying I brought it inside, whipped off the tape, showed it to hubs and gloated. Here are the photos of both side. Stripes? Perfect! My first try. I tell ya, I'm on a roll!

Then I wanted a "wash and wear no-iron, put right back on the table from the dryer, white ruffled tablecloth." For everyday use we have a white piece of vinyl but every single time we have spaghetti or lasagna and, since I'm a slob, there are always red splotches on it. The red does NOT come out even with vigorous scrubbing with a sponge and detergent. The problem is I want 2, 3 or even 4 or 5 ruffles on it and I have no idea how to do multiple ruffles around the edge unless the top where I would sew it on shows but I don't want that part to show. I don't know if it's even possible to do it without cutting a bit of the cloth off, putting on one ruffle, sewing the piece back on and then putting the next ruffle on the bottom. I think multiple ruffles make it a bit lovelier. Okay, I googled it to see if I can find the trick to how it's done. Here's one made from a bed skirt. This lady did one that way.

This lady did it from scratch with lots of drop cloth fabric.

Another bed skirt ruffle.

Okay, since I have lots of fabric from a very soft old sheet and I've already torn it into 4" pieces and I have a ruffler, I may as well make it myself from scratch. The one tablecloth on the table sitting outside I like better than the other two. I want a very ruffle-y cloth and I can do that with my ruffler. Sigh. It's just another thing to add to my to-do list. But this project might just push me over the edge!
~*~

I've told my daughter I want a clock like this. She's a mosaic artist and can definitely do it. I love this little beauty.

What a delightful way to serve ice cream to friends! Wrap the cones in scrapbooking paper.

Cute and small bedroom.

Another house on a waterway. I believe this is one of those towns in the Netherlands, Belgium or somewhere near them that doesn't have any roads in their town. All shopping, etc. is done by bicycle or walking.