How to Make A Roman Shade from Mini Blind

**Edited to add: Join the party at A Soft Place to Land DIY Day, A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words 2nd Time Around, Southern Hospitality's Today's Thrifty Treasures , Twice Remembered's Make Your Monday , and Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday***

Are you like me and love the look of roman shades but are too intimidated to attempt making them? When I found this project on Little Green Notebook I knew it would be my salvation to the despised decorating peril of plastic mini blinds.

Mini blinds sacrificed for the greater decorating good instead of evil?

YES!

Supplies needed for this makeover:

• plastic mini blinds
• tape measure
• fabric glue
• scissors
• fabric

***Edited to add ~ This was a ZERO CA$H project as I had all supplies on hand. The fabric was end of a clearance priced bolt, purchased several months ago for about $5 without a project in mind ~ just for my stash! Mini blind was older than dirt but recently destroyed by one very rambucious Indy-bug kitty. A very thrifty repurposed project ~ the best kind!***

Carefully cut off all the ladder sections of string being careful not to cut the lift cords.

Remove the plugs from the bottom, set aside, and remove all the extra slats.

As my blind was already shortened to my desired length, I just took that measurement and divided by 9 (the desired length of folds) to arrival at my optimal remaining slat number of 5.

Retie lift cords evenly, trim excess, and push back into hole.

Replace plug covers.

I'm showing this next step without fabric because it's just easier to see.

Lay your fabric face down, fold fabric over an inch or two for a nice finish across the top of your shade then place your blind face down making sure to keep fabric folded edge flush with top of blind.

Measure down 9 inches or desired fold length and place a slat, continue measuring and placing slats until you reach the bottom of the blind.

Using fabric glue attach your folded fabric edge to top of blind. Then apply glue to each slat and press to fabric to adhere.

***DO NOT glue the lift cord, stop and start your bead of glue on the slat about an inch or so from the lift cords so they can work freely. This is a vital key to success***

When you reach the bottom trim your fabric leaving enough to cover the bottom slat and wrap over slightly. Glue in place carefully avoiding the lift cords.

Trim your fabric down both sides leaving enough to fold over making a nice hemmed edge. I left about 2 or 3 inches on mine.

Make a neat fold at the top carefully leaving the sides of the blind mounting bar free of fabric because it must be able to slide back into your mounting bracket.

Glue in place.

Continue gluing side hem all the way to the bottom of the blind.

Make a nice neat fold at the bottom, repeating what you did at the top.

You can add trim to the bottom if desired.

Wait for glue to dry then hang in place!

I loved how it turned it. I'm planning to do my living room blinds as well. I think I'll do those in burlap and attempt to line them as well.

Chalkboard Tray

I've had this cheapy Dollar Store tray for years. It's looking worse for the wear! Since I've been seriously wanting to copy all the cute chalkboard trays I've seen all over blogland, this tray is a perfect candidate for a makeover.I had all necessary supplies so it was a ZERO cash project

LOVE THAT!

I seriously love the spray paint trigger! And here it is all done displayed on my island!Naturally I had to bake some cookies to properly show it off!

And the little green saucer is stamped Fireking on the back

and it cost me 10 cents in a yardsale!

Burlap Framed Pear

*edited to add link to Make Your Monday @ Twice Remembered* & *Miz Rhoda Today's Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality*&*Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch*&*Second Time Around @ A Picture is worth 1,000 Words*

I spotted this at a church rummage sale and thought what a fancy frame. I immediately thought of a project I've seen all over blogland recently. Did you see the price tag of 10 cents?


Trusty black spray paint to the rescue, left over burlap, hot glue gun and sacrifical faux pear ~ ah much better!

I just love the results!

Framed Silverware Copy Cat

Sorry for the glare! Y'all know I'm camera challenged around here.

The shadowbox frame was dirt cheap because the glass was broken

The faux silverware was free out of the trash from work ie: broken wall decor

The mini frame in corner was free, same as the silverware

I purchased a pack of vintage sheet music months ago on sale at local antique shop

Basically I ripped and tore the sheet music down to size & distressed inked the edges

Hot glued the faux silverware after careful eyeball meausuring

Stamped our inital on a piece of cardstock and glued the whole thing to the corner

It now lives on my wall above the sideboard in the dining room

shhhh... don't tell anyone but I've still not painted that sideboard yet

for shame!

I think my next post will be about the color crisis I'm having choosing between

black

or

creamy white!

I seriously need help!

2nd Time Around: Pleater & Ice Bucket

This is my first time participating in Diane's A picture is worth a 1,000 wordsI really want to learn how to smock. I had a tiny lesson months ago while I was in Statesboro Ga working on their new Hobby Lobby... remember that? It seems like a lifetime ago! So imagine my surprise and delight when I found this Amanda Jane 24 needle pleater in my favorite local antique shop. I couldn't believe the price! Only $15 !!! What a steal!

Years ago as a young military wife I tried to collect Princess House crystal but sadly my family budget didn't allow for many purchases. I have a chip n dip bowl, trifle bowl, and a set of brandy sniffers... Now I have a crystal ice bucket! Found at the same antique shop in it's original box with plastic tongs for $10 !!!

Isn't it pretty? I just love it. I have it boxed up because I learned my lesson with crystal when fat Miz Sissy-kitty single pawed destoyed 7 of my 8 antique stemmed dessert cups. I can still remember the unmistakeable sound of shattering crystal, it tinkles very pretty!

Thank you for visiting me and allowing me to show off my bargains!

I adore giving a new home to old treasures

Thrifted Easter Bargain

Sweet bargain from my local Habitat Resale shop. I almost passed this bargain up because they were on an Easter decorations table a) I haven't found my stash of Easter decorations yet & b) felt guilty at the thought of buying more. But I took a closer look they were marked... HALLMARK for only $3 !!!!!! Well I quickly decided I could afford a few Easter decorations this year *smiles* Now where are my candle tapers?

Daydreams vs Reality

One of the things I love most about my old house is it's dining room. I never lived in a home with a proper dining room, most had dining areas and some had eat-in kitchens. And when we purchased this home years ago my Mother was living with us so we used the dining room as our family room so there would be room for Mother. It was only after we moved back into our home about 3 years ago that I finally had a dining room. I've spent countless hours over the last 20 odd years daydreaming about this:And sometimes I'd daydream about dining rooms that looked like this:

Once we moved back in I especially started to daydream about these:
With all that daydreaming of mine what have I ended up with? Good question! This is what I ended up with, a thrifted, neglected, abused, unloved, very dirty, old, broken down sideboard purchased from the Summerville Flea Market for $50 a few months back. I have since decided I paid way too much! It lives on my porch and helps to round out my white trash decor to adore so we can fit in with our neighbors lest they find out we're not really from around here you know...
Sorry the picture is so small but trust me, this baby doesn't improve with enlargement! It's a big project and we've (my darling Mr Darcy and me) just started tackling it. In case you're wondering when the best time to start a big furniture rehab project is, let me clue you in, the absolute best time is as soon as the weather turns too cold to work outside and it's less than two weeks before a major holiday! *smiles*

Mr Darcy goes a thrifting...

My darling Mr Darcy took me on a thrifting adventure weekend before last. We drove over to the little foothills village of Landrum in search of the Habitat for Humanity Resale shop. We were not disappointed. I found these two ironstone plates for 75 cents each but when I checked out discovered they had been on the half price table! Can't beat that deal! I thought I'd hang them with my other two pretty plates I found on my birthday.
As I walked thru the shop I came to the linens section. I thought why not have a look and I started digging thru stacks of linens and found these animal print Euro shams, two of them for 25 cents a piece! Of course I had to get them even though I have nothing remotely close to cooridinating with them in my bedroom. And I found 6 beige cloth napkins for 25 cents each. I love using cloth napkins, don't you?

Now brace yourself for this next find. A set of 8 crystal stemmed dessert glasses for only $8!!! Perfect or almost perfect condition. Upon very close inspection I noticed one had the tiniest of little chipped area along the rim but this is nothing compared to the beauty of them. I would never have noticed it if I hadn't been looking really really close. Where to store them? Display them? *sigh*

A small apothocary jar for a dollar! Maybe it won't be as intimidating for me to fill up since it's small.

Landrum is a quaint little town with several antique shops and artsy style shops, lots of fun to explore on a beautiful fall day with your schmoopy-pie! We had lunch at a rustic and dark little place named "The Hare and Hound", did I mention this was a horsey enthusiastic community? *smiles* It just added to the charm, my darling Mr Darcy used to show horses in his youth so he enjoys the whole atmosphere. I do too.

YS Find

*Edited to add: All the trees have been fluffed & I didn't know I was going to be doing it until I got there so sadly no camera! When it's time to get our trees out of storage I will show the very simple, very easy tree fluffing method we used at work. Unless of course I am chosen to be on the set team for the new store in September and I can get pictures of the tree fluffing there. You're probably already doing it and not realizing you're a professional tree fluffer-upper! *smiles*

I've been looking for lamps quite awhile without much luck. Remember the ys trip I made to Charleston awhile back to pick up my big honkin' furniture rehab? Well I scored on some great finds, one was a pair of very heavy lamps for $5 each. I offered $8 and the owner agreed *smiles*

They seem to be unglazed ceramic ? I totally hate the green bands on them and the white jumps out too much for my decor. I wonder what color I should paint them? Or if I could rub on something to knock that white back to a more antiquey golden color? And what about that green? Could I repaint that first and if so what color? My home is mostly golds, reds and touches of black, only my bathroom and master bedroom is green.

The shades are unfortunate *sigh* I so have to find new ones. I was thinking maybe some that are sort of retangle shaped, something I could recover in a gorgeous fabric...

Oh and this is my wicker stand I got a few weeks ago off the clearance aisle at work. My boss gave me a chance to shop on the clock again and let things go for next to nothing because he needed to get the Christmas trees out and leftovers were in the way!

Wanna guess how much?

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?

*smiles*

Yesterday was tree fluffy duty for me. I got to watch the official Lobby DVD on how to properly fluff a Christmas tree! Then I spent the morning doing exactly that. My arms are scratched up but let me tell you girls it was fun! I had a great time and I got to hear some of the latest news from the corporate lady sent around to help train people on tree fluffing! Look out Statesboro Georgia and Charleston SC area, you both have Hobby Lobby's coming soon!

And fingers crossed I'll be on the set team *pray for me please to get this assignment*

Please leave me some advice on how to make these bargain's into beauties!

Goodwill Hunting

I'm not the greatest at finding treasures at my local Goodwill. The Goodwill fairy hates me. Where others find lovely white plates to hang on their walls for virtually nothing, I find, well, nothing. Then I hit pay dirt. This is my ugly chair I bought from Goodwill weekend before last. I paid $25 which may have been too much but I felt it had great potential. Even better it fit perfectly into the back of my Kia Rio. No tears in the fabric, no stains, just a little loved, very comfy. I thought I would whip up a slip cover for it but reality is that's another project heaped on to my already huge pile of projects so until that magical time when I'm project free I'll just live with the hideousness of the fabric. Plus we have a white haired kitty named Sissy who sheds like crazy so no harm no foul if she sheds on this chair some. You know what's funny though? It actually sort of looks good in a corner of my dining room... plus my husband and dear friend both like it! Just as it is! Good to know I don't have to rush to make a slip cover for it especially since I just snapped up some sweet fabric for a new shower curtain! But that's a blog post for another day....

Junkin'

My darling Mister took me junk shopping Saturday. There was an antique shop on Main Street of my little town which I call Mayberry with a touch of affection which is another story for another day. But this shop I've eyed for well over a year now and never made it downtown during store hours to visit, that is, until Saturday. Wowser was it full of stuff! Most of it grossly overpriced for my taste and budget. We did manage to score a few treasures though.

My Mister found some vintage comic books and an antique compass, very cool looking. I found a chippy red wire basket that my Mister says went into a Hoosier cabinet. I'm going to use it in my creative room to hold papers, etc. I'd rather it wasn't red, blue would be perfect but hey, it's old and chippy so who cares? And I found a collection of old sheet music for $3. Everything was also on sale for 20% off which helped. I had this idea I'd use the sheet music in crafting on collages or whatever.

Then we went to Habitat for Humanity store. Outside stacked against the exterior wall was loads of old chippy windows! And they were marked $1 each! I so wanted one in particular but my Mister said no as they contained lead based paint. UGH! I explained what I was going to do with the window but still he was unmoved. Then he relented enough to say "measure where you want to put it" meaning he would find me one sometime. The rest of the store contained junk, not the good kind either.

Finally our third stop in our junk shop tour was Salvation Army. Again lots of junk with very few treasures and the prices on some things were surprisingly high considering the condition of the items and the fact they were donated. It was half price day so I picked up a few booklets with cross stitch patterns that I liked.

OK, it's obvious if I'm ever going to find some really great junk stuff for fabulous can't pass it up prices I'm going to have to find a new locale to shop in.