Window Treatments {DIY}

There is this one frustrating thread through my life. Anytime I ignore my mother's advice, I regret it. Well, except for my decision to use a soundtrack for my wedding processional. I was right on that one; which means- Alyssa: 1 Mom: 953.

I won't even bore you with the excessive stories of how she ended up being right time and time again. But I will tell you about the window treatments. At every single place I have lived in since getting married (which is 6 places in 12 years), she has advised me to make my own window coverings. Each time it goes something like this:

Mom: "Honey, you should really consider making your own window treatments. They are far cheaper and so easy.."
Me: "Mom, you know I can hardly sew a straight line."
Mom: "They truly aren't difficult to do."
Me: "Mom, I acted like I had just made Kate Middleton's wedding dress when I completed a pathetic pillow. You know how it is."
Mom: "I really think you could do it."
Me: "You're supposed to say that; your my mom."

Well last year, faced with a new house full of windows and a wallet not-so-full of money, I finally caved. I actually made my own window bling. And Mom was *cough* *mumble* right. Again.

So, I'm hear to preach the window treatment truth to you...

Really! Take it from a non-sewer who resisted for over a decade.

First, there were the valances in the kitchen and breakfast nook:



I used a 1x4 piece of lumber instead of a curtain rod to give it a unique look that began the money savings. I simply painted it, cut it, screwed in smaller pieces to the long front piece, and used brackets to hang the whole thing:



Then I started collecting my materials for the valance. I hit up Calico Corners when they were having their biggest sale of the year for the fabric and bought twill ribbon, buttons, and wooden dowels from JoAnn Fabrics.

Then I followed THESE clear, simple instructions from the Painted Hive.






Above my kitchen sink, I used a tension rod the old owners had left behind to hang the valance:



In my bedroom, I wanted to to use the sheers that came with the house and to make a wooden cornice. I used some cut pallet wood and whitewashed it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (half paint, half water). In a similar way as the wooden curtain rod I described above, I used brackets to hold the two long pieces of wood together and to attach the small side pieces. Then I used a tension rod inside the wooden cornices. I love the hard/soft feel that it gave:



For my front room, I wanted some fabric cornices to hide the shades:



The materials for this were only the fabric, lumber, brackets, batting, and a borrowed staple gun from my dad. I used THIS tutorial from Inspired Whims.



A couple of last tips:
1) For the wider windows (like the one in my breakfast nook) be sure to support and window covering structure in the middle so it doesn't eventually bow.
2) Always, always put your treatments above your windows to draw the eye upward and give the illusion of bigger windows.

And if you want to make drapes yourself, hit up Pinterest where they're now even showing you how to construct those out of drop clothes. I haven't ventured into the drape-making world yet, but I'll get there...eventually...and make my mom proud.

Our Days

Just stopping by to share some shots from our day to day life...

After a package was delivered, Isaiah swiped the box since he had a "puppet show" idea...

Tea Time

What do Lord Grantham, Call the Midwives, Sherlock, and our homeschool co-op all have in common?

They’ve all been featured on BBC!

Okay, that’s a bit of an over-dramatic way put it. But it’s not every day that you have network cameras show up in your kids' classroom. They were doing a piece on a German family in our co-op, and I was extremely pleased with the final news clip. Homeschooling has been under serious fire in Germany. It’s a topic that needs to be shown for what it is, and BBC did a great job with this story.

If you check out this two minute news piece, you’ll even see my Adriana’s face pop up a few times in the clip since she is in the art class of the featured mom.

Just watch the video at the beginning of THIS article. 

So since we’re talking British TV, it seems only right to put tea time in the same post. My version of tea would probably have England groaning, but it will have your immune system rejoicing. Now that we are in cold and flu season, we have been devouring pots of this stuff that my sister has dubbed “Emergen-C Tea”. I recently got a cold, and I was amazed at how fast this stuff helped kick the sinus junk from my system. 

Emergen-C Tea

1 tsp. organic apple cider vinegar

2 tsp. local honey

½ tsp. vitamin C powder (I buy mine at Trader Joes)

1 packet of raspberry herbal tea (optional)

Put the first three ingredients in the bottom of a mug. Pour hot water over all and mix. I like the tangy taste of my tea just like this, but my kids like it with a pack of raspberry tea steeped in it.

Now curl up with a blanket, a cup of this tea, and some Downton Abbey re-runs. You can boost your immune system while you yell at the Telly that they would dare to knock off Matthew with a stupid car crash.

(Note: Since we chug this stuff, I've taken to keeping a bottle of 2 parts honey to 1 part vinegar in a separate jar. It takes away some of the bite of the vinegar as it sits and also is much easier to pour. Then I just put a tablespoon of this mix in my tea.)

Halloween 2013

It's always around this time of the year that I'm dusting the cobwebs off my neglected blog to post again. October looks so sweet and innocent sitting on my calendar; but I've learned that, for a photographer, it's hidden beast. Instead of visiting my blog space, I've spent my computer time editing everything from babies in pumpkins...

...to fairy princesses in the woods.

But I'm stopping by the blog to show off my littles at Halloween. I was having an especially bad attitude about Halloween the other night after spending part of my evening working with my preteen to make sure his wrestler costume was "cool" enough. (Lord, help me through the "cool" years.) I was fed up with a holiday whose only point seemed to be pushing me to my costume-making limits, which is pretty low to begin with, and filling my children's body with refined sugar. 

But last night we pulled our fire pit to the end of the driveway, and actually had a chance to chat with our neighbors and see our kiddos bouncing around with the joy of their costumes (or maybe it was all that sugar), especially a little girl who had her first year of trick or treating.

My little barista and the semi-cool Mexican wrestler:

Laura Ingalls and my little football player (a study in the vast differences of their personalities):

Next year as I begrudge coming up with four costumes to match four unique personalities, remind me that in the end, this was actually kind of fun.

My Latest Craving {a warm, fast breakfast}

It's getting to that season where you just want a pair of slippers and some warm breakfast when it's time to wake up in the morning.

I wrote before how our breakfast meal has had a bit of a make-over. I have to admit that we began falling back into our cereal rut when school started back up. It's just so easy.

So here's my school-day, chilly weather breakfast wish list:

• warm
• healthy
• quick 

Is that too much to ask?

So with some help from a girlfriend and my sister, I got some ideas for how to make our first meal of the school day speedy and toasty-warm.

Here are two breakfast ideas that can be made in under two minutes and don't involved any packaged food. The first requires 5 minutes of prep the night before, but the second is a true grab-and-go.

Personalize Sized Homemade Instant Oatmeal
-5/8 c. water
-5 Tbsp. whole oats
-1 Tbsp. chia seeds
-dash of cinnamon
-dash of salt
-2 tsp. of maple syrup (less if you don't like it very sweet)
-1 Tbsp. dried fruit (optional- we have also done fresh peaches or blueberries but dried cherries is a favorite)

The night before, mix all ingredients in a microwave safe glass or bowl. Stick it in the fridge. In the morning, it will look something like this...



Simply pop it in the microwave for about 90 seconds, and that's it. Easy, peasy. My kids like to pour a little milk over it at the end.


Remember that this is a personal sized recipe. I do this six times over for our whole family (easy if you're doing it in a whole batch). The best part is that if I take 5 minutes to prep these oatmeals before I go to bed, my husband can grab his cup when he wakes up early to head off to work and have a hot breakfast in less than 2 minutes. Then my older kids can do the same when they are ready for breakfast. Bye, bye, Mr. Quaker man. You and your little sugar-filled packets can take a hike.

Now, if you didn't have a chance the night before to prep but still have a hankering for a warm morning meal in a jiffy, this next one is for you. Did you know you that a microwaved egg done right is actually delicious? It will literally take longer for me to type this recipe out than for you to make this egg.

Minute Egg
-1 egg
-1 tsp. water
-pinch of your favorite cheese

Crack an egg into a small glass bowl or cup and whisk it up with the water. (I totally eye-ball measure the water since pulling out a measuring spoons seems like so much work. Pathetic, I know.)

Microwave it for 30 seconds. Pull it out, stir it with a fork and put the cheese on top. Put it back in the microwave for 20 seconds or until no longer soupy. Do not overcook it!

I was in the mood for gorgonzola on this particular morning, and my minute egg was like a little gourmet breakfast with a dirty secret.

So there you have it- a quick, healthy breakfast does not have to be an oxymoron!

This & That

What do furloughs, decks, fall decor, and Oregon all have in common? Well, they were all part of the last couple weeks of my life...

Furloughs and Decks
Lions, and tigers, and government shut-downs- oh my! We have had two unexpected weeks at home with my husband courtesy the U.S. government...now if they were only planning to give him a paycheck. Steven is a self-proclaimed non-handyman; but he has, however, used this little break from work to undertake a pet project of freshening up our deck. He's excited to make our deck last longer; I'm excited that in the end it will have a mahogany stain. Four little people have been eager to be out next to him. And I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures of my sons' see-saw-from-old-deck-wood project.


Fall Decor
Because who says that fall decor has to always include pumpkins?




For the fall mantle, I went for an Anthropologie-ish rustic feel with unexpected items...








Missing Oregon
It's been a travelicious year! Two weeks ago, I got to head out to the land of Oregon on a solo trip to go see my lifelong G-friend, Caroline. We were literally babies together and are now kindred-spirit mommas. She and her husband had adopted two little girls early this year, and I couldn't wait to get my arms around them and their big sister.

And this, my friends, is Caroline's house. She and her husband built it from the ground up, and she designed every last detail. It was like walking into a magazine.


1927 re-furbished stove...be still my beating heart...

My little haven of a guest room:


I asked her what this space was and she replied with a truly-modest flick of her hand, "Oh, that's just our catch-all."
Sweet Jesus, please don't come look at my catch-all!


We finished off my visit by doing a mini-mommy retreat at a boutique hotel in Portland. And freed mommies, when totally alone, get a little giddy and stupid. So we started grabbing the camera and pretending we were pin-up models. Thank God no one was there to remind us that those days are long gone...

And, while I couldn't wait to kiss my babies, I'm not going to even try to pretend that in the middle of homeschooling and meal-making I haven't whimsically wished I were still a fake pin-up model in Portland...

Wall Collages

I had such kind feedback when I shared our bedroom redo. With that came some requests to see other spots in our house and for thoughts on decorating. Disclaimer: I am by no means a trained expert on this subject. I just find putting a room together like therapy. I swear that beautifying a personal space must somehow releases endorphins.

So, let's start with wall collages. I am in love with these from the simple collection to a floor to ceiling display. They are so personal and beautiful. I'm inspired by wall art like this:

And this:

And even the simplicity of this:

So I've done this in our home in a couple different ways.

In our entry you will see an old frame I found at a thrift store. In the back the frame I strung colored baker's string back and forth using nails to keep it in place. Then I simply used miniature clothes pins to clip up some of our favorite family snapshots. I love that the photos can be easily swapped out at any point:

In our upstairs hall you can find a small hanging collage that was made out of one sheet of bead board that we had left over from a project. I attached old drawer pulls and some hanging hardware to the back. Then I had some styrene-mounted photos printed and hot glued ribbons to the back of the pictures.


But I really wanted is to take the collage idea one step further with a true, full collage. To do this, I knew that there were a couple of things I needed to figure out first.

1. What was important to me?
I really, really wanted the collage to represent us as a family. I wanted it to be a reminder of where we came from and where we are going, items that were important to us. So I started pulling together pieces that represented that idea. I started with pictures that held meaning- photos of our moms as babies, favorite photos of our ancestors, photos of my kids, our wedding photo. I tried to mix serious pictures with goofy ones, posed with candid.
Then, since I wanted a true mixture of elements and not just photos, I moved on to other artwork- my Great Grandfather's etching, a floral drawing we bought as newlyweds, and artwork representing where my next daughter will come from.



2. What artistic touches did I want?
I wanted to create unity in the collage through colors. This was achieved by painting all the frames two different colors and then adding touches of blue. I also love when collages have a couple unexpected additions. For my collage this came in the form of keys. I bought these keys and repainted some of them to keep with the color scheme.



3. What shape did I want the whole collage to be?
While I'm drawn to floor to ceiling collages, I knew that in a hallway of a house with four kids, this would be crazy-talk. I chose instead to make this collection a giant rectangle at an adult's eye level with the base of it just out of reach of my then 2 year old.

4. How do I create this big of a piece of art without making a bunch of mistakes?
This could have been a straight-up disaster that my over-eager self would have walked right into. Instead, I grabbed some giant wrapping paper, and used this method:

• I laid it out on the floor and cut it to the size I wanted the collage to be. 
• Then I laid the frames and pieces of the collage out on the paper until I knew I had everything just as I wanted it, correctly aligned.
• I traced the outline of each of the pieces in their perfect spot.
• I removed the artwork and hung the paper in the hallway with painter's tape.
• Then I began nailing and hanging the pieces where the paper dictated. 
• At the end I carefully tore the paper out from underneath the artwork, and voila, the anticipated collage was complete.

I hope that helps get your creative juices flowing. Have a fabulous weekend!

Our Family Portrait

In the midst of a chaotic week, Adriana left me a portrait of our family. I can't even begin to tell you how precious this is to me...

...and the fact that, in her little mind, her next sister is as much a part of the family as any of us makes my heart sing.