Here's to a more productive 2012...

I didn't get too much accomplished around the new house in 2011. I had big plans, but lacked the drive and energy to get anything major done. I'm not going to make any "resolutions", because I suck at follow through. I am the least competitive person you will ever meet and that extends to personal competition or challenges. I will say that I need to look a few pounds, move more, eat better, and follow-through on projects. I believe these are basically the same things I said last year, but there were a lot of changes in my life in 2011. Hopefully now that my personal life, home life, and work life are seemingly stabilized, I can focus more on myself and the beauty of the small things around me.

I did start the year off on high note, though. Back in June, I talked about a little trip to World Market where I bought napkins to turn into kitchen curtains. I needed eight to cover both windows in the kitchen, but only bought four, in case I changed my mind. Then they immediately discontinued that particular pattern (Tree of Life) and neither store in St. Louis, nor the website had four more napkins. They did however have a 60" x 90" tablecloth, which I snapped up, with the thought I could use the napkins I already owned to make pillow covers for the living room. It all then sat in my "project box" for, ooohhhh, six months. I even bought teal pom-pom trim from Joann's to make the curtains more "curtainey" and to tie the colors in with the dining room more. For some reason, projects involving precise measurements and cutting fabric are very intimidating for me.

Anywho, I finally turned the napkins into pillow covers today.

It was a super-easy, super quick project. I didn't use a tutorial; I simply cut one of the napkins in half, slightly overlapped the pre-sewn edges with the cut sides to the outside, placed the pretty side of the cut pieces against the pretty side of the non-cut napkin, pinned, then sewed up the edges.

Ta-Da.

Only problem?

They overlap completely, but only about an inch and after a teensy bit they start to pull open. I need to get a couple of buttons that coordinate and learn how to use the button-holer on my sewing machine. Maybe I'll get that taken care of by next January... lol

I'm linking up my pillow project over at Loribeth's blog Small Moments. Come check out the other "Shared Moments" posted.

Have you made pillows out of napkins? Do you prefer to use a zipper when you make pillows? Have you gotten any projects out of the way this year, yet? What resolutions do you have this year?

DIY:More Curtains for Super Cheap

I posted back in March about the tie-ups I made for the dining room windows out of LENDA drapes from Ikea. I also mentioned that I bought a butt-load of LENDA's thinking I would coordinate everything. We have high ceilings, it has been difficult to find curtains long enough to work, and I may have mentioned once or twice that I am out of cash. So in the interest of working with what I've got:

Master Bedroom Drapes Before

Master Bedroom Drapes After

And once again, I apologize for my horrific photography skills.

I got the idea to add ric-rac trim from this pic:

Suburban Spunk via Better After

I still need to add a layer of stiff fabric at the top to keep it from folding over, but I think it looks better than the plain curtains.

It was super simple too. The rolls of ric-rac from Hobby Lobby just happen to be 3 yards each which is perfect for my 100 inch curtains! I used 8 rolls of trim. I waited for it to go on sale, so each roll rang in between $1.50 and $2.00. Not too shabby.

I decided how far from the edge I wanted it, pinned it in place, then sewed over it all. Easy peasy.

It was fairly labor intensive, but super simple. If I was a "finish-a-project-when-you-start-it" kind of girl, I bet it wouldn't take more than four hours, max. Apparently Suzanne (at Suburban Spunk) used no-sew hem tape to keep hers on, so if you don't have a sewing machine, no problem!

I'm linking up to The CSI Project's Fabric & Sewing Challenge and Thrifty Chick Decor's Before & After Party. Join me or just come check out all the superfantastic projects!