Easy-Peasy New Curtains

Here's my entry to this week's CSI Project: Pottery Barn Challenge.

I have to admit, I have a thing for the Pottery Barn.  I love the way those catalog rooms look, but I'm too cheap to actually order from the catalog.  So, whenever I can find or make a good Pottery Barn knock-off, I'm a happy girl!

Recently, I recreated the look of PB's canvas curtains in my dining room.  As you can see, my version saved me quite a bit of money (85%), and I didn't have to do any sewing!

I found my fabric at Home Depot.  Yes, I did say Home Depot.  In the paint section.

Canvas drop cloths are cheap (this size was about $10), machine washable, and already hemmed.  When you take them out of the plastic packaging, they look like this:

Canvas drop cloths have a very nubby, natural texture.  They have a neutral tan base color, with tiny. occaisional runs of thread in faint colors.  They are heavy enough to block bright sunlight and offer moderate privacy, but light enough to allow some light to stream through.  They come in a variety of sizes.  Perfect for my dining room!

It took only two simple steps to turn the dropcloths I found into canvas curtains a la Pottery Barn.

When I purchased my canvas dropcloths, I opted to get a little more fabric than was necessary.  I wanted to have a faux valance for a little added detail.  I folded the extra fabric over, making sure that the fold was fairly even, and clipped the panels onto my rod.  (I found the drapery hooks for 50% off at Joann's.)  I didn't even bother to iron the panels--by the time they had hung for 24 hours, most of the wrinkles were gone.

 As you can see, my curtains accent a door to our backyard deck and playscape--very high traffic!

While I love the way the curtains look hanging from either side of the rod, during the day I move them into the center, so that they won't interfere with the back door opening and closing.

I simply tie them together with a length of burlap ribbon--love the way burlap and canvas go together!

I'm so pleased with the way these turned out, that I plan to use a similar window treatment in the adjoining family room.  Thanks for the inspiration, Pottery Barn! And thanks, Home Depot, for the easy, no-sew materials!





I'm linking up here:

Heart Stories

A fellow CHD mom I really admire, Stefenie, is hosting a special link-in party today, at her blog, When Life Hands You a Broken Heart....Create Hope.  She's inviting other heart moms and families to share their stories with each other.  


I've already written quite a bit about our experiences with congenital heart defects, trips to doctors' offices and hospitals, and the like.  Today, I want to share with you what it was like to receive our initial diagnoses:

We were expecting our third baby, a girl, when I had a life-altering experience.  I remember distinctly, how I stood in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher as the late summer sun streamed in through the window.  I could see my two children playing in the grass outside, and I thought about them as I gathered another stack of plates to rinse.  Remembering the chubby, good-natured babies they had been, I anticipated with pleasure what it would be like to take care of their soon-to-be born sibling.  It was at that exact moment that I received a message, unspoken by any voice, but distinct enough for me to know it wasn't my own thought or imagination.

"This baby will be different."

Startled, I let the plates drop into the sink, and leaned against the kitchen wall.  I could see my children tossing sand out of the sandbox they played in, hear a bird chirping through the open window, and feel my unborn baby kicking....but time seemed to have stopped.  I knew, right then, that "different" didn't mean my baby wouldn't be chubby or good-natured.  Different meant that something was wrong with my baby.  So I asked, "What is wrong with my baby?"

And the answer came.  "That doesn't matter right now."

I sank then, awkwardly, to my knees, and prayed, "Tell me what to do, please show me the way."  And I was given just a few tasks that should be done before my baby was born. 

I spent the next few weeks mourning the loss of "normal" and trying to come to terms with "different."  I cooked and cleaned and organized, just in case I would have to spend more time at the hospital with our new baby.  I shared my experience with my husband, and instead of reassuring me or blaming my fears on hormones, he quietly said, "I know," and we held each other and cried.

She came into the world along with the first snowfall of an early winter, more than four weeks ahead of her due date, and two weeks shy of a scheduled c-section.  As the labor pains started and increased in frequency, I told myself, "It's just that she's going to be early.  That's it, she might be a little smaller than the others, maybe harder to feed."  Despite the reality of my early warnings, I hoped for a less dramatic outcome than the ones I wondered about late at night.

When the doctor pulled out our new baby, my husband and I braced ourselves.  But the sweet baby who was placed in my arms--though a little smaller than her older siblings had been--was perfect.  The prettiest newborn we'd had yet, she curled up into my arms and nursed with little difficulty the first time.  Keeping her in the room with us that first night, my husband and I kept looking at her, marveling at her miniature fingers and sweet rosebud mouth. 

Days and weeks and months passed.  On the surface, there was nothing extraordinarily different about the newest member of the family.  There were small differences in behavior and feeding that I attributed to her being her own little person: she was a little harder to nurse, she took shorter but more frequent naps, she stayed petite and didn't get the rolls and dimples of her older siblings.  But still, I was nagged by the knowledge that something just wasn't right.  At each well-child visit, I would question the doctor about her weight gain, her feeding habits, the funny way she arched her back sometimes....only to be reassured that she was fine. 

Until her nine-month well child visit.  This time, the doctor shook his head as he looked at her chart.  Superkid hadn't gained any weight since her six month check up.  This time, the doctor listened very carefully to Superkid's heart with his stethoscope.  For long minutes, we sat quietly, as he listened.  "I'm not sure if I'm hearing it right, but I think I hear a little murmer, there," the doctor told me at last.  "It's probably nothing, but I like to be cautious with things like this.  Let's have a cardiologist look at her."

Strangely, instead of being alarmed, I felt relieved.  I knew the long wait to find out what was wrong with our baby was almost over.  When we sat down to get the results of the echocardiogram from the pediatric cardiologist, it was like having the curtains opened to bring sunlight into a darkened room.  Did we like the room we saw?  Not particularly, but finally knowing what we were dealing with and being able to get up and move around was better than sitting in the dark.  Mitral valve stenosis, a congenital heart defect, was what made Superkid different.

Things happened very quickly from that point.  We went from having no diagnosis to experiencing symptoms of severe heart failure in less than one month.  Superkid was desperately ill and in need of heart surgery within three months.  We spent most of those three months in the hospital.  The answer to all of the questions you might ask sympathetically--was it awful?  were you terrified?  wasn't that exhausting? --is yes.  It was all those things, and then some.  But it was not surprising, and it was not something we weren't prepared for.

I believe that God recognized that I would need some time to digest and accept the idea that this baby would be different in a way that would challenge our whole family--not just once, but many times and many ways.  I am incredibly grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who gave me, His daughter, a gift of time and preparation.  "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." (Jeremiah 1:5). 

Is my experience unique?  Perhaps.  Many of the heart parents I know were caught off guard by their child's diagnosis.  I am convinced, however, that the parents of children with special needs are prepared in some way to take care of their children.  They have something that only they can give, a contribution that only they can give, and that is why God entrusted them with the care of a "different" child. 

To those who are just beginning their own journey into a new world of diagnoses and doctors and hospitals and long nights willing the heart monitor to just keep beeping.....then I offer you these words of encouragement:  Trust yourself, that you have it in you to develop the skills you need to parent this child.  Trust in a loving Heavenly Father, that He has already shaped and prepared your for what is ahead, and that he will answer all your prayers--even the ones you don't know how to say, yet.

If you would like to read about the diagnosis of our second heart baby/fourth child, or find out more about our experiences with Superkid and ongoing medical issues, click on any of the following links.

Maiden Voyage: The First Posting

A Call from the School Nurse 1

A Call from the School Nurse 2

Memories

Love: 400 Extra-ordinary Days

My Trendy New Accessory

Wanna see the fantastic new accessory I acquired just this morning?

It's the latest thing for the woman who's always on the go!

Yep, I am sporting my very own, very stylish arm sling as of this morning.  I slipped while climbing down the small but steep bank of the neighborhood creek, yesterday.  I landed hard on my left arm.  (Talk about tender mercies--it wasn't my right!)  I thought at first that I was going to be okay, but then it started to hurt.  Really, really hurt.  Enough that I almost said words out loud that I normally wouldn't even think.  So, this morning I went to the doctor and came home with a sling.

It's a good thing I've had children, because I've had lots of practice doing things with one hand.  Unfortunately, this kind of puts a damper on all the sewing and painting projects I had lined up for this week.  You know, though, maybe my sling can double as a purse!  Or maybe I can figure out how to make my own slings out of really cute fabric, and then people won't wonder what happened to my arm, they'll just wonder where I got that fabulous, new accessory.

Anyone have any good tips for carrying on as usual with one less arm?

I'm a Guest!

I feel so lucky! Today, I'm  guest poster over at Sugar Bee Craft Edition. It's my first time as a guest blogger.....and I'm thrilled!  Sugar Bee always has terrifically crafty ideas, and hosts fun weekly linky party known as Take-a-Look Tuesday.  If you have a minute or two, go visit today.  Enjoy all the fun craft ideas, and find out how I made this:

I'm Trying, Really, I'm Trying!

Someday, I will catch up enough with my real life that I will have time to update my virtual life.

By that I mean my blog.

Remind me next year that I need more than six days between coming home from a four-week vacation and the first day of school.

I still haven't finished shopping for school supplies.  I still haven't finished the pile of laundry from our trip.  I still haven't put away all the suitcases and downloaded the photos from the camera. 

I did spend a morning at the middle school helping Endeavor find her way around.  I did get caught up with my Cub Scout duties.  I did teach my Relief Society class that I very nearly forgot about.  I did find some darling shoes and clothes for Superkid on sale at Target.  (I'm going to cry when she doesn't fit in 5T anymore.)  I did make the handouts for the staff at Superkid's new school about her medical issues and emergency care.  I did make sure Justone had a haircut.  And I did sign up for a half marathon in October.

I've got to do something while everyone is in school.  All day.  Every day.

Did I mention that I'm struggling with the whole firstborn-going-to-middle-school scenario?  Seriously, I think I only gave birth to her about three months ago.

Recent photographic evidence proves me to be wrong, however.  Check out Endeavor's photoshoot with her Aunt Kris, who happens to be a really amazing photographer. 

Wish me luck with finding the last of our school supplies, today.  You'll be hearing more from me very soon.....school starts tomorrow.  

I'm Taking You With Me....

.....on a home tour!

I'm going to show you the house that has this staircase.  Isn't that woodwork too, too pretty?

While I was staying with my parents this summer, in beautiful Cache Valley, Utah, the Bionic Man told me I needed to check out some real estate.  Not that we're moving, or anything.  But eventually, someday--most likely when we retire--we'd like to live in Cache Valley.  So we occasionally think about purchasing property there, as an investment.  This wasn't actually the piece of property I was assigned to go see.  But when I saw it was for sale, I had to go take a look.

How could I resist?

This house sits on one of my very most favorite streets in Logan, Utah.  Known simply as "The Boulevard," this street begins just a block from the historic end of Main Street, and winds gracefully up a hillside until it joins the busy University Hill/400 North.  There are only houses on one side of the street, as the hill is so steep on the other side.  All the homes are vintagey and have fantastic architecture.  Along with the beautiful homes that line one side of The Boulevard, there is also the historic Logan Temple, where the Bionic Man and I were married!  Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to live on this street.  And I've wanted to get inside one of the houses on this street. .

Here are a few shots of the exteriors.  This one is taken from across the street.

The front entry.

I've always called this house the Leave it to Beaver House.  Doesn't it remind you of the Cleavers?

Here's a more detailed look at that rock work.  Feel free to ignore the desperately awful roof, like I did.

Don't you love that?  Painted white brick and stone together.  Fabulous!  There was a darling little courtyard garden to walk through before you stepped up to the door.  And it came complete with a handsome young gardener.

Just kidding!  That good looking young man is Eli.  His mom is one of my good friends from college.  They came along to see the house with me.  If you see dark fuzz in any of my pictures, there is a good chance that that is the top of Eli's head zipping by.  He's fast, very fast.  He is also not shy, but pretended to be shy while we were with the realtor, so that he could have a popsicle afterwards.  Hilarious!

This is the backyard.  So many possibilities!

And, there is a great view of the Logan Temple, no matter where you stand in the yard.

Now, moving on to the interior.....I have to warn you that my camera was not cooperating with me.  I took soooo many pictures of the interiors, but most of them were completely out of focus.  It was distressing, because there was some really, really great woodwork in there.  And all kinds of fun vintagey details.  Unfortunately, there was also lots of stuff everywhere.  The former owners were elderly, had died, and left many treasured items for the children to sort through.  You'll see what I mean about the stuff, but I'm only going to show you the pictures that were mostly in focus.

Here's a look into the main hallway from the entry.

The living room was spacious and had a fantastic fireplace surround, trust me.  But this was my favorite detail, the reading nook.

The formal dining room was down a hall, past the staircase, from the living room.  It was enormous--honestly, my dream dining room.  You could have fit a table for twenty in it, no problem.  On one end, it had these gorgeous built-ins

and on the other end, this pretty bay window.

The built-in china hutches flanked french doors that led to a sunporch.  It had a flagstone floor and was so cheerful and bright--despite the scary weed arrangement.

The kitchen was in between the kitchen and dining room, and although it needed updating, it was a good size and had lots of possibilities.

From the kitchen, there was a hallway that led to a den and a bedroom with a private bath.  Let me tell you, there were some big-time possibilities for my dream mudroom back there.  Hey--check out this pickled wood in the den.  Doesn't it scream, "Sir, I'd like to ask you for your daughter's hand in marriage."?

The stairs were just superb.  They weren't a standard height, they were lower than usual, and seemed very safe.

Here's the master bedroom.

The master bath wasn't anything to get too excited about, but take a look at the closet.

I know, I know, it is a terrible picture!  But that closet was HUGE.  And it was full of built-in cabinetry.  Custom built-in cabinetry.  It was also full of bedding....I had no idea anyone could keep so much bedding on hand in one house.

There were three other bedrooms and two more bathrooms upstairs.  This was my favorite of the bedrooms. It had windows on three sides of the room.

It was connected to another bedroom by a bright little jack-and-jill bathroom.

Here is the hall bath.  All the bathrooms in this house, including the half bath near the entry, had terrific little built-in cabinetry tucked away in the nooks and crannies.

The built-ins in the upstairs linen closet are Martha Stewart worthy.

I have to warn you, the basement was pretty scary.  Fascinating, but scary.  It needs a lot of work.  Here's a look at the fireplaced basement family room.

Here's the basement laundry room.

This was actually a fairly light, bright basement.  It was just jam-packed with stuff.  One of the really unique things about this house was that there were three staircases going down to the basement: one beneath the main stairway that led directly to the rec room, one that came down from the kitchen into one end of the laundry room, and one that came from the garage down into the other end of the laundry room.  Very handy, I thought, and well planned.

I don't know anything about the former owners, but judging from the telephone, they must have been important.

Even stranger than the three staircases was the boathouse.  When I first stepped into the backyard, I thought, "Wow, they share the backyard with another house!"  The other house was completely different architecturally.  But guess what?  It came with the first house!  I think it was the place where the menfolk hung out?  My clues to that being the fully operational garage door, the wood burning stove, the bathroom (that makes seven for this property, if you are counting), the enormous adjoining tool storage shed, and the large boat suspended from the ceiling.  Perhaps the husband died first, because it is currently being used to store....lots of stuff.

When I show you the following pictures of the exterior of the boathouse/mancave/deluxe storage shed, you will see why I was confused.  It looks like somebody else built a house in the backyard.

Here's my plan: paint that yellow brick white, and finish that mancave into a guesthouse.  Don't you love my idea?

And don't you love this house?  Maybe I'm the only one.  I tried to convince the Bionic Man that he could find a job in Cache Valley and we could make a really, really low offer on this house.  Maybe we could knock down the price by $100k by agreeing to haul out all the stuff.  Mmmmhmmm.  The Bionic Man didn't go for it.  He took one look at my pictures of the roof and said, "Did you get a chance to look at that OTHER piece of property?"  Sigh.  Perhaps I was never meant to be June Cleaver.

But if you think you have what it takes to fill June's shoes and renovate this lovely 1934 home to it's rightful glory, then I would suggest you take note of this picture.

Or, go see the MLS listing here.  

Do you have a favorite house that you've always wanted to see inside?  

Homeward Bound

We're on our way home.  Leaving our families and gorgeous scenery like this behind.

Emerald Lake on Mt. Timpanogas

Believe it or not, just three weeks ago I was eating lunch right there.

Yesterday we drove through these.

Monarch Pass, I-70 Colorado

You just have to see it to believe it.

It's hard to leave behind.  Kansas, here we come!  We'll be home in Indiana in a couple of days.  I have some fun, fun stuff to show and tell from our travels.  By the way, Hunter the Dog is an AMAZING traveller.  Better than the children, I kid you not.