i should be mopping the floor: April 2012
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Inexpensive DIY Pencil Vase

This post for a Pencil Vase contains affiliate links. I make a small portion when these links are used, at no additional cost to you.

This budget-friendly pencil vase is a fun craft to make for Teacher Appreciation Week gifts or teacher gifts for any time of the year, really. It's easy on the wallet with upcycled cans, inexpensive pencils, and a lot of love. It's also super cute and would be an adorable addition to anybody's classroom (or principal's office!). See how we made this pencil vase below.

Pencil Vase
Teacher Appreciation Week is a pretty fun time here at I Should Be Mopping the Floor. I'm married to a principal and have helped plan many a Teacher Appreciation Week, both for schools he has been at, as well as for our own kids' schools. I also have lots of other fun printables and projects for this special season that you can find here. My favorite Teacher Appreciation Week gifts are the handmade ones...they just melt my heart. And this one totally fits the bill for that. See how we made this simple DIY Pencil Vase below. 

No-Sew, Faux Roman Shades


If you stop by this site regularly, you can probably tell I'm on a window kick...with this fabric! It's all been in my kitchen. It was way overdue for a window treatment makeover. 

I ADORE roman shades, but, well, you know me and sewing machines. Um, no. So, I've been tickled to run across several tutorials for roman shades that don't involve sewing. My absolute favorite is from Richella at Imparting Grace. Although mine's not 100% like hers {I decided to keep my blinds up for privacy reasons}, hers worked the absolute best for me. And her tutorial was wonderful.


Again with the curtains hung on door knobs...I liked it for not too long at all. 
I'm so happy with my new {faux} shades!

For this project, I used my fabric and three tension rods per window (so I had nine in all). I would go ahead and get the nicer tension rods (bypass the $2 ones). The cheaper ones will sag in the middle under the weight of the fabric.

I used the same method from my tutorial for cafe curtains to "hem" my fabric. And again, be warned...I don't sew...I do some insane things to fabric to hem it (no judging, please...we all want/deserve cute window treatments. I just go about creating mine a little differently.). You'll need to hem your two sides and the bottom. The top can be left raw (I even left the selvage on mine because I'm lazy like that).

For these shades, I used the valance boards from the blinds that were hanging there to measure my widths. You do have to be precise as possible on your measurements width-wise. You'll want to conceal certain hardware that's used and to do that, your fabric has to come exactly to the edges of your windows. But, you don't want any over hang, either...that would be a mess to have to deal with.

This tutorial I'm showing is designed to keep your blinds in use with the shades. There's a couple of reasons I'm keeping these up. The biggest is that when we bought this house five years ago, the realtor told us that the previous owners spent quite a fortune to have these custom blinds installed throughout the house. They're fine for blinds...kind of plain jane. Honestly, for what they spent (the realtor told us the dollar amount and we were like "Wha?!?"), I would've preferred hard wood floors or granite counters (seriously, who spends that kind of money for blinds?). But, even though I'm sounding like a whiney brat, I am grateful for these (amazing?) blinds. Kind of. So, I felt the need to keep them. And, until I also install panels over the shades, we do prefer them for the privacy. When I get the panels up, I'm having one heck of a blind sell on Craigslist. Cha-Ching. I digress.

See that green arrow up there? It's pointing to the valance on the blinds that you'll need to remove. I'm sure there's a proper tool for removing these (and their annoying little clips that hold them in place). However, my method involved yanking and pulling and tugging and yelling at them until they popped off. Very professional.

You will use the first of your three tension rods at the very top of the window, on top of the blind mechanism. Mine fit so snuggly...I was worried it wouldn't work. But, they've stayed up there and the first shade's been in place for three days now.

Drape your fabric over the rod (you may have to remove it and play with it to get it in place). You can see my unfinished part there...it won't show in the end. It tucks itself into the top fold...it can't even be seen from the outside. My fabric hung down about three quarters of the window's length from top to bottom. You don't need it to hang down over the entire window.

Install your other two tension rods. I kept the working assembly on the wrong side so I could adjust as needed....it's covered completely by fabric so that didn't matter. It's your choice how far you'd like to space your rods apart...it depends on how wide you like your folds apart from each other.

You'll pull your fabric on top of each rod to create your folds. You will have to play with them to get them just right. They were much easier to work with on my side windows. The big window in the middle was a bit difficult to work on. I finally gave up and waited on my husband to come home from work....it was definitely a two person job for such a wide window.

And they match those cafe curtains over by my kitchen sink that I showed you last week.

I'm so excited about them!! Again, I'm planning to do floor-to-ceiling panels (maybe from drop cloths?) between them and on the sides...hopefully hanging on one of those nifty bay window rods. But, for now, I kind of want to enjoy them by themselves.









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Not a thing to do with crafts...

As I've mentioned before, I am hopelessly and utterly obsessed with Downton Abbey. And am kind of in disbelief that I have to wait until January for season three. The idea of becoming an expat and taking up residency in England is very appealing right now: season three will air for them in September.

But, until January {or September...not kidding here, folks}, little things like this will have to tide me over.

{I would normally share this on Facebook, but I am on a seven day hiatus with my Bible study girls...so  it's going here!}


Quick & Easy, No-Sew Cafe Curtains


WARNING: If you're an avid sewer, do not read this post. You'll shriek in horror at the things I do to fabric. And you'll shake your finger at my flippant measuring, cutting and method for creating a window treatment. And you'll probably go away thinking I really need a clue. So, if you're of the needles, bobbins, threading sort...I still want you to like me, so don't read this. Okay? Okay.


Where we began...I had these valances that I attached with my granny's old door knobs. I liked it for about a month. And then I just thought it looked kind of sloppy and was constantly apologizing for it.

And I'm pleased to say that it now looks like this! 
{I still need something up top...maybe a cornice, or just a piece of art or something.}


The closed version. 


I started by hanging my hardware (I was actually kind of proud of myself...I didn't need the hub's help!)

One tip we always end up needing...always close your drains when working with hardware around your sink...you can see why! ;)



I determined from the size of my window that I wanted a little less than 24 inches in length. To cut my fabric, I laid it out on my tile floor (my tiles are 12", so this works for me). I can let my scissors stay in the grout groove to stay on track. This is how I always measure fabric. It's weird, but it works for me. 

After the large piece was cut, I simply folded it in half and cut it in two. 
These will be your two panels.

Use one of the panels and decide where you want to "hem" your fabric to give you the size you're after. 
(It's all super technical... not.)


Grab your trusty hot glue gun. And throw down the glue that will hold your "hem" together. And try not to think too terribly of me for treating fabric this way. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. 
--
My mom is probably reading this and gathering up her sewing machine to head my way...in complete horror. God bless her...it's not for her lack of trying that I don't sew. She sent me to sewing classes and camps when I was growing up. The best thing I turned out was a heinous bathrobe and about three dozen scrunchies to match every outfit I owned (it was the eighties...and scrunchies were about all I cared about fabric wise). I did buy a sewing machine when I graduated from college. I had high hopes of becoming an amazing seamstress. I never even turned the thing on before trading it with a friend for a Pack N Play, five years later during my first pregnancy.


 The trick is to make it look like you didn't just hot glue your curtains (I mean really, what proper woman would take hot glue to curtains?) One way to fake this is to get a crisp, clean corner. Watch for overlaps and thoroughly glue it down under each fold.
 
Once you've "hemmed" three sides, stop.

Go ahead and hang it on your clips to see where you'd like the bottom to be hemmed. You won't need all the clips right now...just enough to get a good idea of where you're at.

Pin a few pins to mark the length. Remove the piece from the clips.

Cut off your excess fabric and create the hem with your hot glue. 
Duplicate this panel with the other piece of fabric. (I lay mine on top of each other to create a template).

Once you're done, hang them up! 
Be sure to look for stray glue strings...those are a dead give-away of your folly, friend.  

I went ahead and removed my blinds (much to my husband's dismay). I loathe cleaning them and now the windows were sufficiently covered for privacy.

Again, I'm still looking for the perfect thing for the top of the window...but it will get there! I'm just glad to finally be working on the kitchen again. Now if Ikea could just get in their butcher block countertops, I could start on my island revision!  










Partying Here: A Crafty Soiree, Catch a Glimpse Thursday, Commercial Break Thursday, Get Your Brag On!, Haute Stuff Thursday, Hookin’ Up With House of Hepworths, Show Off Your Stuff Party, Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails, Pin’Inspirational Thursdays, Show-It-Off Thursdays, Strut-Your-Stuff, Sweet Treats Link Party, Taking a Timeout, Thematic Thursday, Thingamajig Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Thrilling Thursday, Transformation Thursday, Polkadots On Parade, Lollipop Cards, JAQS Studio, Let Birdz Fly, My Girlish Whims, thethriftyhome, Transformation Thursdays, Somewhat simple, Show off your stuff, House of Hepworths, Delightful Order, My Simple Home Life, The Frugal Girls, Thrifty Thursday, Dare to Share (Pam’s Party Planning & Practical Tips), Dwell on Fridays (Dwell on Joy), Fancy This Fridays (Truly Lovely), Fantabulous Friday (Katie@Little Becky Homecky), Fantabulous Friday (Momma’s Kinda Crafty), Fat Camp Friday (Miranda@Mangoes and Chutney), Feature Yourself Friday (Rachelle@Fingerprints on the Fridge), Flaunt it Friday (Kate@Chic On A Shoestring), For the Kids Friday (Rachel@Sun Scholars), 4 Real Friday (Jessica@Mom 4 Real), Free For All (Hannah@Young & Crafty), Free For All Party (Marni@Sassy Sites), Friday Favorites (Jerri@Simply Sweet Home), Friday Favorites with Inspiring Creations (Lindsey@Inspiring Creations), Friday Favs (Amy@Naptime Crafters), Friday Flair (WhipperBerry), Friday Frolic (Karen@Pocket Full of Pink), Friday Fun Finds (kojoDesigns), Friday Link Party (Tasha@Creation Corner), Friday Potluck (Erin@EKat’s Kitchen), Frugal Friday (Wendy@The Shabby Nest), Frugalicious Friday (Jane@Finding Fabulous), Fun for Kids Friday (Local Fun for Kids & Smile Monsters), Fun Stuff Fridays (Toys In The Dryer), Funky Fresh Friday (April@Kool Beenz), Home and Family Friday (Becca@Home is Where My Story Begins), I’m Lovin’ It (Cheryl@Tidy Mom), Inspiration Friday (At the Picket Fence), It’s a Hodgepodge Friday (It’s a Hodgepodge Life), Kitchen Fun & Crafty Friday (Jill@Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons), Linky Party (Beth@Living Life Intentionally), Look at Me, I’m So Crafty! (Stacey@Fun to Craft), My Favorite Things (Stay At Home Nation), Pity Party (Mique@Thirty Handmade Days), Refresh Your Nest Friday (Carrie@Making Lemonade), Shine On Fridays (One Artsy Mama), Show and Share Day (Chris@Just a Girl), Show and Tell (Chrissy@For Mamas), Show and Tell Friday (Cindy@My Romantic Home),T.G.I.F. Linky Party (Tracy@Craft Junkie Too), Tickled Pink (Holly@504 Main), VIP Party (Sommer@Designer Garden)Freckled Laundry, Tatertots & Jello, Serenity Now, Lolly Jane, One Artsy Mama, Six Sisters, CRAFT, The Southern Institute, The Sweet Talk Shop, More Bang for your Bucks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Answer is Chocolate, The Sweet Talk Shop (with Lisa), Dwell on Joy, Creative Me at the Southern Institute