Sunday, April 29, 2012

Razormap

True or False:
Nick loves maps and globes. True!
Nick loves the Arkansas Razorbacks.  True!
 
So when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew Nick would love it.


I don't know where the original is located or who painted it, but whoever did this is very creative.

I knew I couldn't paint this, but I could make it with Adobe Illustrator.  I found a free map vector, and played around with the alignment, and came up with this.

Looks like the Razorback logo, huh?  We will be printing and framing this, and putting it in Nick's Office.

Here's the key for those cartographers out there to test their knowledge.

 
Sunday, April 22, 2012

How To: Leading Edge Detail

The curtains are done.  Nick's been waiting a long time for them.  I think he never thought they would actually happen.  They are really simple to do.  I just actually had to do it.  I'm glad they are done.  They make the room look more finished. Here's how to add a leading edge detail.

What you'll need:
Curtains
Ribbon ~8 feet per panel (for standard height ceilings)
Thread  (2-to match curtain fabric, and ribbon)
Fray Check or Fray Block

Sewing Machine
Scissors
Rotary Cutter
Cut Mat
Quilters Ruler
Iron

What you'll do:

Wash, dry and iron curtains and ribbon. Follow manufacturers directions.

 All Clean!

Cut ribbon to length, pin to curtain's leading edge.

Sew ribbon onto curtain, ribbon-colored thread on top, curtain-colored thread on bottom.
       -I folded a half inch of ribbon over the top hem of the curtains, and sewed along the top.  I then applied fray check to raw edge of the ribbon.  I turned the curtains lengthwise and skipped over the rod pocket, and began sewing.  
      -If you have hem on the curtains you are keeping, fold ribbon over bottom hem before sewing, and sew to hem's edge.  Fray check the raw edge.
TIP: Make sure to avoid sewing the rod pocket closed on the top. 


Repeat down other side of ribbon.

Repeat sewing process on other panels. 

 Here's a completed panel

If you have excess length beyond your ribbon, remove excess fabric.
      -I did, Ikea makes really long fabric.

Hang curtains.  Pin to desired hem length. 
      -I do it this way, because even if your curtain rod is level, the floor might not be.  Not to mention, fabrics hangs differently, than when laid flat.
      -If you have a finished hem already, you're done.
      -I prefer a wide hem, but I didn't do it this time.

Iron the curtain's hem.

Sew the hem
      -I did a lazy hem; folded over, ironed, sewed, and fray checked the raw edge. 

 My lazy hem

Iron the hem again.

Hang curtains. You're done!

 
Looks better than the boring all white curtains.

Better, huh?
Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bedroom Reveal

It hit me when my parents were in town, that I have never put up photos of the bedroom, which was probably the first room we finished up.  It's also the only room I painted the walls.  So to remind you of what it looked like when we bought the house.

First, the view from the door, and then the view from the bathroom.


Now, the view from the door, and then the view from the bathroom.

 
 This room is quite small for a king size bed, but we weren't going to get rid of our bed, so we made it work.  I painted the walls and ceiling (best thing I did), which is more evident in the pictures below.





Our bedroom has never looked so nice and clean.

So this crosses off another item off our countdown list.  Office curtains are about 75% done.  Need to trim, iron, hem, and install them.  A how-to and pictures will be up next week.
Sunday, April 8, 2012

Chipping away at the list

So this weekend we chipped (Masters pun intended) away at the 8 Week Countdown list.  Some of our work involved actually finishing up projects, but some of it involved prep. 


We were able to patch/spray the office wall.  When we removed the broken Brinks panel from the wall, we found the old paint color, and no wall texture, both of which we were expecting.  We had some spray wall texture and paint from other projects, so this was an easy, free fix.  


I washed and ironed 4 curtain panels, so I could get started with putting up curtains in Nick's office/lounge.  


We have finalized a plan for the walk-in closet as well.  It will probably change a little from the plan during the construction, this summer. 




So here's the progress on the list

 8 Week Countdown
Curtains-office, guest room, living room
Paint post on front porch
Finalize plans for walk-in closet
Plant grass
Put down rubber tiles by dumpster
Shop for sideboard
Patch/spray office wall
Clean cubes in living room
Photograph bedroom
Move hose corral
Install light over dining table 

I've been told I'm slacking on photos, so here are some:





Any projects planned or completed recently?
Sunday, April 1, 2012

8 Week Countdown

There is just under 8 weeks until my birthday, so I decided to get going on a 8 week countdown list of items that need to get worked on.  Once we get most of these projects done, it'll be time to work on the walk-in closet project, which was one of the New Year's Resolutions projects. 


8 Week Countdown
Curtains-office, guest room, living room
Paint post on front porch
Finalize plans for walk-in closet
Plant grass
Put down rubber tiles by dumpster
Shop for sideboard
Patch/spray office wall
Clean cubes in living room
Photograph bedroom
Move hose corral
Install light over dining table

As you can see, we've already completed some of the projects.  They were easy, but needed to be done.  

Any projects you're working on?