The Fourth, Family, and Fun

Last week was absolutely crazy! I had the house to myself Monday and Tuesday so I was able to casually get some things done at my own pace, slow and steady! The rest of the week was on drill sergent Ryan's time. We finally got a night on the town Tuesday when we went to watch the fireworks on  his company's 11th story balcony in Addison, it was really beautiful and we had a great time with good food and friends. After that our free time was dedicated to getting our house ready for Ryan's family to come over, what a whirlwind but we really got the house in good shape, toddler proofed and ready for a crowd.

The main thing that I am of course happy to show off are my dining room curtains!!!! They were quite a feat but worth all the work!

I am so happy with the way they turned out, I made the blue panels and really the hardest part was keeping the blackout lining straight while sewing. As for the two khaki panels they were at such a great price at Lowe's I couldn't pass them up, I bought one 84" that lined up pefectly with the ones I had sewn and I bought one 63" which fell perfectly above the window unit! I wish I could link you to the blue fabric, but I had to drive to another city to pick up their last few yards of it and can not seem to find it online, it is a Waverly fabric and after working with it it seems to be a great interior fabric brand. Overall I love the way they turned out and enjoyed the copliments from the family!

Also on my list of things to do was to hide my crooked failed attempt at a roman shade on my back door. I must say that this quick easy fix really did the trick! What do ya think?....

I simply bought a rounded curtain rod, made a loop to slip it through and finished the edges, I used the same fabric as my dining room to tie everything together. Then I used the existing holes in the door, that I was wanting to hide anyway, to hang it (no husband needed!)

As for other projects I made a wreath for my front door that I am absolutely in love with!

After all the projects were done nd the family rolled in we had a fabulous time. We broke out the smoker and had a tasty pool party, Ryan bought me a propane burner and we boiled some fresh Louisiana gulf shrimp, and I got to use my brand new KitchenAid mixer to make the most delicous sweet in the world...German Chocolate Cake! It has been sad these last two mornings to not hear a little one running around but...maybe I should just enjoy quiet mornings while I have them...

The Weekend & Day 6:

I had a wonderful weekend!... Ladies night to see Magic Mike (yep I was one of those cackling ladies in the theather!), then finally I got another man in the house to help move the last of the bachelor pad out of my living room, and my dear friend Claire brought my sweet godchild Olivia over for a little pool time!

So for the reveal.... here is a reminder of the bachelor pad:

and now...

Ahhh!... I am so happy! It looks so great and I cannot tell you how excited I am about this. This could have been so bad, we had to buy them sight unseen because this was a model they did not have in the showroom! Luckily it turned out exactly how I wanted and now we have a real living room!


The next thing that I wanted to point out was....yes...those are terrible ugly window units in my house :( As I believe I have mentioned earlier we are renting for now until we feel like Ryan's job situationis more stable. What this means for us is we have to have some extra window units to supplement our insuffcient central AC. So since that is what it is I have done my best to dress it up! This is the easiest project ever! We wanted to make sure that we blocked as much outside heat as possible (we live in Dallas so that means 3 plus months of 100 plus heat!) so Ryan taped bubble wrap over the panels, that is a great way to insulate from the heat!

Next I took some 1 inch foam and covered it with a linen fabric I had left over from an old project. No sewing necessary a hot glue gun and you are good...



So that is the final look, its not the prettiest thing but it really finishes the sides if it is something you must have, and belive me here in Texas we MUST have these!

I am off to more adventures in sprucing up this house... can't wait to share more!