White Drapes

I need to add some drapes to my windows. Obviously, since we will be moving I don't want to make a major investment in them. I figured some

white panels from Ikea

, and a bit of trim on the leading edge would work.

The trim gives the panels a custom look without commanding too much attention. 

Bay Street

Darci Goodman Design

Caitlin Wilson

Crisp Architects

Traditional Home

Kelley Proxmire

via The Pink Pagoda

I know

Elizabeth

is adding trim to her drapes for an amazing treatment. I can't wait until she post's it. 

Have you ever done this? Did you use fabric or ribbon?

Ikea Wants to Sell Cars & the Garden Tool

Did you hear?

Ikea is planning on taking over GMC...

That would give them the ability to sell cars.

Of course you would need on of these

Here is the prototype

In all seriousness....Nobody guessed what this was

Here is a demonstration

A thorn stripper.

Have a great Labor Day weekend. 

I'll be back on Monday with a trend prediction.

A Custom Gift Wrap

When I was in high school, I worked for a custom gift shop in the Los Angeles area. The shop sold exclusive personalized gifts that were very expensive. I worked in the wrapping department with a friend of mine. On Saturday's, she and I would wrap gifts while chatting and laughing the hours away. It was great fun....and the perfect job. Once in a while, famous people would come in....like Pat Benatar or one of the Jacksons' (as in 5).

Last week, on an average trip to Ikea....I saw this

Thin colored drinking straws....and then I remembered....I USED TO WRAP GIFTS WITH THESE!! Here is how we did it....start with a plain white box

Make a label  for the recipient (we used the name of the store)

It must ALWAYS go in the bottom left corner (every gift from this store had to be recognizable and uniform).

Using colored cellophane, wrap the box.

Grab a small handful of colored straws that coordinate with your ribbons

Wrap a few pieces of ribbon around the bundle of straws

Chop off the bendy parts

Pull the ribbons extra tight to form a straw bow and attach it to the package

The cellophane allows everyone to see the exclusive name

This brought back such great memories....and my daughter's friend loved how her gift was wrapped. What job(s) did you have in high school?

**Linking to Craft-O-Maniac**

I Love a Hack

Hack : to cut or sever with repeated irregular or unskillful blows

I am a huge fan of Ikea Hackers! I follow them on Twitter, read the blog, and google images all the time. As you can see on my sidebar, I am a hacker, and proud of it! Here are a few hacks that I find inspirational

A Chinese inspired light

It started like this

You can read about this transformation here.


Wall terrariums

It started like this

You can learn how to do this here


A DIY Chevron rug

The tutoriall is here

My bloggie buddie Jen's table

That started like this

The directions are here

As I mentioned in my Home Goals, I need to install built-ins in my masteter bedroom...so another hack is in my future. Is there a hack in your future? Are you a hacker?

My Custom Pink Pagoda Frame

Yesterday, I told you about my Pink Pagoda Print. Here is my step-by-step how-to make a custom frame.

First, you start with an Ikea Virserum

measure the width of the top profile to decide how much of a reveal you want

Next, a trip to Home Depot for the perfect profile trim. I wanted one that would compliment the Asian feel of the print as well as the bamboo accents I have in the room

Test the trim to confirm that you LOVE it!

measure, cut to length, and miter the corners

lightly sand your Virserum, to break the factory "seal"

add a bead of wood glue to the back of your cut molding

tape the molding into place (no need for nails) and let dry

spray prime completed frame

apply 2 coats of Rust-oleum's High Gloss Smoke Gray

here is an old painter's tip, since this is oil base, in-between coats (24hrs) place the brush (paint and all) into a plastic bag

...and put it in your freezer. The next day, let it acclimate to room temp for a few minutes, and you are ready to go...without ever cleaning the brush!

close-up of the finished frame profile as well as the burlap mat

...And now, onto creating custom matting

First, measure the reveal of your current mat

decide if you want the same reveal on all sides, measure and mark for your cut

cut the mat, I like to use a razor blade, choose what you are comfortable handling

place the cut mat on the wrong side of your fabric (I used ivory burlap) add double sided carpet tape...also from Home Depot

peel back the paper from the tape exposing the sticky side

trim your fabric so that it folds over half of the way...leaving room for the inside to fold the other half of the way

repeat this for all sides, trim corners, if need be, use a drop of frey check to keep the threads from unraveling

once you have completed covered the mat with fabric, you can lightly press the top to get it extra smooth

...and now onto the ribbon detail. Choosing an accent or highlight color for your print, I used my mini iron, a regular iron would work just fine

sandwiched between the ribbon and burlap is a thin piece of fusible web pre-cut to 1/4". I only mitered one of the ribbon pieces for each corner.

I spray mounted gray taffeta to the board that came with the frame

trimmed it to size, no need to have neat edges, the matting will cover it

placing the finished matting over the back, and using double sided acid free tape, I positioned the print exactly where I wanted it

clean the glass, reassemble, and admire

Don't forget, tomorrow begins the on-line upholstery tutorial