Window Awning Tutorial

I received some requests for a tutorial when I originally posted my awning and I've got one for you!

Here is what you will need:

-2 tension rods wide enough to fit between your cabinets

-a canvas drop cloth or other similar fabric of your choice

- black fabric paint and a paintbrush or black fabric marker

- blue painters tape

- an image that you like (I got mine here) copied in mirror image using a toner based copier

- CitraSolv

- an old paintbrush

- newspaper(to protect your surface)

- an old spoon

- a sewing matching or needle and thread if you prefer to hand stitch

okay, I think that about covers it!

The first step is to measure the width of your cabinet space to determine the width of your awning.  Then you want to decide how long you want the awning to be.  Once you get all of those measurements, add a 1/2 inch all the way around for seam allowance (plus extra for a rod pocket at the top).  Once you've added in your seam allowance to all of your measurements, go ahead and cut your fabric accordingly.

Now it's time to sew.  I just did a simple hem down both sides and along the bottom edge of my fabric to give it a nice, neat edge.  Then I added a rod pocket to the top to accommodate the tension rod.  The width of the pocket will depend  on the size of your tension rod.  That's it.  Now for the fun part!  Time to add your design. 

 As you can see from the photos, I wanted a French cafe feel to mine so a added a grain sack stripe in black as well as a French cafe logo.  You can click here to get the striping tutorial and here for a complete tutorial on how to transfer images using CitraSolv.  The image that I used came from The Graphics Fairy and so did the transfer tutorial.

So, when you're ready, go ahead and add your stripe and your image.  When you're done, it will be time to hang.

Okay, ready to hang your awning?  This is what you do.  Put up the first tension rod.  The placement is going to be different for everyone.  It all depends on where your window is in relation to your cabinets.  For me, it was all the way up to where the back top of my cabinets meet the soffit.  Then I hung the awning from this rod.  You can see this below...

Now you're going to place the second rod toward the front of the cabinets lower than the first rod.  See photo above. 

Now just bring the fabric up and over the second rod until it resembles an awning

Like so.

  You can play around with the placement  of the second tension rod until it looks exactly the way you want it.

And there it is.  You're all done!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your interest in the tutorial!

Have a great weekend.

xo and god Bless,

Kathleen

Linking up to Brag Monday at The Graphics Fairy

A Tutorial for "Baby Legs"

I know this isn't typical decorating stuff, however, I made something that I wanted to share because I think it could make a great little Christmas gift for a sweet baby or a mom-to-be!

I made Abigail this cute pink plaid skirt yesterday, but wanted something to go with it to keep her legs warm. I'm sure you've seen the baby leg warmers (a.k.a. baby legs) circulating around blogland - I know I've seen a few, so I decided to try them out. Turns out they were super easy to do and they took about 5 minutes from start to finish!
Here is my version:

Start out with a pair of ladies knee socks. I found mine at Walmart. They came in a three pack for $5.

Lay one sock right on top of the other and line them up all nice and neat.

Then make three cuts.

One just above the heel, one just below the heel and one just before the toe.

Discard the heel and toe pieces so you're left with the two short pieces and two long pieces pictured above.

Take the smaller of the two pieces...

...and fold it in half with the wrong sides of the sock facing each other.

It should look like this.

Now...

...take the piece that you just folded and slip it over the cut edge of the long part of the sock as pictured above.

It will look like this. You will have three total layers. Pin them together, but remember to leave the middle open to allow for baby's leg to go through.

Slip the whole thing around the arm of your sewing machine and sew a straight stitch all the way around. You may want to increase the stitch length to allow for some stretching.

Here's what it will look like when you finish sewing.

Just flip that end piece over and now you have a cuff. This is the part that will go over the top of baby's leg.

The part that was the finished top of the sock, will now go at the bottom of baby's leg. Repeat steps for the other sock so you'll have two baby legs. Pictured above are the finished leg warmers all ready to wear. Pretty cool huh? And so incredibly easy. I've already made four pairs and Abigail wore them all day. They're great!

And they look super cute too!

Give me a few days and I'll show you how I made the skirt. It was just as easy and quick as the leggings.

Enjoy!

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Paper Cone Wreath

Remember the project I told you I was working on using sheet music? Well, here it is! I saw this for the first time in early spring. Someone found it somewhere else and showcased it on their blog. Unfortunately, for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it first. I did however see another one on another blog here. Anyway, I tucked the image of the wreath away in my memory so that one day, I could try to make one too.
Then, more recently, I saw in Romantic Homes magazine where they published Lidy's directions on how to make a paper wreath. I remembered my desire to try to make one of my own, only I wanted mine to be made out of cones instead of rolled paper - just like the one I first saw.
So, I got to work.

Here is how I made my version of the wreath:

First, you're going to need to gather a few supplies. You'll need the following:

sheet music
ribbon
something decorative for the center medallion
(I just used my paper circle punch to punch out scrapbook paper)

floral pins

styrofoam disc

The first thing you'll do is make lots and lots of paper cones.

Once you've made the cones, start placing them on your styrofoam disc and attach with floral pins.

I started by placing them at the 12, 6, 9 and 3 o'clock positions on the circle

then you begin filling in the empty spaces

keep filling...

and filling. They don't have to be exact or perfect. Just randomly place them wherever you see an empty space.

After you're all finished placing the cones, flip the whole thing over and use a floral pin to attach a ribbon to the back of the foam for hanging

Now, flip it back over the right way and add a medallion to the center. This will cover the area where all of the cones intersect and it will hide all of the pins. I just used a hot glue gun to glue it in place.

Great!!

You're all finished and now you're ready to hang your wreath wherever you desire!

I put mine in front of the antique mirror hanging above our fireplace. It goes nicely with the fall decor and I think it will work with greenery and mercury glass at Christmas too! All I'm missing now is the burlap banner that's in the works. More to come on that later.

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Happy creating ~ I hope you enjoyed this little project!

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xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

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I'm linking up with Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

and

Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday