Roman Blinds

So we've struggled with window coverings for house (well I've struggled anyway!)
None of the windows had window coverings, not even curtain rods. The temporary fix was sheets from a used store in town, cut to fit the windows and hanging from the ceilings (because after all the painting I've done, there will be no holes in these walls unless to it's to hang the real curtains!)
I waffled between curtains and blinds or shades. Usually curtains would be the cheaper option IF we had rods, but buying rods and curtains ends up being the same price as the blinds. We have decided on blinds but budget-wise  we'll have to wait awhile longer.... except... I can't stand how bright the bedroom is at night.

It's odd, we moved up north and people kept telling us about the lack of light during the winter, but it's almost always clear skies up here which equals nights that are oddly bright, lit by stars and northern lights!

So there I am, looking on pinterest and I see someone has made a roman blind out of an old mini blind and I'm struck with the idea of doing this for our bedroom!

What was I thinking????

One day I went out with some friends and we went to a second hand store in town and I happened to find a long blind (perfect) for 2.99!! I got it home and quickly measured only to find it was at least 5" to short. So I had the brilliant idea of taking three or four of the metal slats and gluing them together, and then staggering them to make up the extra 5".

I picked my fabric but I didn't want to leave the opposite side exposed (this is the side that faces the exterior) so I picked a second fabric to line the blind with. I had to drill new holes into the slats and this was fairly easy, but in hindsight, I should have drilled elongated holes to allow for more movement.

 Also, one should put the cap back on the sharpie before holding it in one's hand... oops!

I used white glue to start gluing the fabric and slats together and used wooden clothes pegs to hold everything together tightly. I also used heavy objects to help.

 Be careful to not glue the strings down or nothing will work! This is where I had to go back and re-drill the holes a bit larger as I was having problems with the bottom two sections not lowering properly - they go up with no problems.

 I then had to make a little valance to hide the box structure at top of the blinds. I sewed two strips together of each of the fabrics and when I put the end caps up in that valance went at the very top, against the window frame .. ok wait, I didn't do it.. I had to get some help with that part ;)

 Here's how the valance part looked. It just makes for a cleaner look to me.

 And here is the valance in place.... 

So would I do this again? NO! The blind raises properly but when lowering it, the bottom two sections still need 'help'.... perhaps if the blind actually fit the window it might be easier. But it will do for now. It makes the bedroom dark which I love!

Squee!

I am SO excited!
Squeeeee!

You know how sometimes you read about something online, and then you decide to try it and it doesn't look the same? Well that DIDN'T happen to me today.. well it did and it didn't.. I tried three things today.. one worked well, one did not work well, and the last one ROCKED!

I decided to try to make something that required modge podge (hereafter to be known as MP). I had purchased some good old elmer's glue last week after reading a recipe for MP and mixed some up in an old bottle with pour type spout. This worked great... what I was trying to MP - not so good.

Later in the day I finally relocated the printer into my sewing room. I had read about using freezer paper to transfer images - specifically using the printer to print images onto the freezer paper. This sounded very similar to to when I used to do space planning for Futureshop and would print the shape of the building onto trace paper. I would tape the trace paper to a sheet of 11x17 paper to give the trace the support it needed to go through the printer without tearing. Some people suggest using spray glue but this seems needlessly messy to me.

Anyway!! I found a cool image to try out, printed it out, taped it to a wall in the mudroom (that will be painted in the spring) and voila! It worked like a charm!
Um, except for the fact that I did it upside down.
Lesson learned! Check before starting!

Here is the printed pattern:

Here is the image on the wall:

Here is a close up:

These were taken with my phone as the camera was charging and I got impatient waiting.
What do I want to do with my discovery? It's a secret involving my linen closet. I'll have to do some more experimenting first to make sure the images don't smudge on the wall. Crossing my fingers this works out!