Time for a change

Huge day for me - I quit my full-time job!  Yippee for me!

I am at a point in my life where I need to spend more time being a parent and less time being an employee .. my "little" girls are not so little anymore and they need their Mummy, won't be long and the Mummy will be just Mum or something else! 

So I am looking for a part-time job that is not an hour commute each way that will let me contribute financial to our household, but will also let me be the kind of Mummy my girls deserve and the kind of Wife I want to be - ie that is one not so exhausted that home life becomes a chore!

A hard decision to come by, but now it is all over and done with I feel like a weight has been lifted!!!!

So Yippee for me!

Girls Rooms - Matching Lamps

My two little darlings love to read their own books at bedtime so they each have a little kid friendly bedside lamp.  Isabells had a plain white shade on it while Lillian's was a very bright turqouise blue - of course this didn't match at all, so with a little bit of hot glue and their chosen Ikea fabrics we set about to make these match with the rest of the new decor:

Lillians Lamp:

1. Position your exisiting shade on the "wrong" side of your fabrice and roll it over the material and use a pin to keep in place while you mark around the inside with a pen.

2. Remove the pin, unwind the material and you have your basic pattern.  Add approx 2cm above the lines and cut.  Then snip the material every 1-2cm - this makes the fitting easier.

3. Glue one end of the material onto the existing shade and again roll the material around the shade - glue and secure the other end of the material.

4. Fold and glue the top and bottom of the material - pulling taught as you go.  Easy peasy.

The finished product:

Isabell's lamp:

1. I used the same process to make a band of material as I did when I made the curtains for the room.

2. I secured one end of the band to the lampshade with hot glue, wrapped it aroung the existing shade and secured the other end in the same fashion - again really easy and very effective.

Both lamps still give out enough light for reading at bedtime and now they look heaps better!

Girls Bedroom - Banded Curtains

One of the projects that turned out better than expected in the girls rooms were the curtains.  I'll let you in on a little secret - I didn't sew anything on them!  Crazy I know, but true.

I had seen a few tutorials on YouTube and various decorating blogs showing how to used Iron On Adhesive to hem and make curtains and although somewhat sceptical, I thought I would give it a try - so glad I did.

I purchased these curtains:

Ikea Alvine Flata Curtains

I think I may actually be in love with these curtains, so much so they will soon be making an appearance in every room in our house.  They block out the glare from our harsh Australian sun, without blocking the light - which is really important to me especially as the house we are renting is a bit on the dark side. 

The quality is surprisingly good and the price amazing - $29.95 - sensational, they came with a little pack of iron on adhesive heming tape and I also purchased another two packets to add the bands to the bottom of the curtains.

So it is as easy as this:

1. Hang and hem your curtains using the iron tape

2. Select and cut your contrasting material to the desired width - remember to allow an inch at the top and bottom to foldover.  Fold in the edges and press

3. Add some tape under the folds and press again to hold



4. Measure on and mark on the curtains where you want the band of contrasting material to go, again layout adhesive tape and iron on, fold around the edges of the curtain and adhere at the back with tape.  I used pins to keep mine in place throughout this process.

Finished product - pretty cute hey!

More posts to come on my little projects.