Tuesday Tutorial

I'm a BIG fan of using something you already have, if it saves you some money.

I don't mean make it look junky, not by any means, but use it if you've got it!

I've been in need of some new dining room curtains for awhile now.  The gold ones I had were really faded on the side that faces the sun, and when you looked at them from the outside on the patio, they just didn't look very nice.

I found a pair of tan seer sucker curtains at Goodwill about a week ago for $3.  The PAIR was $3.

Um, hello, GET IN MY CART!

I was super excited, and brought them home, washed them, ironed them, hung them up, and found they were too short!

UGH!

I let them go a couple of days, but it looked too ridiculous!

I've seen in magazines and on Pinterest.com some "morphed curtains..."  Curtains with fabric added to them to improve the look.

I needed to do that, and mine wasn't just for a "look,"  it was for necessity.

I headed up to my fabric stash today and pulled out this full sized sheet with a pattern that I liked.

After measuring to see how much I would have to add to extend my length to the floor, I went upstairs to the sewing machine and got to work.

I measured, cut, and kind of made a "pocket" for the original curtain to fit into.

Then I pinned the outside, and sewed all around it.

Because the sun is so bright, and the fabric thin, you can see through it quite a bit.  It also made my pictures terrible, so excuse the final product...

You can see the original hem through it, and I guess that's ok during the bright daily sun, it gives it a kind of three tone color panel.  At least all the hems are even!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Done.  Knowing me, I'll stare at this for awhile, decide I don't like the way it looks, and redo it.
I'll put that on the to do list for the END of Spring Break this week.

For now...it's good.
Now, onto something else.

Rejuvinated

Yesterday I had a couple hours to kill after work until I picked Grace up at track practice.

It doesn't happen often that I'm alone.

I went uptown with a purpose, but it turned into a relaxing jaunt.

There is a second hand shop that I sell our clothes too, and I wanted to check my account and see if I had any money in it.

I headed up there, and got swept away by the general "cuteness" of the downtown.

There is a whole alley of "creative graffiti."

Cool old fashioned lighting, and ruby red benches.

If I would've had time, I would've stopped by the second hand bookstore, but I got to looking at clothes, and ran out of time before I had to trek to the other side of town to get Grace.

It was a refreshing time alone. 

It needs to happen more often!

My Grade would be an F

If I were to be graded lately on the frequency of my posts, I'd probably recieve a big 'ol F.

Sorry about that...since last Wednesday, the days have flown by.  So....

I'm happy to say, that while I sit here watching one of my favs...(Castle), I'm already dreaming of Spring Break next week, and how that will make my menu preparing that much easier.

I've already been sitting here for the last couple of hours planning my menu for the next week, matching it up to the supermarket sale flyers, and what I have in my pantry.

I'm feeling a little like this.

(This picture makes me laugh.)

I think I've got the menu nailed down, though, and unfortunately my budget has to be bigger this week since we'll be home for lunch...Ugh....

We're having pizza, sweet and sour chicken with eggrolls, homemade chicken nuggets, breakfast sandwiches and strawberries, spaghetti and bread, and two Easter meals to name a few.

It's one of the hardest things to do every week, match up my meal plan with my grocery budget.

But if I didn't, it would put us in the hole.

Food has gotten SO EXPENSIVE, and that's what's the hardest to swallow.

How do you deal with menu planning and the cost?  I'd LOVE to know some insider tips.