Stringing Up a Roll Shade

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to string up a roll shade.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but when I was a kid, my mom worked for an interior designer. She sewed all kinds of commissioned stuff... Roman shades, bolsters, bedspreads, stuff like that.

I didn't help out much, but I did learn how to string up a shade with cord and some eye hooks. What I've done in two of the girls' rooms is much simpler than anything my mom ever did and it certainly doesn't hang as nice as her creations, but it's functional and simple and, most importantly, I like it.

Also, if you're interested, there's more info about the embroidery and design here.

Breaking Hard Candy

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to get crushed hard candy for stained glass cookies.


I don't know about you, but sometimes I find the instructions on Martha's website a bit simplistic. I don't just mean that they keep it simple, but that they actually leave stuff out. Maybe it's an accident, or maybe they just don't want to explain the long, involved steps it took to get the end product.

Which, by the way, is something that just happens to be my specialty.

For example, in the Stained Glass Cookie project, they say simply "Then sprinkle crushed hard candy generously in the window of the letter." What they don't mention is how to crush those hard candies (they do suggest using jolly ranchers specifically, which was helpful to know).

I did this to one of my old cookie sheets trying to get "crushed hard candy".

Detailed Fabric Grocery Bag Instructions

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to make cheap and easy grocery bags.

This tutorial gives an overview of how to make a bunch of fabric grocery bags for less than 2 dollars each. (And most of that cost is in the webbing for the handles. They'd cost less than 50 cents if you use denim from old jeans.)

Note (March 09)- I've been using these same bags for just under 2 years. We use them almost every single time we go to the grocery store. And we have 3 kids at home with us, so we shop a lot. We also use them for ALL of our errands... clothes shopping, library, even the hardware store. I also wash the bags pretty often. The point it, they have been used hard. Very hard. And even though they're made of fairly thin fabric (which is kind of the point, as I need to be able to cram all of them into their bag, week after week), none of them have ever torn or ripped.



To make these, you need access to a sewing machine, but don't even need to sew all that straight. Remember, you just need to make them prettier than the ugly plastic things you're using now. How hard can that be?

Sew Your Own Handles

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to sew your own handles.

This is super simple.

Buffalo Scrunchies

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to make buffalo scrunchies.

Here is what I do with the extra elastic I cut off the fitted sheets when I'm making fabric grocery bags. When I decided to do this, it reminded me of the Plains Indians and how they found a use for every piece of the buffalo and wasted nothing.

Double Hemmed Corners

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to sew double hemmed corners.

This is the technique I've worked out for doing flat double hems on corners.

Seriously look how flat they are.

Queen Amidala Headpiece

Note- Please click over to Wisdom of the Moon to read the entire post on how to make plaster headpieces for Halloween.

Here is a little picture tutorial for making the base of the Queen Amidala headpiece.



First, you put down the plastic to protect head and hair. Next time we do something like this, we plan to lay a thin towel down under the plastic to create a little wiggle room on the finished product.