Super Mario curtains

My mom is awesome. She not only helped me paint Ari's room, she gave me the idea to use iron-ons for the curtains I was making for him. I knew I wanted to do the brown blocks, but I didn't know what other Super Mario elements to incorporate into the curtains. I was explaining to her what I wanted to do, and she came up with the brilliant idea to print characters on the iron-on sheets and put them on a solid colored fabric. Needless to say, I loved the idea, and got to work on the last element of Ari's room.

I decided to use a total of five squares of fabric for each curtain and alternate between the brown blocks and the characters. For the blocks, I cut out the individual brown 'bricks' and then sewed them together with the black 'mortar' in between. The blocks turned out really well, and came out looking pretty authentic compared to their video game counterparts.

As for the character squares, I had four squares to use for characters; so the challenge was to decide which characters to use. I didn't want to use Mario, Luigi, Goombas, 0r Koopa Troopas, because they were already represented on his wall clings. I thought about using power up items like mushrooms or fire flowers, but that didn't seem too exciting to me. After some serious debate, and looking for high quality images on the internet, I decided to go with some 'bad guys'.

I ended up using pictures of a Hammer Brother, Lakitu, Bowser Jr., and a Bullet Bill for the character spaces on the curtains. After I ironed the images onto the fabric, I sewed all the squares together and added some tabs to the top for the curtain rod. I couldn't be happier with the way the curtains turned out. The character iron-ons really give them that authentic Super Mario look. I doubt any other kid has curtains like this, with item block curtain rods, too! They were the perfect finishing touch to Ari's room. Thanks again for the idea, Mom!

New Kitchen Curtains...Hallelujah!

The project completion train keeps chugging along as I put the finishing touches on some new kitchen curtains last week. They are a major upgrade from the ones we had prior...major. I thought about posting before and after pictures, but I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of the old ones.

I learned a lot from the curtains I made for Ari's room and these were a cinch to make; and I completed them in no time at all. I still don't know if I'm making them the 'right' way, but I guess the end result is all that matters. I would have posted a picture of the other curtain, but I couldn't find an angle to take a flattering picture.

I think they turned out really well and I am filled with the joy of a job well done every time I look at them. In my opinion, the fabric pattern is reminiscent of the wallpaper in Nonna's dining room. To me, it has the same style and feel. So that sense of familiarity and comfort makes them even that much more enjoyable. I am glad that they are part of my kitchen.

It's curtains for you Ari...and a new bed!

My dad called a couple weeks ago and asked if we wanted Stephen's bed for Ari. As I hesitated to ask what Stephen was going to sleep on, my dad informed me that Stephen was getting a new bed. Relieved that Stephen wasn't going to have to sleep on the floor, I asked my dad for the measurements and went upstairs to see if the bed would fit. To my relief, it did, and my dad said he would bring the bed to us soon.

Our bedrooms are pretty small in our house and this new bed has drawers underneath it to act as a dresser. Ari already had a bed, but this new storage option was too good to pass up, and the new bed didn't take up much more room than the old one. My dad came up last weekend with the new bed and we set it up in Ari's room. It fit well, and Ari was delighted in the fact that there were doors in the bed frame that allowed access to underneath the bed itself. His own secret hiding place! How fun!

The bed was a little bit taller than his old one and we had to position it differently in his room to allow for all the doors to function properly. This resulted in the bed going across the windows. Ari had long drapes in his room and the bed did not allow the drapes to hang unimpeded. We came to the conclusion that we would take down the drapes and put up a valance. Then, on a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, we found some Cars fabric and I decided that I would try to make the valances myself since I had Eva's sewing machine. (I hope you don't mind, Eva.)

Having never made curtains before, I looked at some of the other window treatments we had in the house to get an idea of how to make the ones for Ari's room. I don't know if I used the right technique, but I got them completed and Ari likes them; that's really all that matters anyway. I think they look pretty good, myself, and Ari's room got a quick impromptu makeover. Even after all that, he still doesn't make his bed. Kids!