Enjoying the View

The trees and flowers are blooming all over our neighborhood, so I brought my camera along last night when  Olivia and I went for our nightly bike ride/ walk. 

I plan on having these printed, and framing them for Olivia's room. They are so beautiful. 

I purposely framed this shot with our house in the background.

It adds a fun little personal touch.

Feel free to print and use these photos for your own personal use. Please do not try to sell them. (I doubt anyone would actually want to pay anything for my amateur photography skills anyway)  :)

Bay Window Cornice Box Tutorial

I am really excited to share the tutorial for my easy and inexpensive bay window cornice box. While I know that there are a bunch of pelmet/cornice tutorials floating around in bloggy land. I searched high and low for a DIY for a bay window, and couldn't find one, so here it is.

This is the step-by-step for a bay window cornice box.

Supplies:

The sizes and amounts of supplies you need will vary depending on the size of the window you are dressing as well as the height of the Box. I will tell you the supplies I needed for my dimensions.

Foam Board: 4'x8'x1/2"- The foam core I bought is meant to be used as insulation for a home, the sheet was huge, and it barely fit in my giganto mini-van, so beware of this when purchasing. You might need to find a smaller sheet, or sweet talk them into cutting it for you if you have a smaller vehicle.
Staple Gun & 3/8' staples: mine are about 30 years old (if not more), so if you have a staple gun and staples that you love then use those. just make sure your staples are not longer than the thickness of your foam, my foam was 1/2' thick, and the staples were 3/8' so it worked perfectly.
Duct Tape: I just used the cheapest duct tape we had in the house. The fancy stuff wasn't necessary for this project.
Power Drill: I used mine for hanging the cornice. If you don't have a power drill and don't think you need one, just use a screwdriver and some good old fashioned muscle!
Corner Braces: (6) you will need 4- 3" braces, and 2 of the  2" or 2.5" braces. They were the least expensive at walmart.
Hinges: (4)I also found the best price for these was in the hardware section of walmart. You will need 4 - 3 or 3 1/2" Hinges. They come in a pack of 2, so buy 2 packs.
Square Mounting Tabs: These are small pieces of foam that are sticky on both sides. I found them at the dollar store.
Ladder Hooks: (2) these are used to hold a ladder up on the wall usually, but they worked wonders for hanging a gigantic cornice box also.
Soda Can Tabs: (4) I had no problem collecting these because I have a not-at-all secret love affair with Cherry Coke Zero. If you don't have a soda problem like me I'm sure you could ask a friend or neighbor to save 4 cans for you, or just pick a few up next time you're out.
Fabric: I needed 3 1/2 yards for my cornice box, the amount you will need depends on how wide your window is and how high you will be making the box. The way I measured is the very first step, so scroll down and have a look!
Batting/ Insulation: I used thermolam. You will need the same amount of batting as you did fabric.


OK! So Let's get this Bay-Window-Cornice-Box Party started!!!

The first thing you want to do is take your measurements. I drew myself a little diagram so it would be easy to understand when I came back to reference it. I wanted it to be 17" high. I held my ruler about 5" away from the window to take the width measurements, because that's how far I wanted it to come out.

When you have your diagram drawn up it's time to cut your foam pieces. For my window I needed:

1 Piece- 45"x17"

2 Pieces- 31"x17"

2 Pieces 5"x17"

I used a big metal ruler and an exacto knife to cut the pieces, but I'm sure you could improvise and use any straight edge you have around the house.

I cut the front with the straight edge, then flipped it over and went over it by hand on the back.

When you have all your pieces cut you'll want to attach your side pieces to the two end panels. You will need the two smaller hinges, and the foam mounting squares.

Hold the hinge up near the middle of the board and mark where the holes will go. Cover each mark with a foam mounting square (this helps prevent the hinge screws from going through the other side of the foam.)

Attach your hinges on top of the mounting squares. You'll want to screw the screws in at a slight angle.

When both of your small side pieces are attached to the end panels, you will want to measure and cut your fabric and batting. Lay your panels on top of the fabric, and cut the fabric with 3 to 4 inches around the edge. If your fabric has a pattern make sure the pattern is going the same way on all three pieces! 

Make sure you include the side pieces when measuring your cuts, you need enough to wrap around them with a few inches to tack the fabric down.

Once all of your fabric and batting is cut it is time to attach it to the foam. I stapled mine, then went over it with duct tape to make sure it would stay put, you could also try a hot glue gun.

First staple the batting on. Make sure you pull it tight. Cut the corners off of the batting to eliminate bulk.

Next, you want to staple your fabric onto the foam. You will do this the same way you did the foam, but 

DO NOT cut the corners off. You don't want any frayed edges to show on the front of your finished box.

You can also see how I went over the staples with duct tape after I was done stapling.

We're almost there! 

When your three (or more) sections are all finished it's time to attach them to one another. If your window is very large I would recommend doing this in the room where you will be hanging the cornice box.
Attach two hinges to each joint, following the directions on the package. They should look similar to this.

All that's left is hanging it on the window! WOO-HOO! 

This is the part that took me the longest to figure out, but when I finally did it went up really easily. 

Hang your two ladder hooks spaced evenly above the middle window, and two corner braces on the outside edges of the window. I circled them in white so they are easier to see. 

To get the soda tabs ready you need to use a pliers and bend the make the larger opening large enough to fit on your ladder hook. Then bend it in half so it looks like this.

                                    

To figure out the spacing for my soda tab hooks I taped markers to my ladder hooks, and held a piece of tape up to it to get the exact spacing. I centered the tape on my middle panel and used it as a guide to attach the soda tabs.

I used a lot of glue, so I let it dry for about 3 hours just to be safe, but once you are confident that it is cured you are ready to hang your cornice box. 

I don't have any photos of this step because I hung it myself, but it's really simple, you slide the soda tabs onto the ladder hooks, and screw the corner braces into the side panels.

Then... you are done! 

Take a step back, look at your hard work, and give yourself a pat on the back!

Linking Up With:

  

 

  

My Bay Window Cornice Box is Finally Up!

Here she is! I haven't been able to get this window out of my mind for the past couple weeks!

I am beyond excited to finally have this thing hung. I had a really hard time trying to find an inexpensive way to hang this puppy, but today I had an epiphany, and there it is! It's finally hung! I am thrilled and relieved to not have to worry about it anymore. 

It had been sitting on the floor in Olivia's room for a week, and driving me crazy!

She was thinking that it would make a really cool fort, the two side panels are attached with hinges, and move pretty easily, and there was a point when I thought to myself "hmmm, if it doesn't get up, at least she'll be excited to play in it", thankfully it didn't come to that.

It isn't perfect, though it's pretty close, and at a total cost of $25 with extra material for future projects left over I couldn't be happier.

We had a wonderfully productive Friday, between getting the cornice hung, and finally selling our refrigerator, (getting it out of the dining room, once and for all!) I will sleep well tonight!

I took LOTS of photos, so I can give you all a step-by-step tutorial, but it is 1am, and I am so ready to get to bed, so it will have to wait until another day.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! It's project time!!!

A place for Jewelry to Shine

So, I am still in the middle of a ton of bigger projects, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten all about the little guys. Here's a quick idea to add some sparkle to your closet, dressing room or anywhere that you like to get yourself ready for the day!
I was looking through some of my sample knobs, in search of some inspiration for my little loves dresser makeover when I realized that I have an abundance of small crystal and glass knobs. What can I say, I love how they add just the littlest touch of bling. "Hmmm, what can I do with these fab little gems?" So I snatched them up, grabbed my drill and into my closet I went.
This is what I ended up with. I am thinking of adding one or two more knobs, but for now these two are making me quite happy.

To give you some kind of idea where these are here's a shot of my closet from when we first toured the house. They are right on the side of the tall shelving unit.

To the left of the taller shelves is a shorter area with lots of tiny shelves where I keep all my tiny clothes, socks, underwear, shoes, and anything else that fits in a three inch high shelf. I use the top of it as a "vanity."

If you want to add some jewelry storage/ display to your space all you need to do is drill a hole big enough for the screw of the knob, slide it through and tighten it up. I'm totally loving it! My closet is the one place where I am taking out all the stops. It is in the process of being "girlified" as we speak, and that's why I am showing you pictures cropped tightly and from before we moved in. I am slowly getting there, and can't wait to show you my little "retreat" when it's finished. 

Here's a shot of one of the knobs from the reflection in my mirror. LOVE IT!!!

Speaking of Girly Spaces. I am taking my little munchkin for a hair cut today at Sweet & Sassy. So much fun, and it doesn't get much girlier than that. Maybe I'll find some more inspiration!