Special Marshmallows

I don't know about your kids but mine love marshmallows.  There is just something about that squishy, sweet treat that delights most kids.  But let's face it, they are not "cute" or "adorable", they are a puff of white (or pink if you find the strawberry ones).  Now and then during certain holidays you can find shaped one (snowmen at Christmas) but for the most part they are plain, boring white puffs. 

I have done this for years for a special treat for my girls.  I sneak them into lunch boxes or bowls of cereal occasionally.  They "ohhhhh" and "ahhhhh" at them and gobble them down.  They are super easy to make and turn a plain boring puff into something special.

You are going to need:

Marshmallows

Powdered Sugar

Small Cookie Cutter

Step One: Place cookie cutter in powdered sugar

Step Two: Position cookie cutter on top of marshmallow

Step Three: Press cookie cutter gently into marshmallow

Step Four: Slowly remove cutter from marshmallow

 Where you able to get all that?  Need me to do it again?  No, okay.  Seriously these are so easy and turn out so stinking cute!  They look adorable in a mug of hot cocoa or the insides (smaller hearts) made a great addition to a bowl of cereal or peanut butter sandwich.   

In no time at all you can assemble an army of cute marshmallows waiting to be bestowed upon a lucky child (or adult).  They are cute packaged in clear bags tied with a ribbon.  So put down the boring puffs of marshmallows and create something that will have all the kids in the neighborhood begging.

From Drab to Fab: Valance Beautification

Here is the tutorial on how to make my no sew, super cute, ridiculously easy valance. (My pictures for this project are less than wonderful, so please look past the ugliness of the quality, thanks a bunch)

You will need:

• Two valances
• Scalloped fabric stuff
• Straight fabric stuff
• Satin ribbon
• Satin bows
• Liquid stitch

(Disclaimer: I am by no way a sewer, I have no clue what things are called or the proper way to do anything so, if you know what something is called and would like to correct me on it feel free.  Just know in my scatter brain mind it will probably get lost with did I brush my hair, why are you wearing your shoe on your head, no you can not sell your sister)

Okay, so to start I cut off 12 inch sections from one of the valances.  I cut from each end so that I would not have to finished off the ends.  Smart thinking, I know. I laid them next to each other (making sure the curtain rod holes lined up and they were both facing the same direction) and glued a strip of black satin ribbon to the front of both, in essence gluing them together with out you being able to know that is what I am doing. 

Once I have done this for both sides of the valance I flipped it over and glued the end pieces of the ribbon to the back, like this. 

I let this dry for about 15 minutes.  I wanted to make sure that the ribbon was attached nicely before I moved on to the beautification of this plain valance. 

Time for its makeover!  I started with the scalloped black fabric thingy I found.  Now for some reason it was scalloped on both sides, why I have no clue but I didn't want it scalloped on both sides so liquid stitch to the rescue again.  I glued the edge down.

Once I had it glued, I let it sit for 15 minutes.  Then I glued the black fabric thingy to the bottom edge of the valance.  I positioned it so that the edge of the valance could not be seen between the edges of the scallops.

Again, let dry for 15 minutes, then attach the other black fabric thingy but I did mine at the top edge, over where the curtain rod would go inside the valance. 

And yup, you guessed it.  Let this sit for 15 minutes to dry.  Once it was dry I flipped it over and glued the ends on the back side.  I forgot to take pictures of this but I am pretty sure you can figure it out.  One suggestion to to make sure your ends are not longer than an inch, it looks better, especially on the bottom edge.

Lastly, I attached the two bows, one on each of the satin ribbons.

I love how it turned out, I don't have a picture of it hung up yet because well, I have not hung it up yet.  I am waiting till we paint.  I spent less than $30 total for this one of a kind valance.  After looking at the finished project I wish I had put a piece of satin ribbon going down the middle of it with a bow, just to break up that huge space but it still look great. 

So there you have it, not one stitch was sewn nor not one finger pricked to make this super cute, ultra easy, deliciously adorable valance.

Curtains Here, Curtains There...

...so many curtain everywhere.  Yet, I could not find a single one I liked to match our bedroom.  Now some might say I am picky and others mights say just use anything but *stomps foot* I am not picky and I don't want just any curtain...I want the perfect curtain.  Well, valance actually but same difference.  What seems to be my down fall is that the one window we have in the master bedroom is not an easily found measurement.  Our window is 58 inches, not too out there but enough that finding a valance or blinds isn't as simple as I would like.  Initially I wanted to put roman shades in the room, white roman shades with a black valance.  Sounds nice right...I thought so until I realized I need to special order the shades at $300...ummm no thanks.  I mean $300 will feed my girls for like 2 minutes!  (joking...kinda)  So fine, I'll settle for plain mini-blinds.  Then I move onto the valance, do you think I can find anything that I like that goes with the rest of the room and will fit a 58 inch window?  I give you two guesses but you will only need one...NO! 

I looked all over and fell in love with this one but it measures 54 inches and because of the way it is made I cannot use two together.  So after searching, getting mad and searching some more I screamed ENOUGH!  Well not really screamed but it sounded good.  I decided that I would just make something up to go with the room.  I started by picking up a couple of plain black valances at the World (a.k.a. Wally World (a.k.a. Walmart)).  I then hit up the craft stores in search of just the right ribbon...WHAM...that is me running into another wall.  I could not find a single ribbon that I liked that would match my room.  I mean come on, how hard is it to find a black and white floral ribbon (or valance)?  So I kept poking around and found this cute black scalloped material that had white embroidered flowers.  I snatched that up so fast that I am sure the old lady next to me must have thought I was...well different.  No, I don't know what it is called because I don't sew but it is an inch wide and fabric.  I was then able to find another kind that matched it but without the scalloped edges. 

Now that I had the pretty stuff to put on the valance I needed a way to join the two together without it being noticeable...black satin ribbon baby.  I cut one foot sections off each end of one of the valances to attach to the other.  Each valance was 60 inches so I didn't need the full amount of both, just enough to make it look full. 

To assemble...are you ready...I sewed not one single stitch.  Yes, you read the correctly, not one stitch was sewn in the making of this valance.  Amazing, I know.  Hold your applause till the end please. 

Liquid Stitch: a non-sewers dream come true

This stuff was my friend.  We worked, we laughed, we bonded...no literally, I kept gluing my fingers together.  But I was able to create my entire valance using this liquid gold stitch.

More tomorrow on how to assemble this ridiculously easy and adorably cute valance but here is a sneak peak at the finished product.