Painting Vertical Window Blinds......

I got the fabric Vertical Blinds painted and new valances sewed! I did all three sets that we have in our big living room. A smaller window, a bigger window, and then the set that covers the deck doors.

This picture shows the original valance and the original faded country blue vertical on the left, and the brown that I painted on the right. Keep this color of brown in mind when you get to the last few pictures...the color looks very washed out in some, but not in this one.

A closer look....and the brown looks beautiful in this one. I am in love with chocolaty brown colors!

I used regular wall paint. I started with the left over Dark Toast from the laundry room walls. Needed more so bought a second gallon. Now, if you do this and your vertical blinds have the weighted chain things at the bottom that keep the vanes connected, you can just just snip the vane off straight right above where the chain and weight runs through the bottom. These blinds are old and two of them I had already snipped the bottom off a long time ago because they were broken. The blinds work fine without them. I removed each vane (Be careful! I broke two of the little hookymebobbers that hold them and had to make shift wire the vanes back up after a failed super glue. No biggie, but try not to break them!) and laid on newspaper taped to the table to paint. I only painted one side. I hung them back up wet and got the next one down to paint. The fabric soaks up the paint, so no dripping. Also, since it soaks up the paint, work quickly and keep your brush moving. If you were going to have these on a window that you care about what it looks like from the outside, you may want to paint both sides, but let one side dry before you do the other.

Here is the bigger window before....

And after.....cept' the blind color is darker than that, these pictures make them look much lighter than they are.

I bought fabric and sewed a flat valance for each window. I doubled the fabric over to make them more opaque. The seam is about 1/3 way down in the back...I ironed them to have a good solid crease on the bottom.

The fabric up close....it is Jacquard, I love it. Chocolaty beauty!

This was a very fast project. I got it done in one day. And I would definitely do it again! It turned out much better that I ever expected it to and it dramatically changed the look and feel of the living room. And I saved a ton of money! I spent $50 on fabric and paint. The fabric I used was $8.44 per yard and I used 3.5 yards. If you have priced new verticals, you'd know they are not cheap! Now...if it would EVER warm up, we could stop using the wood stove in this room so I can get my new carpet in there!! We are also going to do ceramic tiling in front of the deck door (currently wall to wall ugly country blue carpet that is faded and stained) and also ceramic tiling under the wood stove - right now it sits on an ugly black piece of metal that is on top of the carpet! Ugh! :)

Garden Seed Starting & Planting Schedule & Some Seed Starting Tips....

I have had several requests to share my garden schedule....so here is a condensed version! Keep in mind...I am in MO where we have nutty weather and I am zone 5.

End of December/Early January: Start Onion seeds indoors.

Late January through February: Start a few Romaine and Butterhead lettuces and Spinach every 2 - 3 weeks. I am starting a few at a time for succession. I recently ordered Swiss Chard seeds, so I will be starting those too when they get here.

Week of March 19th - Start Tomatoes, Peppers, Ground Cherry, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Radicchio, Herbs, Stevia, and Flowers indoors.

Between March 26 - mid April: As soon as the ground can be worked in this period, I will harden off and plant outside the Onions, Lettuces, and plant Potatoes, Carrot seeds (which will also be succession planted every 2 weeks or so thereafter), and more successions outdoors of Romaine & Butterhead lettuce seeds and leaf lettuce seeds.

Week of April 16th: Start Pumpkin, Squash, Melons, and Cucumbers indoors.

After May 15th: If the weather is looking good, I'll have everything started the weeks of March 19th and April 16th hardened off and ready to plant around May 15th, or more toward the end of May if things aren't looking so good. I'll also direct seed Green Beans, Dill, and Cilantro. It is definitely worth it to wait until things are warm enough, or to take measures to protect from the cold.

Right now we just got about 8 inches of snow. February has been cooler than average. It makes me wonder about Spring! I keep thinking of the March saying...In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lamb. I hope that is true! At this point, I just hope the temps are average and that things dry out so we can get the garden ready by the end of March.

Seed Starting Tips:

Here are a few of the things I do to start seeds.

• I use a sterile seed staring mix. I mix it in a bowl with water until well moistened. Then I put it in whatever container I am starting in, add seeds, cover with soil to desired depth, and cover with a dome or plastic wrap. As soon as they sprout, the cover comes off and it goes under grow lights. Sterile seed starter has no nutrients so transplanting into a larger container with soil when the seedling starts to get true leaves is a must.

• I use both store bought flats and food containers to start seeds. Seeds can be started in just about anything!

• Some things are picky about having their roots messed with and don't care to be transplanted. For them I have had great success by filling a 4 inch pot 3/4 of the way with regular soil and the rest of the way with sterile mix and starting as stated above. This way they get the benefit of the sterile mix while germinating and then they grow down into the regular soil and get the nutrients. I never start anything in straight potting soil though. Too risky. I have also used this method this time of year when I have extra space under the lights.

• I have tried both grow lights and starting in a window. A southern facing window is great, but I only have one, so I have two separate grow light set-ups. One is a book shelf with a 24 inch grow light mounted to the underside of each shelf, for a total of 3 lights on it. The other is a wooden frame Hubby built and holds a long fluorescent shop light, suspended by chains so it can be moved higher or lower depending on plant height. I keep it close to the plants without touching. I keep my lights on the seedlings about 16 hours per day.

• I don't use heat mats. We use wood stoves so it is plenty warm in the rooms with a wood stove to get things to germinate. I do move the cooler things, like onions and lettuce, to a room with out a heat source one sprouted. I will keep the warmer things, like Tomatoes, in the heated room.

• I do have a whole different set up to start Stevia! It gets special attention because it is a picky one to start from seed! :) The way I started it last year worked beautifully and I am going to do it again.

• Hardening off is a must! At least a week, 10 days is better, gradually expose seedlings to the outdoors. You can also start this indoors by letting a fan blow on the seedlings some; it will help to toughen them up.

• I am starting several things indoors that could be started outdoors. Like Melons, Squash, Cukes, Pumpkin. I am doing this for several reasons. It gives them a nice head start. When I direct seed, the weeds also start to germinate about the time the seeds do and this makes it easier to differentiate. It also gives the plants a good head start on the weeds and makes it easier to hoe around and weed.

Well, that is it for now! Keep in mind, I am not a gardening expert! :) I learn as I go, I read all I can get my hands on, I ask A LOT of questions, I try and try again, I modify when something doesn't work, and I have fun doing it! :) With that in mind...if you have any questions...please ask away! If you'd like me to start rambling about growing each specific thing, let me know! :)

What are you up to in, or in preparation for, your gardens? Are you more than ready for Spring to get here already, as I am? I called Mother Nature a bad name under my breath this morning when I woke up and saw all this darn SNOW! ;) LOL

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing....

I got the patio swing cushions and canopy DONE! And I am very pleased with how it all turned out. :) You will have to wait for pictures...I will take some when it warms up a bit and I put them back outside on the swing. Right now they are living behind my couch!

Today I was thinking about organizing my plastic Wal-Mart bags and, since we stopped using paper towels, organizing my "rags" who were living in a plastic Wal-Mart bag in the pantry! So I found this site and made three bags...one for the Wal-Mart bags, one for rags that are to be used and kept, and one for rags that can be used and thrown away. I already had the fabric and ribbon, so it was a quick easy project. She has a lot of neat projects on her site...go check it out and get your sew on! :)

http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/01/grocery-bag-holder.html

My awesome Hubbs is in town right now getting a board and some hooks to hang them on the pantry wall, as well as some other things. Currently there are nails in there to hang things on and things are always falling off the nails or the nails themselves fall out of the wall. It will be nice to have stuff stay put.

I started onion seeds a few weeks back. They are doing ok, but for some reason I don't much care to start them from seed. Go figure because I love starting everything else from seed! I think this year I am going to do an onion experiment...plant some onions from seed, some from local sets, and some from local plants to see what does the best. Maybe I can get out of starting them. I'll have to post again about what is going in the garden this year. I have everything picked out, all seeds in hand, and a schedule made to know when to start them and when to plant them. However, tonight we are supposed to get a couple of inches of SNOW. Bah humbug. Come on Spring...I miss you!

Ok, I am off to cook some supper. :) have you been up to?