Trim, Doors, Curtains, and Crafts

Dad W. and Grandpa W. have been faithfully helping us paint our trim and doors.  This is really exciting, because the trim makes the house seem a lot cozier, and I love it that you can't just see into my closet or that the gross stairway can't be seen from the kitchen anymore.  Dad has taken off several days of work just to help us out, and we are so thankful!  We couldn't have done all of this without the faithful duo.

You can't see very well, but Grandpa brought his own rags...old underwear.  Waste not, want not!

We didn't have a very convenient spot to put the trim once it was painted.  A good reason to go out to dinner!

Break has been really fun so far and has given me time to do things that I don't normally get to do, such as sew and do crafts.  For Justin's side of the family, I made flower clips for the little girls and fabric roads for the little boys.  Mom and my sisters-in-law got scrapbooks to put their Christmas candy and cookie recipes in.  I had such a great time making these things.  Mom W., Abi, and I got together to make the flowers, so Abi should get the credit for teaching me that skill.  I passed it on when we went to Indiana and Mom S., Sadie, Jessie, and I had a fun time making a bunch more.  I love making things when I have the time!

Don't I have some cute nieces and nephews? (Some of them aren't pictured)

I bought fabric for my curtains several months ago when I picked out paint colors.  I felt really blessed to find fabric that matched all of the paint colors that I had picked out and that was on clearance, with 50% off clearance even.  I got an amazing deal on the fabric and bought 11 yards of it for little more than I would have paid for the normal home decorating fabric.  Such a God thing!  I am now attempting to make my own curtains.  I can't say that I am an extremely talented sewer, but I can at least sew a straight line...pretty straight...and can look at tutorials online and pretty much figure out how to do things.  This is the first one that I have completed for the kitchen.  It is a mix of two patterns that I found via pinterest.  What a wonderful site!!  I don't have curtain rods yet, so it duct taped to a PVC pipe to give it the proper bunchiness and I am holding it up to one of the windows in the kitchen.  It is pretty much what I had in mind, although the fabric is a lot thicker than the kind in the tutorials, so it doesn't bunch quite as nicely.  I may end up using rings instead of putting the rod through the top seam, but I'm not sure that would help the bunch issue.  All in all, not bad for my first attempt.  I don't know when I'll actually finish them...seeing as I have 6 more to do just with that fabric and not including the two windows in the utility room, the three in our bedroom, or the windows upstairs.  I've got a long road ahead of me. :)  It will look great when it's done though!  I love being on break!