the sign

Yesterday I was having one of those days. You know nothing wrong, but you just decide to ugly cry in a parking lot with your husband baffled going "what did I say?".

Bless you if you know what I'm talking about here.

So, I'm pulling it together as we drive out of the parking lot when I spot this. And burst into tears. This time the laughing kind.

And I made boy swing back around for a second look and a picture because this is a blog-worthy sign.

Now please forgive me because I do really hope these sweet people find their bird, but the bird's name and the fact that this was right by one of those wing chains did it in for me.

P.S. I wouldn't know the difference between this bird and a pigeon, but I'm going to be doing my best to be on the lookout.

$8 Ruffle Curtain Tutorial

***I recently updated this tutorial going into more detail and showing how to make it with a queen sheet set.  You can find it HERE.  Thanks!***

Here's the instructions on how I made my super cheap ruffle curtain for our guest bedroom. Now you should be advised that I am no sewing pro, so most definitely anyone with an afternoon and a sewing machine can whip this up.

1. I started with 2 Flat Twin sheets. I purchased mine at Wal-Mart for $4 a piece. Make sure they are the flat sheets and not the fitted. Wal-Mart also has some other great colors like cream and pink if you want to change it up. You could also do this with just regular fabric, but I seem to get overwhelmed with large amounts of fabric in front of me. So the sheets are a good jumping off point.


2. Unpackage and iron out each sheet. Then begin cutting following these handy little guidelines I made for you. The grey area are the pieces that you will not be using.

Panel #1

Cut off the 4 inches hem at the top of the sheet (grey area) and discard or save for another project. Then cut 7 strips at 11 inches tall and 1 strip at 10 inches tall (this last strip already has a hem to it so it doesn't need to be as tall).

Panel #2



Cut out the main body of the curtain at 96 x 35 in. and set aside. Then cut out the remaining 2 strips for the ruffles with the side of the fabric making sure the first strip is 11 x 66 and the other is 13 x 66 (this last one needs to be taller because it will be the top ruffle and secured to the back of the curtain).

3. Now you have 10 ruffle strips and 9 need to be hemmed. I just did a quick fold over hem because we're short on fabric. *Also be sure to hem the two sides from the 2 strips you cut from panel #2*

4. With your hems in place begin sewing a loose and wide stitch on the top of each strip to ruffle. Then gently tug on the back string and bunch together to ruffle the whole strip. Repeat with all 10. Take a mandatory chocolate break...you're welcome!

5. Take your main curtain panel and hem the right side. For mine I laid out a few of my ruffles on top of it to gage how much to take in. Mine finished is about 33 inches wide. Just depends on how much ruffle you want.

6. Starting at the bottom of the panel get your ruffle just the right length so it will lay across the panel allowing room for a half inch to be folded in on the left and right sides of the ruffle. Pin and sew straight across.



7. Repeat with layering the remaing ruffles. It's best to work on one ruffle at a time making sure each ruffle covers the stitches on your previous ruffle. Don't stress out about getting each straight or lined up perfectly. The ruffles are very forgiving and just add more character to it.


8. Once you sew 9 ruffles. Take the main curtain body panel and fold over the top 4 inch hem and stitch a curtain rod pocket in the back.

9. Now your last ruffle should be the 13 in. wide one you cut from panel #2. Instead of sewing across the ruffle you'll be flipping it over and sewing inside of it on the very top of the back of the curtain panel so that when it flips over you won't be seeing a seam. Sorry I hope this part makes sense. Your finished curtain should measure about 33 x 92 in. once done.



10. Then Ohhh and Awwww over you fantastic curtain!


Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have questions about a step aboyagirlandapug {at} gmail {dot} com.

Guest Room Part 2

I really loved this ruffled shower curtain I found on Anthro. and thought if only it wasn't a shower curtain and if only it wasn't the price of a round trip ticket to the beach. But that's okay...I got a little creative and whipped this up with 2 white flat sheets and the total...get this was $8. I absolutely love how it turned out.


I'll post on how I did it if you're interested in making one for yourself.

miscellaneous bin

1. I'm very thankful from my last post that y'all love your TV shows as much as me. I may have to check out Parenthood because a lot of you said you were loving it.

2. I can smell nothing else, but paint. We're still painting and I'm pretty sure we'll be painting till Christmas. No I kid...it's actually going much better & faster than I thought. I painted a few days last week and then boy helped this weekend so we're about 3/4 of the way done. I'm extremely thankful for the wonder that is Frog Tape and boy's persistence and faith in buying "as seen on TV" items. Those sham things may have been a joke, but the Point n' Paint is genius I tell you.

3. Amongst the painting this weekend I tried this fruit roll up recipe from one of my favorite blogs because hello my name is Meg, I'm 25 and I LOVE me some fruit roll ups. My oven doesn't go as low as her recipe says, but I opened the oven door every so often during the day and they turned out fine.

4. So, I posted awhile back about the Kindle and yada yada holding a book is so much better yada yada. Then my parents both received Kindles for their birthdays and seeing them in person they aren't as awkward to read off of as I thought. And now they call and tell me how much cooler and hipper they are than me (okay maybe they don't), but point is I'm getting off my soapbox and kind of rethinking it. Change might not be so bad right? Can you tell how indecisive I am around here ha?

5. There was something else I was going to tell you? I can't remember though...must be the paint fumes.

Have a great Tuesday friends!

i need a another tv show in my life like i need a another pug

It's true I cannot lie...I love tv!!! I think that's why our good ole' tivo kicked the bucket a few months ago; just got so overwhelmed. You'll be relieved to know he was quickly replaced.

So I always say after one of my bravo shows or hgtv shows ends that this is for the best...you know free up my evenings...catch up on this and that...and then go figure they put something totally awesome on and reel me in again. Darn you, you tv marketing geniuses!

So here's what's caught my tivoing fancy this spring...

1. Food Revolution- I totally love what he's doing...I'm all about healthy eating, but I must be honest...his accent and cuteness totally lured me in.

2. Army Wives- I just love this show! I haven't had a chance yet to watch the season premiere. Maybe this weekend.

3. Marriage Ref- one word...hilarious! I think my favorite was the motorcycle in the living room couple.

4. 9 by Design on Bravo- this one had me intrigued when I saw they had named one of their kids a number...oh my word 7 kiddos...but this family is really fun to watch and their houses are unbelievable.

5. Real Housewives of NY- it's my favorite city to watch from the series...total craziness I tell you.

6. Tori & Dean- how cute are their kiddos? This one has had me hooked for a few years now.

So do tell, what are you watching this spring?

note to self

Dear Self,

I'd love to know what you were thinking when you decided to repaint the interior of your house all by yourself? Was it because you suddenly detested your original taupe selection or the fact that you botched up the paint job when you went in to retouch it? And after asking the salesman at the paint store to just pick a color for you because you couldn't decide and he refused and asked with alarm if I was sure I was not going to hire someone and you replied I'm good...why didn't you doubt your insanity then?

love,
your aching-my hands can't grip anymore-stubborn self

p.s. you better walk away from this with some seriously toned arms!

spring weekend

we spent a lovely weekend out at the lake visiting my parents

laughing & enjoying the view

helping mom plant some flowers

and catching up on some reading

then finishing it off with a two hour brothers & sisters

i'd call that the perfect weekend.

hope y'all had a wonderful spring weekend too!

proof that picking by team colors really does work

I won our family NCAA bracket. Hooray! It makes me so sad that we weren't watching KU play in it tonight, but I'll admit getting to keep this trophy for a year and beat out all the guys and their fancy ESPN knowledge sort of makes up for it.

Oh and despite what some family members may say I do not pick by "the cuter mascot".

That only worked one year.

easter basket

I distinctly remember over five years ago when boy and I were discussing getting a dog my mom informed us if we did it would not be allowed in her house and she would have nothing to do with it...EVER!

I think it's safe to say that she quickly changed her mind since at every Easter she has shown up with a basket JUST for pug. He's spoiled I tell you! It's full of plastic eggs each filled with a dog treat. Isn't my mom just the sweetest? She thinks of everything!

If there was a competition to see who could open up a plastic egg the fastest without any thumbs...pug would so win!

We had such a wonderful Easter weekend I'm sad to see it end!

happy easter my peeps

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

happy april fools

The hubs loves April Fools. I have to be sure to stay on my game today and not fall for any of his pranks. So far so good, but the days not over. And I'm not going to lie I love to be his sidekick and do some fooling too. But we don't do the cruel mean kind instead just a fun laugh.

So we've been busy...

My parents- told them we bought another pug...they totally fell for it. I'm not so sure they weren't kind of disappointed it was just a joke ha!

Boy's parents- My in-laws do not have caller id so we can really go all out. They're getting ready to go on vacation so we called my sister-in-law got the dates and hotel name and boy called his dad pretending to be the hotel and informing them they had unfortunately overbooked that week. I had tears from laughing so hard because hub's was so convincing. They were very glad it was just their son.

Friend- One of our best college friends lives overseas...he called this afternoon to prank boy...but boy knows better so unfortunately it didn't work. Instead though boy turned around and told him we were hoping to get to talk to him because he wanted to tell him we were preggars (we're not by the way). He totally fell for it.

Lots of fun laughs today (mostly by us). So have you been fooled or done any fooling today?