ta~da

what do you think my new look? be honest, is it too much pug in the header? i kind of went back to a simpler look. the more blogs i visited that have a solid white background the more i longed for a change. i love when you set your mind to something and it turns out.

so good news is i didn't break the blog....bad news i have that "frown in my pocket" song {30 rock} stuck in my head.

good night.

under construction

i'm giving us a little makeover over here, you know a fancy new summer do. i'm also trying to do this and not break the blog. so bare with me friends.

miscellaneous bin

1. Boy and I decided to be spontaneous Friday afternoon and loaded some work, a laptop and a pug into the car and headed to the park to enjoy the gorgeous day. The weather was perfect! We did learn that it's rather hard to share a park bench with a squirmy pug who insists he was not made to lounge on grass. Oh what a funny site we three must have been on that bench. Needless to say not much work was accomplished.

2. I've learned in the spring of 2010 that I am an allergy sufferer. Honest to blog I haven't swallowed or breathed through my nose in days. I finally called the doctor today and got in for some allergy stuff and my other list of aliments. Bless my docs heart to put up with my webmd degree ha! I'm sure people that spend loads of money and time on med school love when their patients self diagnosis online.

3. I ordered Angie's book this week and within a day had it read. Such an amazing read. Do pick it up if you haven't read it; oh and toss in a box of kleenex... you're going to need it. I blamed that last one on the allergies.

4. My e-mail account was hacked into today and sent out some mass e-mail to my address book. Oh the joy and awkwardness. I'm praying that those in my address book still love me after today. I did make a little trip to the apple store to make sure it wasn't a bug and then on my way out fell in love the with iPad. It's even cooler than I thought.

5. And tonight my heart breaks for all my Tennessee friends out there. My prayers are with you!

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!