Black-Out Curtains & Pelmet Box

In my 4th of July post I mentioned making black-out curtains for London’s room. After having these babies up for a few weeks, Cameron and I are wishing I had made them sooner. And blackout curtains will be my first project for London’s new room, which I just ordered the fabric for. I am quite excited about.

Here’s why we set to making these curtains. London’s room gets the morning sun directly. In the summer months, this means she gets up early, even on weekends, because it is so light in her room and also because it can get pretty warm in there quickly. But the evening light was also disturbing her sleep. We found we had to move her bedtime back farther and farther, but soon she wasn’t getting enough sleep except during her weekend afternoon naps – which is when her room was at its darkest until the sun was actually down. This meant for a cranky girl each morning and evening during the week and all day on weekends sometimes.

Our solution? Make some blackout curtains for her window and a draft catcher for outside her bedroom door. I’d also seen a tutorial online on how to make Pelmet boxes from foam core board, and wanted to attempt it to add a little décor element to the room, to tie in the curtains more and after some thought as to the design, these would also work to combat light coming out the top of the blinds, bouncing off the ceiling and lighting the room any way. You can find that tutorial here.
 
After briefly looking at the tutorial, I came up with this design for the pelmet box:

I ended up using duct tape to secure the pieces together, which was only the main and the two sides as I accidently bought foam core science project presentation boards with built-in side panels rather than the single, flat foam core boards. While these boards are more expensive, in a way it worked out for the best and it only took one project board to make the pelmet box versus several pieces of single foam core boards and I had less seams to secure.

Wherever there was a 90-degree angle I used a piece of a ½” square wood dowel (usually not longer than 2 inches) to secure the 90-degree angle. I used my good ol’ hot glue gun to secure the wood dowels to the board.

I also used it to secure batting to the outside of the box. When it came to covering and securing fabric to the box, Isimply used a stapler.

Here are the few things I would have done differently (And will be doing next time):

• Extend the pelmet box 6 inches wider than the actual window to make room for the curtains to part (I only did 4 inches this time)
• Make the box deeper than 4 inches, again aiming for 6.
• Have the fabric wrap around all the way to the back of the front panel so you don’t see foam core when looking up from directly below the window
• Add a decorative trim to the top and bottom to add a finishing touch

All in all, it was a pretty easy project to make once I had all the materials and a clear kitchen island to lay it all out on. The island has become my new craft station – I can get crafts done while still keeping an eye on London so Cameron can work on other things.

The curtains were quite easy. I picked out a different fabric for the back, front and the trim. The trim fabric was also used on the pelmet box. First, I sandwiched a piece of canvas leftover from our wedding in between the front and back. Then I used the edge fabric to line the inside edge of each curtain and the bottom edge. I also used the edge fabric and the backside fabric to make some tiebacks for the curtains for when I want them open as I only folded the top down 3 inches to create a hole for the curtain rod to go through and didn’t secure any pull rod to make opening the curtains easy. They are pretty heavy so they don’t move along the curtain rod all that easily. I’ll probably add some kind of pull rod once I come up with one.

Sorry for the lack of how-to pictures – when I get head down in a project, I don’t think about things like that. I'll try to take some when I do the curtains and pelmet box for London’s new room.

But, ever since we got these curtains up, London has been going to bed at a decent time and getting good rest. She’s even sleeping in on the weekends. One Sunday recently we made it to 9 AM! She’s even asked to go “nite nite” a few times versus us asking/making her go down. And, her room is cooler in the mornings.

These curtains have had enough of an impact that once we complete everything for London’s new room, I’ll be looking at making some for the window that sits above the landing of our stairs. It lets in the sun from the west and can really heat the house up during the long summer days.

Oh yeah, I mentioned the draft catcher as well. It works great to block the evening sun from streaming in under London's door. I made it a little too long so I will be re-doing it when I make another to cover both girls' doors, but here it is for now:

When we get done with blackout curtains and draft catchers, I might actually be running low on the canvas left over from our wedding - and I still want to make some grocery totes for ourselves!

~ Sarah

Office Remodel Update

Before the Insulation

While the office is still not complete, it’s almost there. My last update mentioned that Cameron had completed the foam insulation to help with noise. By the end of Father’s Day weekend he had finished putting up all the dry wall (minus the taping and spackling) and the Monday after Father’s Day we had the carpet installed! It was so nice to have the old, smelly carpet removed. Unfortunately, Melody had left her mark on it and while we cleaned each spot and steam vac’d the whole room several times, the damage had been done. And my super sensitive pregnant nose hated it by this time.

After Insulation. This took several cans and hours.

Plus, when we had the carpet installed, we also had a patch of carpet repaired in the family room. Jake had thrown up right where the carpet and the tile meet between the family room and kitchen and I didn’t get to it in time before Tulley discovered it and ate it, and the carpet with it, exposing those pain-inducing tack-strip nails. This happened when Tulley was a puppy and London wasn’t even born. We had a small area rug placed over the spot to try and save some pain, but I think Cameron, London and myself all found ways to find a nail with one of our feet here and there. The darn rug just wouldn’t stay put – London moving it or rolling it up didn’t help. And while we used a patch from the office carpet to try and match the sun bleaching that has occurred in 3 short years, it is still somewhat visible. But it does not bother me like the moving rug did. And Jake is doing his best to add some wear and tear to it by sleeping specifically on the patch! It’s right in the main walkway from the family room to the kitchen so it will blend soon enough. And we steam vac’d the family room recently which helped a lot.

Drywall!

Ok, back to the Office remodel. After the carpet was put in, I slowly got to work covering the nice new carpet with plastic paint drop cloths, taping them down, to protect it so Cameron could get the taping and spackling completed, which he has done. He’s even completed rounding the one corner in the room that required it. Of course, this is only for the inside of the office. The outside still has a ways to go.

Goodbye nasty carpet!

Goodbye Puppy Damage!

We also finally found a color to paint the rest of our house as we want the office to be the same color. Once Cameron gets the texture done inside we’ll go purchase some paint. My goal is to have the room complete by the end of the month, preferably with Cameron’s old office moved in. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is going to happen, given there is only one weekendsleft in the month that has us scheduled to be in Reno on Saturday and we are just too tired during the week. I wish I could help Cameron more but those darn fumes I would be exposed to. Only time will tell. I’m just antsy to get things done for London in the new room so we can move her, get her settled in there and then focus on getting things ready for Sydney. It’s not as much as I needed to get done for London, but there are still things to do and with my energy levels dipping lower and lower its going to take some time.

Hello patch

And new carpet! It smells sooo  much better

And who knows when the outside of the office will be done – probably not until Sydney is here and I have some energy.

All taped and spackled - on to sanding!

Cameron went through a giant bucket of puddy

And he only got halfway done with the spackling on the outside

~ Sarah

Weekend Update: A Summer Storm

Not much to report from this week. Cameron continued to slowly move forward on completing the inside of the new office, though I am not sure he is going to meet my end of July deadline. And who knows when the outside will be complete. Stay tuned for a fill office remodel update as I know it has been a long time coming.

Other than that, I worked on picking up the house, which is quite normal these days as I don’t have any energy throughout the week to do so, along with Laundry. I did tackle one craft project and started another. I finally managed to get things together and pull together a Disneyland Memory Box commemorating London’s first trip and set of ears. What do you think?

I also started another memory frame commemorating our trip to Cancun last year, which I finished last night. Now I feel like I can focus on Sydney’s stocking and London's new room.

That’s about it. We did run a few errands on Saturday & Sunday, partially thanks to London’s nighttime shenanigans mentioned in my Toddler Tuesday post this week as well as looking for a mantel clock to put under our TV in the family room. And we did find one, online, after we went to two stores. Once it arrives, I’ll take a picture and explain why it was needed.

Sunday night (more like the wee hours of Monday morning) we did have some excitement. Some monsoonal moisture blew in, starting around midnight which had us waking up to Thunder and Lightning. Given we have a dry, primed for combustion, field behind our house, Cameron and I didn’t sleep well, anticipating the need to jump out of bed and evacuate at any moment should the lightning spark a fire. We even slept with the blinds open because of the storm which just added to keeping us up as we could see the lightning through our closed eyelids.  

Luckily, no fire was sparked. Enough moisture came with this unforeseen storm (not one local weatherman saw it coming!) to keep the strikes from sparking too much. I heard of one fire that it sparked Monday morning on my way to work, which didn’t become anything and it was plenty far away from us.

Cameron and I weren’t the only ones kept up by the storm. Tulley was on look out at the end of the bed, staring out the window. And while I never heard London, she was pretty cranky and sleepy Monday morning as well. Next time I’ll get the baby monitor and turn it on to see how affected she is by a storm – it’s not like I get much sleep any way.

The storm also brought some strong winds, albeit brief, which resulted in London’s outdoor toys being scattered across the backyard. Luckily, when I did inventory Monday morning, all were there. And because of the storm, I went to bed with London Monday night at 7:30 PM! Tulley was right beside me. Unfortunately, Cameron has been swamped with work this week and going through one of his insomnia phases, so he just got a 45 minute nap before he went back to work. He didn’t make it back until midnight that night. Hopefully he catches up on some sleep soon, though I’m not sure when that will be.

Hope you all have a wonderful & restful rest of the week and weekend ahead of yourselves.

~ Sarah

Baby Bump Wednesdays: 26 Weeks

How far along: 26 weeks

What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: English Hothouse Cucumber/Lettuce
Average Size: 13.6 to 14.8 inches, 1.5 to 2.5 lbs
What’s going on with Baby’s development: Sydney’s ears’ nerve network is better developed so not only can she hear me, but she can probably hear her daddy and sister. Sydney also has eyelashes and her eyes are forming and will soon start to open.
Total weight gain: 20 lbs.
Stretch marks: Trying to be diligent with the oil to avoid any more than the ones I got from London, but when its bed time, all I want to do is fall into bed. Also, switched from Bio Oil to Palmer’s Skin Therapy oil, only because that was what the store had when I actually remembered I needed more. Darn pregnancy brain. I have to say it is working from what I can tell, though I like the smell of the bio oil much better.
Sleep: Considering I slept from 7:30 PM to 6 AM Monday to Tuesday, only waking up to Cameron coming to bed at midnight, that’s not bad. Still have pain in my hips here and there but it’s not consistent, yet.
Best moment of this last week: Completing London’s Disneyland “First Ears” frame
Miss anything: Wine, Corona, running, spicy tuna rolls, being able to put shoes on without hurting my belly
Movement: Healthy. She still prefers to move so I have pressure on one side more than kicking like London did. And she still leaves me alone when I am falling asleep.
Food cravings: Sautéed Mushrooms
Gender: Girl!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: out
Wedding rings on or off: Off
Happy or moody most of the time: Happy and anxious
Looking forward to in the next week: Starting Sydney’s stocking!


It seems this pregnancy is flying by. I have my next doctor’s appointment next week on our anniversary, at which time I start going every two weeks until week 36. I also have my blood glucose screening test next week, which means I get to spend two hours of my life at Quest, drink some yucky sugary drink and get pricked 3 times! With London I only had to do the 1 hour test but apparently the 2 hour is more conclusive which prevents more of the 3 hour tests.


We are also under 100 days until Sydney arrives. The office is still not finished so I can’t begin to start on London’s and after we get London in her new room I’ll need to focus on getting things ready for Sydney. I know there are still two full months to go, but I also know my energy levels are going to begin dropping again. The good news is my mom and possibly my dad for a few days will be out in September to help me with London while Cameron is in Canada for a hunting trip. I’ve already warned her that she may be tasked with a few loads of laundry to get ready for Sydney.

My goal had been to have Cameron out of London’s room by the end of July. Not sure that is going to happen as we only have week left in the month, he’s swamped with work and has a trip to Reno planned this weekend, and has sanding, texturing, painting and floor boards, and possibly crown molding still to do. I’d love to have London in her new room at the start of September so she can be well adjusted to her new room before Sydney arrives. Time will tell.


~ Sarah

Toddler Tuesdays: The Power of Onsies

Last week we had a few rough mornings, the kind that have you running late and actually had me getting up earlier than normal to counteract the shenanigans London was up to that was the cause of these late mornings. No small feat for me these days, given sleep is pretty difficult and as interrupted as it is.


London’s shenanigans? The little stinker has been taking her pants and night-time diaper off sometime in the night and waking up in puddles, tacking on an extra 10 minutes to our already tight morning routine.
 In the last month we probably had 1 of these days every week or two. But last week we jumped to 3! By Friday, we were trying to come up with ways to combat this behavior. A friend suggested duct tape as this worked for a friend of hers, but Cameron and I worried about what could happen, coming up with what are probably crazy, irrational consequences and decided against it.

In a brief call with my dad, he jokingly suggested a jumpsuit. But that was enough to get the wheels turning. Cameron and I both thought of footed pajamas.


The biggest problem we could find with footed pajamas was that most are made from Fleece. And London is like us, she doesn’t like to be hot. At Daycare they keep mentioning that she takes her shoes off. What can I say? At home we are barefoot and out and about we prefer flip flops and sandals to closed-toed shoes. Even my work shoes tend to be peep-toed - and are only on when I am walking around. The Daycare doesn’t allow open-toed sandals, we have learned, so London only has sneakers to wear at school and I know this is part if the reason she gets hot and thus takes her shoes and socks off. Maybe next year I will look at some crocks for her, but for now she is stuck with sneakers.


The other problem we could see with footed PJs? The thin, cotton footed PJs could still be a bit warm for our little girl. It has been averaging around 105 degrees this last week and the evenings aren’t much cooler. London’s room gets the morning sun directly, and while her new blackout curtains have cut down on how warm it gets, the vent in her room has never worked great so it’s hard to cool that room off with the AC.


Our only viable solution, or so we thought? Find some cheap, footed PJs made of thin cotton, and cut the feet off and shorten the sleeves to be short. That way, it would be like she is wearing her short sleeved PJ tops and PJ bottoms. And we would be good until she either learned to use zippers successfully or until we could switch to the fleece PJs for winter.


Saturday, we headed out in search of such footed PJs. Instead, we found 24-month-sized onsies. Believe it or not, while London normally wears between 2T and 3T, she can still fit in these onsies, quite comfortably, since there are no legs. And with the buttons the way they are, London can’t get out of them! Plus we got 5 for $14! Plenty to get us through to the coming cooler months. We’ll even be able to use the pants from her old PJs this fall over the onsies. The pants can provide the warmth she may need but the onsies will protect her from getting her diaper off.


And, with three nights under our belts since implementing the onsies, London hasn’t woken up in a puddle and I haven’t had extra laundry on my hands. Last week, I did 3 loads for her alone – usually I just have one load on the weekend!

One other thing we have done to help was eliminate London's glass of milk before bed. We implemented this last Thursday so Thursday and Friday were rough getting London to go down but now she is content without it as long as she gets to rock with her daddy before bed.


~ Sarah