Raising Your Curtain Rods...Unhemming Too

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Hello everyone...

Thought I would share a little project that I have wanted to do for years and finally made it happen. We moved into this house over 19 years ago. When you're moving in, your goal is to just get your life organized and functional..."where" I hung my curtain rods was not high on my "to do" list, so they just went up.

Well, for years I thought the rods were hung too low. We had valances at first then these drapes. There never seemed to be a good time, money wise, to change all of them or even afford the fabric (I really wanted, $40.00 per yard) to make them, because they would need to be longer, the windows are wide and they needed to be lined!! Our 2 daughters are in college now and there still isn't extra money to go out and change the drapes. I desperately wanted to move the rods higher, so here's my solution.

I forgot to take a before picture of the curtain rods, but this is a picture of one room on the left not done and the finished room on the right, where the curtain rods is raised up where I wanted it.




Here is the after, where both rods are higher.

See the drapes in the room on the right...perfect length right?


Here's how I did it.

First measure the existing hem on your drapes. Mine is 4 inches...that's how I knew I could raise my curtain rod 4 inches higher.


Up go the rods 4 inches and a little paint job to patch that spot.


Now this is what I was left...drapes that are 4 inches too short.


Ahh, but not for long!


This is what normal store bought drapes look like.


The lining isn't attached at the bottom, so just lift it up and start picking the hem apart.

You can use a seam ripper ...


or the point of your scissors to snip the threads.


Open up the hem and you will see a narrow fold of about a half inch. This is your new hem. Not ideal, but it will do to hold me over until I can buy or make new drapes.


You also have to pick out the corner folds.




This will release the whole hem.


Done. New hem four inches lower.


I used Stitch Witchery to iron down the new hem and side seams. It is a fusible web to iron things together.


Just open seam and place a piece of the Stitch Witchery, fold fabric over and iron.


Done!!


Perfect length and no one will ever know I have a very tiny hem behind there. Lol


Having the rods higher might not look like much in the pictures, but it made a huge difference in person.


Don't be afraid of change in your home. If you don't like something, think of a way to make it happen...for me, not using money was a kick in the pants to get my brain working for a solution!

Now to paint that tv stand black and repair the holes in the walls!

Have a great day,
~Karen~

Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party...Week 86

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Hello to everyone...don't the weeks just fly by? We're all so busy this time of year, but I hope not too busy to sneak in a few projects. If you've been crafting, sewing, cooking, painting or just about anything...link up your blog and share it here on Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party!!!


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If you want to add the button to your blog's side bar or your list of parties that you're in each week...Click HERE for a tutorial for adding a button



WHAT IS A LINKING PARTY...
I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.
Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger who was willing to share her thoughts and ideas.

HOW AND WHAT TO LINK TO THE PARTY...
Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration
Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post. Copy and paste the address that's at the top of your computer into the linky steps.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the blue "click here to enter" button which is at the very END...below all the other picture links that everyone has shared. Click and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week~Karen~

Thrifty Thursday...Free Autumn Arrangement

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Hi everyone...just changing things up a bit on Thursdays. I usually have my Thoughts on Thursday, but I'm switching it to Thrifty Thursday.

I know with today's economic times, saving money any where we can is important. I thought I would try to do a weekly post with tips and projects for free or on a budget, using things we already have.

Here's my first tip...free autumn arrangement.



These are just cheap old plastic urns I had in the garage that I spray painted black a long time ago.


Go out in your yard or the woods and trim some branches. There were little leaves and buds still on the branches, so it really added to the look.

Just be careful if you have small children or animals in the house if your branches have berries on them. Maybe just use plain branches if you do.


I placed the branches in the urns...no styrofoam or anything. Cut several little twiggy branches instead of cutting one big one. Adds more depth to the arrangement.



I brought the large urns inside, because I needed something big to fill in the spaces in front of the walls on each side of the window.

I just moved some furniture around in here and didn't have any artwork or pictures for the walls. The branches fill in that space perfectly and they were FREE!!!


Bring something in from outside and see if it works in your home too.

This is great for autumn, but adding little white lights to these branches will work great for Christmas  time too!!

Happy Thrifting,
~Karen~

Truncating My Blog...I Hope You'll Stay With Me

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Hi to all my faithful readers...and I pray you will stay my faithful readers after I make a little change to my blog. I swore up and down I would NEVER truncate (or shorten) my blog posts, but something has come to my attention.

A very kind reader, Laura from the blog Now Things Are Cookin', sent me an email telling me she had found 2 sites that had stolen my posts...FULL POSTS, right down to where I even sign the bottom. They've stolen everything...they are blog scrapers.

What are Blog Scrapers? Well, in short, it is an automated computer software that trolls blogs and STEALS your blog content, then a real person puts the entire post on their FAKE blog. This fake blog has advertising on it to make money...from your work.

I love blogging. I love creating, sewing, organizing, cooking, crafting etc. I also LOVE sharing it with all of you. If you are a blogger, you know the time it takes to make all your creations, take and edit the pictures, write the posts etc. I am definitely NOT complaining about that part of it at all. As a matter of fact, the creation of each post is my favorite thing. Blogging has actually become more of my hobby than anything else.

I just love the friends I have made through blogging, the connections and the experience itself is priceless.

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Here is a wonderful blog post by "Between Naps on The Porch" on blog scraping...click HERE to read her post.

Click HERE for another description I found on Wikipedia about Blog Scraping. I have quoted one section below that scared me to death...


"Additionally, scraped content can appear on literally any type of splog or RSS-fed spam site. This means an unsuspecting individual could find their creative or copyrighted material copied onto a site promoting pornography or similar type of content that may be offensive to the original author and his/her audience. This may be damaging to the original author's reputation."
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I could easily share the links to the sites created by these horrible people who have stolen my content and many others, but I don't want them to have the satisfaction of anyone clicking on their site and then they'll make more money. Instead, I have screen printed the site so you can see what they have done.

Here are some screen shots of their site...I have added the Red Bold Type to the pictures



They copied the entire Find a Friend Friday post.


I am so MAD at this other so called blog. Not only did they steal the Find a Friend Friday post, they also have the nerve to steal more of my posts for their side bar. Look at all the arrows I added pointing to my other posts.  Thoughts on Thursday, Tool Time Tuesday, a recipe of mine, Sew Darn Crafty, Sew Sew Saturday...I could just cry!

Look at the title of their blog...X YE Z BLOG. Really?



What it comes down to is...I can't change the bad people out there. I know that the good people in the world far outweigh the bad, but boy do the bad people make it difficult. They, however, will NOT scare me away.

What I CAN do is make it a little more difficult for them to steal my content. When a post is truncated the real "human" reader sees a portion of the post and then has to "click" over to read the rest. Computer Scrapers can't "click" over to the whole post as they are trolling the internet, so that makes it a little harder for them to steal the "entire" post and my work.

My hope is that the extra click is not going to be too much of a pain for you. I don't want to lose even one of my followers because of these evil thieves.

Thank you for letting me vent on this. By the way,  I will not be truncating this particular post...I dare them to steal this one!!

Your forever blogging friend,
~Karen~

How To Truncate Your Blog...and a Big Thank You

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First off, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your comments and kind words about my stolen posts. Your thoughtfulness means the world to me. If you missed my post earlier this morning, you can click here to read it. I know the world is 99% good...it's the other 1% that needs a kick in the rump. Lol

Several of you have asked how to truncate a post, so what better time than now, since it's all fresh in our minds. I know how to truncate and will show you below, but I am experimenting with this post to see what actually shows up on a feed or blog reader in reference to the pictures I add and where I chose to truncate it. This is my first time doing this, so we'll see what it looks like !!

I am randomly adding my blog button as a picture before the truncate, just to see what it looks like.





Now here's how to truncate your blog...

Write your post as you would have before, but with truncating (or shortening) you will start with an opening paragraph then your post will "break" into 2 parts and the human reader will have to "click" over to the second half.

This motion of clicking to the second part is what the trolling automated computer program can't do. It's similar to the word verification that some blogs have for commenting. Spamming computers can't "read" that word verification and type it in, therefore that can't leave you a message or comment spamming your blog.

Once you have written the opening paragraph for your post..

• put the cursor where you want the post to "Break" or "Truncate"
• go to the top tool bar and click on the icon that looks like a ripped piece of paper
• click on that and it will truncate right where your cursor was.
• after you have clicked on that break button, a gray dotted line will appear
• begin typing the rest of your post below that gray line and that's the section that the "Human" readers will see when the click the link below the post.
• when you preview you post you will not see the truncated version. 

Here are 2 screen shots to show you...

After you click the "jump break" icon, the gray dotted lines will show. Type the rest of the post below that.




I hope this helps some of you who are contemplating changing your blog post to a truncated version. This is my first time publishing one, so I hope it works!!

I also wanted to show you how to change the words for "read more here", but Blogger is having issues with saving any changes to your layout, so I'll show you another time.

By the way...you have my permission to link to this post and the other post to spread the word about this!!

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness and your kind comments,
~Karen~

Oven Roasted Broccoli

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Oven Roasted Broccoli - ButterYum

I love to roast vegetables and this broccoli is a family favorite.  The teens absolutely devour it - I can even get away with putting a platter full on the table for them to nibble on while doing their homework.  How's that for a healthy after school snack?  Frozen broccoli won't work here so be sure to get fresh.  I can buy 3-pound bags of fresh pre-cut florets at Costco for $5; enough to fill 4 sheet pans. 


Cut the florets in half and place them cut side down on a sheet pan that has been spritzed with olive oil (I roast veggies so often that I have a dedicated roasting pan).  Spritz the top of the florets with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  Pop the pan into a preheated 425F oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the broccoli starts to caramelize.

Mmmmmm.  Look at all that toasty goodness.

 Pile them up on a platter and watch them disappear.  
Oven Roasted Broccoli
serves 4-6
Printable Recipe

1 head fresh broccoli florets, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
olive or canola oil spray
optional - grated Parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 425F and place a rack in the center position.  Spray surface of sheet pan with olive or canola oil spray.  Arrange broccoli halves evenly on sheet pan, cut side down.  Spritz the broccoli with a little more oil.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper evenly over the broccoli.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges start to brown and caramelize.  If desired, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and/or crushed red pepper flakes.  Enjoy hot or cold.

Miette's Homemade Graham Crackers

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Miette's Homemade Graham Crackers - ButterYum

How do homemade graham crackers sound?  Irresistible if you ask me.  That's why I ran straight to the kitchen to make them when I came across the recipe in the Miette Cookbook.  I had a lot of fun making them.  Flavorwise they're scrumptious, although the original recipe called for honey which I found to be a bit over powering so I substituted my favorite ingredient, Golden Syrup, which adds a beautiful caramel flavor.  The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and the baked cookies can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container..


Roll cookie dough between 2 sheets of wax paper.  I find a ball-bearing rolling pin does the job best.  To ensure all the cookies turn out the same thickness and bake in the same amount of time, use 1/8-inch wooden dowels as a guide when rolling the dough.


 Cut your cookies with your favorite cookie cutters.  I love my set of scalloped cutters and my Williams-Sonoma Message Cookie Cutters.


 The message cutters are so fun to play with.


Transfer wax paper to a sheet pan and chill until dough is very firm.


 When dough is firmly chilled, slide an offset spatula between the cookie dough and wax paper.


 Transfer cookies to a parchment or silicone lined sheet pan.

OR

After making several batches, I discovered I could speed the process along a bit faster if I chilled the cutouts in the freezer for about 5 minutes.


Partially freezing the dough firms it enough to peel the wax paper away easily.


And the partially frozen cutouts are easier to transfer to a prepared sheet pan for baking.


Keep cutouts chilled until it's time to bake them.  Before they go in the oven, sprinkle them with granulated sugar.


 If cutting round shapes, use a skewer or toothpick to poke a few decorative holes - this will help the cookies bake evenly.  This step isn't necessary if you use the message cutters.


Eat 'em plain.


Or turn them into ice cream sammies.  Fun-fun!!

Homemade Graham Crackers
makes two dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies 
adapted from the cookbook Miette: Recipes from San Fransisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop
Printable Recipe

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (6 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (4 ounces)
2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup (or honey)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (1 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
granulated sugar for sprinkling

To make the dough:
Sift dry ingredients together; set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup together for 5 minutes.  Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days.

To cut cookies:
Using a rolling pin, roll dough between layers of wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness.  Use 1/8-inch wooden dowels as a guide.  Cut shapes from rolled dough and chill well before transferring to a sheet pan.  I used these scalloped round cutters and these Williams-Sonoma Message Cookie Cutters. 

To bake cookies:
Preheat oven to 350F.  Place chilled cookie cutouts on a cool parchment or silpat lined sheet pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 10-13 minutes.  Cool completely.  Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

My Notes - Measuring ingredients like flour and sugar by weight is much more accurate than measuring them by volume so weigh ingredients with a digital scale.for the best results.

This recipe is being shared over at Yvonne's blog StoneGable.