Have you ever lived with something in your house for years and YEARS, not in love with it, but liking it OK, just fine with it?
And then you change one little thing in the room and it sets you off on this roll that is very unbeneficial to the pocket book?
That’s me.
I’ve been transforming our loft into the toy room and am trying to walk the very fine line between a cozy space for the adults and a total kid space.
I had drapes in the room that I bought for our previous place that were a faux silk (I think the fancy name is polyester) and were very shiny. 
Like I said, for years, I thought they were just OK. Especially when it was just an extra room we only used once and a while. But then when I started making changes, they were too heavy and all wrong for the lighthearted space I was trying to create.
So I went looking and found exactly what I was looking for — muslin! It’s basically just a cotton, gauzy-type fabric. And whoooeee, it is CHEAP! I didn’t even hem it — I love the frayed edges:
I found fabric for the toppers long ago — they are my favorite part:
I found fabric for the toppers long ago — they are my favorite part: 
This is SO EASY. I promise you can make these by yourself in less than 20 minutes. Just find a fabric you love, and get about a yard an a half of it (18 inches or so) for each treatment. (You can do whatever size you want, but I like to stick with this measurement.)
Use your hemming tape to hem up all the edges:
Then just hang it from the clips, like I showed you here, on top of the main drapery fabric:
Then, to make sure they stay put and look like they are sewn together, just use a pin on each side:
You won’t even remember they are there, let alone anyone else noticing them!
The great thing about this project is you can use just about anything for the main part of the drape — sheets, old window treatments — any fabric. Then you can splurge on a loverly fabric for the topper (on sale, with a coupon of course). The muslin was only $15 for five yards. And it was 108 inches wide, so I really didn’t need that much. I could have easily gotten away with three yards (these are really long drapes) and spent less than $10 for both:
I usually add lining to my drapes, but I love the way these let the light in the room:
I’m almost done with little tweaks in the toy room, and will show you soon. (I know I keep saying that!)
P.S. Remember the phone I taped together, in a sad, sad effort to avoid spending money on a new one (so I could spend it on other things)?? Well, this is it tonight:
My sweet, loving, two-year-old threw it. Outside. On the concrete. See those two wires sticking out? Those were the only things holding it together. And when I made him pick it up and bring it to me, he decided to pull the two parts apart. SNAP!!
New phone. Tomorrow. Dang.
Comment love, a winner and announcements.
WOWZA peeps — that was a HUGE response to the Scribble It giveaway. That was FUN!
The winner (I feel like I need a drumroll for this one!) is…
I have a humongo favor to ask of you all! My son’s nursery was featured on Design Dazzle awhile back and has been chosen as a Design Dazzler and one of the top ten posts on Toni’s blog. If you haven’t seen it before, here is my favorite room in our house:
Oh I love it so. 
If you have a few seconds, I would really appreciate your comment here at Design Dazzle. The comments are open through this Friday at 1 p.m. Pacific time and the post with the most comments wins some awesome stuff. 
(No signing up necessary, you can just comment like you do here.)
If you do comment — YOU will be entered to win a total of $500 in prizes and gift certificates as well! (Three commenters on all of the nominee posts will share the prize.) You can’t beat that! All of this is to celebrate Design Dazzle’s first “birthday” — if you haven’t visited this site, you must. It is the place to find fantastic baby and kid room ideas. (Click on the button below to get to Design Dazzle.) There is a huge giveaway going on right now, so check it out!
You’ll find over 180 photos and 72 pages of detailed, step-by-step instructions for five new Christmas projects for your home and gift giving. Check it out by clicking on the button above to get to Kimba’s site. This ebook is good — I’ve seen it!
And finally, I hope you’ll join me for my Second Annual Christmas Tree Party on Monday, December 14th!
The code for this cutie button is on the fritz, we’re working on it. I hope to get this going soon, so you’ll be able to copy it to your site. If you want to get some inspiration for this year’s party, check out the links from last year here. Gorgeous!
Yippee, yippee, I’m so ready to decorate for Christmas now! I was ready weeks ago, then I was OK to hold off a bit, now I’m raring to go! First project I’m tackling — the dining room table. It’s going to be sooooo beauuuutiful! (That’s the plan anyway.) Stay tuned!