My imaginative first grader was home sick from school yesterday, so she happened to meet a special someone for the first time: Irena, who cleans for us every 4 weeks. My daughter was taken with her. Irena has wispy gray-blonde hair that she wears in a high bun; rosy cheeks and a generously-shared bright smile; enthusiastic nods and giggles with which she communicates her warmth to my children, since she speaks no English; and she’s so dignified that she makes scrubbing floors look special. “Mom, she’s the Fairy Godmother, for real.” And my two daughters started a several-hours-long game of fairies in response to Irena’s presence with us. I don’t think Irena knew she was the protagonist.

As it turns out, Irena looks a lot like a fairy godmother to me too. Bippity boppity boo. A little fairy dust (or a whole lot of elbow grease) and my house sparkles. What a blessing.

image from: http://www.themommycard.com/

When playing outside the library with my kids awhile ago, another mom noticed that our littlest guy was wearing a cloth diaper. She introduced herself and let me know about a cloth diapering co-op and support group in the area. Then she reached into her diaper bag and pulled out a “business card” with her name, email and the google group info for the CD group.

I admit that I was a little taken aback. A business card? For her email and a diaper group?

But the reality is that I probably would have forgotten about the group if she hadn’t handed me the card. Or, if I had tried to input her email address into my smartphone while trying to make sure that my child didn’t fall into the library fountain, I would have probably mistyped it.

Does anyone have “mommy cards”? Do you use them? Is it weird? I was thinking they could be helpful after Sunday mass when I see a new young family and want to invite them to our moms group, but am simultaneously trying to keep my kids out of the church fountain (my kids clearly have issues when in close proximity to fountains). I can see people using it to pass on their blog info as well, though I think I would feel too shamelessly self-promoting to do that.

With every baby comes a room change in our world, leaving me flailing as to how to decorate spaces on a dime.  I had heard of people using shower curtains as window treatments and so set out on a mission to find cheap drapes for a new room soon to be occupied by our 1yo daughter and 3yo son.  There are 3 windows in the room, 32″ x 65″ or so.  We priced out unlined drapes at PBK and would have spent at least $250 to get a product that wouldn’t block the sun and wasn’t all that interesting pattern-wise.

You can imagine my elation out shopping at Tar.get, when I found these clearance shower curtains, lined and in beautiful masculine/feminine patterns:

Who knew shower curtains could be so nice?

I got them for a steal at half off: $15/ea and took them home to set to work.  Mind you, this is an EASY DIY–I am no seamstress.  Anyone who can sew a hem can do this.  You could also work it with sewing glue if you don’t sew.  It’s definitely not rocket science!

I first cut my curtain in half–the dimensions are 72″ x 72″, so I knew I’d have plenty of curtain to cover my windows.  

You’ll now have two separate panels, each with a rough edge.

You can lay the other panel aside. Don’t forget to be cute while being crafty–a definite plus!

Mama's best helper

Now fold once and twice on your rough edge and pin. You’ll want to have 1/4″ to 1/2″ stitch allowance.

Then set to sewing your seam.

When you’re done, admire your work, then set to hanging. I used shower curtain hooks and slipped them right through the holes at the top of each panel.

Voila, curtains!

Take that, PBK!

And with that, you’re done! We plan to hang the curtains on real rods ($2.50 ea), which will bring the project total to a whopping $55 in expenses. That’s a good feeling when you’re living on a budget! Enjoy!