Bed Rest?! Really Dude....

There will be no pretty pictures with this post as there was nothing pretty about this last weekend. Remember the "summer cold"? Seems it was a bit more than a summer cold. The whole weekend was kind of a blur. Between the convulsing shivering or the pouring of sweat fevers I don't remember that much. Of course I told my husband I wasn't that sick. I do remember on one staggering trip to the bathroom finding the dog tied to the banister by her leash and the bitty one coloring the white hairs on her muzzle with a black sharpie.

Me: "Honey, what are you doing?"

Bitty One: "Coloring Sheba's gray hair like you do to yours Mummy"

Me: "Not with a sharpie!"

Bitty One (with hand on hip): "Well there was no hair color!!"

Me: "Ah! Is that why there is a chair in the bathroom by the shelves?"

Thank god we were out of hair color. Who knows what she would have done to the poor dog. Where was her "older" sister who was supposed to be watching her? Not 5 feet away on the couch. Some babysitting service I have huh?!

Monday morning after being up since 3 am I gave in. Ok, I'll go to the doctor.

Going to the doctor is a delight. Especially dragging 3 kids along with you. It was the usual what hurts? why the hell are you here visit. Oh, it hurts here? How does it feel when I press here? How about when me and the nurse jump up and down on your belly? Does it hurt then?

Doc: You are very bloated

Me: Thank god, I thought I was getting fat!

Doc: No, you are a bit overweight, but you are bloated too.

Oh great, I am fat AND bloated. I could listen to that all day! Now I am not only sick but depressed. I mean I hadn't eaten for 5 days and I find out that I gained 3 pounds. How fair is that?! Or are scales all over the world just screwing with me. I personally think they have a conspiracy against me.

Psssst.... want to drive her crazy? Don't move when she steps on you. Heehee it's really funny to see her angry face!

Then comes the words I always dread hearing.... "we need a urine sample". The peeing is not a problem. I can pee on command. The getting it in a cup is the problem. It would be great if I could just park my buttocks on a 5 gallon bucket to pee. I know I could pour it into that itty bitty cup then. But no, this is a special urine sample. Pee a few drops, THEN catch a sample and when you are almost finished pull the cup away and pee the rest all while dancing a jig on one foot and reciting the Declaration of Independence. Seriously? I just see me peeing all over my hand and not getting a drop in the darn cup. Would it be so hard to figure out how to put a handle on them? You know like a long stick so you don't pee on yourself. I mean peeing on my hand is so the highlight of my day. Not only do I look like death warmed over, but I now smell like urine. Thankfully, I did get enough for them to stick the dipstick into. Do they really need a whole cup for that teeny tiny little dip stick?!

Anyways....

Doctor: Someone doesn't drink water!

Me: Who? (pointing and looking at my husband)

Doctor: No, you....

Me: Well, if it didn't taste like flavorless crap, I would....

Doctor: You need to drink more water

I came here cause I was sick, not to hear about everything I am doing wrong. If I wanted that, I would go visit my dad! Drink more water.... If they could make it taste like white zinfandel, I would! ....drink more water.... Coffee has water. You make it with water. I drink gallons of that stuff a day, but it doesn't count. Water. Straight up, no twist. Not even those yummy flavor packets in it either. Plain jane water. The verdict was a severe UTI. I don't know why I keep getting them except that I DON'T DRINK ENOUGH WATER....

Oh and this medication. Take with lots of water. Don't read the side effects either. As fuzzy headed as I was I just figured I had a chance of turning into a hunchback troll with convulsions. Oh wait, a bloated, slightly overweight, hunchback troll with convulsions. Won't I be pretty?

The biggest joke was the bedrest. Three children have run rampant under the close supervision of the oldest child and you already know how well that goes over. Needless to say, the house is trashed. Hello, Hoarders.... I don't know how I was able to stay in bed amidst all this disaster. I must have been really sick. I know they ate. There are food, crumbs and cheerios all over! The gosh darn dog didn't even try to help clean up! How's that for gratitude? It's even spread into my room. I have my jewelry hanging from every knob, handle, anything in my room. Bitty One was trying to make it "pretty". Thanks. I told my husband I must be feeling a bit better cause I wanted to get cleaning. He said "NO! You just leave it be." I was waiting to hear that he and the kids would take care of it. Instead, he said it could wait a few days. Hello??? Have you met me? How can I rest in this mess?

So for now I am on the couch with strict orders to bed rest. Hummmph..... Bedrest is kinda like being on vacation. You can have a great time and come back rested, but the mess.... ugh! I have so many things to catch up on too besides a filthy house and a mountain of laundry. Like the company books and a tea swap that I really need to get out. I have a couple more things that I want to get for the tea swap and then wrap it up all pretty and send it off. As soon as I get it together I plan on doing a post about it. Wait til you see the gorgeous tea cup and saucer sweet Patricia sent me.

As for now, I am off. Obviously when you are on bedrest you are able to dress Barbie in the same freaking outfit 863 times in an hour. I swear I will glue those itty bitty high heels on her feet if I lay on another one of them. Those things hurt! You never lay on it in an area where feeling little probey things like that may be easily handled either. No, it's always where your reaction is "HEY! What the heck is that?" Plus, I can also stare at the curtains which are ALMOST finished that I just don't have the energy to work on right now.

Bah humbug.... bedrest....

I Survived The First Day of Summer Vacation!

Mostly in a blur of cold medicine. Not because that was the only medication in the house but because I have a summer cold. I hate colds. I do try to be as much of a pain in the butt as I can now that the kids can wait on me hand and foot.

Atleast Sheba was keeping was keeping an eye on them! I did manage to drag myself off my death bed to go to my sister's for the day. I helped her do some stuff that she needed help with. We also did a bit of shopping at her SA cause they get cool stuff there!

I got this cute little pitcher. More for the ironstone collection. I want to do something with it but don't know what yet.

I also got this silver water pitcher that needs some TLC. More polish to clean! Yeah! I found that I love to clean silver.

I also got this. I think it is a holder for a bottle of wine. It has some damage to it, but I am hoping that I can clean it up too. I tried a bottle of wine in it, but it tips over.

I also got a doughnut pan! I have been wanting one of these and couldn't pass it up for a couple of bucks. I am going to give it a whirl as soon as I feel a little better. I can't wait to see all the doughnuts combos that I can come up with this beauty. I have an awesome recipe that I will share with you next week. The secret ingredient is doughnuts!

Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Two Down!

Two to go!

BTW, I was asked where I got the textile medium. I found it at Michael's and at Joann Fabrics. It is a couple bucks cheaper at Michael's.

Hopefully, this will be done soon!

Poppin' Fresh Goodness!

I decided to take a break from making more curtains and do a little cooking. I need the break. When you are 87 years old and crawling around on a cold, hard concrete floor to tape and paint the back and knees will really start to scream! Ok, so maybe I'm not quite 87 but I feel like it.

Anyways, onto some yummy goodness. Lynne @ Happier Than A Pig In Mud is having a party on the 15th. It 's a cookoff featuring recipes using Pillsbury products. One of our favorites is this super yummy creamy cheesy danish.

Cream Cheese Danish

1 can Pillsbury breadsticks

1-8oz pkg cream cheese softened

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

1 egg seperated

Sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Cream the cheese until smooth. Add egg yolk and sugar. Mix til smooth.

Carefully open the can and spread out the dough on a piece of parchment paper. You will notice that the dough is in two pieces. Position one piece over the other. Press with your fingers down the center third of the dough.

Spread your cheese mixture on the center third. Separate the edges and fold each one, right over left, to the end of the dough. Seal ends.

Beat the remaining egg white and lightly beat with a fork. Brush over top of dough and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

You will have to beat everyone off of this yummy treat! You may as well make 2 cause they do tend to go fast!

It is also good with a hot cup of coffee while you catch....

....the blue hour! I finally got it! Love the look of the house at the blue hour. It looks like it is resting. Or getting ready to make more work for me!

I guess it is back to curtain making for me....

The Big Secret Project Reveal!

Are you ready for this?! You know the drill, pee, drink of choice....

Here we go on another wild ride of the OCD decorator! Remember when I whined and cried over hanging the wood blinds? If not, you can revisit that tragic story here. I love the wood blinds, but they needed something. A little bling to set them off. I looked and looked for some bling. Something that would make my little pacemaker go buzz.

The Nester posted here that she now had twins! I had to go and see. Is the woman nuts to have twins??! Nope, they were her new chairs she just got. They are gorgeous too. There in the picture was the bling that I needed! I went nuts. Crazy I tell ya! Overboard crazy! I knew that I would drive myself nuts trying to find them. That would take too long though. I wanted cheap too! I am redoing this room on a budget! An extremely small budget! Like nonexistent budget. So....

....I made my own custom ones! When I say "custom" I mean out of sheets! That were 5.00! At Walmart! The same color stripe that is a shade darker than the walls! Actually it is leftover paint from the kitchen.

I know! Please hold your applause though! I am going to tell you how to make drapes from curtains with your very own design on them! Aren't I the best?!

I love, love, love the wall color that I chose for the living room. The problem with it is though that it's hard to match. You would think that all beiges are created equally. Well, not so. Some fabrics make it look really gold and some get a pinky color to them. All I didn't like. I didn't want anything flowery either. I thought of plain white drapes, but *yawn* boring. I wanted the blinds to be noticed! Right now, they just faded into the room. You didn't notice them.

I went to Walmart and got 4 twin flat sheets. 5.00 each! Woo hoo! Sheets are the easiest thing to use. The top edge of the sheet makes a nice hem, the sides are finished and the end can be folded over to make a casing for the top of your curtain. Twin sheets are 96" long and I wanted my curtains to be 91" long. Perfect!

I washed and dried the sheets to get out the sizing. The sizing can mess with your painting so you do want to remove it. That left them a wrinkled mess because of course I immediately removed them from the dryer! *snickersnicker*

Once I was done ironing them, btw on the hottest muggiest day of the year, I measured down 5". Folded at that mark and pressed.

Unfold after ironing and fold to the ironed line. Press just along the edge. Fold back along your first creased fold line and pin.

Now sew as close to the edge and voila! You have your casing at the top!

I got a couple of those plastic drop cloths from the dollar store and laid one out on the floor. Lay your sheet out flat on top of that.

Now here is where the fun begins! I tried to take the orange out of these pics. I did this in the snake den of dispair and there is no natural light down there. You'll get the idea though. I wanted 11 stripes so with a little bit of math I calculated that my stripes would be 8-1/4". I started at the top and measured down, drawing a line with a fading pen. Then laid down tape against the line.

I did each stripe individually. The stripes that are being painted, you want to tape on the outside. Does that make sense? I brought my tape a little past the edge to help hold it on the drop cloth.

Once all the stripes were taped off, I ran over the tape with an old credit card. I wanted to make sure all the edges were down good and no paint would get under it.

Now, for the painting! I used this product. It turns any acrylic paint into a fabric paint! How ingenious is that?! You mix it 2 to 1. It took half a bottle for each sheet.

It took 2 coats to paint the stripes and I let it dry overnight. This made it dry enough to work with. The bottle says to let dry for 7 days. Then you need to heat set the colors. I only have one window done right now, but next weekend I plan on taking them down and heat setting the paint.

The moment of truth! Carefully peel off all the tape! I know, it looks really pretty, but do it anyways.

Fold in half and cut along the fold line. Fold over the cut edge twice and sew. Now you are ready to hang your creation and stand back to revel in your cleverness!

Total cost: $30.00!

Damn, I am good!

Posted @ SNS #84!

DIY Project Parade

*SQUEAL*

Wait til you see what I have for you tomorrow!

It's the secret project.

Unfortunately, it is too late to take some pictures that will do this justice. So.... tomorrow is the day!

The big reveal!

Are you as excited as I am?!

Deborah from Fairfield House was about the closest. Did I tell you that I really suck at clues?!

So, until tomorrow....

*SQUEAL*

Sweet dreams lovelies!