DIY No Sew Roman Shades from Mini Blinds

My kitchen and breakfast area I had cheap ugly blinds and wanted some custom roman shades for these windows instead. So I started looking online for custom shades with the measurement of my windows and HELLO!! I didn't want 10 of them, just one!

I found this great DIY tutorial Easy No-Sew Roman Shades and decided to try it out.

Here are my results:


  
I did do a couple things different than the tutorial and I wish I had pictures of the process but I did this before I knew I'd be posting it on here, so I'll try to explain as best I can!

Things I did different are:

-- I glued about three mini blind slats together to make it more sturdy

--Then when putting the fabric on the blinds I tucked in each slat to the 1 inch edge on the sides of the fabric. Since I used Heat n Bond instead of sewing, I could easily open up where each blind was suppose to go and then glue on the back side of the blinds to secure.
Here's a picture of the back where the slats are tucked into the fabric

Top of the back

 --I wanted the back covered where you couldn't see the mini blinds from the outside like this.

Back side of the curtains

This is how I fixed the back:

- I measured my fabric to cover the back from the top of the mini blind mechanical part to the bottom metal part and from side to side to just a centimeter over the 1 inch of fabric on the edges so that I could glue it to this fabric (well that's how I planned on doing it but you'll see in the pictures that I had just enough fabric where you could see about 1/2 centimeter on each side but unless your really looking at the blinds from the outside you can't see it so I went ahead and used what I had instead of buying more fabric)

- I hemmed the edges of the fabric using heat and bond.

- I started at the TOP of the blinds at the mechanical part and glued the fabric using E6000 glue to the back part of the mechanical piece. I let this dry for about 30 min before I continued. (You could use Fabric Glue here but it would need to dry A LOT longer before continuing on)

- I worked my way down from the top slat gluing the fabric to each blind and the sides of the fabric with fabric glue. I glued the bottom of the fabric to the fabric, not to the metal at the bottom, because it made the curtain hang a little too short when I did it the first time around and I had to fix it after I hung it up.
BEWARE depending on your fabric the glue will bleed through so you do NOT need much glue. I would put it on the blind then wipe with my finger to smooth it out!

- Let this dry (mine dried about 8 hours)

- Hang up your new custom roman shades!

Again sorry for minimal pictures! I'd love to see your curtains and please feel free to give some tips if you have alternate ways that would make this project easier!

Photo turned Canvas

You might have seen how you can turn a regular picture into a canvas style picture using Mod Podge, if not here's a great blog that shows you how DIY Canvas.
Here's one that I did with a 20 x 24 photograph.

I didn't use paint or put the scrapbook paper on the sides because I was framing it. This was just Mod Podge to make it look like canvas.

The print was around $20 (I ordered it from Mpix online)
A 20 x 24 Canvas $7 with 40% off coupon
The frame $13 (on cleareance because of a scratch)
And the Mod Podge which was around $3.50 with my 40% Off coupon at Hobby Lobby

So it cost me around $43 to make it because I still have plenty of Mod Podge left over for other projects! You can't get a framed canvas print that large for that price!

Framed Wood Art

I wanted something to go over my bed that was personalized, my husband and my initials came into thought and this was what I came up with. It's more of a burgandy color but the picture made it look a lot brighter. Oh yes, excuse the mismatched headboard!! I'll be working on that soon!

Items used:

A frame that I picked up at a local thrift store for $5.99 it had a really ugly canvas picture that came with it that I covered with fabric

Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. (I absolutely LOVE this paint!)

Wooden letters

Walnut color stain

Fabric of your choice

E6000 glue (you can get this at Hobby Lobby)


1st - Spray painted my frame the oil rubbed bronze color. (I painted both sides of the frame)

2nd - Stained the letters the walnut color (the top and sides) You can also paint them too but I had the stain so I used it.
3rd - Wrapped my fabric around the old canvas that was in the frame and glued it to the back of the canvas.

4th - Glued the letters to the front of the canvas, the glue goes through the fabric to the canvas so it sticks very well.

5th - Let this dry overnight

6th - Put the frame back on and secure, I used what was on the frame already to secure it back in place.

7th - Hang it up and ENJOY!