you can't win them all...

That title is for my dear Florida State friends, but really it has nothing to do with football, and everything to do with my recent attempts in DIY decorating. We live pretty much right in the "design district" of Atlanta . We also benefit from a wonderful iPhone app created here in Atlanta called Scoutmob. Scoutmob highlights a different restaurant or retail location each day but unlike groupon or livingsocial- the deal doesn't expire for months. So you can show up and use it with your smart phone on the spot and it's free. We mostly use it when we want to try somewhere new to eat in town- especially ethnic food. We used it with our (now former because they moved) neighbors Mark & Lindsey at an Ethiopian place last week.

When Lewis & Sheren Fabrics (about a mile from us) appeared on Scoutmob- I knew this was an offer I could not pass-up. Fifty percent off on whole-sale fabric up to $100?! All I had to do was narrow down the hundreds of choices of prints and buy a few yards. I made it out of the store with 2 great prints thinking of our kitchen which until now had no curtains and our guest room which had some super basic Ikea curtains that I wanted to add to.

Let's just say I found my sewing skills to come a lot more naturally than my crafting skills. Here are the results:

These cafe curtains I actually put together on Friday. I have experimented a little with the sewing machine since I received it from my new mom (R's mom) for our wedding last year, but I am the happiest by far with this result! Really the beauty in these is that you're just sewing straight lines and then your tension rod creates the ruffle at the top. Too bad Lindsey & Mark already moved- they made several comments about us not having blinds in the kitchen and FINALLY we do!

Empowered by such an incredible outcome I moved on to a pinterest inspired project. Most everyone has repinned, liked or at least seen these "DIY No-Sew Roman Shades" and thought- wow SO EASY! I envisioned gorgeous roman shades behind my Ikea curtains and how cozy all the fabrics would make our guest room.

I rushed off to Walmart bought the $15 of necessary items (including the mini-blinds) and set to work.

Today... this what R & I hung on the wall:

Not quite what I'd hoped for. My fabric lets some light through so you can easily see the mini-blinds glued to the back of it when it's down. Also the fabric glue I used wasn't the best and my mini-blinds weren't quite wide enough for the window so if you tugged on them to draw them, they crash down on you.

Thankfully, I salvaged a good bit of the fabric and am planning to hem and embellish my Ikea curtains with what's left.

In reading blogs, I've come to appreciate the ones that show failures and successes and this weekend seemed to represent a microcosm of my attempts as an American homemaker.

Sometimes wild success with just a little focused attention... other times disappointment after hours of effort. I do love being in our kitchen now so I think it was worth it!

Still thinking about what I've learned in year 1 of marriage so keep checking back for that post.