This weekend was CRAZY busy. We had the windows put in on Friday. The window installers had taken down the mini blinds, and I told them not to worry about installing the brackets back because I was going to be buying something to replace the mini blinds. Well, that meant I needed SOMETHING up for privacy that evening... so I knew I had to get my rear in gear and start/finish painting the curtain panels I bought from Target a few weeks back.
This was one of those DIY projects that I started and ALMOST quit several times throughout the course of the project. It wasnt really that difficult to do, but it was time consuming and took patience, and Friday turned out to be super hectic. I started on the curtains probably around 4:00, I already had roast cooking in the crockpot (this YUMMY recipe) for dinner, so I thought I had the time to start and finish my little project in PLENTY of time before dinner. I had pushed the table to the side of the kitchen, and laid a new plastic shower curtain on the floor, it wasnt big enough so I had to add more plastic to the floor, so I could use my roller off the edges of the curtain without painting the floor. :) I pretty much followed this tutorial, except I added a little bit of textile medium to my paint, the curtains still dried stiff, but I think it helped some.
Taping off the stripes took much longer then I thought it would. I had 3 panels to do, and although I tried to keep them the same straight 6" apart as the tutorial, I ended up gettin lazy and my lines were definitely off a little. After taping all 3 curtains I started painting.
and realized I had painted two sections in a row! Ugh. I was so frustrated... I had two choices, either finish painting the entire curtain pretty much... or scrap it and use the extra panel I had, this meant I would have to tape off more stripes. I went ahead and just finished painting the curtain, it would look differently and take much longer then the others, but oh well. :) So long as the two hanging side by side matched I figured I was okay, but at this point I was seriously considering purchasing something different and scrapping the idea altogether. I was grumpy and totally not into the project at this point. I had thoughts of starting a blog where people could post they're failed diy attempts, and I could share my sob story with others who would really understand. Turns out (and I'm not surprised) that there is already a blog for that purpose...
But, I kept plugging along... during that time there was a knock at the door ( living in town means salespeople drop by on a regular basis ) and there was a man selling (somewhat of a promotional offer) home security systems. Because of the nature of my business/hobby I've been wanting to install a simple home security system, but the cost has always kept Jaydon and I from taking the leap and doing so. I did ask him to come back when Jaydon got off work, and I went back to my painting.
What felt like years later (that may be a slight exaggeration) I finished painting the panel, and impatiently waited for it to dry. Because it was in the middle of my kitchen floor I had to make sure the girls didnt accidentally walk on it. When it finally dried enough I started peeling the tape off... and I couldnt believe how much I loved it. Instantly I had the energy to do the other two.
But I had to figure out a way of getting the finished panel hung and off the floor so I could start on the other panel. So I ended up taking down some curtains in the house so the finished panel could hang in they're place and finish drying. I started on the second panel and things went quite a bit faster, I did two thick coats this time, and it was taking forever to dry! Jaydon got home at this time, and went outside to get some yard work done before dinner. I only had one curtain left to finish painting but it was taking FOREVER to dry! :) I finally decided to try and very carefully hang it so it could finish drying and I could get started on the last panel. Well the security guy came back when I was transporting the wet curtain. I had Trin answer the door and I am sure he thought I was nuts when I told him I had a wet painted curtain panel in my hands, but Jaydon was around back and he could go find him.
He said "No problem" and went out to find him. Well I was just getting ready to start on the last panel when Jaydon and the security guy came inside to talk details. I was surprised Jaydon was interested, and this meant I needed to stop so I could listen as well. If you know my husband you know he could probably carry on a coversation with a brick wall. I love him to pieces, but there is no such thing as a quick conversation with my husband... To make a really long story a little shorter, we ended up getting a security system installed, that night! It was super hectic, and Jaydon and I didnt eat the yummy roast until around 9:30 that night. I snuck into the kitchen to feed the girls around 6:30... they ate Cereal. Am I a bad mother for publicly recording that online? I was really in a time pinch, and since they beg for cereal at dinner time I didnt feel too terribly awful giving in this time.
What a crazy busy day... I finally started the last panel about 10:00. I was suuper tired, but really needed to get it finished, I'm glad I did... because the next day when Jaydon hung the curtains, it was compeltely worth all the stress and hectic-ness. :) If you are debating on painting your own curtains you should totally try it. Jaydon really was skeptical at how it was going to look, but really LOVED how they turned out. I just say plan to have more then enough time, and I would probably tape one day and paint the next if you are short on time! :)
I'll have to give you an update on the security system after we've used it for a bit. So far we are really liking it. The install guy had to come back a couple of times to finish the job, so it wasnt completely in when these pictures were taken. It is pretty neat though. We can arm and disarm the system with our cell phones, and there are some other really neat things I'm amazed about. :) I dont feel like we live in a bad neighborhood, but I am always worried about closing my shop down for vacations and it being so obvious that we are away. This system will help me feel better about leaving our house. The installer accidentally triggered the silent alarm while he was tweaking something... and we had 2 cop cars pull up at our house within minutes! It was somewhat reassuring. :) Best part, if we move... they will re-install at our new house for free! :) Cant beat that, because we've definitely been thinking about moving again. :) Do you have a security system installed? If so, do you like it?
