For Those Pesky Lookie-Loos Outside your Loo: Contact-Papered Windows (Shoji-Screen Style)

My husband and I live in a rented apartment.Now, in said apartment the bathroom's single medium-sized window (which I feel is quite large for any bathroom) is placed so "cleverly" as to allow me to gaze out into the beautious world while I sit ever-so-peacefully on the toilet, taking a poo. Nice, eh? Picture it. Not only can I bird-watch while I eliminate, but birdies (and people alike if they come to pay a visit) can return my gaze (!) since the window in mention is also situated alongside our front door and facing the front stoop which is shared by a neighboring apartment. I feel so exposed.

Being on a tight budget, as most of us are these days, I couldn't just go out and buy window treatments. I had to keep the purchases to a bare minimum or make do with stuff I already had at home. So at some point, probably while I was in a receptive and prone position on the toilet, I had this brilliant idea of custom painting a removable window film with clear contact paper and cheap acrylics. I already had a roll of contact paper in my craft cupboard (I like to use it for laminating various things, you know, when you randomly need to laminate) along with an assortment of paintbrushes to choose from... all I needed was a new paint color, and with a short bike-ride to the craft store I was able to pick up a small tube for 97 cents. With simple supplies spread all around - a ruler, a pencil, a handful of clothes-pins, paintbrush, paint, and contact paper - like a kiddie in grade school I plunked myself down on the kitchen floor and got to work.

I have to admit, I can't take credit for the idea of using contact paper on windows. I wish I could, because whoever figured it out is a smartie. As materials go, it's cheap, easy to adhere, and totally removable. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I came across the source, so I can't give credit where credit is due. But I did use my pretty little head to imagine a design, however simple. I wanted something akin to a Japanese Shoji-screen, using an off-white paint to look like rice paper...sorta. As to what design you choose, the options are endless - you might enjoy a a multi-colored stained glass replication, a black and white geometric pattern, or a soft Monet-like scene of flowers. I hope this gives you some inspiration to try it out in some form in your home (whether on a window, a glass curio cabinet or cupboard, or a glass coffee table, etc.)

Here's My Beautifully Imperfect, Homemade Shoji-Style Window Screen

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN REMOVABLE WINDOW FILM

Materials You Will Need:

• Clear* Contact Paper a.k.a Shelf Liner (*You can use opaque contact paper, but this will prevent light from filtering through, rendering your window useless. If your aim is to pretend you don't have a window there, then this would be a good idea I suppose.)
• Acrylic Paint* or Etching/Glass Specific Paint (*Some acrylics stick better to slick surfaces than others. If you're concerned about flaking/chipping, go with paint made specifically for glass. The cheapo acryclic I bought flakes off if I mess with it, but I touch the surface of the window pane as little as possible. I went for the temporary and frugal application option, but you can certainly make yours more lasting with an upgrade in materials.)
• A Paint Brush
• Measuring Tape
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Stencils (Optional)
• Clothespins or Stones or Whatever (to hold down the corners and sides of the paper as they tend to roll under on their own)

What You Do With Those Materials [is really up to you] :

1. Measure the height and width of your window pane, then cut out a sheet of contact paper to fit that size exactly. I recommend using a ruler and carefully marking off height and width at several spaced intervals along the sheet before cutting, to be sure you have an even rectangle. *Don't remove the paper backing of the contact paper.
2. Place a handful of clothespins or other paper-weights along the corners and edges of the contact paper to prevent the sheet from rolling itself up while you paint.
3. Go at it! Paint your window screen (on the side that is not the paper backing side), then let it dry. Using a hair dryer on cool or low heat speeds the drying process, if you're as impatient as I am.
4. When adhering the finished screen to your window, enlisting the help of a buddy is really nice. Peel away just a little bit of the paper backing on one side or corner and align the screen properly on your window, then press that small area down and smooth out the bubbles. Keep the screen partly rolled up, especially if adhering it alone, and unroll it a little bit at a time - this helped me immensely. Peel a little more away and press it down, peel some more and press it down, unroll some more, peel some more,...until you've got it stuck on completely. Using your hands, gently smooth out any remaining bubbles (if using the cheapo acrylic, you'll probably have to do this VERY gently to keep the paint from flaking).
5. And that's it! Enjoy you're new-found privacy and revel in the fact that you made this yourself!

Keep Crafting With Contact Paper! : Try painting your own decals and cut them out free-hand-style for unique and cheap seasonal decoration!

Note: Contact Paper is completely removable, but not really re-usable. The non-sustainable ramifications make me weep, but it's still a neat and resourceful idea if you ask me.

Holiday Hand-Mades, Lavender Dryer Sachets

Each year, around Christmas-time (which now for all intents and purposes extends to about a week before Thanksgiving, sheesh), when over-stuffed shopping carts are racing wheel to wheel through store isles to get the last Tickle-Me toy or I-nano gizmo just as check-out lines are both expanding and retarding exponentially, I become extra blase' about the glut of consumerism and material greed surrounding it all. I always say to myself, "This year, I'm going to conserve resources, save money, and use my craftiness and creativity to make all my gifts for loved ones." And even with three or four or even five weeks left until the holiday, I never manage to get in gear and actually do it. I might muster up the energy and time to whip up one small hand-made trinket or ornament to give to my mother, but generally I expend all my efforts in other tasks or pursuits. I mean, who isn't busy in December with their regular lives, their everyday chores, their jobs, their long list of prominent stresses? The last time I was completely carefree in spirit and had a surplus of available hours to do arts and crafts around the holidays, I was in the third grade!

But the spirit of Christmas 2008 has gifted me with a very opportune, albeit somewhat disconcerting, change in job-status, i.e. I'm currently unemployed for the month of December*. That translates to a plethora of spare minutes to actually do some mean hand-made making of gifts!

One of my first projects involved sacheting everything in sight! I recently purchased a large quantity of plain, hand-sewn, muslin drawstring bags online at a neat little website called Earthsong Fibers. I hadn't intended to use them for holiday gift-making, but the original intended purpose (to make silica gel sachets to string in mass quantity around our home in a desperate attempt to de-humidify the air) was both impractical and no longer necessary.

Here are the details of the Lavender Dryer Sachets I made:

Materials Needed:
Muslin Drawstring Bags
or 3"X5" Fabric Swatches (to construct your own hand-sewn sacks)
Acrylic Paint and Fine-Detail Paintbrush
Dried Lavender Buds
Sewing Needle
Embroidery or Heavy-Duty Thread

Super Simple Instructions:

1. If using pre-made bags, skip this step. If you are hand-sewing your bags out of fabric you've chosen yourself, sew two pieces wrong-side together along three sides, leaving one side open to stuff with lavender. Turn right-side-out. Simple enough.

2. Place a piece of cardboard or paper inside bag, so paint won't seep through. Paint a simple lavender motif on one
side of the bags. Let dry completely.

3. Scoop or pour lavender buds into the bags, filling almost to the top. Leave just enough room to sew the open side shut.

4. Sew shut, using tight blanket stitch...or any other sturdy stitch, so long as it will keep the lavender from spilling out during repeated dryer cycles.







Throw into dryer with laundry. The sachets will infuse your linens or clothes with a soft scent of lavender every time you use it. Lasts up to ~50 cycles.

















*Not to worry, friends, I begin work first thing come January as a nanny to a delightful eight-month-old, Anna. It's a great career change, and it will provide me with a lot more free time in the future, as well as unburden me from a lot of unnecessary stress. Yay!