Easy DIY Curtain Valance with Tassel Trim.

I’ve always loved sewing. When I was in the 6^th or 7^th grade, I took my very first sewing class and made a pink and green rag quilt, which I still have! If there is something I want to make but don’t know how, I’ll watch YouTube videos and read blog posts and websites until I know how to do it. This summer I am adding a few new things to my room to make it more of the style I like. I’ve changed my bedding slightly with a white quilt, added pineapple finials, cotton stalks, and old books to my antique dresser. I hope to find a few more décor pieces and fix up the lamps on the side-tables by my bed. The main colors in my room are red, cream, and yellow. I wanted to add some black into the mix and decided to do so by making a buffalo-check valance (FYI: Buffalo-check is a large checkered pattern). In my opinion, this valance was really easy to make, but it took a little bit of time. Hopefully, you can make your own valance with this step-by-step tutorial.

(The Rag Quilt I made in 7th grade)

First I purchased 1 yard of upholstery fabric from Hobby Lobby (you can find fabric like mine in the back of the fabric section of Hobby Lobby on the long bolts of fabric) and ironed it out. Then I cut my fabric lengthwise to make it long enough to fit the length of the window.

After cutting the fabric in half, I lined up the two pieces to form one long piece where the patterns lined up and sewed the edges together.

Once the fabric was one long piece, I folded and pinned the long edges and did a double-stitch to make it look crisp and finished. After I completed the long side, I did the same for the shorter sides.

Once all the edges were bound, I pinned the tassel trim to one of the long sides and did a single stitch through the trim and the curtain.

After the trim was added, I the corners like a triangle to make it look more professional (After I sewed everything, I realized I should have double-folded each edge to hide the frayed unfinished sides).

I ironed the entire curtain one more time before adding curtain clips and hanging the fabric above the tan linen curtains that already hung in my room.

Here are a few pictures of the completed product!

I hope you enjoyed this post and will join me next Tuesday as I share pictures and details about my trip to Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Market Silos in Waco, TX!

Cheer up, buttercup.

Summer is time for fun, relaxation, and recuperation before school starts again. Usually I can find something or already have something fun planned for the day, but sometimes I need a little boost to get going. I love the verses in the Bible that talk about having a cheerful heart. The Message translation is more of a paraphrase/commentary of other versions, but I like to read it sometimes. The two verses about cheerfulness I like in this version are:

Proverbs 15:13

“A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.”

Proverbs 15:15

“A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful hear fills the day with song."

I’ve come up with a short list of things to help cheer up your day. Enjoy!

1.  Flowers

I love fresh-cut flowers around my house. They are so beautiful and always make me smile when I look at them. As a good Southern girl, I love trying my hand at arranging them. Sometimes it does not always work out the way I had envisioned, but that’s why it is a learning process. I bought some pink carnations and arranged them in a vase I got in Poland over Christmas break. 

(I put the pitcher of flowers next to my bed 

to enjoy when I wake up in the morning)

2. Baking (or Buying)

I love to bake! It has always been fun and therapeutic to me. Summer is the perfect time to try new recipes and I have already found some I like so far. My most recent baking adventure was making copycat molten lavacakes from Chili’s. I thought they turned out well, but they weren’t quite as good as the original. If there are some things that are just too difficult to make at home or you have a favorite spot that sells them, that’s all right too. In the past few years living overseas, I discovered a love for macarons. They are very popular right now, especially among bloggers, photographers, and bakeries. My favorite place to buy them where I used to live is called L’ArtSucré. It was a litte French patisserie tucked in a cute side alley of downtown Wiesbaden. I’ve had macarons in Paris, and to be honest these were better. My mom and I used to go downtown just for macarons and hot tea or hot chocolate. Now we live back in Texas and thankfully my favorite grocery store sells them in the bakery (HEB is the best grocery store in Texas!).

(Molten Lava Cake I made the other day)

(Front of L'Art Sucré in Wiesbaden)

(The castle-esque thing at the end 

of the alley by L'Art Sucré)

Hazelnut, Lemon, and White Chocolate Macarons from HEB

3. Music

Listening to music can cheer up anyone’s mood! I love listening to worship music, pop music, and country music. It really depends on my mood and what I’m up for. I like listening to worship music in the morning when I get up. My favorite worship Pandora station is Derek Johnson and my favorite worship song at the moment is “Fierce” by Jesus Culture.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will join me next week for another post! I hope to have a fun project or DIY up soon, so be looking for that. Continue to enjoy your summer break and leave me a comment or shoot me an email!

Remember to live a life of faith courageously and love God, love people, make a difference, and be thankful!

Growing Courageously.

Recently, I have been so encouraged by a passage of scripture, a few songs on the radio, my own thoughts and conversations with God, and wise women. I realized that this summer appears to be a perfect time for growth in my relationship with Christ. I feel like a lot of times I can get so caught up with the busyness of school and all of the things that need to get done that I lose focus on what is important. That is not always the case, but it happens more often than not. I always treasure the time that I do spend with God during my devotions at school, but I always want more (which is not a bad thing!). A few things have been spurring on this desire for growth and I am so excited to explore what God has in store for me this summer.

I feel like most people have a "favorite verse," but I like so many verses and find so many of them encouraging in different ways that I have never been able to choose just one. However, I always seems to quote a specific passage of scripture to myself. Psalm 23 has been a source of encouragement, hope, and peace throughout this entire school year. I love that God has proven himself to be consistently faithful in every situation and I am so thankful!

(I created this image and it is currently that background

on my computer to remind me that He is ALL that I need!)

I love these three songs by Love & The Outcome, “The God I Know,” “When We Love,” and “He Is With Us.” Each of these songs is filled with truth and encouragement. I love their reminders that God is always with me, no matter what situation I am facing; when we love, we are the evidence of Christ’s love; and that it’s okay to throw our hands up and lay our worries down and to break up with our doubt. The lyrics I just paraphrased have been ringing in my mind recently and I love that God uses things like music to encourage us in knowing that it is going to be okay and that He has everything under control.

As I was working on updating my blog design, I reflected on the past school year. It was definitely a year of growth, trial, and triumph. God definitely proved to be faithful during the entire year and I am so thankful and blessed because He was and still is faithful. Each day I would walk to class and enjoy having conversations with God about life. I always felt as though I learned something new each day about myself and my outlook on the world. I treasure those moments of grace-laced conversation with the most dependable person I know. He is always there, not like a good buddy, but as a wise Father.

There are a few wise women that I admire and look up to. First of all, my mother is a wonderful role model and example of a follower of Christ. I ALWAYS go to her for advice for just about anything. I probably call her more than I should, but there’s no one I’d rather talk to than her about important things. My mom loves Jesus more than anything and exemplifies what it means to be a humble servant. She never complains about doing things for my family and me or others. She never asks for anything in return and continues to give of herself daily. Another wise woman that I admire is Lysa TerKeurst. I do not know her personally, but she is so rooted in Christ and encouraging. I am always so blessed with the community she helped create, Proverbs 31 Ministries. I have had the privilege of reading her book “The Best Yes” and doing the Bible study that goes with it. I HIGHLY recommend that book as well as anything else she has written. I’m looking forward to reading her books “Unglued” and “Made to Crave.” She posted something recently about her daughter Ashley, who was recently married. She said that two years ago she sat and cried with her after a broken heart and promised her that God had a plan for her. And not just any plan… a good plan. What stuck out to me the most out of what Lysa said was that she had to be courageous enough to let God write the next chapters of her story. As a human, I often try to control the things that I can and even some of the things in my future. In the back of my mind I know that God has a perfect plan designed for me, but I just want to do it myself. Therein lies my fault in not trusting fully. I hope that I learn to trust courageously this summer and continue to do so when I go back to school in the Fall. Something else that I love that Lysa said in a sermon was that she is just so on fire for Christ and has such a thirst and hunger for His Word. Every spare minute she has in her day, she craves for a taste of the sweet written Truth. What she said inspired and lit a fire in me to chase after God like He chases after me. I love that idea of seeking every extra minute I have free to fill myself with Him. What a joy it is to serve Christ!

This summer is going to be good. I just know that God is going to move in ways that I never expected. I pray that I would be courageous in seeking Christ daily and not falter because I give thought to what the devil says. I’m looking forward to many adventures, meeting up with old friends, and living life to the fullest! I hope to have a new post up each Tuesday and hope that you will join me for a fun chat.

Be blessed and live with the joy of the Lord as your strength!

Power of Prayer.

Some days are hard and some days are great and that’s life! I love how each day brings something different and we never know what to expect. In order to get through the tough days and be thankful on the good days we have the opportunity to pray. Before I explain my little DIY project I wanted to talk about something important first! Prayer is such a powerful thing and it allows us to become so much more intimate with Christ! This past year has stretched me and grown me in so many ways that I could not have expected, but God has been faithful. I love the thought of entering into a holy experience by communicating with the Creator of every living thing. He wants us to bring all of our desires, praises, thanksgivings, sorrows, and sufferings to Him. You name it…He wants to hear it! Why? Because He loves us so dearly! I think prayer also has an effect on our attitudes. Growing up, my mom always reminded me that my attitude is my choice. I can choose to be grumpy(which can be unpleasant to be around) or I can choose to be cheerful and full of joy! Being in close communication with Jesus changes my perspective to see how He sees things and in return makes me have a cheerful attitude. Jesus is so wonderful and I am so blessed by Him and the wonderful encouraging friendships he has given me!

Here are some of my favorite verses I found on prayer:

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

–Psalm 145:18

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

-Philippians 4:6

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

-Colossians 4:2

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Now for the DIY part of this post! I saw this idea on Pinterest and I just had to make it! It is so cheerful and such a fun and different way to pray! It is called a “Prayer Pail.” First of all, how cute is that name?! I just love it! It is so cute sitting on my desk and reminds me to pray amongst all the studying and homework I have to do! I just love encouragement! Without further ado, here are my DIY instructions!

Prayer Pail Ingredients: 1 piece of scrapbook paper, jumbo popsicle sticks, 1 little metal pail, and different ribbon colors.

1. Measure the ribbon to your desired length. I chose each piece to be 7 inches, but next time I might use 5-6 inches. I cut 3 pieces of each color.

2. Tie each piece onto the handle of the pail in a pattern that you like.

3. Cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit your pail. Then write “Prayer Pail” on the piece you cut and place double-sided tape on the back of it and attach to whichever side of the pail you prefer.

4. Write your prayers on the popsicle sticks with a permanent marker.

5. Enjoy your cute and cheerful little Prayer Pail!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! It would mean the world if you would leave me a comment! Also, my blog also has an Instagram account now. Follow it for post sneak peeks, encouragement, style tips, and a little extra cheer for your day! My username is @midwestsbelle or you can search Southern Belle Goes Midwest. Thanks again for reading my blog!