Playroom Curtain Make-Over {Easy DIY} + a Free Chalkboard Printable

February 22, 2014 /
I have been working on decorating our playroom for about a year now. 
It is a slow process getting things accomplished when you have little ones, isn’t it?

Today, I wanted to share the “curtain make-over” that I did for this room. This project was inspired by a pair of dated valance curtains we had. My mom picked them up at a sale, to decorate Hazel’s first birthday party with, which had a “country fair” theme. 
After we used them for the party, they sat in my linen closet for quite some time. Until one day, a spark of creativity hit me, and I knew what to do with them.
Here is a “before shot” of the polka-dot valance. 
They were cute enough I guess, but I need full window coverage! I can’t stand dark windows at night.
The playroom is situated right across from the living room, which has canvas drop cloth panels as curtains. I decided to turn these valances into panels with the same fabric.
The canvas drop cloths came from Lowe’s and were very inexpensive. (My husband even picked them out – he knows what I like). They are very thick and sturdy (great for keeping drafts out). 
If you look for cute drapery panels they can be oh so expensive. I looked at Restoration Hardware first and found they were upwards of $90 each. If you are super thrifty like me, you can understand how that made me cringe. Land of Nod is another source I love for kid’s decor, which was more reasonable, but I still love anything that I can do on my own.
For this project I used:
Two polka-dot valances ($2 from church sale)
Two Blue Hawk canvas drop clothes size 5ft by 4ft from Lowes ($5.98 each)
Pom-pom trim (purchased from eBay)
Vintage velvet ribbon (church sale find)
Total approximate cost for one panel: $8.00 <—-that is quite a savings!
This was a sewing project, but could probably be done without if you used iron-on hem tape (for you non-sewing diyers).
To begin, I had to make the valance the same size as the drop cloth. Since the valances were a bit longer, I cut them down leaving enough room to sew a hem on the side. After that I sewed the two pieces together, without worrying too much about the finished look because I knew I was going to embellish over the seam.
I must confess that I did “cheat” a bit with these. I wanted to get the first one done during the kids’ nap time, so I just hot glued the pom-pom trim and ribbon over the seam. It didn’t turn out “perfect” but it works 🙂
I purchased some drapery clip rings from Target, and voila! 
(If you were not going to use the hooks, you would need to make sure to cut a slit on the top of the side the hem was sewn, to get the curtain rod through).
I must also confess, that I still haven’t made the second one! I keep telling myself to, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Soon, soon!
I have something else for you today, too!
I made this little chalkboard printable to put in the playroom that I wanted to share with you. The background is actually taken from a pic of our very own vintage green chalkboard.
You can download the high resolution version here. It is an 8×10. Print and enjoy!
Linking up with:
The Inspiration Gallery
Silver Pennies Sundays
Till next time…
~Alice W.

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