Before and After: Window Treatments!

Well hello everyone!  I'm Sarah- a newish mom to 13 month old Claire, and a proud new homeowner.  I also have a day job-- not a lot of "free time" per se.  But as you will soon see, that generally doesn't discourage me (though sometimes it really ought to).

So in my new home, I've been spending some dollars.  Quite a few.  Husband says no more spending this month-- so I'm filling my time with a lot of low cost or no cost projects.  And that is why, when I came across this amazing tutorial at The It Girl Project, well, I was PSYCHED! 

My mother-in-law made a similar shade in her kitchen, but she's really good at that sort of thing, so I wasn't sure if I could manage it.  Well, I'm here to tell you, anyone can do this.  It Girl used Stitch Witchery (definitely check out her tutorial for the step by step) whereas I just sewed some straight lines, but I love how you could really do either and have it work well.

Now are you ready for the magical before and after goodness?  OK, just please excuse the iphone images, it's all I had handy...

BEFORE: Note the baby up to no good!

AFTER: Lighter, brighter, and super cute, no?

AFTER: Because you know I had to do the kitchen sink...

One of the things I did to make my own life easier, was I used a double-sided fabric, which saved me from needing to add a liner.  My fabric was $8.99 a yard on sale at Joann (x 3 yards), and then I purchased dowels ($.59 each), and curtain rods ($3.99 each) for a grand total of about $14 per window.  My curtain rods have bright brass finials, and those will be getting a paint treatment in the near future, but for now, I'm just plain thrilled!

Have you ever tried DIY window treatments?  I'd love to hear what others have done!