Pumpkin Madness...

After spending WAY too much money on pumpkins last fall I decided I should try to grow them myself this year.  My parents have a lot that they will be building a new house on later this year and have a huge garden and extra space.  In exchange for weeding they said I could plant pumpkin starts. Sweet!  I planted two varieties: Jack o Lantern and Pumpkin Pie.

Well:

We had PERFECT growing conditions this summer: Super warm, humid, just enough rain...and lots of fertilizer. We were so excited to see our efforts rewarded with a large amount of perfect pumpkins! It was SO fun to go and harvest a bunch of them and decorate my front porch.

Lil Chick and Mama:

Easiest way to move a large amount of small to mid size pumpkins? Tossing them :)

Yep, filled the back of the car!
 

YES we plan to carve some of the big ones in a few weeks....YES I plan to roast some of the pie pumpkins and freeze the filling (no canned pumpkin needed here!)....and YES I like my front porch looking like a pumpkin patch advertisement.
 

I think I shall make some more of those Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I've fallen in love with and make every autumn. Recipe is HERE.

I LOVE pumpkins!
 

Happy Fall Y'all!

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

Happy Fall Y'all! Free Printable...

As of this past Sunday it is officially FALL!

I love the colder nights and the foggy mornings. And of course the cozy clothes: Scarves, boots, sweaters.

And pumpkins. I have a THING for pumpkins :)

I made up a fun free printable for you today! It is a square but could be cropped to your desired frame size.

Enjoy!

Right click to download and save. Enjoy!

Amanda- Vintage Dutch Girl

Travel Trailer Makeover, Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains...

We have, er HAD, two ceiling to floor plain dark beige curtains instead of doors to separate and give privacy to the queen bed area from the main part of the trailer:

Just like the shower curtain project, they are attached at the top with glide tracks and glide tape sewn to the top edge of the fabric.

Glide tape is flexible plastic strips with little clips every 6 inches or so:

So, I pulled out the fabric and got to work.  The curtains were simple to design, just rectangles with hemmed edges.  I just copied the original beige curtain measurements. Actually, I added in more yardage width wise so it hung nicer and not so stretched flat.

For attaching the glide tape: Using a zipper foot on your sewing machine, set your (hefty upholstery size) needle to a side position:

and sew along the top and bottom of the plastic glide tape strip directly onto the top inside of your fabric:

Aaaaaaand.....Done!

I just snapped the holders into place along the glide strips. See how the extra yardage made those pretty ruffles? (Please don't tell my hubby I said "pretty" and "ruffles" to describe Lumi our trailer in any way shape or form.)

In order for the curtains to hang nicely I pulled a 'use what you have' trick and put fishing weighs in the corners of the curtains and safety pinned them into place:

The previous velcro tie backs were fixed to the wall with a special screw so I just replaced the blah fabric with chocolate brown, the same fabric that I used to recover the valances. (See valance project HERE.)

Add to that a new mattress (yeah, um, the trailer came with a 4 inch thick "mattress" to sleep on. Nope. Nada. Not happening. We spend A LOT of time camping.) and new bedding and the master bedroom area is looking very nice! Ahhh, it felt good to see nice fun colors and have the trailer looking more like us!

And if "by us" that means a wild and crazy mix that happens to blend, then YES, it looks more like us :)

Reminder of what this space looked like: Bedroom and side curtains BEFORE:

And now: Bedroom and side curtains after!

Next will be the last post in this series: the Bunk Beds! Oooh my FAVE part of this project!


Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl



 Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
• Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains 
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows