Buzzings from a quilter who bumbles her way through life!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Flamingo Room Progress and a Tutorial for a Flamingo Window Header

This is just a trial run of the window treatment that I may use in my granddaughter's "Tropical Island with Pink Flamingos" room! Her walls are turquoise and her blinds are white. She will also probably have some curtains or drapes. I've pinned this up with straight pins to see how it would work. I've included a tutorial for it below.
                                               
I've finished appliqueing the flowers on the quilt top for my granddaughter's new bedroom. It's pretty big - about 96" x 83" before quilting. I'm anxious to find a backing and get started. I'm thinking I will need to mail it to her before I go in a couple of weeks because I'm not sure it will fit in my suitcase! We'll see.
Then I started thinking about the rest of her room. She will need a window treatment, for instance.
I got in the car and started searching for "Flamingo Inspiration."  At The Dollar Store (where everything cost $1), I found a couple of flamingos (about 12" wide) and some flower leis. I also bought a very inexpensive curtain rod at Walmart.
My haul for less than $7.

I removed the two wire "legs" that were inserted in the neck (they were intended to be removed and placed in two holes on the underneath and then stuck in the ground). I used the closed point of my scissors to "ream" the hole out just big enough for the end of the curtain rod. (Be careful to not get it too large!!!)


I removed the little finial on the ends of the curtain rod.
I inserted each end of the curtain rod into the holes on the two flamingos. (I think a little hot glue here would help stabilize it.)

I cut two ribbons, each 40" long, to use as legs. I folded them in half and then tied a loose knot in the center of each half  to act as knees. I cut 8 "tulip" shapes for feet.
I used Tacky glue to sandwich the end of each ribbon between two felt feet.
 I found the two holes on the bottom that the wires were supposed to be inserted into. (If your flamingo doesn't have these, I guess you could either make some or just use glue.) This is where I attached the legs (see next step).
I used a large, sturdy needle to sew through the two holes to attach the center of each set of ribbon legs. I was not able to do this with a small needle.
This is what I ended up with. The legs may be a little too long, but I will wait until they are safely in place in their new room to decide. It might be that we don't use them at all. I'll let my granddaughter decide.


Tah-Dah!
(probably not as pretty on MY window, but a start for hers)





Now I'm ready to hang the window topper. Remember that I was trying these out on my own windows before taking them to my granddaughter's. We will probably also have soft drapes on the windows that this will go over. I hung the rod and just draped the leis over it. All in all, I spent only about 20 minutes on the entire thing! What do you think? This goes in the same room as the tropical quilt. We already have some palm trees painted in the room, but she will help me add more when I go for another visit soon.
The things she wanted in her room were:
PINK
Tropical Island
Flamingos
Flowers 
"Fuzzy Pillows"

 Her bed is white, so I included some white flowers (they have tiny pink dots that you can't see in the picture.) I'm thinking maybe soft, white sheer drapes? She does have white blinds. I need to experiment when I get there to see what looks best! Maybe white drapes with a border (along the bottom) of pieced tropical prints? I'll be sure and take pictures when all is finished.

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14 comments:

  1. Oh, that is coming out so cute! I think she is going to love it.

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  2. Sorry Linda....click on the word; not the picture.....

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  3. The window treatment is sweet and I love the quilt

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  4. Really neat, Linda. I like flamingos, too.

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  5. I love the quilt - I think the scattered flowers just "make" it! and the flamingo window treatment is a stroke of genious. What a lucky little girl!

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  6. What an ingenious idea! Love it!!

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  7. I love this - when you're done with her room, can you come do mine? *G* I adore flamingos! That quilt is just perfect, as well, I love the flowers on it - gorgeous touch!

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  8. You are so creative! I love the flamingos!!!

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  9. Hi Linda, The flamingos look great. My grown up daughter likes flamingos too. I love the quilt with the flowers. I like applique over the blocks like that. I haven't visited for a while. I am a follower but forgot to put you in my side bar. I loved all your garden photos and the nest is amazing.

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  10. She should love them, especially up against turquoise.

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  11. Oh how clever are YoU!!!! The flamingos are wonderful! AND like I said before I just LoVe the flowers on the quilt! Its fantastic I think! :)

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  12. Hmm, if your granddaughter’s window blinds were white, I think the flamingo window treatment you made match well with it. Everything goes well with white after all. :) So how was it? It looks beautiful to me, so I assume your granddaughter loved it too. Have you made other window treatments in the past? I would like to get some inspiration from you, so I have something to share to my wife. Hehe!

    Rene Veeravalli

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    1. Hi, Rene. You are a "no-reply" blogger, so I am unable to send you a reply through email. The room turned out really cute! Her blinds and window trim WERE white. Here is a link that shows a little of her window with the flamingos. This was two years ago and her room is growing up nicely with her! http://buzzingandbumbling.blogspot.com/2011/06/mural-we-painted-together.html There are a couple of other posts about the room that you might want to check out.Thanks for your kind comment!

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  13. Are these wood blinds, Linda? Hmm. I agree with Rene. The blind should've been white so that the colors of the header can be readily seen. It's been two years now. Are you still using the same blinds? How about your very cute header? Keep me updated! :)

    Larry @ South FL Home Remodeling

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