Turning a flat sheet into a bedskirt

Have you priced bed skirts lately? I was finding it difficult to find a bed skirt to fit an 18-inch tall California King frame. I'm not paying $100 just to hide the crap under the bed.

Fortunately, I'm resourceful. I found a flat sheet in the right size (for $20) and here's how I tailored it:

First of all, IRON the sheet. It will look so much nicer. Wrinkles don't fall out over time, no matter how much you try to tell yourself that they will. 

Next, drape the sheet over the bed frame, wrong-side up. Line everything up where you want it. Mine happened to be the perfect size so that all the edges lined up with the floor.

On each corner, pull the bottom corner of the sheet out and pin the sides of the sheet together along the leg of the frame. Make sure the bottom edges line up.

Trim the excess, leaving a few inches of fabric to work with.

Remove the sheet from the bed frame. One at a time, lay each corner flat. Mark where the top and bottom pins are with a pencil. Move the pins over and use a ruler to line up with the marks. Draw a line, to mark where the pins were. Baste along the line. 

(Since the initial measurements were eyeballed, I felt more comfortable basting first. If you're confident in your pinning abilities, go for it with a regular stitch.)

Put the bed skirt back on the bed and, if necessary, make adjustments. Once you're happy with the fit, take it back off and sew using a regular stitch. Trim the excess fabric, then use a zig zag stitch along the raw edges to prevent fraying. Turn the corners right side out and press with a hot steamy iron.

I also added 4 ties (ribbon I had on hand) to the top of the sheet, so that it could be tied to the head of the frame to help keep it in place.

Look at how nice those corners look.

(I still needed to adjust that one corner when I snapped the picture.)

Stick the mattress back on the bed, adjust if it shifted, and you're done.

wild saturday

Sitting next to FG on the couch munching on a snack plate and drinking wine while he watches football.

Today was perfect hiking weather. Did we go hiking? No. We completed a few tasks on the to-do lists and I spent much of the day battling one of those damn headaches that makes me useless. The damn heater spews all that dry air and it fries my sinuses. Gotta bust out the humidifier. 

The bedroom transition is moving along. We have looked at approximately 100 bedroom sets at 7 different stores and didn't love any of them. Then we decided that we don't need to be spending $5000 on bedroom furniture while we are trying to buy a lake house. So the new plan is to update the bed (the '70's porno bed is GONE), get an additional dresser on a budget, and upgrade to a matching set later on. So far I found a headboard, frame, and bedskirt for less than $200.

FG just asked if I was blogging about the good loving I got last night. LOL. I told him I don't generally blog about that.

Little baby Olivia was born this week and I've been doing my best to respect my brother and sister-in-law's space, but I'm going to need to snuggle that baby soon. She's so tiny and Emma's reaction to her baby sister is the cutest damn thing.

Starting to feel itchy but I'm trying not to take benadryl so often bc of the dementia-related risks that Suzy pointed out. The dermatologist recommended this lotion that smells like old people (or like icy hot) but works pretty well. I have also found that when it gets cold and dry, if I don't shower my skin feels better. Something about the hot water? But I can only go so long without a shower... 

belly, floors, lake, clothes

I feel like I've eaten SO MUCH FOOD lately. 

My stomach has been tolerating everything I eat and it's awesome. I wonder how long this bout of normalcy will last? I feel so nourished and soft and happy. People really take it for granted when their digestive system simply digests food without complaint.

Also my period was 4 days late this month. Normally it's on a very regular, 28-day schedule and in the past I would have freaked out, but since I got my tubes removed, it's no big deal. I love that peace of mind.

A friend of mine told me that instead of sweeping or vacuuming his floors, he uses a leaf blower and blows all the pet hair and dirt out the front door. I tried it today. Sure, it blows all the stuff out from under the couch, but it's very hard to direct the flow. Everything blew up into the air and while some of it made it outside the door, I think half of it is now on every surface in this house. Now I have to freaking DUST! My other least-favorite chore! I won't be trying that again. The 3 roombas will just have to do.

We don't have any trips planned. Weird, right? FG is going on a cruise but I refuse to be trapped on a floating cesspool. Ever. (You will never find me on a cruise).

The current lack of traveling works out okay because I'd rather spend my weekends looking at lake houses. The perfect house got away from us, and we were crushed because it had everything we wanted and we really thought that was OUR house. Man, it was hard to lose it. It had original hardwood floors and an incredible view and it was just so good. That's okay though because there will be something else that is just as good. Everything happens for a reason, right?

I started taking benadryl at night again. It seems to help with my itchy arms and it helps with my sinuses too. FG thinks it's creepy that I don't wake up when he comes to bed and kisses me goodnight, but I'm perfectly happy to sleep like a rock.

Work is still really slow. Again, I'm getting a little stir crazy but I'm also choosing to embrace it, because I know I'll be slammed again at some point.

I bought 10 pairs of jeans online and returned all of them. I know that high rise pants are the style right now, but that is NOT a good look for gals with no butts. Even the mid-rise styles didn't work for me. Not only are they unflattering, I don't like the feel of the material over my entire belly. I'd prefer them to hit at my hip bones, but apparently I need to wait for lower rise styles to come back into fashion and buy that shit up. Buying pants sucks.

I think I'm going to make some peanut butter cookies. Because right now, I can eat them and they won't fuck me up. Cheers.

Mascara review

A few months ago I wanted to try something new so I asked for mascara recommendations. I picked the 4 most suggested ones and tried them out.

Overall, all of them looked very similar once they were on. They all washed off completely with my normal facial cleanser, so the big difference between them all was application and wear. 

For consistency in the experiment, all of them were regular formula black mascara. I did not wear eyeshadow, and did not curl my lashes.

All ratings are out of 5 stars.

1. Maybelline Sky High

Brush type: Thin, hard spiky brush. 

Application: 4.5 stars. The skinny brush made it easy to get mascara on all lashes, including the inner and outer corners, without making a mess. The formula goes on thick and clumpy but combs out surprisingly easy.

Wear: 5 stars. No noticeable smearing at the end of the day.

2. Too Faced Better than Sex

Brush type: Big brush.

Application: 4 stars. The bulky brush made it hard to get corner lashes without making a mess. The formula goes on smooth and any clumps were easy to brush out. My lashes felt soft and feathery.

Wear: 4 stars. Some days there was smudging on the undereye area.

3. Elf Big Mood

Brush Type: Big uneven brush.

Application: 3 stars. The brush size and shape made it difficult to get corner lashes without making a mess. Mascara tended to glob on the tip of the brush when it came out of the tube. The formula goes on clumpy and it was difficult to brush out clumps.

Wear: 3.5 stars. Smudged a little bit on the undereye area.

4. Loreal Telescopic

Brush type: Thin, hard spiky brush.

Application: 3 stars. The skinny brush makes it easy to apply to corner lashes. The formula goes on thick and I spent a long time trying to brush out clumps. It made my lashes feel stiff.

Wear: 3.5 stars. Smudged a little bit on the undereye area.

Greetings from 2022

I tapped out last night at around 10:45. I was feeling crummy already + the champagne I was drinking gave me a stomach ache. I was briefly woken up by fireworks going off like crazy at midnight.

Sitting on the couch drinking tea endlessly because that's what you're supposed to do when you're sick. Watching a Doctor Who marathon. Earlier, FG walked by and announced that he didn't care for sci-fi. Then he made fun of the Ood. Still dumbstruck by that exchange.

I asked him to come up with a three-word affirmation for this year. After the cold front comes through tomorrow I plan to open up the house, sage, and set some intentions. His mom likes to call that stuff "woo woo" stuff and he is always a good sport when it comes to the "woo woo" stuff. The words he chose were health, happiness, and prosperity. Interesting. 

Ashley asked me what resolutions I have. Not really feeling resolutions this year.

I should come up with some things I'd like to accomplish but, you know, there's not much I'd change right now. I've been really happy. Guess I'll continue with the periodic mini goals.