A few years ago, we enclosed our garage and made an office out of one half of it and a fourth bedroom out of the other half. On the bedroom side, there is a metal door with a large window.

The nice light coming in through the window is great. However, since this is a bedroom, there is definitely a need for some type of window covering for privacy. Initially, the solution seemed quite simple. Put up blinds.

After discussing this with my husband, I found out that the metal layer on the door is actually quite thin, so he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get the blinds to stay up.

Of course this left me asking the question, now what do I do? I can’t put holes in the door. Do I have any other options?

After looking around, I found a magnetic curtain rod and decided to give it a try and just hang a curtain.

(If you’re wondering, the magnets on this rod are really quite strong. I had to pull hard to detach them from the door.)

Problem solved, right? No.

I looked everywhere for a curtain that was the right length for the window in the door. Everything I found was either way too long or a few inches too short.

I was about to resign myself to buying fabric and sewing a curtain from scratch. Oh, but wait, my husband just took my sewing machine to our mini-storage.

Then I had an idea. I could buy an already made curtain panel, cut it off to the right length and hem the bottom using a no-sew iron on tape. This way it would already have the rod pocket at the top of the panel to hang it on my magnetic rod.

It worked!

I started with this panel.

Here’s how I did it.

I measured the window from the rod to slightly below the window, allowing about an inch and a half for the seam. I used this measurement to determine how much I needed to cut of the bottom of the panel.

After cutting the excess fabric off the bottom of the panel, I folded the cut edge under twice to create a nice clean hemmed edge. I then ironed the hem down smooth so I could easily place the no-sew tape underneath it.

Notice I cut the corner on a diagonal to finish the end.

Once the edge was nice and flat, I cut the tape to the length I needed, placed it under the hem edge and ironed it down according to the directions on the package. (Actually, I had to leave the iron on the fabric a little longer than directed for it to stick properly.)

Then I just hung it on the rod. The project did not take long at long, and I think it came out pretty well. It definitely works for me, so I’m pleased.

Related posts:

1. Simple Solutions: Freezing Casseroles My freezer almost always contains at least a couple frozen dishes of some kind. I like to freeze prepared, but...
2. Preschool Mat Dilemma Solved As my son came traipsing out of his preschool class for the last time a couple of weeks ago, he...
3. Simple Solutions: Taking Notes Do you ever get ideas or thoughts you don't want to forget at times when you are least likely to...

One of my favorite things during the Christmas season is all the yummy goodies. Yesterday, I was looking back through some pictures from a couple of years ago of my little man’s Christmas party at preschool and remembered what fun we had making cookies for his party.

We made Christmas tree and gingerbread cookies. I was thrilled at how great the Christmas trees turned out, and they were so much easier to decorate than I thought they would be.

Anybody else want to give them a whirl? You can use pretty much any rolled cookie recipe you like.

The Christmas Tree Cookie

First make sure you let the cookies cool completely before piping on the icing. Then using tinted thin icing and a small round tip, start with the yellow string.

Next fill in the branches (the green squiggles) with green icing and the trunk with brown icing. Then using the same tip add little balls all over the tree. Finally with a small star tip, place a star on the top of the tree, and you have yourself a pretty little Christmas tree.

Slightly more challenging, but totally worth it, were these cute personalized gingerbread cookies.

I actually asked the teacher for a list of names of the children in the class along with their hair color. Then I made each child a unique cookie, placed it in a cello bag, and hung a tag on the outside with his or her name.

After trying, with no luck, to find a girl gingerbread cookie cutter for the girls, I had to use a basic gingerbread cutter for all the cookies. I think they would have been much cuter if I could have found a girl cookie cutter for the girls’ cookies, but oh well.

The Gingerbread Cookie

Before decorating the cookies, grab some paper and draw outlines of the gingerbread cookies. Then design them using colored pencils or crayons, so you know what colors you want to use.

Pipe the icing on, one color at the time, referring back to the patterns you drew on paper. This helps to stay organized and make the decorating go more quickly and smoothly.

My cookies weren’t perfect, but they were fun to make

Of course, the kids didn’t seem to mind. They were just excited to see their own little cookie made just for them.

What special goodies do you like to make during the holidays?

Related posts:

1. Super Easy Valentine Cupcakes When it comes to cakes and decorating, I really like to experiment and try new things. However, last year in...
2. Race Car Birthday Party I'm so excited to be participating in the Ultimate Recipe Swap over at Life as Mom today. It's all about...

If you have a child, grandchild, other family member or friend who might enjoy receiving an email from Santa, you can easily make it happen through the Portable North Pole. I’m so excited that it’s up and running again this year.

This is a website that allows you to customize a video message that is both personal and unique from Santa to your child.

I’ve used this service the last two years for my kids and they have had a blast getting their message from Santa. You fill in some information, along with your email address, and shortly after, you’ll be emailed the video message.

It even allows you to upload a picture of your child (if you choose to). The kids are amazed when Santa opens his big book, calls them by name and even has a picture of them right there on the page. There are several other items you can also include, such as a gift your child may be receiving this year from Santa.

I encourage you to give it a try. It’s a lot of fun and really neat. In all honesty, as a parent, I think I enjoy this as much as the kids. It’s great to see their little faces light up.

All you have to do to get started is click on this link.

Related posts:

1. It’s Really All About Him!! Out of the blue, I asked my seven year old what Christmas is about. His immediate response was Jesus! Only...
2. Strategies for Handling An Overly Energetic Child Who doesn't have those times when the kids seem to be so full of energy that it's exhausting just to...