While it seems like this is just a narrative about a long lost donut I promise that there is a tutorial somewhere down there so keep reading!
A couple of weeks after we found out Maddox was going to be a boy we found ourselves spending hundreds of dollars at Pottery Barn Kids because we had fallen in love with their Jackson Nursery.
We got every whale item they had in the store and still had to special order a few things online! I remember the day that the whale valence arrived in the mail very vividly. (It's actually a little surprising just how vivid this memory is. It was over 18 months ago, but feels like yesterday!)
It was February and I had taken a day off of work for my glucose test. The test went faster than I had expected, but afterwards I felt a little faint from fasting. On my way home I stopped at Starbucks and got a decaf latte and an old fashioned donut. (I had gone light on sugar the day before in anticipation for the test, so I was having a major sugar craving!) I remember drinking the latte on my drive and saving the donut to eat at home (and share with Olive).
When I got home I threw my trash away in the outside trash bin and went inside. After a few minutes I remembered I was hungry and went looking for my donut. I checked my purse, the passenger seat, under the seats... nothing. Then I realized what had happened. In my delirium from not eating I had managed to throw away my empty latte cup, my dirty napkins, AND my overpriced, uneaten donut! I was pregnant, hungry, and in tears over what had happened. Somehow I managed to encourage Olive (who absolutely HATES riding in the car) to go with me to a closer Starbucks and get a new donut. Her reward was part of the donut. She never has to know that I intended to share the original with her anyway.
I was still a little blue about the whole situation when we got back home, but I was instantly cheered up when I saw the Pottery Barn package at the front door. I went right out and bought a curtain rod and came home to put it up. It was the last of the whale items to be displayed in the room.
I realize that was a very long-winded explanation of hanging a valence, but sometimes you have to just retell those traumatic experiences to make yourself feel better. If you have ever met a pregnant woman then you know that wasting a donut is very traumatic!
Anyways, Maddox is growing and changing everyday so his room is still a work in progress. As his needs change his room has to adapt to meet them. That cute little window with the arch, wooden blinds, and whale valence looked absolutely adorable. And for the first two months of Maddox's life he stayed in our room and we continued to think it was perfect. Then Maddox started sleeping in his room and we realized that the adorable valence did absolutely NOTHING to block light into his room. I went to Target and bought a tension rod and a blackout curtain.
It was navy, but not the same navy. It helped keep out light so I tried not to let that bother me! This worked fine for the next ten months, but then summer came. I was done with school and Maddox no longer had to wake up with the sun. But, nobody told Maddox. He continued to wake up early long into the summer. After several weeks of this I decided to do something. I searched Pinterest for how to cover an arched window and this is what I found.
I didn't want the exact look, but I knew that I could make the general idea work.
First, I gathered my materials. I used two poster sized foam boards, packing tape, craft batting (which I realize now is unneccesary), another blackout panel to match the one hanging, and a glue gun.
It took me a lot longer than you would think to get this project going. The problem was I really only had time to work on it when Maddox was asleep, but I kept forgetting to measure the window until after he was asleep so it was impossible to do anything! Then, one day last week (after a particularly early awakening) I finally remembered!
I had to act fast though because Maddox was already showing signs that he was ready for his morning nap.
Notice the empty milk container and droopy eyes. He was also nearing the end of that Jesus book (which is his all-time favorite pre-nap book). (PS- It is only a coincidence that he is wearing a whale onesie in this picture. I promise that not everything he owns is covered in whales!)
So, I quickly measured the foam board by placing it over the window and tracing the line where light met shadow. (I know, that is very technical.)
Then I cut as quickly as I could without drawing Maddox's attention to the giant pair of scissors. I placed the pieces back on the window to ensure that I had made the right cuts.
I used packing tap to tape the two pieces together as best I could and then put Maddox down for his nap. I knew that I could finish the rest outside of the room.
The reason I said earlier that I used craft batting to pad the cover was because I really wasn't sure how I was going to hang this covering once I had it made. I thought if it was cut to the size of the window and then padded up to be slightly bigger than the window then it just might wedge in there and stay up on it's own. It did not. So, do not waste your time with that step!
The next necessary thing I did was to cover the foam board with the blackout curtain. (You can just use any fabric that you want. I chose to use the blackout curtain because I wanted to match the hanging curtain. I wouldn't dare introduce a third shade of navy into the mix!) I didn't want to just cover one side of the board because I wanted it to look decent from both sides of the window.
First, I found a natural halfway crease in the curtain and lined up the flat side of my board.
I cut about two inches away from the board and followed the arch all the way around. Then, I hot glued the curtain to the edge of the board. (Remember, just ignore the batting layer.)
After I had one side hot glued on I folded the arch down and began to measure the other side about 2-3 inches out.
Then I folded over the excess and glued it to the "back" side of the arch.
The "back" side doesn't look perfect, but I don't think that anyone could see the hot glue lines from the front yard so I am not too concerned.
I finished this several days before I actually put it to use. I really wasn't sure how I was going to hang this in the window. Then I remembered these foam adhesive squares I had bought for another project.
I tried them, but there were so many grooves on the window that I could not get it to lie flat enough for all of the squares I used to touch the window and it didn't hold.
When I showed it to Konrad he said it
looked nice, but then quickly asked me why I had made it so long. I
told him that I thought it should go down a little below the valence to
keep all of the light out. Then he said, "Oh, I just thought there was a
little ledge up there that you could set it on and just lean it onto
the window." He was correct. I hadn't realized that the top of the blinds made a nice little ledge.
After sitting for a few days trying to think of a way to hang this cover without super gluing it to my window I just gave up. I got out the tape measure and measured the distance from the top of the window to the top of the blinds. Then, I measured the same distance on my board, drew a line, and started to cut.
I chopped off the bottom part which left a ragged edge. This would not have been my first choice so just remember to check for a ledge, measure twice, and cut once if you plan to try this yourself. Fortunately, you can't see the ragged edge when it is in place. The even better news is that it works great at keeping out the light! His first nap after I put up the cover was 3 hours long!
You'll notice that it does make the room a little dark for play time, but during the day we have learned to pull aside the hanging curtain and open up the blinds. We're loving it!
