M-O-M-M-Y Needs C-O-F-F-E-E!

This is the sign that hangs over my kitchen sink:



It is so true!



This one is probably also true (but I don't look nearly this pulled together as I'm drinking my morning cup cups.




Hmmm... perhaps I just need one of these?!



Oh coffee, I heart you. You're always there for me. You smell so wonderfully inviting and you feel so nice and warm in my cup. You know just how to pick me up when I'm feeling not-so perky. What would I do without you?

Here's a guy who gets it. If you're not familiar with children's musician Ralph Covert of Ralph's World, give a listen here.

Now that you know of my addiction to the loveliest of legumes, it probably doesn't surprise you that I wanted a coffee themed kitchen. I didn't want the theme to be too, well, themey, so the sign is the only obvious coffee paraphenalia in the room.

The kitchen chandelier (if you can call it that) that came with our house was one of the first things to go when we moved in. It was seriously u-g-l-y. It was this weird suspended disk shape that I think was considered to be "contemporary" in 1990, when our house was built.

I got our current kitchen chandelier on craigslist (I know! You're shocked!!) for $20 and was quite pleased when I brought it home and discovered that the exact same chandelier was still selling for $135 online. I loved the chandelier but the little shades that came with it had to go. They were actually rather pretty, but the red and gold stripes were just different enough from the striped cafe curtains and valances I made for the bay window in our kitchen to look a bit odd. I almost bought new beige shades, but they were going to cost twice what I spent on the chandelier, so I figured I'd find another way.

I wanted to tie into the coffee theme, so I found this cute coffee bean fabric (kinda kitschy without being over-the-top, no?) and had to have it. I pulled off the outer fabric from the existing shades (leaving the lining in place) and used it as a pattern to cut out the coffee bean fabric. It was just two pieces per shade. I stiched the sides together, pulled what then looked like a little lampshade-shaped sleeve over each naked shade and hot glued it to the top and bottom of the shade frame. Make sense? (Sorry about my lack of photos, I did this project before I conceived of this blog!)

At this point it was about 10:00 at night and I had 4 cute little shades, except the edges were looking a bit raw. I thought about waiting until the next day to go out and buy some brown trim but my impatience and cheapness took over (I wanted it DONE! Without spending another PENNY!) and I'm glad.

I decided to glue whole coffee beans to the top and bottom of the shades and I'm pretty happy with the result.

I could have ROCKED that design star grocery store challenge!



They say necessity is the mother of invention, but I'm beginning to suspect impatience and cheapness are the more likely culprits.



I'm participating in DIY day at A Soft Place to Land. Be sure to stop by and check out all the great projects!


Love,