So we have what's called an "eyebrow window with legs" in our home. 'Tis a lovely thing and I adore shapes and spaces that aren't plain old squares. This lovely window however is in our bedroom and lets in way too much light to get a full night's sleep. So we think we'll just get some shutters or blinds like the other houses we saw while shopping for ours. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Sticker shock. It's around $700. My first car only cost $800 so I of course freaked the heck out and started thinking how we could make a temporary, but attractive solution. Our folks are coming to stay for the holiday so pressure was on. I've been keeping a stash of paper grocery bags and was seized by inspiration. I'd like to introduce the DIY cardboard and grocery bag rose window shade.

Here's the window in question. It has half a window treatment and now we know why. The previous owners probably said to heck with $700 for one stinking shade. This made the task easier as all I needed to fill was the topmost part of the arch.

First step was piecing together some cardboard in the shape of the opening of the window. I spray-painted the back so the house doesn't look ghetto when viewing from the exterior. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate the tape and moving box view.

Now for the steps to create the three-demensional roses:

1. Draw spirals of various sizes on grocery bags. Don't worry about being too precise.

2. Cut out your spiral by simply following the lines you've drawn.

3. Start twisting the spiral from the outside end of the sprial and continue rolling the paper til finished.

4. Add a little dollop of glue to the back to secure the rose.

Next cut out some leaf shapes and get an idea of your arrangement before you start gluing things down. If your cardboard is plain you don't have to do anything to it, but mine required painting so I threw on a coat of acrylic craft paint. Next I glued down all the pieces and let it dry for a couple of hours before installing.