Easiest Curtain Valances

I'm all about fast, easy, and affordable.  Unfortunately, I have not made myself learn to sew, so sewing and making my own curtains has not been an option for me. Yet.  It's on my list to learn for summer.  Until then, though, I needed an easy fix for my awkward kitchen windows. They are corner windows above my sink.   I wanted color and a punchy pattern, but I am soooo picky about fabric that I can never seem to find curtains that I like.  I find fabric that I like, but then we're back to sewing.  Which I don't do.  Yet.

While in World Market recently, we bought these great curtains for the window by our everyday dining table.  Remember my lovely tulips I posted about a few posts ago?  I love those curtains in the background with their bright, bold pattern and all the colors in them that I needed to coordinate with surrounding rooms.

My curtains that I love.

While in World Market, a lightbulb turned on to use the matching napkins that they also sold on my kitchen windows!  I showed my husband how I would fold them over the rod and voila!  Cute valances that were a pattern I already love and match the nearby curtains!  I used 2 per window, and just overlapped until they were the width to cover the rod.  Then,  I used a piece of 2-sided tape on the inside where the 2 corners met so that it looked nicer and stayed even.  The rod was a bit tricky (uh, standing on that counter under a hot lightbulb at midnight with my husband for 20 minutes trying to rig them up there almost started WWIII...) , but once we got them up, I loved them!

We actually used this same idea on our enclosed back porch, which I will post about in the future.  I love this idea because napkins are like $3-5 bucks each, you can find them in tons of patterns and colors, and they are super-easy to "install"!  Maybe everyone already uses this idea and I've just lived in a cave somewhere...but hopefully I've given someone an idea to dress a small window that needs some easy, affordable love!