Blinds do-it-yourself - 3 master classes with photos

Content

Master class number 1: Pleated blinds from wallpaper
Master class number 2: Blinds from newspaper tubes
Master class number 3: Decor shutters

If the purchase of new blinds does not fit into your plans or budget, but you have one free evening and a charge of creative inspiration, then we suggest you make your own blinds from improvised means.

We have compiled 2 step-by-step workshops, how to make blinds with your own hands and 1 workshop on how to update and beautifully decorate horizontal blinds.

Master class number 1: Pleated blinds from wallpaper

You can make such paper blinds in just a couple of hours, and if you have left the wallpaper after the repair, then you don’t even have to go to the store. Blinds-plisse will last for about a year, and then you can just make new ones, because it’s so simple, beautiful and economical. And still paper blinds perfectly are suitable for decoration of windows of country houses and joint creativity with children.

To make the blinds from the wallpaper as in the photo above you will need:

A roll of paper wallpaper (only suitable paper, as vinyl and non-woven will not be able to gather in an accordion);
Auxiliary materials: scissors or stationery cutter, ruler, pencil;
Awl or hole punch (better awl);
The rope is longer than the height of the window and is 5-7 mm thick or a thin satin ribbon;
The clamp with a trailer of suitable color;
If desired, two more tapes of any width and 2.5 times the length of the window. These ribbons are only for decoration;
Double-sided tape (or glue) and velcro to match the wallpaper, if you want to make curtains with a "swag" on the edge.

Instruction:

First you need to cut a piece of wallpaper of the desired length from the calculation: the height of the window is + 30 cm. Then you need to assemble the canvas into an accordion. You can do it by sight, but pleating will be more accurate if you preliminarily line the wallpaper from the back side into stripes 2.5-3 cm wide. A ruler will help you to bend the wallpaper smoothly, and you can iron and fix the bends - a pencil or a pen.
Now the resulting accordion from the wallpaper should be collected, measured and marked in the middle of the first "slats" and make a through hole in this place with the help of sewing. You can use the hole punch, but then the holes will have to be made in parts and the holes will not turn out in the middle of the “slats”, but a little closer to the edge, but they will be neater and wider. Next, take the rope and carry it through the harmonica. If the rope is synthetic, then its tip can be slightly burned to make it sharp, then it will be easier to put the rope through the holes.
The end of the rope on the first top "lamella" must be tied into a knot so that it does not slip out of the hole, and the tip itself can either be left to tie curtains to the ledge, or cut if you want to glue and attach the curtains directly to the window frame.
At this stage, it is also possible to glue a solid base to the first lamella, for example, cardboard, a plastic corner or a thin rail, so that it can be used to hang the blinds on the windows.
At the lower end of the rope (at the bottom of the curtains) we put on the retainer and collect our curtains to the desired level.Now, on the right and left ends of the wallpaper, we glue the velcro with glue or double-sided tape, then we glue these velcro and ... woo-ala! We get blinds-pleated with "Swag".
And finally, fasten our curtains on the window.

Tips:

How to make a horizontal blinds-pleated without frills

If you want to make horizontal blinds without a swag, then you need to make through holes in two places, as shown in the picture to the right. And, of course, in this case, you will need either two ropes, or one long one. And to make horizontal blinds more interesting, you can decorate them with ribbons, which, moreover, will hide the ropes and fix the curtains at the right level. See an example of such decor in the photo below.

Instead of the latch, you can use a button of a suitable size with two or three holes as shown in the photo below.

Of course, each accordion blank can be cut to the width. But, as a rule, wallpaper with a standard width of 53-55 cm is quite suitable for a standard window. But if you need more blinds, then you can choose wallpaper 1 m wide.

But a selection of photos of different ideas for your inspiration.

Master class number 2: Blinds from newspaper tubes

If you prefer ethno or eco-style, then you can make paper blinds from newspapers, or rather from newspaper tubes. This method will require a little more time and effort from you, but such blinds will last longer.

Tip: if desired, instead of newspaper tubes, you can use wooden rods, plastic tubes, or reed.

To make the curtains of newspaper tubes you need:

For a single window 1 m high, it is necessary to prepare about 200 painted and dried newspaper tubes a little longer than the width of the window;
Auxiliary materials: scissors and white glue;
A string of rope to match the tubes, for example, for the blinds in ethno-or eco-style, jute twine or simply from caprone will do;
Rings for curtains (2 pcs.);
If desired, a lock with a trailer in order to make the lifting mechanism.

How to twist the newspaper tubes and lengthen them look in this video tutorial from the experienced craftswoman Elena Tishchenko:

And here is a useful video on how to paint newspaper tubes also from Elena Tishchenko:

Tip: paint the tubes, imitating the cane twigs, you can stain brown, beige, beige-olive or gray-beige.

Instruction:

Newspaper tubes are laid out in a row on the floor and leveled;
We begin to tie the tubes with each other: we fold a long string in half, we put a ring on it for fastening on the window, we tie one or two knots, then we tie the first tube and also do 1-2 knots, take the second and repeat the steps until all the tubes will contact. Then we proceed to tying the tubules from the opposite edge, but this can be done in parallel with the first row.

Connecting newspaper tubes with a chain of air loops

Tip: you can connect the tubes with a chain of air loops as shown in the photo on the right.

Now we need to align the edges of the blinds. To do this, mark with a ruler the cutting line of newspaper twigs (curtains all over the canvas) and carefully cut off the excess with scissors, moving upwards.
Finally, proceed to the manufacture of the lifting mechanism. To do this, you just need to tie one loop to the top and bottom edges of the curtain (in the middle), from the back side of the blinds, thread and fix the rope to the bottom loop, and then stretch it to the top loop. At the end of the rope, you need to put a retainer with a trailer so that by pulling the rope you can easily raise the curtain halfway and fix it in this position.

Master class number 3: Decor shutters

Boring "office" plastic, bamboo or wooden blinds can be updated with your own hands and decorated specifically for the color scheme and style of the interior room.

To decorate the blinds as in the photo above you will need:

Wallpaper or any colored paper;
Plastic, wooden or bamboo blinds;
PVA glue and brush;
Scissors;
Ruler, pencil.

Instruction:

We measure the width, length and number of lamellas;
On a roll of wallpaper draw stripes in the same quantity and the same width and length as the lamellae;
Then we mark on the markings the places of the holes into which the ropes are threaded - here the strips will need to be cut into three parts so that in the future we can bypass these places in the process of pasting lamellae;

Cut the stripes along the marked lines and, as already mentioned, cut each strip into three parts. If you need to save a picture or pattern of wallpaper, then you need to cut the paper in a strict sequence, and in order not to get confused, you can make notes on the back;
Finally, glue the paper strips on the slats. It is not scary if the strips will not go quite exactly, as a result, the flaws will not be very noticeable.