A week of doing...

No-Knead Artisan Loaves

from Jenny Can Cook

I made one white and one with wheat & flax seed. 

Both were delicious and easy!

 Here's another easy recipe from Jenny Can Cook.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I've made lots cinnamon rolls in my day, but these are the BEST.

I like that this is a small recipe and only makes a 

9" round pan of eight rolls.

Today I spent the morning making

"Grammy's Lotions and Potions" as my kids call them.

This is my toothpaste.

 It's got dirt in it (bentonite clay).

I like dirt. 

I like cinnamon, cloves, and peppermint in my toothpaste.

 Homemade Toothpaste  from Wellness Mama.

I also made

Magnesium Body Butter

and my favorite...

Bee Butter

(or Non-Petroleum Jelly)

2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil (4 T.)

1/2 ounce beeswax pastilles (1 T.)

1-2 t. raw honey (opt.)

Essential oils -- 12 drops (opt.)

In double boiler over simmering water, combine the olive oil and beeswax and slowly heat until wax has melted.  Remove mixture from heat and cool about 10 minutes, then add honey and/or essential oils of choice.  Beat with small whisk until creamy.If it separates a little, just stir it up.

Makes: 1/4 cup of bee butter.  Store in glass jar with screw top lid.  Keeps up to one year.

Uses:  Face cream, hand cream, body cream, chapped lips, dry feet, eczema.  The beeswax gives the skin a protective barrier from the elements:  weather, dry air, wind, sun, and pollutants. 

These are the pumpkins I decorated.

 I know... who spends time painting flowers on pumpkins

or making a patchwork pumpkin?

I do.

I like to create. 

 I just do. 

 So I do.

Inspiration from Alisa Burke! 

Do you see my rolled up hose on the porch?

I still haven't put it away because it's been warm here.

But it is supposed to get cold again.

 Oh, and speaking of the porch,

I finally oiled it!  

Another project ticked off the list!

We sold our steer calves this week at the local sale barn.
 

What fall projects are you doing?

Cabinet painting...

I love how the sunshine is coming low into the windows with the short, fall days.  I had to click this pic of our applesauce in the glowing sunlight of late afternoon.  My daughters and one of their friends came and we had a big day of making applesauce a week ago.  It was fun and busy with twelve children running hither and yon while we were busy in the kitchen.

I've been painting my lower cabinets for several weeks.  My cabinets are only 5 years old, and were  put in new in 2012.  They were chipping and getting water damaged, especially around the sink, and so I decided it was time to repair them and repaint.  My cabinets were all cream like the upper cabinets.  I chose to go with Annie Sloan's chalk paint in French Linen for the lower cabinets.  I am really happy with the results.  It is not perfect, but it is perfect enough for me.  After priming and painting them with two coats of chalk paint, I then sealed them with three coats of MinWax Poly-crylic in a flat finish.  Traditionally, Annie Sloan paint is sealed with wax, but I chose a hard sealant by using the poly to keep water problems at bay.  The poly was a water-based latex so it was easy to apply, clean up,  and it dried fast between coats.

I'm linking a great little web page here that shows you all of the Annie Sloan colors as well as what they look like when you apply the dark wax to them.  This same site has lots of tips for painting with Annie Sloan chalk paint.   However, I do recommend you go to a store that carries the paint and take a look at their samples.  I was lucky to have a store nearby that carried the paint AND she had many samples of re-furbished furniture and lamps and mirrors that she used AS paint on.  That was great for me because I was leaning towards another color--Paris Gray-- but when I was able to see the French Linen next to Paris Gray, I knew I wanted the French Linen color.  I think it looks very homey and warm in my kitchen, and now I'm breathing a sigh of relief that I am DONE!  I think it will show less dirt in my very lived-in ranch house too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Homemade Le Poo Pourri....

For those times when the bathroom smells like

 a fresh cow patty or the chicken coop,

you need homemade Le Poo Pourri.

Perhaps you've seen the famous video-ad for the original

Poo Pourri.  Click here -- It is SO funny!

We all know about those unspeakable stenches

that emanate from the bathroom, 

but what to do if we have none of the original

Poo Pourri on hand?

Make some!

and fast!

Here's how.  

In a small spray bottle mix:

2 tablespoons of alcohol

20 drops or so of your favorite essential oils

Shake.

Now fill up the bottle with water and shake again.

Before you go #2, squirt 4 sprays of Le Poo Pourri

in the toilet water.  Then do your business.

No stinky.

For good measure, 

you can give the room a little spritz or two.

I have also used my homemade Le Poo Pourri

in the mud room when the dogs are making a stink.

Or when I can't be sure I've gotten rid of all traces of

cow manure off the rugs. It helps.

This spray helps with kitchen odors too.

Enjoy!

First calves born....

Yesterday this lil heifer calf was born to a first-time mama.  We've had some pretty nice days lately, and Mama picked a good day to bring her baby into the Big Ol' World!  Two more heifer calves were born today.  We should be on a roll with new babies coming daily!

Meanwhile, I've been taking advantage of these warm days by washing our filthy coats and gloves after lambing season.  Not that we won't get dirty during calving season.  We will.  But you know, sometimes you just hafta start fresh even though you know you're going to get dirty again in no time.  I've also been washing the mud room rugs and putting them in the sunshine to dry.  The clothes line is getting a good spring workout with all those work clothes.  The sheets went on the line to dry this morning, and I can hardly wait to climb into crisp, sun-dried, wind-whipped sheets tonight!  Oh, the lovely smell!  I've been airing the house too with windows wide open while the 60 degree breezes blow through and carry the stale air out.  I spent a little time soaking in some sunshine and indulging in my current book:  The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge.  It might be my favorite book, but then again, I have quite a few favorite books! 

I hope you've had a nice Saturday.  What's new at your house?

First paper towels and windex...

We had a beautiful day yesterday with a temperature of 58 degrees and sunshine!  Wow!  I decided it was time to give the front room's windows and doors a good washing-up.  Between kids and dogs and weather and barn grime, the windows were really disgusting.  I decided to go back to the Good Old Days when I learned how to use newspaper and vinegar for washing windows.  I call it The First Paper Towels and Windex.  And do you know how effective these tools are?  Very!  No streaks.  Just clean and shiny.  I always make sure I'm drying the windows with a dry piece of newspaper for a streak-free shine.  The only downside to this method is that your hands will have some of the inky residue from the paper, but it washes off.  I don't know why the ink doesn't come off on the windows, but it doesn't.  Newspapers are also great for cleaning the glass on the wood-burning stove and car windows. Growing up at home, we used newspaper and brown paper bags for draining fried foods and for cooling cookies.

Here we are -- clean and shiny windows!  I feel like I just cut my bangs!  I can see!  Do you have any tips for washing windows or for any other cleaning chore?  What are some of your favorite cleaning tools or cleaners?

Chokecherry jelly...

It's been a few years since I've had any chokecherries left on the branches for a batch or two of jelly.   Every year it's a race with the birds to see who can get to the chokecherries first.  This time I picked my chokecherries a little earlier than I would like, but hey, I have birds to contend with!  The whole time that the grandkids and I were picking, the robins were really giving us the dickens!  They twirted at us quite a bit, telling us to get out of their chokecherry bushes and to leave  their berries alone.  I was so proud of the kids for sticking with our chore.  It takes a long time to pick a single gallon of chokecherries because they are so small.  

After picking the berries, the whole jellying process had only just begun.  We sorted through the chokecherries for stems and leaves and then washed them, picking through them some more.  After the wash, we poured the chokes into a big pot with enough water to just cover them for the boil.  We simmered them to get the cherries to release their juice (maybe a half hour or so).  I like to give them a little squish with a potato masher as they soften.  After juicing comes the Big Squeeze.  I poured the hot chokecherries and juice through a colander lined with a clean tea towel which was placed over a gallon ice cream bucket.  After the berries cool down a little, I wring the tea towel over a bowl to collect every drop of juice I can get.  Then I hang it from the cupboard door to let it drip a little more over the bucket.  The juice goes back into the big pot along with lemon juice and the pectin.  It gets stirred and brought to a boil.  Then the sugar is added and two more minutes of boiling and Viola!  jelly!

The girls were excited to lick every sticky utensil we used.  Then it was time to sample it on bread.  I'm only sorry I didn't have a fresh loaf to smear the jelly on,  but our store-bought bread worked just fine.  It was tasty if I do say so myself.  

If you have chokecherries nearby that you can pick, you might like to try this recipe from a Ranch Mom.  She has some nice step-by-step pictures to walk you through the process on her blog.  I liked this recipe  better than anything I've ever tried before.  I think it's the lemon juice that makes all the difference.   And maybe because she's a ranch mom!  

Choke Cherry Jelly

Author: Kay Schrock

 

Ingredients

• 3.5 cups chokecherry juice
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon butter or margarine
• 1 pkg dry pectin (1.75 oz)
• 4½ cups of sugar

Instructions

1. Pour juices in kettle.
2. Add pectin, stir.
3. Bring to a boil, add sugar.
4. Boil and stir for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, skim.
6. Ladle into jars.
7. Process in hot water bath for 5 minutes.
8. Cool undisturbed for 24 hours.

Simple things: the art of folding...

Now normally, I'm not one to show the insides of my drawers

until today!

I've never learned how to fold like this,

and it makes all the difference in the world in organizing drawers

while using less space for storing clothing.
(Great way to pack a carry-on too!)

A young friend of my daughter's, and a friend of mine too,

said she was "tidying up" her home.
First she started with sorting all her clothing, discarding anything
that didn't bring her joy.
That's the key to Marie Kondo's methods.

 Our friend read the book:

Actually, she listened to the audio book for free here.

I started listening today whilst I was sewing four nighties for grandies.

It's really great!  I've learned a lot.

One of the things I learned was how to fold clothes so they are neat, tidy,

and take up much less space in the drawers,

AND the best part is

 you can see ALL of your clothes upon opening the drawer!

No more buried tank tops at the bottom of the drawer.

I love that.

 tanks, slips, swimsuit

 jeans and pants

 t-shirts, shorts, lounge pants

bras and undies

If you're interested in how to fold clothes like this and organize your clothing,

you can click on over to a couple short videos:

perfect underwear drawer

tanks and tees 

sweaters and hoodies 

pants

socks and stockings
A short article on 8 Decluttering Lessons from Kondo's book

Now go clean your drawers and start folding!

It'll make you smile!

I promise.

31 Days of Living Well and $pending ZERO

The kitchen pantries/cupboards were dumped out and wiped clean.

 Threw out the outdated stuff and organized.

 One of two upright freezers.  

This one holds two shelves of cow colostrum.

Clean, organized and room for other items.

The refurbed trunk has all the games in it.

Tossed out the stuff we don't play. Not on the to-do list, but why not?

There's a new challenge going on.  Actually, it's not new.  There are lots of bloggers doing a 31 Days of _______ for October.   One of them is 31 Days of Spending Zero over at Living Well Spending Less,  and it's the one that OnlyDaughter and I are doing together.  For the first couple days of the challenge, we are cleaning out our pantries and freezers and taking inventory of what we have.  Last night I spent the evening emptying out my two pantries.  One in the kitchen and one in the mud room.  Oh dear.  What chaos.  Plenty of food -- some outdated, some good -- but all of it in great need of organizing and putting to rights.  The other positive in this exercise is that my pantries are clean and shiny, and I know what's in there.  I don't try to totally organize cupboards in a different way because I'm of the age that I won't remember where I put something if I change things up too much, but having finished the tasks of cleaning and inventorying my pantries and freezers has been just lovely.  This way we know what we will be eating for the next 31 days because we will be eating down our pantries and freezers.  This is a much needed exercise for me since I am a ranchwife who has practiced building a well-stocked pantry and freezer for 34 years, and sometimes I just keep on stocking and stocking and don't move too much food out.  At least not like it was when we had five kids to feed every day.  With just the two of us now, we don't need quite the stockpile we used to.  Still, it's hard to take that "be prepared for anything" habit away now that I've been practicing it for so many years.  I won't quit, but I will modify.  At least I'll try.

Today we are supposed to plan a month's worth of meals using the foods in our pantries and freezers.  We will allow ourselves to buy just a few basics each week.  Things like milk, bread, eggs, cheese, toilet paper, etc.  Or whatever your few essentials are.  Mine will be milk, cheese and maybe some fresh fruit.  I'm lucky to have plenty of eggs and garden produce this month.  My daughter says we should barter with each other for a few food items since I have some things she'd like (eggs) and she has a few things I'd like.  This is all *legal* in the Zero Spending game.  The goal is to use what you have, use it up, go without, or find a way to get what you need without spending money.  I think the challenge will also help us to realize how little we really do need when we are focusing on just the essentials -- food, shelter, heat, gas in the tank.  In America it's just so easy to think that our essentials are much more than that.  I did a version of the Spending Zero last October and I was amazed at what I had left in the checking account that month.  It's a good way to "save" for a few Christmas presents or for something you might be needing -- like a new sewing machine.

 I'm planning to go through my cook book:  Autumn From the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch.  There are many delicious recipes -- and inspiration -- that I can cook and bake with the things in my pantry, freezer and garden.  Plus... what fun to try some new-to-us recipes from a very good cooker!

So....if you're interested, click on over to Living Well Spending Less and join us!  There are lots of tips and ideas that are given each day that will help you through this month of spending ZERO.  I'm excited!

One more thing I want to share with you.  A night or two ago while surfing the web for an article, I found an archive of Laine's Letters.  As a young mom I remember reading through many of her letters and being so encouraged.  I knew she did not have her website up anymore, but I was excited to find a web archive of her letters from many, many years ago.  Within the letters you will find lots of excellent ideas for homemaking on a budget, thrifty recipes, advice for living with husbands and children, and doing it under the banner of God's love.  Good stuff.  I look forward to read through them again.

........................................................................................

Here's a tip from Laine's Letter called: 25 Easier Ways:

3) Set your table early in the day, if possible. It will just motivate you to cook! And it looks so welcoming to your husband when he comes home. Your children will look on in anticipation as well.

Scrappy little beginning...

I have a new craze.  String quilting.  Bits and pieces of scrappy strips are called strings, and they are sewn down, one upon another, to a muslin square or paper square.  It's addicting!   Nothing has to be perfect with string quilting -- which is my kind of quilting from time to time.  I like that I'm using up a gob of scraps.  I was beginning to wonder if I'd live with a huge bag of scraps for my whole life and then pass it down to my children who would think I was some kind of hoarder-packrat person.  But no!  My scrap collection is going to good use instead. Repurposed, so to speak. Some of the scrippy-scraps are from past baby quilts, dresses, totes, bibs, shirts and who-knows-what.  So there are memories built into each quilt. 

I promised myself I could start my day with an hour of sewing and then I would go on with the  *work* part of my day.  Most of the time, I put my sewing very last after all the work-y tasks are done. It was such a treat to put sewing first today!  String quilting is so addicting that  I went over my alloted time by fifteen minutes because I just HAD to finish the block I was working on.  (naughty me)  I got three squares done in my hour and just made one more this afternoon so I'd have a complete square (made of 4 squares).  Fun!  This quilt is going to be my own. Yes, my own baby quilt for the crib that is in my sewing room where my sweet grandbabies sleep when they stay with us.  I'm so excited to have my very own baby quilt once again.  ~smile~

If you want to watch a really good video on how to make string quilts, click HERE.  And be prepared to want to do nothing else for hours on end! 

More mending with little details...

 This time I patched a pair of girl jeans on the outside.  I embroidered the patches first and then machine sewed them on.  Only the knees are my embroidery.  The other was factory stitched.  

(I love the factory stitching.  Cute!)

 Patched a major rip on Hubs' jeans.  The patch is underneath the rip and then sewed over with denim colored thread so it doesn't show much.  I stitched the Xs around the rip for fun.

I put total fronts on Hubby's jeans, patching over the top. They look almost like chaps covering the legs. The jeans will be extra-warm when the weather turns cold. These two small embellishments are  in fairly obscure spots -- tiny signs that I was the mender of the Man's jeans.

We'll see if he notices.

Leaves are falling...

Remember that cold week I told you about?  The one where the low temperatures were hovering around 22 degrees?  Yeah, that one.  Well, it's long past and now it's on to Indian Summer, just what I wanted.  Cool mornings, warm, sunny afternoons, and cool, crisp nights.  It's good weather for me, and it's good weather for leaf-turning.  The poplar tree in the yard is releasing its golden leaves while most of the other trees are just beginning to turn.  Gold is the prominent color here except for some rich red Halogeton which grows in the alkali flats in some of our pastures.  It's pretty to look at, but poisonous to livestock. 

I've been doing lots of things lately.  I took a hike with my son, GentleSasquatch, in Spearfish  Canyon where we went to Community Caves and then to 420 Cave.  (Here's a link to his blog.) Both were steep climbs with high look-outs amidst sandstone rock caves.  It was great fun.  I so loved the varied mountain plants and awe-full views from rock cliffs.  I kept wanting Sasquatch to take pictures, but we both knew they would never turn out just like we saw them with our own two eyes.  S. made the comment:  "The best cameras in the world cannot see like the human eye.  They only wish they could capture what we see."  True.  He does have some nifty fotos on his blog of the views from 420 Cave if you care to take a look.  Here's us (duo-selfie).

I finished up two batches of Zucchini Salsa.  O man!  It was good stuff!  The only tweak I made to the first batch was to add five jalapenos to the recipe for a little extra heat.  The second batch I added more jalapenos for more heat.  The recipe was one of the very best canned recipes I've made.  The taste and texture is a lot like Pace Picante sauce.  Click here for the dandy recipe.

Our local sweet corn grower is calling it quits for the season today.  JJo and I went a couple days ago to fetch several dozen ears of that delicious sweet corn to freeze.  She processed six dozen and I did ten.  By the end of the day, I had 44 pints of delicious corn-off-the-cob for my freezer stash, much more than Hubs and I need, but we can always share it with our kids and guests.

I think I'm done canning except for applesauce.  My dad's apple trees are bursting with beautiful apples so I intend to get some homegrown sauce made and maybe a little apple butter too.  Dad has an apple press; I'm hoping to help him press some fresh apple juice.  Yum!

Our basement, which had the sewer backup problem, is now fixed.  It feels like a totally new place, even though all that was done was drywall repair, texture, and paint, and a new carpet laid in the bedroom and living room, hall, and stairs.  Oh, it's so nice.  All I have left is to finish painting the closet doors and set up the bedroom again.  I'm so blessed to have CarpetnerSon here to fix things up for me.

Now the men are on to a new project -- building a shop that looks like an old barn.  I'm so excited.  CarpenterSon really needed his own space to do his thing and so the men decided to go ahead and build it while we've still got the good weather to get it up.  So far they have the cement poured and the rafters built.  Next the walls will go up and the rafters too.  They'll try to enclose it before wet weather comes our way.

I think that's all that is on my mind for now.  One more thing that I've been thinking about, actually.  From My Utmost for His Highest today, excerpts:

Show to the other man what God has shown to you; and God will give you ample opportunities in actual life.  To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God's interests in other people.  "That you love one another as I have loved you." God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly.

What are you up to these days?

Good, simple things...

 Sage Grouse grazing in the flower gardens.

 A pop-up afternoon thunderstorm brought us a good rain, a half inch.

There was a lightning strike and another fire north of us, 

but it was short lived and rained out.

 

 Just before the storm, I ran out and picked a big head of lettuce.

This is a Butterhead.

 

 My new Birkenstocks.  

Hippie Flower.

Playing in the kiddie pool with the grands.

 Sunflowers blooming inside and outside the fence.

 

The subtitle of this blog post was going to be "Oh Poop!"  Can you guess why?  The septic backed up.  Joe Dirt (that's his business name) came and pumped the septic tank but there was digging that needed to be done to fix the problem.  Thanks be to God for good men who know how to do this kind of work.  Our men rented a backhoe from town and had the problem fixed in an afternoon.  Gotta love 'em!  The backyard's a little messy for now, the bathroom still stinks, but I can flush and wash up the dishes!   You know what Erma Bombeck said, "The grass is always greener over the septic tank."  It was, and it will be again!

We had a nice family gathering yesterday with twenty of us here.  I made Indian Tacos and all the womenfolk brought things to help out with the meal.    The littles had fun in the spa (pool) while the grown-ups talked and while observing all the splashing and screaming.  I made that really delicious Basil Lemonade,  and everyone enjoyed it.  JJo wondered if we could do something with all the lemon & lime leftovers, and I remembered citrus-infused vinegar.  I had an extra gallon so we scooped all that goodness into a mason jar and poured white vinegar over it.  It already smells good and will be nice for homemade cleaning products.  Ever tried it?

Addendum on Lemonade:
If you don't have sweetened condensed milk, you can add another 1/4 cup of sugar (or to your taste) to the simple syrup and proceed with the instructions.  I have also used a combination of lemons & limes for a different twist.  The limes definitely give it a really fun flavor.

Towels & dishes & sandals...

 "Can I use a towel as He did?  Towels and dishes and sandals, all the ordinary sordid things of our lives, reveal more quickly than anything what we are made of.  It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the meanest duty as it ought to be done."
~Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest

I remember well the days when I was a young, busy mother of five.  There were loads of towels and heaps of dishes and the mud room was lined with dirty boots and shoes and flip flops.  It seemed my work was never done.  Then there were the rare days when someone brought a hearty casserole in a tin pan that didn't need to be returned to the giver.  Why does a casserole like that taste so good? And why does sitting at the neighbor's table for a meal feel so luxurious?  I remember gathering the children from the grandparents after a hard day's work to find them fed and bathed and in their jammies.  These are  loving gifts that can only be given with the hands and the heart.

This past weekend was a week of towels (and wash cloths and rags) and dishes and sandals.  The newest grandchild was born and the Littles were with us while Mommy and Daddy were away.  Can I use a towel like Jesus did?  I hope so.  Just when I think God might not be using me, way out here in the middle of nowhere, He makes me understand that my assignment is simple.  With love, towel off little girls after a bath; with love, cook up a healthy meal for my people and joyfully wash up the dishes;  with love, strap on little sandals several times a day and then strap on my own so together we can go out to play in the sunshine.  Our chores are ordinary, constant, unseen by many, but may we do them out of love, and scatter joy wherever we are.  When the Littles are not here, I ask God to remind me that my Dearheart is also in need of towels and dishes and sandals boots.  Just because there are less of us at home, does not mean that I neglect doing the same things with hands and heart for him, for us.

Tasha Tudor, simple life...

 

 Happy Birthday Tasha Tudor!

I just love this picture of Tasha Tudor and some children picking berries.  It reminds me of her simple ways.  Above all things, she lived off the land and made use of everything she grew.  And wasn't it a beautiful life?  Sometimes I think the simplest, quietest, humblest things are the very best things.  Picking berries is an art in itself which probably ended in making jelly or jam, and what is better than homemade jam spooned onto a slice of hot buttered toast?  Simple, but good.

Today my daughter, G., and I worked in the kitchen all day making apple sauce and apple butter.  G's hubby picked the apples from their neighbor's tree, a Cortland Apple Tree, which I am in want of now. The Cortland produces the prettiest red blushed apples -- a cross between a Ben Davis and a McIntosh apple.  (I looked it up.)  The tree is beautiful.  I think it would be considered a semi-dwarf which makes it easy to pick and quite compact and loaded with fruit.  The apples are white fleshed and sweet.  We hardly added any sugar to our apple sauce and apple butter.  We could have probably made it totally without sugar, but we decided it added a little more depth of flavor with the addition of sugar.  The sauce is a creamy color and not as gold as the photo shows here.  The grandgirls enjoyed their small bowls of sauce as we had scrapings and left-over globs that did not round out our jars.  G. and I had a piece of hot toast with a sampling of the apple butter scraped out of the roaster at the end of its baking.  Oh, so good!  Even though we did not plan to celebrate Tasha Tudor's birthday with our apple saucing, we did it quite by coincidence, and we honor her just the same.  We honor all those who continue the simple arts of home making that Tasha held dear.

  

For the record, today we made 40 pints of apple sauce and apple butter combined.  More to come since we haven't totally picked the Cortland entirely.  Good for us!  What are your favorite homemaking arts?

Napkin trick...

This summer I've been having fun doing a napkin trick at my kitchen sink window.  I bought a package of varicolored napkins at Target a while ago -- two napkins of each color.  Every so often I change them out.   I love the look of cafe curtain rings and cheery colors right where I do my daily kitchen chores. 

I did the turquoise napkin trick first of all and then followed it up with yellow napkins (currently in the laundry), and now I'm sporting the 1970s orange look.  One thing I do that makes the napkins look more "curtainy" is to press them into quarters.  Then when they hang, they look crisp and neat and more like a curtain.  I first saw the brilliant idea at Flower Patch Farmgirl here.   I'm keeping an eye out for pretty napkins, and I'm thinking about making a few both to use and to hang at the window.  Do you use cloth napkins at home?  I especially like them, but paper napkins are sure handy, aren't they?