quick, cheap and easy

we live in an old house. an ooooooooold house. she's about 85. {sidenote: if you indeed are 85, you are not oooooooooooold. you are young and spry and beautiful} because of the age of our house it is impossible to heat. 2 years ago john insulated the attic and that has helped, but old double hung windows, charming in the spring, do nothing to keep out the cold. as a matter of fact, when it is windy outside i can stand in front of a window and my hair blows. at this time we can't afford to replace the 18 windows in our home, so we must improvise. here is a quick, cheap and easy solution i have found.

i bought 4 yards of quilted batting and hung it up. it was really that easy! because of the nature of the product you don't have to sew up the edges (in full disclosure i did, but you don't HAVE to). you can just cut and hang. and to make the deal even sweeter, the kids and i walked down the block to and empty lot full of bamboo, grabbed a fallen piece and brought it home. john snipped off the branches, screwed it into the wall and that was that. i sewed some strips of scrap fabric to the top of the curtain, tied them around the 'rod' and called it a day. i was surprised to find how well it worked. some cold air does get pushed out of the bottom, but there is a drastic difference between when they are drawn and when they are open.
quilted batting is cheap. you can get it for $2-$3 a yard at most fabric stores. here are some other quick, cheap and easy insulation ideas:

1. keep the blinds closed all day until late afternoon when the sun is at its hottest. then open up and let the sun shine!
2. make insulation snakes to lay on window sills and door thresholds.
3. tape bubble wrap to the windows. be sure to cover all cracks and openings. classy and affordable!