grommets anyone?

I am having the hardest time finding grommets for my curtains. I need grommets that have 1 inch centers. I have looked at all of the big craft and sewing stores (JoAnn, Hobby Lobby, Hancock) and all they have are plastic ones. I would be interested to see if those kind work, but they have not been recommended for my heavy weight curtains. See we are basically doing "block out" curtains in the bedroom to hopefully keep the temp. down in there since we have 5 windows that the sun shines brightly into every morning at the crack of dawn. Our bedroom is the hottest room in the house, so hopefully the 'window treatments' will help.... if we can ever get them hung. I planned on putting grommets in them and kind of have my heart set on it so I don't want to change. Today I called every listing under drapery, upholstery, window treatments, and sewing supplies in the yellow pages. Nobody could help me. They say the size of metal grommets I'm looking for requires a special tool that costs about $150... but other people have told me I can put them in with a hammer. I'm willing to try the hammer if I could just get my hands on the little metal rings. I've also looked on the Internet and unfortunately have only found wholesale sites that will sell me a box of 500. No thanks. So, sorry to bore you about the woes of my new hobby, but does anyone have any suggestions??

PS: I found out today that my calling in life is not to be a dog groomer. Yikes! I tried clipping Judge's nails and clipped too far on 2 of them. Boy did they bleed!! I had to bandage up 2 paws with strips of cloth. He was so cute with his little paw 'casts' on. I'll upload pics tomorrow. I can't find my cord right now. Stay tuned!