July 2010

IKEA Finds

Published on July 30, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

Every time I visit my family in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, I get a much-needed IKEA trip! Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so I couldn’t take any photos in the store. Instead, here is what I went home with.

I bought two Lack Side Tables with hopes I can make minor adjustments to the tables to make something perfect for the boys’ room.

We need to join the two tables together from the under side, but they are a great place for V to sit to look out the window.

IKEA definitely has a great selection of picture frames and even better prices, so I picked up two 20 inch square Ribba frames (with mats!) for our hallway. I need to update the family trees (the brown canvases in the hall) I made a few years ago, but I want to recreate it in Photoshop, to make the text neat and clean.

I opted to buy the silver frames for $10.99 and add a few coats of spray paint, and not buy the white frames for $19.99 each. In fact, all the silver Ribba frames were on sale, so I picked up a few other sizes, just to have some extra cheap frames on hand.

I’ll post pictures of the redesigned family trees once they’re framed and ready.

I don’t need more vases, but I couldn’t resist the clean lines of the Persika vase.

The $3.99 price tag wasn’t too bad, either. The Farm vase is cute too, so I got one of those.

The smaller vase was actually a reed diffuser from Target I picked up around the holidays. And, because everything looks better in an odd grouping, I placed a small ceramic bird to keep the vases company.

I really like IKEA’s selection of rugs. So much in fact, that I bought a new rug for our front door.

The natural fibers seem durable, but if it’s not, I only lost $10.00. I do love the neutral colors and the herringbone pattern.

Throw a few white cloth napkins, plastic cutting boards, hanging shoe organizers, mousepads and Kassett storage boxes in my big blue tarp bag and that’s what I picked up on my latest IKEA trip.

Gimme A Giveaway: Customized Stationary

Published on July 29, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble Abode19 Comments

*This giveaway is no longer accepting entries, Thank You!*

We’re back with another giveaway! I wanted to give one lucky reader one customized 8 inch by 10 inch print OR one set of 12 folded notecards from my shop, Customized Stationary.

Here are some print options:

Carved Initials:

Bird Family:

I Love You This Much:

Love Math:

Love Tree:

And here are some stationery options:

Carved Tree Stationery:

Stump Stationery:

Anemone Stationery:

Want a chance to win? Here’s how it works:

To Enter: Comment on this post to tell which print or stationery set you prefer and the colors you’d like.

Bonus: Blog, Twitter or Facebook with the giveaway link. Then, leave another comment including your blog post, Tweet or Facebook link.

Contest Closes: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 9:00 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: One!

Ships: Anywhere in the US of A.

Other Info: The winner can customize their print with colors, text such as names, family names, dates, and initials, and quantity of birds in the Bird Family print. Only one entry per e-mail address. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday, August 5th. Good luck!!

Gettin’ Thrifty With It

Published on July 28, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

When I was in Minnesota visiting my family, my sister and I went to a local thrift store. I didn’t find much, but I did get a small lidded apothecary style jar for $1.49. Last week, I went to one of our thrift stores and found a larger version for $2.99 but received 25% off, making it $2.25. Not too shabby.

I also snagged a solid marble covered jar. The price was originally $11.99, but was 50% off, making the final price $6.00.

Here they are after reuniting with a long-lost brother from Minnesota:

One big happy family again. The jars look great and add some interest, but I didn’t think they were great deals. I bought 13 books in the same trip. Again, not great deals, but definitely better than Barnes and Noble. I am most proud of the deal I received for a new rug.

This is a 6 foot by 9 foot jute rug with rubber backing. It originally was sold at Pier 1, so I should try to find what it sold for. I didn’t see a price on the rug, but there was a $49.99 sticker on the floor, near the rug. I saw there was some damage to an area and decided to ask for a price.

The thrift store worker checked and came back to me with a good price of $25.00. I asked if I could get a discount because of the damage. She asked if I meant it was stained and said they couldn’t discount for that. I explained the wear and she left to get her manager. In the mean time, I brought the rug up and un rolled it to show the damaged area.

The manager saw it and agreed that the damage was worth a discount. So, I got a 50% discount, making the price for my 6 by 9 rug $12.50! I would say that is a great deal.

Dining Table Update

Published on July 27, 2010September 9, 2010 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

You may recall that we’ve recently built a new dining table.

After using it for a few weeks, I’m happy to report that it is still as fantastic as I hoped it would be. Most visitors don’t believe it was a DIY project, either. Score!

We were a little hesitant to get a marble top because marble can stain easily, but we haven’t had any problems so far. We actually poured a little grape juice on the sample and let it sit for a good 20 minutes. Then we wiped it off and we couldn’t see a stain or any sort of discoloration. A few coats of a nice quality wax will help prevent stains, too.

Our son also loves his new fort. He couldn’t play under our old table due to the pedestal design. Another benefit when dealing with small children: the steel was spray painted, so it will be super cheap and easy to touch up down the road. Simply remove the top, haul the base outside and give the table a coat or two of plain ol’ spray paint. Heck, we could change the color if we wanted to.

The World Market chairs we picked up are comfortable, too. The size is perfect for our table. I love the color and the slightly rustic finish is a great way to disguise future wear. The stacking Target chairs are so convenient to carry up and down the stairs and are easy to store.

When we planned to build a table, we knew we would not have the option to expand the table to add leaves, but most often, our old table was at the smallest size. Over the weekend, we had several guests and missed the larger table. Only for a minute, though. This table looks so much better than our old table and all the options we could find locally. We plan to buy a card table or two for future large gatherings.

Overall, we love the table, chairs and usability of the set. With that said, I’m curious to know what piece of furniture made your lives easier?

It’s the Little Things

Published on July 26, 2010May 25, 2011 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

It’s the little things that will kill you…

We’ve decided to tackle some of the small, daunting, and/or tedious projects that have been on our to do list for some time.

First, we grouted our master bathtub seam to prevent leaks.

We had used caulking, but everything peeled when we cleaned it, leaving an open area for water to trickle.

Follow that up with some much needed cleaning. Our bathroom fan was seriously gross, so Ben cleaned that. Then we cleaned some of the hard to reach areas that never get dusted.