Month: August 2010

Craft Day

Published on by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

It has been unbearably hot the past few weeks.  By no means am I an outdoors kind of girl, so, we have worked on a few craft projects lately. 

I recently saw a great pantry overhaul that I fell in love with.  Especially the patterned walls.  To bring some life and pattern to our entertainment center, I painted the same quatrefoil pattern on a magazine file.  I simply printed the stencil and used a xacto knife to cut it out.  Then, I traced the pattern the painted file and filled it in.  It took some time, but I think it adds much-needed life to the space.

I have meant to make a terrarium for months now, and finally got around to it.  We had some moss growing on our back patio, so I dug it up.  I had a few apothecary jars already, so I placed a few rocks in the bottom and added my moss.  Because no terrarium is complete with out small critters, I bought some polymer clay.  Then I shaped the clay into birds and a squirrel and inserted wire in the base.  Following the instructions, I baked for my animals for 20 minutes and let them dry.  Now for the fun part, painting.  To add color, I used plain acrylic paints from Michael’s.  After a few base coats, I was ready to start adding details.  Add a few eyes, wings, beaks and noses and I had a set of animals for my terrarium.

I’ll post pictures of the terrariums soon, but I still have a few things to finish.

I hope to change out some items in our boys’ room to add some color.  To start things off, I updated Ev’s bird mobile.  I reused the light blue birds, but made new green and yellow birds to give it a new look.   

You can easily make your own bird mobile; go here for a tutorial.  Have you done any craft projects recently?

Friday Gimme a Giveaway Winner!

Published on by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

First of all, I want to thank everyone that entered to win.  But, I really want to thank everyone for their kind words and support!  What a great group of people!  Now, on to the giveaway winners!

Our first winner is Nancy, who liked the love tree.  Then we have… Jordan P, who also preferred the love tree.

The last winner of the Friday Gimme a Giveaway is Ashley who would love the carved tree print for her wedding since her fiancé carved their initials in a tree when they went on their first hike together.

Congrats to all the winners.  For those that didn’t win, we do sell the featured prints in our shop, and if you mention this giveaway, you’ll get 25% off!  Keep reading to have a chance to win one of our future giveaways.

Weekend Painting: Magnet Board

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

We’re in painting moods lately!  Last weekend, we repainted our dining room and over this past weekend, a little more painting took place.  On Saturday, I painted a magnet board for Vincent’s room. 

Before I had my office in the basement, I was using our little desk upstairs to run my stationery shop.  I used this board to keep papers and track my current orders.  Now that I have a magnetic backsplash, Vincent needs this board more than I do.  He has been using the side of the refrigerator to play with his alphabet letters, but many of the letters get kicked under.  Enter, the new magnet board.  Here it was before I painted.

I picked up Valspar’s  Bumblebee Spray paint to use on the frame and used a can of flat white spray paint to paint the metal.

I made a little set up of 5 gallon buckets outside and got ready to paint.

Pass about 10 minutes and I had one coat on the steel and frame.

After letting everything dry for several hours, I popped the steel back in the frame and hung it in the boys’ room.  Vincent loves having this in his room and has proudly displayed some of his art.

I do have some more painting to do, so stay tuned for that.

How To: Update a Room with Trim

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Over the weekend, a few readers asked about our trim and how we make it.  Well, it’s your lucky day, because I’m here to do just that.

I’m going to explain my how to with the dining room as my example, but it’s almost the exact same for each room.

First, determine the design you would like to have.  In our case, we needed a plate rack and that determined the 67 inch height of our trim.  We already had our 5 inch tall baseboard installed, so we left those.  Ben had installed chair rail, so we removed that.  We decided to place the top of our horizontal piece at 36 inches from the floor.  We measured the length of our wall to find the center.  Once the measuring was done, we bought our trim and got started.

Most of the trim we use throughout our house is MDF (medium density fiberboard – pretty much sawdust glued together).  I will note where we have used real wood.  We use MDF for several reasons.  1.  It’s cheaper than wood and we know we’re going to paint it anyway.  2.  MDF is very flexible, especially compared to wood, so it’s easy to work with.  3.  Because MDF is mostly sawdust, it’s a green material.

We went to a local home improvement store and bought several pieces of 3 1/2 inch wide by 1/2 inch thick square style trim.  This trim does not have any decorative cuts, but does have slightly rounded edges.  We also got one piece of MDF crown moulding , 2 pieces of wooden symmetrical trim for the horizontal center, one piece of 3/4 inch wooden quarter round moulding and one sheet of 3/4 inch thick MDF.

As I said before, we left the existing painted MDF baseboard.  We knew we wanted the reveal (the amount on each side of the symmetrical piece) of the horizontal piece to match the width of the verticals.  Our vertical trim pieces are 3 1/2 inches wide, so we doubled that and added 1 1/2 inches for the symmetrical trim spacing.  So, Ben cut an 8 1/2 inch piece from our 3/4 inch thick MDF sheet.  Then he nailed that piece at 36 inches from the floor, making sure to nail into studs.

Ben cut another piece from our MDF sheet for the top horizontal, to be almost completely covered by the crown moulding.  To determine the size of this piece, measure the height of your crown moulding and add 1 inches.  Secure the trim to the wall 3/4 of an inch lower than your final height.  Nail your crown moulding in, making sure the top of the crown is even with the top of the MDF piece.  Cut another piece from the MDF sheet 1/4 inch deeper than the crown moulding and MDF backing.  Secure this piece on the top of the crown, leaving a 1/4 inch overhang, completing our ‘shelf.’  If you choose to display plates or rest other items on top of this, add your quarter round trim.  Keep the quarter round flush with the edge and nail it into the 3/4 inch MDF piece.

After completing the plate rack portion, Ben started installing the vertical trim pieces.  First, he placed one in the very center of the room.  If you can’t locate a stud, angle your nails toward the center of the piece, helping keep the trim on the wall.  Next, place verticals in the corners as shown on the diagram below, leaving a dead space.  This will leave the same reveal of the corner pieces.

Depending on the length of your wall, you can place additional verticals centered between the middle and corners or break it up in to thirds.  Our verticals are 12 1/2 inches apart.  Do this to the entire room and you’re ready to fill and sand about one million holes.  Caulk all the seams and smooth out.  Prime and paint all the trim pieces as well as the wall.  The end result will be a seamless panel look.  Stand back and enjoy the view.

Additional Notes:  Measure the depth of your trim.  It is much easier to create a wall of trim if your depths a slightly different (1/2 inch and 3/4 inch).  If you use all of one depth, you may have uneven joint that will require sanding until smooth.

If you don’t already have baseboard, it may be easier to install square stock.  This will allow butting the verticals right up to the baseboard, rather than notching out the baseboard to accommodate the verticals.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please ask!

How To: Add a Personal Touch

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

I have already given some ideas on how to add a personal touch to framed photos, and now I have some ideas to add personal touches throughout the home.

1.  Add monograms or your family name.  Monograms are a quick and inexpensive way to make a room your own.  Michael’s and Hobby Lobby are great places to look.  The letters on the picture rail hail from Hobby Lobby and cost $9.99 each. 

I had some scrap fabric lying around, so I made custom monogrammed pillow covers for each of our boys.  You can’t really tell, but the painting in the photo above has their monograms, too.  If you don’t want to spend $10 on monograms, craft stores also have cheaper MDF and paper mache versions, like the ones in my office. 

Just add a few coats of paint and you’ve got a custom art piece.  We also have a few monograms in our living room.  I recently picked up some Power Ball-esuqe monograms from Pier 1.

You could also use monogram hooks in an entryway or bathroom to keep each family member’s items separated. 

2.  Choose prints and art with personal meaning.  I also create custom prints if I am in need of a personal touch. 

I love this bird print we have in our entry way because it shows our little family, wedding date, names and the colors are specifically coördinated to our room. 

Another easy DIY project to inject a little more of you into your space are custom silhouettes.  When I make our silhouettes, I take photos of each person in complete profile.  Kids can be much more difficult, but with digital cameras, just keep taking pictures and eventually something will work.  Then I open my photos in Photoshop and trace the outlines.  Then I print right on to my colored cardstock and cut them out.  Simply tape the silhouette onto another piece of cardstock and frame. 

Don’t limit yourself to silhouettes of your family.  The process is the same for making anything, so choose your favorite flower, tree, whatever and make another design.

Choose prints that have a meaning to you, not just something that looks pretty.  Again, I make my own prints, but my I Love You This Much print began as something I say to my boys.  Other typographic prints could look great, too.  Choose a favorite quote, song lyric or phrase.  Translate a phrase to another language for a less obvious, but still meaningful print, like the Je T’Aime (I love you in French) print above.   A great place to start your search is Etsy because you can talk to the seller and ask to have something customized. 

3.  Spruce up a box store item.  Don’t be afraid to spray paint something to take it from the big box store look to fit your home.  Spray paint frames, sculptures or figurines, even furniture.  It will definitely become more personal with little time, effort and money.