Year: 2010

Gimme a Giveaway: WD-40

Published on by Our Humble Abode21 Comments

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

Recently, WD-40 contacted us to see if we were interested in teaming up to host a giveaway and we jumped at the chance.  I’m sure we all know that WD-40 prevents squeaks, but here are a few things you might not know WD-40 does:

  • Shines mother-of-pearl accessories
  • Removes glue from carpet
  • Removes ink from hands
  • Shines seashells
  • Removes crayon from carpet (be sure to test WD-40 on low visibility area of carpet before using)
  • Removes nail polish from hardwood floors (be sure to wipe floor clean after using WD-40)

2,000+ uses are listed on the WD-40 Fan page, so head on over if you need more ideas. 

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

Prize:  One Now and Then Twin Pack and One No-Mess Pen

To Enter:  Subscribe to follow Our Humble A{Bowe}d, if you’re not already.  To subscribe, click the “Sign Me Up!” button under “Be the first to know.” 

Bonus:  Comment on this post with the words “UNSQUEAK ME!” and tell us WWWDD (what would WD do) for you. 

Contest Closes:  Thursday, October 28th at 9:00 pm, central time.

Number of Winners:  Three!

Ships:  Anywhere in the U.S., except P.O Boxes

Other Info:  Only one entry per e-mail address.  The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Friday, October 29th.  Good luck!!

How To: Felt Leaf Bowls

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Last week, I shared a  few simple tablescapes, one of which included a set of felt leaf bowls.  I promised to share more about the bowls, so here I am.  Martha told me about this great DIY project.  When I say told, I mean her website suggested I look at these felt and tweed oak leaf bowls.  I printed the template on cardstock and bought a variety of felt and tweed. 

I thought I had purchased the right fusible interface, but I didn’t.  I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and asked for a little help to make sure I had the right interface.  What the woman suggested was “Wonder Under.”  Basically, it’s a sheet of iron on hem tape. One side is rough and the other side is covered in smooth paper.  Perfect for the job. 

I followed Ms. Martha’s instructions, but here are a few photos to help you along.  First, place the interface rough side down on the wrong side (the back) of the tweed square.  Press for 5 to 10 seconds, move the iron to overlap slightly and press again.  Do this until your entire square is fused.  Then, trace the oak leaf pattern on the paper side of the interface.  You don’t have to be precise with the tracing.  You could even make your own leaf pattern, just add the darts. 

Once you’ve traced the oak leaf, cut the design out.  Remove paper backing and place on the felt square.  Cover with a damp cloth and press for 10 to 15 seconds, or until fused with the felt. 

Cut around the tweed leaf design, getting as close as possible. 

One more step, sewing the darted areas.  I overlapped the backs of my pattern to make a deeper bowl, but Martha suggest sewing with a zig zag stitch without overlapping the fabric. 

I may make another set of shallower bowls, but I like how these look, so I may not.

What do you think?  Anyone going to give these a try?

Baby Blues

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Bedding, that is.  As you have seen, we have been revamping our boys’ bedroom with a new color scheme of aqua, pear green and sun yellow.  So far, we’ve painted a chevron pattern on a thrift store jute rug, painted the bed sun yellow, created affordable magazine artwork, and refinished a sad bookshelf.  And now, I have finally decided on new bedding to compliment the color scheme in our boys’ room.   Without further ado, here it is.

I love the color and the texture the rings provide, while keeping the space simple.  And I really love the combination of aqua against the sun yellow bed.  Just what I was hoping for. 

The bedding is from Target and was on clearance for $20.98, marked down from $29.99.  The quilt is thin, but we’ve layered Vincent’s CARS blanket under and haven’t had any problems yet. 

Do you need or want a few more simple projects to infuse color in your child’s room?  Look no further.  You can make simple magnet board or a set of alphabet magnets or a cute paper banner.

We’re Stumped!

Published on by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

We’re back with yet another Halloween decorating idea.  We’ve already shared a DIY feather wreath and a spooky tree, but why not add a stump side table to an outdoor setting?  We did.  We have a huge woodpile in our backyard.  Usually it helps keep us warm throughout the winter months, but I decided to make it work a little harder.  I picked out a relatively level stump and rolled it to our front walkway and parked it next to our chairs.  I didn’t do anything else to it. 

Then, to Halloween it up a little, I topped it with a vase of pretty flowers, a paper mache skull from Michael’s that I spray painted white, a faux pumpkin from Hobby Lobby (also painted white) and a real baby pumpkin.

 Stump decoration breakdown:

Stump:  FREE

Paper mache skull:  $1.49

Faux pumpkin:  $1.49

White spray paint:  Left over from our DIY dining table

Baby Pumpkin: FREE from a friend

Total for stump and decorations:  $2.98

See the striped pillow?  I made that.  I had a few yards of white corduroy fabric left over from an earlier project, so I decided to use that rather than buy more fabric.  First, I sewed the cover, (here’s a tutorial) turning the fabric inside out.  I wanted the smooth part facing out so it would be easier to paint.  Once I had my cover, I taped off 2 1/2 inch wide stripes.

After that, it was easy.  Use black fabric paint and fill in between the lines.  Remove the tape soon after and stuff with a pillow form when completely dry. 

Pillow budget breakdown:

Fabric:  Left over from another project

Fabric paint:  Also left over from a previous project

Two pillow forms: $8.99 at JoAnn Fabric

Total cost for Halloween Pillows:  $8.99

To add more spookyness on the cheap, I picked up a plastic skeleton from Dollar Tree.

 I didn’t like the color, so covered that baby in white spray paint, too. 

Then, my skeleton fell into the freshly cut grass.  I let him dry and pulled off as much as I could and hit him with another coat of white.  He survived – he’s already dead.  Hang with fishing line and you’re done. 

One thing I loved about the Pottery Barn inspiration image were the candles.  Well, I wasn’t about to spend $30.00 or more on candles, so I looked around the house for suitable substitutes.  I had a few vintage oil lamps, so I added those to the mix.  Toss in a grapevine pumpkin and we’re done!

Miscellaneous decoration cost:

Skeleton: $1.00

White spray paint:  Left over

Oil lamps:  FREE (The black one was hanging on our fence when we bought the house and the red was a thrift store find a few years ago.  I think it was $1.50 or so.)

Grapevine pumpkin:  $2.50 at Target (but can multi-purpose for Thanksgiving, too!)

Miscellaneous Total:  $3.50

Which brings our Halloween decoration grand total to…$20.45!  And here’s how it all looks together.

Of course, we still need real pumpkins, but we’re not quite ready yet.

Eerie Tree

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Last week, I shared a simple DIY Halloween wreath tutorial and now I’m back with another cheap spooky Halloween project, again, inspired by this Pottery Barn image.

I  love the look of the glitter potted trees.  I am aware that this version is some sort of foam, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of money for something like this.  Instead, I used a dead branch from our birch tree. 

Using a can of black gloss spray paint, I covered all areas of the branch and let everything dry.  Then, I applied a second coat to make sure the color was truly black.  Super simple. 

After the second coat dried, I placed my eerie tree in a planter I had left over. 

To cover the dirt, I spread the remaining nuts from our fall decoration around the base of the tree and threw in a few pine cones.  A little crow from Dollar Tree adds another touch of spook. 

Eerie tree budget breakdown:

Branch: FREE

Black spray paint: $1.00 at Wal-Mart

Planter: Already owned

Nuts and pinecones: FREE from mother nature

Crow: $1.00

Total Cost:  $2.00

So far, our Halloween decorations have cost $4.98, wa hoo!  We’ll cover a few more frugal decorating ideas tomorrow, so come back for more.

Here’s a tip:  If you plan to use real nuts, plan for the squirrels to eat them.  We went out-of-town for the weekend and returned to find all the nuts missing.  I’m sure the squirrels loved it. I pictured a little assembly line of squirrels passing nuts down the line until they were gone and now they’re having a feast.  Yeah, you may want to use bark, mulch or fake Spanish moss.