September 2012

It’s, It’s a Birthday Blitz

Published on September 24, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

We celebrated V’s birthday with a bash on Friday.

He asked for a dog party, I wanted to make something he’s love, but I limited myself to not spend a dime on decorations. It’s nothing crazy, but here’s what we had. Scalloped paper banner I made for his 3rd birthday party, a flat twin bed sheet turned table-cloth, and a few special dog creations.

A paper banner and framed husky silhouette decorate the boring (hole filled) wall.

To make the banner, I simply typed out Happy Birthday Vincent in Photoshop. I’m obsessed with the Arvil font lately, which I also used on his invitation. And the condensed style fit three letters per sheet at 815 point font. After arranging three letters per page, I merged the visible layers, then flipped horizontally. Using scissors, I cut out each letter, then poked holes at the tops to string embroidery floss through.

Stars separate the words and dog silhouettes at the ends match the party theme. But next year I can pull the dogs off (I didn’t knot the ends) and swap ’em for something matching next year’s theme. For another decorative element (to take attention off the holes), I traced a husky silhouette on a large piece of white roll paper I have in the basement. Popped into a large frame I had hiding under the guest bed, it’s a fun, simple decoration.

After taking down party decorations, I took down a map poster and hung this big dog above the boys’ kitchen.

For food, I planned to have hot dogs (to tie in with the dog theme), chips, grapes, sweet potato fries, bread, and V’s favorite cheese. Well, Ben saw pork ribs were cheaper than hot dogs (go figure!) and bought that instead. Oh well, our guests liked it.

So our desserts consisted of puppy chow and dog cupcakes.

I saw these cute and easy cupcakes and knew it would work for us. No special tools or tricks, just cookies and candy.

Because I was in a hurry buying ingredients, I forgot to buy black icing. So I improvised and used a dot of frosting with black sprinkles for the pupils.

A little something I learned: don’t put the cookies on the day before the party and cover your dish with foil. Trapped moisture will weaken your cookies, breaking in half. Super simple party and we all had fun. Check out last year’s rainbow themed party, too.

What do you think of the party decorations? What type of parties have your kiddos requested? Do you limit your budget? Or go all out for parties? How was your weekend?

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Norwex & Drawerganization

Published on September 21, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Raise your hand if you’re happy today is Friday. We’ve got a birthday party planned for a certain little boys I know.

A whole hand. I can’t believe it. We’re both getting so old. Haha. Sara GB should be pretty happy, too, because she’s the winner of the Norwex giveaway!

And now for a little drawerganizing. Because this house needs so much. When my blog BFF Jen and her adorable family visited in August, she brought me some adorable labels. Chalkboard labels for my spice jars, in fact.

So I peeled those puppies off the sheets and stuck ’em to my spice jars. Then they sat that way while I tracked down a chalk pen. Well, tried. After stopping at four different stores, all rumored to have said chalk pens, I gave up. Instead, I bought dry erase crayons, hoping they’d work.

Luckily, they did. No smudging or easy wear off, but clean off with water.

And now we know what spice we’re looking for right away. If only my handwriting were better. Though I do have the best writing in the house. Which isn’t a challenge considering I live with men. Haha.

Another quick drawerganization started at the thrift store. I spotted a chrome silverware divider for a buck ninety-nine. When I see cheap organizers, I try to find a use for it. Then it hit me, organize the friggin’ bathroom! At home, I plopped our toiletries, vitamins, toothbrushes, and toothpaste in there and it made me smile. Sure, it’s nothing fancy or super pretty, but we can fin what we’re looking for. That’s all that matters, right?

We’re organized and ready to party. What do you have planned for the weekend?

It’s a Cougar! No, Wait!

Published on September 20, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

It’s a bobcat. Having a cougar in the back yard (either a real cat or a Mrs. Robinson-esque lady) would be strange. I much prefer the four-wheeled bobcat version we have. A week ago, Ben brought home the bobcat from his work and started digging up the back yard. To get the bobcat up the hill, he had to gently slope the hillside.

After an hour or so, he finally got the hillside finished and came into the yard.

Digging around, pulling the sandy paver base out was easy digging and went quickly.

Over the weekend, Ben really got to work. All the stone retaining walls are too short/unstable/easy to break and don’t have the look we’re going for. See what I mean?

Oh, the cross hatching you see in the picture above? Just the window screen. The boys and I hunkered down in the house. Because broken bits of concrete were flying, we put pieces of foam insulation over the new windows. How much would it suck to shatter a newly installed window?!? So, my peeping Tom vantage points were limited, hence the screen shot.

Digging sand and dirt was the easy part. Lifting giant slabs of concrete, not so much.

Trying to break it with a sledgehammer wasn’t working, so Ben used something with a little more muscle. Lift…

Higher, higher, still higher.

And flip. Broken pieces were easier to hammer to more manageable pieces.

Quitting time for Friday night.

With the fountain out-of-the-way, Ben set out to destroy the patio off the pool house. Which included moving a giant rock. You think I’m kidding when I say giant? Take a look.

That is only the top part of it. Here’s the bottom. Yes, I was cringing and hoping it would work. Ben is tenacious with that bobcat. Oh boys and their toys.

Now we’ve got a giant pile of dirt.

This morning, the concrete cutter came out, cut the pool house opening, and left. More details on that next week!

Progress, but it’s so dirty now. Sand constantly in the house. What does your backyard look like? Or any other large equipment?

Art with Heart

Published on September 19, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

For too long, er, the past five months, our bedroom has looked like this:

Ugly paint, minimal furniture, and no art on the walls. Come to think of it, the whole house looks like that. Well, I decided I had enough. Time to take matters into my own hands. When Jenny mounted a cheapo Kinko’s print to foam core, I thought it looked cool. Then Katie did it, too. And then a light bulb went off above my head. Hellooooo, we pulled foam insulation out of the wet bar in the pool house.

So I measured, hoping the foam was at least two feet wide. Hooty hoo! The foam was exactly 24 inches wide by about 4 feet. I had already gone through our wedding photos and chose two of my favorite ‘we’re not posed smiling at the camera’ shots. Sure the first one is blurry, but I like it that way. A little more artistic and unexpected. I love that it’s sort of a ‘moment in time’ capturing the emotions we felt that June day.

After sizing and editing the photos in Photoshop, I saved the files, headed to FedEx Office (I still call it Kinko’s) and had ’em printed. For $4.50 each, I got two 24 by 36 inch prints. I headed home and started cutting the foam. Well, tried to cut it. The utility knife didn’t work on my 2 inch thick foam.

If something doesn’t work, I call Ben to ask for his ideas. He suggested using the table saw. After a little begging, he agreed to cut the pieces for me when he got home. He did and it worked like a charm. Just to be safe, I had Ben cut the pieces at 23 1/2 by 35 1/2 inches. With the sides straight, I mixed up a little, okay a lot, of kelly green paint. Because I hate being careful when I don’t have to, I painted the sides first, then mounted my photos.

Speaking of mounting photos, I started by using ModPodge, which was a mistake. It bubbled up and I had to work with it a lot. After one short edge, I searched the house, knowing I had spray adhesive somewhere. Ah ha! Found it. Outside, I lined my print up, peeled back a small bit, sprayed, then pressed it into place. With that first edge stuck down, I sprayed the rest, working in smallish lines, pressing the paper down, and smoothing it from the center out. Because I did this along (and thought getting it to lay straight would be more difficult) I didn’t trim my paper before mounting. I had a little paper overhanging the edges, so I flipped the pieces over and carefully cut along the edge using a utility knife.

To hang these big guys, I decided to just poke a hole in the back for a nail. First, I measured a few inches down, then centered.

Ben suggested adding small pieces of pipe, just to prevent the nail tearing the foam. What a thinker. He cut two small pieces of copper pipe (which we were about to take to the recycling center).

With the copper tube centered in my cross-hairs, I pushed down. I couldn’t get the pipe flush unless I pulled out some of the foam. A needle nose pliers pulled it out and the pipe stayed wedged in the foam.

I hung the pictures on either side of the big window.

Finally, something on the walls! Two big somethings.

Better yet, these prints have meaning to us.

Walking into our room doesn’t make me cringe anymore. Rather than focus on the terrible wall color, I see pretty prints that remind me what a wonderful man I have.

And it only cost nine bucks because I had the rest of the materials.

A pop of green is another fun touch.

Only three more walls to get something on, including this giant one. Oy, that blue. Hopefully we can scrape the popcorn ceilings and repaint this fall/winter.

I don’t know which is worse, the awful blue or the burnt red in the bathroom. No wait, the red is much worse. At least there’s something pretty in the room now.

What do you think of the most recent additions? What art have you added to your home? Oversized prints? A custom painting? Blurry photos that you love?

Show Your…

Published on September 18, 2012September 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Colors. Did you think I wanted to see something else? Pervert. Just kidding. But really, show your colors. My Colortopia is back with a new tool, Show Your Colors, to let you show off your hard work. Or if you’re looking to paint a room, gain inspiration (and colors) from other rooms. I always say, paint is the quickest and cheapest way to change-up, add drama, lighten up, or add personality to a room.

Remember the bright red accent wall in our living room? Yeah, that was too much personality, and not ours.

Less than a gallon of gray paint and a few hours really lightened up and changed the room.

Painting our entertainment center a dark, moody gray added some drama. Trying out a golden yellow color was a fun way to add personality, but it wasn’t dark enough.

Keeping it dark and simple worked best here.

But in our windowless main bathroom, lightening up was the main goal.

The dark wood paneling and dingy beige paint sucked the light out of the room. After a full remodel, adding a shower, a linen closet, and changing every surface, time to paint. Bright white for the trim work and a light gray for the walls for a light, airy but still modern look.