You A-Maze Me

As usual, I like to make free printable designs for holidays.  Valentine’s day is no different.  Like last year’s sticker design, I wanted to come up with a candy free option.  This printable is even easier.  No folding or special packaging required.  Just cut on the lines, fill out names, and the kiddos can complete the maze.  For a little extra, you could even use washi tape to attach a colored pencil to the back.

Amaze-Me-Valentine-Cards

Print sheets have 9 2.5 inch wide by 3.5 inch tall cards to hand out to classmates.  A-Maze Me for boys:

Amaze-Me-Print-Sheet-Boys

And hearts for Girls:

Amaze-Me-Print-Sheet-Girls

Don’t forget about last year’s folding cards and free prints.

Valentine Top Tags and Stickers

Are you making Valentine’s for your kids?  Maybe you have already?  Care to share your Valentine craft or project?  Anything Valentine’s day related is fair game.

Are We in St. Louis?

Because this house has arches.  Four, actually.  Which is four too many for our taste.  One separating the family room from the breakfast nook and kitchen.

Square-Pattern-Rug-in-Family-Room

An arched door in the family room near the top of the stairs.

Rearranged Family Room Angled Chairs 2

One in the living room directly above the railing.  And one more from the dining room to the kitchen.

Mohawk-Rug-in-Living-Room-toward-Window

With the family room as our focus, it was time to tear three out.  All three are too close to the ceiling to have added our new crown molding above, have poorly patched sheet rock, and don’t fit our style.  I really detested the proportions of the corbels turned stopping point in the living room.  And the placement.  I understand wanting to visually separate a large expanse, but above the railing seems redundant.  It also makes the window and door look off centered.  Although, we did like the placement of the one between the family room and kitchen.  Ben started by taking out the oak columns on either side of the arch.

Removing Arches and Post

Followed by scoring of the sheet rock corners to reduce damage to the ceiling and walls.  Then pulled out the arch supports.

Removing Arches Structure

Leaving us with a two by four across the ceiling.

Family Room Arch Removed

On to the next arch at the stairs.  Ben and Handy Sammy followed the same steps.

Removing Door Arch

And left us with a beat up top door frame.

Door Arch Removed

Now, we could have stopped there, as we had done the work for the family room side.  But, the arch above the stair railing would have been in the way of the new door trim (and we already had a big, dusty mess to clean) so we yanked out the last arch, too.

Removing Living Room Arch

Ben’s favorite part of any home project is the demo.

Removing Living Room Arch Tear Out

And we’re already working on patching and rebuilding.  Stay tuned for the next episode of Arch Adventures.

 

 

Gimme a Giveaway: Lily & Val and Our Humble Abode

This giveaway is closed.  Thanks for entering!  See who won here.

We’re officially in February, the month of love.  How about a love themed giveaway?  I think so.  Allow me to introduce you to Lily & Val, a lovely Etsy shop with chalkboards galore.  Real chalkboards, digital chalkboard designs, and pretty chalkboard prints.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Where There is Great Love, for the Valentine lover.

Julia Child Quote, for the foodie.

Let It Be, for the musician.

Culinary Herbs, for the chef.

But wait, there’s more!  Two winners will get their choice of print from Lily & Val and two prints (of your choosing) from our shop.  Maybe Venn Diagram, for a dose of geek chic.

Simple and classic Love Heart.

Or a Kelly Clarkson quote to brighten your day.

The Goods: One 11 inch by 14 inch chalkboard print from Lily & Val and two 8 by 10 inch prints from Our Humble Abode, winners’ choice.

To Enter:  Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: Tell us what you love about February.  Valentine’s day?  Abundant chocolates and flowers?

For additional entries:

1.  Like Lily & Val on Facebook.

2.  Follow Lily & Val on Twitter.

3.  Like Our Humble Abode on Facebook.

Contest Closes: Thursday, February 21st, 2013.

Number of Winners: Two!

Ships: United States residents only.

Other Info: We will select the winners using random.org and announce on Friday, February 22nd.  Good luck!