Handmade Art with Heart

Fall Mantel Tutorials & Free Design

Published on September 30, 2013September 30, 2013 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Hey there, you! How was your weekend? We got something fun done and we can’t wait to share. Here’s a teaser until Wednesday.

Aside from warm caramel apple cider and pulling out my sweater collection, nothing gets me more in the mood for fall than decorating for the cooler season. Last week, our family room and mantel changed from summery greens to fall-ish jewel tones. And all for only a few bucks. In fact, I spent about five bucks on the mantel arrangement. Two dollars for the white acorn (Goodwill) on the left and three bucks for a bottle of Liquid Leaf.

The deer silhouette is a cut out mounted to a contrasting card stock.

If you like Buck, you can make your own using my deer silhouette print. Choose the opposite direction you want him to face, print on your colored paper, cut out, and tape to another piece of paper.

But my favorite is the gold Liquid Leaf feather painting. I already had a large piece of gray paper, but a sheet is about $2.

Before stinking up the house with Liquid Leaf, I sketched my feather design in pencil. Once happy with my design, I used a fine artist brush to cover over with metallic gold.

Wrapping anything – candles included – with embroidery floss is a cheap and easily changeable way to add color.

Start by tying a knot around your object, leaving a long loose tail and the bundle of floss attached.

Wrap the floss around, covering the tail as you go up. Don’t worry about getting each strand right next to the rest. Gently push down after several wraps.

At the top, tie a knot, using the rest of the beginning tail to keep the wrap tight.

While I loved the bright colors in the bar nook, it screamed summer.

Left over black and gold spray paint covered the green frame.

And more gold Liquid Leaf over the Eat, Drink & Be Merry print for glitz is fall perfection.

I’m working on a few more fall pillows, too. What do you do for fall? What gets you in the mood for changing seasons?

The Jewel of Fall

Published on September 26, 2013September 27, 2013 by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Generally speaking, I’m not a lover of traditional fall colors. Red rarely appears in our house, though orange is growing on me. So this year, I paired orange with some of my year round favorite colors. Teal, pink, purple, and gray. Deeper tones really set a warm, cozy feel that’s perfect for fall.

Our mantel art felt too summery, so I made a few new pieces with items I already had around the house and natural pieces.

Feathers and antlers found on my father-in-law’s ranch add a rustic element.

A cut out deer silhouette was simple. Look for more info on these art pieces next week.

For the main item, I painted a feather using Liquid Leaf and a large sheet of gray paper.

For a little height, I pulled out two glass candle sticks. Having only cream tapers on hand, I dug in my embroidery floss bin and found eggplant, magenta, and burnt orange to wrap around.

Of course the opposite side of the room has a few seasonal changes, too.

A color blocked pillow I sewed along with a burnt orange suede pillow from Sears on one end. I’m waiting on this silk and mirror pillow for the other end. I saved a couple of bucks using Coupons.com codes, too.

Accessorizing the coffee table was simple. A piece of driftwood, white faux pumpkin, the gold wishbone, and a simple pumpkin patch-inspired by Kirsten’s.

While making Ev more mini foods, I molded a few pumpkins, poked wire in the bases, baked and painted them up.

This post and the following giveaway are sponsored by Coupons.com. For more fall inspiration, stop by these participating blogs: Brave New Home, Embrace My Space, Fancy Free Me, Inside-Out Design, The Thinking Closet, Two Live Colorfully, Charming Zebra, What’s Ur Home Story, Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza, and Angie’s Roost

The Goods: One $200 Sears e-gift card provided by Coupons.com

To Enter: Follow this link to the Rafflecopter giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Contest Closes: 11:59 EST, Friday, October 4th, 2013.

Number of Winners: One winner will be selected from the pool of contestants across the eleven participating blogs.

Ships: US residents only.

On the Plus Side

Published on August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

I’ve hoarded a few art pieces to hang in our bedroom. Nothing new, just things I liked that didn’t fit anywhere else in the house. But the group seemed incomplete. So I made another nail and string dude. Because I wanted gold, I spray painted some nails. And a chunk of scrap MDF black.

Using an old envelope with marks as my template, I made a plus sign. To keep the painted nails, well, painted, I covered my hammer with a scrap of leather.

Then went crazy with gold embroidery floss, covering the center, then wrapping around the outside twice.

A mismatched, mixed bag of favorites is now a gallery wall in our bedroom.

Very, very slowly our room is starting to feel lived in. Sheesh, only a year and a half later. And we’re covering up the awful orange peel texture and spotty cobalt blue walls.

Oh I can’t wait to scrape the popcorn off the ceiling, replace the old windows, and finally repaint this room.

What do you think of the new art? Have a happy Friday and weekend, everyone!

Green Eggs and Ham

Published on July 24, 2013July 21, 2013 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Filling a large wall can be tricky. In the boy’s room, there’s a big blank wall. Well, was. Before giving it a makeover, I had hung a gallery wall. Which was fun, but some of those pieces moved above the beds. That seemed like it would be too many small frames in one space. For this wall, I wanted something big and fun.

Maybe XXL Wall Letters? Cute. Traced shapes filled in? The boys would have fun doing that. Toy collection display? Nah, didn’t want Ev to play with the toys at night. Simple abstract painting, could be awesome. Then I stumbled on a Warhol Campbell’s Tomato Soup painting in a teen space and fell hard.

Ultimately, I was most inspired to make an over sized painting of an everyday object. Rather than a soup can, I asked the boys to choose their three favorite books. Both chose Green Eggs and Ham as a favorite, which seemed perfect for their room. A stop to Michael’s with 40% coupon in hand and I left with a 2 by 4 foot canvas. The proportions of the book and canvas aren’t the same and I wanted it horizontal, so I chose a section of the book cover to enlarge. Using the high school art trick, drawing a grid on the image and canvas for points of reference, I (roughly) recreated a few letters, plate, and guy. Tangent, why doesn’t this guy have a name?!

V helped with some of the painting, filling in large white and orange areas. Once it dried, we hung it on their wall. A little higher than I thought looked right, but we lean against this wall when we read books.

The bits of orange in the pillow and lighter orange in the thrift store print tie in nicely.

Again, I think framing out the canvas will finish off the painting. Even better, this art was affordable, light weight, and the boys chose the content. Triple threat. Ha.

What’s your favorite way to fill a large wall? Do you have a favorite large piece of art?

Summer Playhouse

Published on July 22, 2013July 21, 2013 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

For me, thrift store art is hit or miss. Mostly misses with ugly florals, but every once in a while, something great pops up, like this signed two color screen print titled Summer Playhouse:

There was a similar old man print, but I didn’t think I could talk Ben into liking it.

That print is precisely what prompted an art shift in the boys’ freshly revamped room. I had hung a constellation embroidery set above their bookshelf.

But it felt too top-heavy with the art a good six inches wider than the shelf. How lucky is it that this $10 print and frame was the same width as the shelf? Serendipity, people. Not the John Cusack movie, just a happy accident.

Especially because I had no idea where I would put it when I bought it. I just knew I liked it. And had to have it. The details and colors are great, and it’s a limited edition. And there are two boys, just like mine.

Now the sky maps flank the window.

One more wall to add art to. Still haven’t gotten around to de-uglying the little kitchen set. Whatever, the boys will probably out grow it soon. Buuuuut, their room is one step closer to being finished.

What rooms have you been working on lately? Finishing up a project? Just getting started?