DIY Decor & Crafts

Carried Away

Published on October 30, 2013October 29, 2013 by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

Often, I get carried away. Start cleaning the kitchen and then go organize the rest of the house. Wipe up the bathroom floors and end up cleaning it from top to bottom. So it’s no surprise I got carried away when I met Ben. Head over heels. That phrase doesn’t make sense. Aren’t we almost always head over heels? Anyway, I knew when I met him I needed to know more. It’s only fitting George Strait’s Carried Away was our first wedding dance. And now we have those words on our wall. I used Bombshell Pro to create these black and white designs.

I thought I’d paint the design on old canvases. Then I took the easy way out. Engineer prints to the rescue. Again! By formatting two 16 by 20 inch designs on one 2 foot by 3 foot page, I paid only $4.50 for the two.

Back in May I bought two acrylic frames for three bucks each and finally put them to good use. The old astrological sign cut outs were too small, so we’ve got new bedside art.

I’d love to hang the art lower, so new, shorter lamps are in order. Just have to find the perfect ones.

Simple, sweet, and sentimental. Ben chose his favorite line.

And I chose mine, which happened to follow his.

Do you have song lyric art in your house? Favorite sentimental art you’d like to share?

V Stripes

Published on October 23, 2013October 23, 2013 by Our Humble Abode22 Comments

This project started because I had a free sample of Valspar paint, thanks to an in-magazine coupon. Of course Pantone’s paint colors are beautiful. So i picked a random favorite, June Bug, and brought it home. I painted over my red stump. And made another for a friend. Then I saw the Dwell Studio Chevron coffee table and knew how I’d finish up this color. I flipped the coffee table top over and painted it white. Measuring wasn’t my favorite part, especially because I didn’t want to draw lines all over my table. Instead, I drew lines on small pieces of tape and worked from there.

With my three-inch stripes marked off, I filled in with masking tape and rolled on June Bug.

Three coats later (why I try to buy paint and primer in one) I peeled off the tape to reveal this:

Perfectly crisp lines (thanks Frog Tape!) and a fun pattern.

And I can still flip the top for the plain mint top. Best of both worlds.

For now, I’m liking the bold design and deep color. Something to wake up the family room.

What do you think of the large pattern? Do you start projects because you get something free? Or just have to paint and repaint for a quick, new look?

Basket Weaving

Published on October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Remember that thrifted sewing caddy I found last month?

I found the perfect use for it- to store newspaper for fire starting. But first, it needed a makeover.

I started by measuring the outsides.

And taking pictures to remember how everything looked if I got stuck.

Then I sewed a liner and cut strips of left over gray felt to weave together. My strips are three inches wide.

I probably should have pinned them in place and marked everything to take it off and sew. But I am sick and that seemed like such a hassle, so I hand stitched along the top.

The rest stayed in place well, so I just lightly stitched in the corners. Once I had the pieces woven together, I decided I liked the matching inside, so I skipped the liner I had made. It works really well for paper storage by the wood box.

Right now, the wood box looks kind of like a bookshelf because Ben filled it with scrap lumber.

Not sure it’s my favorite look, but I don’t have to walk outside to get fire wood. And now we don’t have an ugly stack of paper on top. That’s what really counts, right?

Now I feel justified in hoarding thrifty treasures, because I found a use and home for this guy. Have you revamped thrift store scores recently? Or made a woven…something?

Pillow Party

Published on October 11, 2013October 11, 2013 by Our Humble Abode9 Comments

By now I’m guessing you’ve noticed my pillow obsession. But it’s a crazy easy way to quickly change the feel of a room. For this fall, I made (and still have a few in the works) new covers in jewel tones. This diagonal cover was as easy as cutting an eggplant 19 inch square. Then I used a yard stick to make a line across to cut along.

And pinned a 3 inch strip of gray along.

The corner is a darker gray piece. To finish it off, the back is an eggplant envelope back. Another pillow started with the same light gray cotton and I marked a grid on the back with a yard stick. Using embroidery floss, I made small plus signs along the grid. By keeping a 1 to 2 inch tail, then stitching the plus, I could easily tie the loose ends together.

It made a cute, simple design.

For a reversible cover, I used scraps of light gray, eggplant, and dark gray to make a striped envelope closure.

Oh, and the mirror pillow from Sears is awesome.

Thin gold threads hold the mirrors in place, making a great texture and shimmer.

Also, I’ve added custom Sit and Stay pillow covers to the shop.

Now I’m going to finish my living room pillow covers. What pillows are you loving this fall? Target has a really, really fun selection that I’m trying my best to not take home with me.

Gold & Herringbone-What Could Be Better?

Published on October 7, 2013October 7, 2013 by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

Here’s another tale about tables in the family room. Apparently I can’t get enough tables. But this change was prompted by Ben. Whenever he wore cargo pants, the pocket caught on this little table. Thus resulting in knocking over my succulent at least three times. Until the gold pot shattered. Time for a change.

My small table buying habit came in handy this time. An old, boring black Target table sat in the entry. A round table with heavy base should be okay, right? But it was ho-hum. So what’s a girl to do? Pull out the gold spray paint and go to town, that’s what.

Why stop at gold when herringbone would make it even better? So I got thin poplar strips and cut into 1 by 4 1/2 inch strips.

You can find poplar at Home Depot or balsa and basswood at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, if you’re interested. To start on the herringbone pattern, I used a tray with a square corner to guide my starter strips.

I started with wood glue over the old top and let these two pieces dry.

With the starter strips dry, I easily lined up the rest of the rows.

With the entire top covered (I used Liquid Nails for the edge pieces), I taped around the outer line to reduce wood splitting and chips. After testing a hack saw, I used a sharp utility knife to cut follow the round top.

For a clean edge, I glued on birch wood veneer. Two quick coats of Polycrylic and here she is today:

A mix of shiny metal and warm wood to liven up this little corner.

It’s not perfect, but it makes me smile.

And ties in perfectly with our fall color scheme and decor.

But it can work in year round. If I change my mind, I can give it a quick coat of spray paint, too. What do you think of this quick and cheap makeover?