Category: DIY Decor & Crafts

Green = Green: Valentine Flowers

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Ahh Valentine’s day.  The day to buy and send flowers to a loved one.  Rather than cut flowers, why not send (or buy for yourself like I did) a potted plant?  Let me explain.  I’m not talking about a potted fern.  No, no, no.  Flowers are still better.  And, you’ll probably save some money in the process.

Take this mini rose bush I bought at the grocery store for five bucks.  It’s cute, and at least $20 cheaper than cut roses.

It will most likely live longer than cut flowers, too.  Even under my care, it should last longer.

But you know what I really liked about this little plant?  Come spring, I can dig a hole in our rose bed and pop it in to enjoy for years to come.

Thus adding more green to our environment and saving some dough.  And that makes for a very happy Valentine’s day.

You know what else makes Valentine’s day better?  Heart-shaped pancakes, hand-made Valentines, and two cute little boys.

What are your Valentine plans?  Going somewhere special?  Making dinner?  Do you exchange Valentine gifts?

Valentine’s Folding Cards

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Want another Valentine’s free printable?  Sure you do!  This time, we’re sharing fold over cards.  If your kids have a Valentine’s party to attend, we’ve got you covered with a few cute (though I’m biased) tag printables.

If you’re looking to dish out candy, Nuts About You! tags are perfect.

Click the link, print, cut along the tick marks, and fold along the dotted line.  Grab a bag of cellophane bags from the craft store (mine are 3 1/4 inches square when closed).  Fill with peanut M&Ms (or another nutty treat), close, and staple the card over.  There’s plenty of room for your little one to write a message to their friends.

If you don’t want your kids hopped up on sugar, give stickers instead.  If your kids are anything like mine, they love three simple things: balloons, bubbles, and stickers.  Any stickers.

Here’s Sticking With You, the girly version:

Or, we’ve got blue for a more boyish look.

Same routine.  Print, cut, fold, staple to the package.

I couldn’t find stickers I liked, so I designed and printed my own.

But I had a problem.  I printed the stickers on full label sheets.  So I cut the designs out.  Now I had to package them.  A piece of wax paper cut to fit inside the same cellophane bags became a perfect backing for the home-made stickers.  Just peel the label backing off, stick and seal.

I happened to have a mini stapler with orange staples, so I used that.  Seriously, mini + office supplies = adorably irresistible.

You can make your own stickers to go with, too.

Print on full label sheets, then use a ruler and utility knife to cut apart, keeping centered between designs.  Or, buy a big package at the store and divide up on wax paper sheets for a quick and sugar-free gift.

What Valentine’s cards have you given?  Store bought?  Hand made?  Candyless?

P.S.  This is the last Valentine’s project we’ll share.  Pinkie swear.

Wear Your Heart on Your Garland

Published on by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

When E takes his afternoon nap, I try to do a fun project with V.  Sometimes we make a puzzle.  Other times we color and practice our letters.  With Valentine’s day coming up, we did a special project involving crayons.  Before V could get started, I used a utility knife to cut crayon shavings.  I looked for a pencil sharpener, but we don’t have one because really, who uses anything but a mechanical pencil now days?

Of course a little help is always nice, especially when the help is a cheesy-grinned four year old.

 

After shaving four different colored crayons (red, orange red, red violet, and flamingo to be exact), we finally got to the good part.  We spread out a few sheets of kraft paper and one sheet of wax paper.  V and I sprinkled the crayon over the wax sheet, trying to keep it as even as possible.

Cover it up with another sheet of wax paper.

And two more sheets of kraft paper.

Warm your iron to a medium setting and run it over the paper, melting the crayons.

Check as you’re going and keep ironing until the wax is completely melted.

Make a heart template, I recycled a flyer from the mail.  Trace as many hearts as possible and start cutting.

To string our hearts, I used a needle to poke holes on both sides of each heart.  Thread a small needle without cutting the other end from the spool.  String the hearts on until you’ve reached the desired garland length.

I hung our garland in front of the living room window by making small loops on either end of the thread.  Brackets are the perfect hangers.

And Dexter would have liked some of our red hearts, like this one that reminds me of his infamous blood slides.

What fun projects do you do with your kids?  Do you remember making ‘stained glass’ as a kid?  If I were crazy and needed another DIY light fixture in my house, I would most definitely make a faux capiz pendant using this same process.  Just sub the hearts for a circle punch and sew the circles together.  A wire wreath form would make a perfect multi-tiered base to hang the strands from.  Can you tell I’ve considered this?!?  Haha.

Safety Dance; Safety Book

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

One month ago, after meeting up with my blog pal Jen and local readers, we offered up a Goodwill Challenge.  I bought a thick hardcover book.

I know, it’s not much of a make over, but I’ve always wanted to make a book safe.  A 15 cent book is a good tester, too.  Jen’s challenge was an even better excuse to get started.

First, I separated the first few pages and the front cover, keeping everything bound with binder clips.  Then I mixed plain ol’ Elmer’s glue with a little bit of water and brushed it all over the edges of the book.  Mod Podge would work for this, too, but I only had glossy and I wanted this to look as realistic as possible.

With the edges glued together, I put a few pencils between the front pages and the glued pages.  To help the pages dry tightly, I popped Ben’s jug of wine on top.  Twenty or so minutes later, the glue had completely dried.

To get started cutting, gather a pencil, ruler and a sharp utility knife.  Draw a border on the front page (I used the text as my guide).  Use the ruler to cut a straight edge, going through as many pages as possible.

Pull the pages out and keep on cutting.

Don’t stop now.  Cut along the edges.

As I cut, my edges got messier and messier.  This doesn’t matter.  It will all be covered up.

After about 15 minutes of cutting, I had removed enough of the inside to fit my iPhone inside and close the cover.

Once you’ve hollowed the book to the depth you’d like, cover the inside edges with the glue mixture.  Spread more glue along the top of the hollowed border and let one page out of the clips.  Set the page down and cut out the inside for a clean top page.  Put something heavy on top to dry.  Now you’ve got a handy book safe to keep all your worldly possessions inside.

I have to admit, after cutting to the iPhone depth, my new camera arrived and I quit working to fiddle around.  And I haven’t gotten back to cutting yet.  But you get the idea.

Now, let’s do the Safety Dance.

Have you ever made a book safe?  Wanted a book safe?  What’s your favorite book?

Giddy Gallery Wall

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

I’ll admit, Goodwill shopping wasn’t the only thing Jen and I did together while in Minnesota.  Before heading to Goodwill for the meet up, Jen stopped by my sister’s new house to help with a gallery wall.  Ash wanted us to work on her master bedroom, requesting an asymmetrical gallery wall above these two chairs.

I cut mats and framed the art she already had the night before.  When Jen arrived, she and I started arranging the frames on the floor.  That’s tip number one if you’re planning your own gallery wall.  Lay the frames, with art inside, on the floor to arrange and rearrange until you like the layout.  Before hanging, take a picture of the arrangement for reference as you go along.  From there, you can go about hanging two ways.

The most fool-proof method is tracing the frames on paper, taping the templates to the wall, nailing through the paper and then hanging the frames like we did for our basement gallery wall.  We didn’t do this.  My sister loves free form designs, so we started by hanging the largest frames at the center of the group and working our way out.  Which brings me to my second tip; arrange the largest frames first then fill in with smaller frames.

Armed with a layout Jen and I loved, I eyeballed the placement, asking Jen to stand back and tell me that she thought.  Then, started hammering nails and hanging frames.

Because I wasn’t measuring or using templates, the spacing is slightly different.  Spacing the frames one to two inches apart keeps the grouping of mismatched art and frames unified.  In my opinion this is the biggest mistake made when hanging a group of mismatched frames.  The spacing is crucial to make the arrangement look thought out and planned.  If gaps are four inches or more, it looks like frames were thrown up at different times, so keep the group tight.
A little under an hour later, arranging, chit-chat, hanging, and adjusting included, we finished the gallery wall.  If you’re working on a gallery wall above a piece of furniture, incorporate it in the layout.  See how the center frames dip down toward the lower table?  Not only does that add interest, but working around furniture gives your layout definition.
As you can see, the art in the frames is a variety, but most have a natural element.
Wondering where Ash got the art?  Check out these Etsy shops: Mai Autumn, Siiso, Miles of Light, and our shop, Our Humble A{Bowe}d.
Vincent and Everett painted the abstract watercolors.  See, even kids paintings can look like real art behind a classic white mat and glass.
After completing the wall, we invited Ashley back in to see what we’d done.  Luckily, she loved the layout and that she could build on the design in the future.
For the back row, here are my tips and tricks to create a gallery wall:
  • Arrange the frames on the floor or make templates to move things around before you start pounding holes in your walls.
  • Start with larger frames then fill in with smaller items.
  • Don’t leave too much space between frames.  1 to 2 inches is perfect.
  • Use the same colored frames to unify different styles.  And mats make anything look like art.
  • If hanging by or around a piece of furniture, arrange the frames to follow the furniture silhouette.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles.  I had so much fun chatting with Jen, and I think she even learned a few tricks and tips.

P.S.  One of my 2012 resolutions is enjoying more family fun events and sharing them.  Check out our newest blog and latest adventure.