Category: DIY Decor & Crafts

Pinterest Challenge: Bird Cage

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

YHL and Bower Power offered up another season of Pinterest Challenge.

And we knew just what we wanted to share.  The bird-cage pendant I made over a month ago but didn’t hang until yesterday.

I already had all the necessary supplies on hand, too.  For this project, we used a white ceiling canopy, a cord kit from Ikea (thanks Lizzy for sending it to me!), wire cutters, a pretty light bulb (a large clear vanity bulb was the best I could find locally), and the bird shade.  Why didn’t this happen sooner?

It was as simple as cutting and connecting wires.  Because we’ve been so busy working on the kitchen, we didn’t install this until last night.

Hence the dark photos.  We’ll add more soon.  I like the quirkiness the fixture adds to the space, too.

The low watt round bulb is more than enough overall light, but it is still delicate.  For some darn reason though I can’t get the stinkin’ thing to hang straight.  Ugh.  I’ll have to fiddle around with it more.

And, the view from the under side isn’t as ugly as I thought it would be.  Still on the look out for a brighter bird or two.

Edit:  The light looks better in daylight.

But it still hangs wonky.  I hadn’t realized this before, but the colors of the birds picks up nicely on items on the bookshelves.

And the wires from the birds aren’t totally obvious.

Thanks to Pinterest I have a fun new office light.  Did you join the Pinterest party?  What did you make?  What’s on your list to do?

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

Published on by Our Humble Abode10 Comments

This past Friday we, er Ben, installed the kitchen sink and adjoining cabinets.  Then he called it a night.   First order of business on Saturday: install the stove cabinets and range.  So, Ben hauled out our old clunker and brought in the box with the shiny new stove.  We carefully unwrapped the packaging to discover this:

Yep, a dent on the right side.  Fortunately, this will be hidden behind the cabinet.  Speaking of cabinets, here’s the new beauty sandwiched between two drawer large bays.

Isn’t she pretty?!?  I love the sleek stainless, the industrial style handles, and the huge top.  But installing this baby wasn’t a snap.  The old gas line came out of the floor right behind the left back leg, so the range couldn’t tuck tightly against the wall.  And we encountered another issue because we’re planning on two-inch thick countertops.  Our counters will make the cabinets 1 inch taller than average counters.  The adjustable range legs only go up to one inch.

As a temporary solution until we install the counters, Ben placed the range on wooden blocks.  After the counters are installed, we’ll search out a better solution.  We’re thinking of buying furniture legs for a less trashy custom look.  But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

Now let me brag a little.  First, I love the front left burner.  It’s three-tiered and gigantic.  And the grates cover the entire top to maximize the space.  Oh, and if we ever want to get fancy, we can flip the grate insert for easy wok cooking.  But, the best part is something I didn’t even know about.  Smarties at KitchenAid designed the range to sit just above the counters for a seamless surface.

No more junk falling down the crack.  Wait, that sounded bad.

And here’s what everything looks like right now from the back door.

We’ve got cabinets, but only one drawer installed so far.  But, everything is functional, so we’re a okay.  Now I’m itching to get the rest of the drawers in so I can get everything out of the guest bedroom and start organizing.  Nerd alert.

We’re chugging along, but we still have so much to do.  How about a list to show what’s left to do:

  • Install the new dishwasher, which we’re hoping to get on Thursday
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • Build the five remaining drawers we’ve waited on (we needed to see how things were in place before we could build one drawer in the dining room, the trash can pull out, and the under the sink drawer)
  • Fill, sand, prime and paint said drawers
  • Install every drawer, 16 total
  • Buy the wood for the counters which should be in tomorrow
  • Haul the wood slabs to a cabinet shop to have them sand both sides smooth
  • Cut the wood to fit and install the counters
  • Hang the upper cabinets
  • Add decorative face trim to all cabinets for a smooth, pretty, even front
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint all cabinet faces
  • Build the drawer and cabinet fronts, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet fronts
  • Install the drawer fronts and hardware pulls
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, recessed light halos, and the rope lighting
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • Decide whether we want to add decorative trim to the vent hood or paint it to match the wall color
  • Install the pretty new marble tile backsplash
  • Put everything back in place and enjoy

Miss a step in our renovation progress?  Read through these posts to get up to date.  

In addition to the kitchen updates, we thought we’d share our Halloween fun.  How ’bout a peek at our pumpkins first?

The eye on this guy popped out while carving, so we made it look intentional with some pumpkin guts hanging out.  Kinda looks like a pig in Angry Birds, no?

He’s just happy.

And this guy’s up to no good.

While we went Trick-or-Treating, Ben was busy installing a few drawers.  We’ll share as we finish more.

Gallery Wall Details

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Wanna know where we got everything for our most recent gallery wall?   Good, because we’re ready to spill the beans.  Let’s start from the top and work our way over.

I made the Love print inspired by a tattoo I saw on Pinterest.  Below that is a super special original watercolor painting of our house by Patricia of PVE Design.  She was gracious enough to trade artwork with me.  I’ll share what I made for her soon, too.  Then, we have the plaster feet in shadow boxes.  The little heart on the left is actually Ben and my fingerprints, again inspired by Pinterest.

See that house?  That is what our humble rancher looked like just after being built.  We’re the second people to own this house.   The original owners left some old pictures for us.  Below that is a picture of Ben and his dad on our wedding day.  The pointing finger came from Hobby Lobby; originally 10 bucks, but 50% off.

The large picture in the middle is a print of a  painting of my home town.  Ben’s grandma gave it to us.  Ben and all of his brothers are in the black and white photo.  The bird is a painting I made.  You can buy a print in our Etsy shop.  A B monogram which also came from Hobby Lobby.  Under the monogram, the paintings the boys made Ben for Father’s day.

But what’s that by the pointing finger?  Penny art.  I saw a penny key chain on Pinterest and decided to adapt it to make framed art.  I simply found pennies for the years Ben, myself, Vincent and Everett were born and when we met and got married.  Using Photoshop, I typed each event and the date.  For example: Ben, October 24.  Yep, happy 29th birthday to my handsome and handy hubby.  Several layers of double-sided tape hold everything in place.  The tree print is actually a card that came with this print from Eloise Renouf.  I still have to find the right frame for the Passing Showers print.

I added the I Carry Your Heart cut out to the group.  Above that is a painting I made based on a Home Goods painting I saw on my last trip.  My sister painted the rainbow piece.  To the right is a print from Love Life.  I made the fingerprint art inspired by Lori Danielle’s beautiful work.

And rounding out the bottom is a painting I made based on Jen’s streak paintings.  I saw the Successful Marriage quote and thought it would be a perfect reminder to love the one you’re with.  The floral card was part of our guest book at our wedding.

We still have more art to add, but we’re really happy with it so far.

Now we’re off to celebrate Ben’s birthday.  What are you up to this Monday?

Fantastic Fall

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

So far this fall, we’ve had my family in town visiting, Vincent’s fourth birthday party, we’ve started our kitchen remodel, and our sister-in-law and niece just left yesterday to move to Alaska.  We’ve been busy.  Too busy to think about fall decorations, I’m afraid.  Recently though, I did sew a few fall pillow covers and rearranged the entertainment center for a different look.  When fall rolls around, I love to look at the pretty red, orange, and yellow leaves.  But, I’m not a huge fan of red in our home.  I can tolerate orange in the right application, but I love yellow lately.  Knowing that, I decided to use splashes of orange and yellow mixed with jewel tones and dashes of metallic gold.  Wanna see?

First, I sewed new pillow covers from Pier 1 place mats I already owned.  I dug around in my button stash to find gold buttons.  Sewing the pillow is very similar to a normal envelope closure pillow.  Just add buttons.  The teal pillow behind I made using left over fabric and covered the old inserts.

Total cost so far?  Zero dollars.  I still have to dig out my pine cone wreath.  And probably my Halloween decorations while I’m in there.

I used more left over fabric to make pillows for the living room.  The teal velvet fabric I bought last fall at Hobby Lobby.  The color pops against an orange pillow I stole from my office.  A mix of patterns, textures and colors tickles my pickle.  (That’s what Vincent says).

Color blocking is a hot trend, and it’s easy to do.  I rummaged through my fabric stash and found eggplant and yellow scraps, so I pieced them together and sewed an envelope closure back.  Insert pillow form and done.  Still at zero dollars.

Our entertainment center has rocked the same green and blue theme since spring, and things needed to change.  Not wanting to spend any money, I scoured the house for fall-ish elements.

Here’s a breakdown of new items:

1.  Natural wood tones.  A wooden sculpture from Target several years ago, a wood vase, and a carved stump add warmth.

2.  Metallic gold and brass accents.  Nothing says fall like gold if you ask me.

3.  Pressed leaves taped to a piece of white card stock is quick, painless and free art.  I had some leaves pressed in a book from last fall that Ben’s cousin, Handy Sammy discovered.  I completely forgot until that moment and decided to put them to good use.

4.  Tweed and felt leaf bowls from last year.  Just for texture and color.

5.  I pulled yellow books off the shelves to group together for more color.

It’s not perfect, but it was free.  And it changed the view.

What have you done to decorate for fall?  Are you a fan of red?  What do you think of the jewel tone twist for fall?

P.S.  We’ll be back this afternoon, so come again.

Sentimental Gallery Wall

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

We’ve got another gallery wall in our house, for a total of three.  Our hall gallery is filled with family photos and another is bird themed.

The most recent gallery doesn’t have a theme.  Rather, it’s filled with pretty pictures and sentimental art.  For months, we had paper templates hanging up.  Everyone asked, “What’s up with your art?”  I finally got sick of answering, and I had collected enough art to start hanging, so I did.  First, I had to decide the layout I wanted.  You see, the paper templates were completely generic papers to see if we would even like a gallery wall.

I gathered all the art in the large basement bedroom and shifted things around on the floor.  I liked the general layout, so I started transferring the pattern to the wall.

Uh, oh.  I grossly underestimated how large the wall was.

So, I rearranged my labeled templates on the wall.

The new layout filled out the wall nicely, with a few gaps to expand.  I also left room at the top to add more frames once we move the flush mount light for a pendant.

Hanging was easy because I had already marked the nail holes and labeled each template, so I knew exactly which frame went where.

And here it is now.  You can see the cast feet made it to the wall.

As I said before, I still have a few gaps to fill, like this to the right of the arrangement.

Overall, I really love the look.  Ben kinda thinks it feels cluttered.  I understand that, but I like the collected look more than one huge framed something.

What do you think?  Do you prefer one large frame or a gallery wall?  How many gallery walls do you have?  What are your favorite pendant fixtures?  How have you decorated your stair well?  It’s a tricky little area.

P.S.  We’ll be back again to share what everything is and where we got it from.