Category: DIY Decor & Crafts

Natural Aphid Control

Published on by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Perhaps you don’t have an aphid issue, but we do.  On several of the fruit trees.  And bugs creep me out.  Masses of bugs creep me out even more.  I’ll spare you the pictures, but if you want to be sufficiently grossed out, Google ‘aphids on leaves’ to get an idea of what we were dealing with.

After a little searching for a natural, home-made spray, we found something that works.

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 teaspoons dish soap

Mix everything together and spray on the affected tree or plant every few days until you’re aphid free.

Basically, the oil in the mix suffocates the aphids.  Apparently, aphids don’t go back to the same tree once they’ve left.

Another option is a garlic oil spray:

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 pint of water

1 teaspoon liquid dish soap

To make, combine the garlic cloves and vegetable oil.  Let this mixture sit for 24 hours.  After, strain out the garlic pieces.  Then, add the liquid to one pint of water and dish soap.  This is a concentrated batch, so dilute two tablespoons of garlic oil with another pint of water before spraying on your tree.  Test this out in a small area before going crazy, though.  If the leaves turn yellow, dilute the mixture with more water until you’ve determined it is safe for your plant.

You should know that these mixtures can harm helpful bugs, too.  Fortunately, the lady bugs have arrived to do some work and our aphid problem isn’t as bad.

Independence Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode6 Comments

Happy fourth of July, my fellow Americans!  Enjoy this fabulous day off!  Wishing you a relaxing day off from work, enjoying a barbecue, fireworks, a parade, and sparklers.  Perhaps you’ll listen to an Americana song or two, like God Bless the USA.

{via Pinterest}

Inspired by an idea we saw on Pinterest, we decided to make flour stars on our grass.  I taped four pieces of cardstock together and cut out a simple, uneven star to use as out stencil.  Using a basic flour sifter, Vincent and I started making stars.

In pictures, the stars in the grass are more noticeable than in person.  So, we switched gears and made stars on the sidewalk.  Vincent had a lot of fun helping.

We continued, placing one star per square of sidewalk.

They’re not perfect, but lots of fun for the kiddos.  Everett even got in on the action.

Yep, tons ‘o fun!

Until I took the flour away.  Then, he screamed like crazy.  Until I picked him up.  And got flour all over my jeans and black shirt.

If you’d like to see more than my flour covered lower half,  check out my mug in the summer 2011 Fresh Home Magazine.  Someone pinch me.  I can’t believe my face is in a glossy.  If you’ve never heard of Fresh Home Magazine, you should check it out.  It’s a really DIY, budget friendly mag with tons of inspiration.

You probably guessed we were on vacation with the lack of commenting, Facebook and other blog related things.  And, you’re right.  More to come later this week.  We’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, sharing our current garden.  Don’t get too excited because it really isn’t that fantastic.  Sorry to get your hopes up.  Until then, enjoy the festivities and a day off from work, hopefully.

4th of July Inspiration and Winners!

Published on by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

We’ve gathered some red, white, and blue decor inspiration.  For ease, we’re breaking this inspiration into time sensitive categories.

A few days before the nation wide celebration, get in the mood with some or all of these projects:

A patriotic wreath is a simple way to add charm to your exterior.

String paper garland in the trees, a fence, the food table or anywhere else.  Stars are cute.

Though so are circles.

Two or so days before the party:

Mmm, cupcakes.  Even cuter with star toppers.

Corn on the cob-esque cupcakes follow a bbq and real corn on the cob wonderfully.

Make firework look-alike table decorations.

A super simple centerpiece of colored water and candles.  Ambiance and simplicity.

Seersucker napkins are easy-going.

And, for last-minute flare, try these:

Add a festive touch to drinks by making star and stripe ice cubes.  Check IKEA for star and stripe molds.

For another fun splash, add a few drops of food coloring to make even ice water fun.

Make a fresh treat in a snap.  White chocolate and sprinkle dipped strawberries.

Make chocolate and sprinkle dipped pretzel sticks while you have the mess supplies out.

Decorate your lawn with sifted flour stars.  Fun for the whole family.

Nothing says summer more than a gooey s’more.  And food is always more fun on a stick, right?  Hence the lure of the state fair.  Combine the two for a cute treat.  I would probably alter this recipe by dipping the marshmallow in chocolate, then graham cracker, then chocolate again, and finally sprinkles.

Also, we have two winners of Jessica Alpern store credits.  Number 69, Sarah is the $30 credit winner.  Laura J, number 87 has a $45 shop credit to spend on Jessica’s fantastic work!  Congratulations!

In all honesty, we’ll probably only do one or two of these.  We’re more of party goers, not hostesses.  Which are you?  Other than displaying a flag, do you decorate for the fourth?  If so, what are your tricks?

Don’t Take Any Wooden Gifts

Published on by Our Humble Abode13 Comments

No, there is nothing wrong with wooden gifts. Just making a joke about the old “Don’t take any wooden nickles” saying. The traditional five-year anniversary gift is wood.  Ben is tricky to buy for, especially when it comes to wooden gifts.  He already has wood working tools, and the one he wants is about $1000, so that wasn’t happening.  I considered a nice wooden cutting board like this from Red Onion Woodworks but that seemed a little too utilitarian and not so romantic.

I switched gears and started thinking of art ideas.  We always need art, right?  A quick search on Pinterest yielded a  few results, like this sweet cut out.  I’ve actually seen Julene’s amazing work before on her site and love the attention to detail.

Seriously, check out these custom pieces.

Pretty fantastic, huh.  Well, luckily, Julene has an Etsy shop to sell limited edition laser cuts.  I thought this listing was adorable.

But, it isn’t wood, is it?  Well, a wooden frame can fix that in a hurry.  Ben thought it was cute, too.

I thought about wrapping it in a faux bois paper, but ran out of time.  Oh, and, I could always swap out the backing for a piece of stained wood veneer.  I recently created a custom Family Tree cut out with a wood veneer backing.  I think it’s fabulous.

That’s the 411 on our anniversary gift giving.  Ben gave me a dinner to our favorite restaurant, sans kids.  That rarely happens.  Do you give traditional wedding gifts?  If so, what creative year gifts have you come up with?  Year six is iron.  That could be tough.

Isn’t it {P}interesting?

Published on by Our Humble Abode9 Comments

When I’m lacking inspiration or motivation, I turn to my new BFF, Pinterest.  Sometimes, I find pretty pictures.  Others, new techniques, tricks or ideas.  Here are some of the new techniques and tricks I’ve picked up.

Coat items in Plasti Dip

An easy way to make uniform pom poms.

How to make realistic tissue paper flowers.

Melt plastic bags to make decorative bowls.

A cheap, DIY faux bois welcome mat.

Use Google maps to make cute, personalized envelopes.  Seriously, this is genius.

I’ve also found so many things I want to DIY, I just need to find a time to make them and a place to put them.  Perhaps a person to give them to.

This is similar to the painting I want to make for the theater room.  I hope mine turns out half as pretty.

Cheap and pretty paper lanterns.

Cute, DIY finger print art.  Yes, please.

I totally want to make house numbers like this.

Concrete planters would look good anywhere.  I’m certain of this.

A faux capiz chandelier would look fantastic in a bedroom.  This can take some time…

How realistic do these paper ranunculus look?  Answer: Very.  I want to make a bouquet of them.

Once Everett has outgrown Vincent’s hand-me-down shoes, I’m doing this.

Kim’s welcome mat is modern and cute, just the way I like them.

I want a patterned shower curtain for the main bath thanks to this image.

Wooden inlay floors are a true sign of craftsmanship.  This tumbling block design is no exception.

This fixture is more than I’d like to spend, but it would make a statement.

Love this pillow.  ‘Nough said.

These sconces are uh.mazing.

If you’re looking for art inspiration, check out this pin board.

I’m so excited to get this framed and on the wall.

Thanks so much, Patricia!

And now, we’re off to meet our new niece, born this morning!  Finally, some estrogen in the Bowe family!  Haha.  What are you all doing on the first official day of summer?