Category: DIY Decor & Crafts

Projects you can make to decorate your house.

New Tree Art Series

Published on by Our Humble Abode8 Comments

Recently, I shared a custom cut out design the I fell in love with created by Lori Danelle.  Well, that piece of art got my wheels turning.  I started thinking of all the things I could create of cut outs.  I decided to make cut out versions of two of my art prints.

The first is inspired by my Carved Initials print. 

I altered the print to create a cut out design by enlarging the heart, keeping the birch tree grain as the background. 

The Carved Initials cut out is available for purchase in my Etsy shop. 

It is customizable with your initials and cardstock background color of choice. 

The second design in this art series is a version of my Love Tree print. 

The Family Tree cut out, available in my Etsy shop, is also customizable with colors and text. 

This design is mounted to a white cardstock piece.

Both pieces measure 8 inches by 10 inches.  If you would like to place an order or have questions, please e mail me at ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com.

Pumpkin Carving 2010

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Over the weekend, we had a small pumpkin carving party, resulting in some awesome creations.  Wanna see?  Of course you do. 

The B monogram is for Bowe.  The faced pumpkins were created by my sister-in-law.  On the left, we have a mean, scary large pumpkin eating a smaller pumpkin.  Next to him, a frightened pumpkin vomiting at the cannibalistic tendencies of his neighbor. 

Next up, I created a few Martha-inspired pumpkins.  A very large (we’re talking 30 pounds!) pumpkin sports a wise owl against a full moon.

Another small pumpkin is rockin’ the faux bois. 

This is the first time I’ve tried scraping part of the front off, rather than carving completely through.  I’ve got to say, I like it.  We used wood carving tools and it was much easier than I anticipated. 

Now, on to the sad news.  We carved our pumpkins waaaaay too early.  They’re definitely looking sad.  I’ve had to skewer the B and the owl to prevent complete and total failure.  Curse you cold Montana weather!  Here they are in the daylight.

Yep, my poor owl has a skewer through his big brain. 

The B is leaning and floppy.  On the bright side, the faux bois pumpkin is still completely in tact.  So, that’s what we did this weekend.  Lesson learned the hard way, don’t carve pumpkins when cold weather is coming.  What are your favorite carved pumpkin designs?

How To: Felt Leaf Bowls

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Last week, I shared a  few simple tablescapes, one of which included a set of felt leaf bowls.  I promised to share more about the bowls, so here I am.  Martha told me about this great DIY project.  When I say told, I mean her website suggested I look at these felt and tweed oak leaf bowls.  I printed the template on cardstock and bought a variety of felt and tweed. 

I thought I had purchased the right fusible interface, but I didn’t.  I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and asked for a little help to make sure I had the right interface.  What the woman suggested was “Wonder Under.”  Basically, it’s a sheet of iron on hem tape. One side is rough and the other side is covered in smooth paper.  Perfect for the job. 

I followed Ms. Martha’s instructions, but here are a few photos to help you along.  First, place the interface rough side down on the wrong side (the back) of the tweed square.  Press for 5 to 10 seconds, move the iron to overlap slightly and press again.  Do this until your entire square is fused.  Then, trace the oak leaf pattern on the paper side of the interface.  You don’t have to be precise with the tracing.  You could even make your own leaf pattern, just add the darts. 

Once you’ve traced the oak leaf, cut the design out.  Remove paper backing and place on the felt square.  Cover with a damp cloth and press for 10 to 15 seconds, or until fused with the felt. 

Cut around the tweed leaf design, getting as close as possible. 

One more step, sewing the darted areas.  I overlapped the backs of my pattern to make a deeper bowl, but Martha suggest sewing with a zig zag stitch without overlapping the fabric. 

I may make another set of shallower bowls, but I like how these look, so I may not.

What do you think?  Anyone going to give these a try?

We’re Stumped!

Published on by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

We’re back with yet another Halloween decorating idea.  We’ve already shared a DIY feather wreath and a spooky tree, but why not add a stump side table to an outdoor setting?  We did.  We have a huge woodpile in our backyard.  Usually it helps keep us warm throughout the winter months, but I decided to make it work a little harder.  I picked out a relatively level stump and rolled it to our front walkway and parked it next to our chairs.  I didn’t do anything else to it. 

Then, to Halloween it up a little, I topped it with a vase of pretty flowers, a paper mache skull from Michael’s that I spray painted white, a faux pumpkin from Hobby Lobby (also painted white) and a real baby pumpkin.

 Stump decoration breakdown:

Stump:  FREE

Paper mache skull:  $1.49

Faux pumpkin:  $1.49

White spray paint:  Left over from our DIY dining table

Baby Pumpkin: FREE from a friend

Total for stump and decorations:  $2.98

See the striped pillow?  I made that.  I had a few yards of white corduroy fabric left over from an earlier project, so I decided to use that rather than buy more fabric.  First, I sewed the cover, (here’s a tutorial) turning the fabric inside out.  I wanted the smooth part facing out so it would be easier to paint.  Once I had my cover, I taped off 2 1/2 inch wide stripes.

After that, it was easy.  Use black fabric paint and fill in between the lines.  Remove the tape soon after and stuff with a pillow form when completely dry. 

Pillow budget breakdown:

Fabric:  Left over from another project

Fabric paint:  Also left over from a previous project

Two pillow forms: $8.99 at JoAnn Fabric

Total cost for Halloween Pillows:  $8.99

To add more spookyness on the cheap, I picked up a plastic skeleton from Dollar Tree.

 I didn’t like the color, so covered that baby in white spray paint, too. 

Then, my skeleton fell into the freshly cut grass.  I let him dry and pulled off as much as I could and hit him with another coat of white.  He survived – he’s already dead.  Hang with fishing line and you’re done. 

One thing I loved about the Pottery Barn inspiration image were the candles.  Well, I wasn’t about to spend $30.00 or more on candles, so I looked around the house for suitable substitutes.  I had a few vintage oil lamps, so I added those to the mix.  Toss in a grapevine pumpkin and we’re done!

Miscellaneous decoration cost:

Skeleton: $1.00

White spray paint:  Left over

Oil lamps:  FREE (The black one was hanging on our fence when we bought the house and the red was a thrift store find a few years ago.  I think it was $1.50 or so.)

Grapevine pumpkin:  $2.50 at Target (but can multi-purpose for Thanksgiving, too!)

Miscellaneous Total:  $3.50

Which brings our Halloween decoration grand total to…$20.45!  And here’s how it all looks together.

Of course, we still need real pumpkins, but we’re not quite ready yet.

Eerie Tree

Published on by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

Last week, I shared a simple DIY Halloween wreath tutorial and now I’m back with another cheap spooky Halloween project, again, inspired by this Pottery Barn image.

I  love the look of the glitter potted trees.  I am aware that this version is some sort of foam, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of money for something like this.  Instead, I used a dead branch from our birch tree. 

Using a can of black gloss spray paint, I covered all areas of the branch and let everything dry.  Then, I applied a second coat to make sure the color was truly black.  Super simple. 

After the second coat dried, I placed my eerie tree in a planter I had left over. 

To cover the dirt, I spread the remaining nuts from our fall decoration around the base of the tree and threw in a few pine cones.  A little crow from Dollar Tree adds another touch of spook. 

Eerie tree budget breakdown:

Branch: FREE

Black spray paint: $1.00 at Wal-Mart

Planter: Already owned

Nuts and pinecones: FREE from mother nature

Crow: $1.00

Total Cost:  $2.00

So far, our Halloween decorations have cost $4.98, wa hoo!  We’ll cover a few more frugal decorating ideas tomorrow, so come back for more.

Here’s a tip:  If you plan to use real nuts, plan for the squirrels to eat them.  We went out-of-town for the weekend and returned to find all the nuts missing.  I’m sure the squirrels loved it. I pictured a little assembly line of squirrels passing nuts down the line until they were gone and now they’re having a feast.  Yeah, you may want to use bark, mulch or fake Spanish moss.