Category: Seasonal & Holiday Decorating

Cheap and cute decor ideas for all seasons.

Thanksgiving Table Settings

Published on by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I decided today would be the perfect day to show you fine folks a few table settings I whipped up.  Most of the items used I had lying around the house. 

First up, we have a turkey day snack setting featuring an abundance of leaf bowls.  I like to call this one “Just Leaf It.”

This is a really simple setting complete with all sorts of snacks, napkins and a sparkling drink.  Of course the main part to this setting are assorted leaf bowls.  To duplicate this look, you can buy various leaf bowls to fill with snacky goodness.  I have two sets in my Etsy shop and saw ceramic versions recently at Pier 1 and TJ Maxx.

For the main show, I kept everything simple.  I used our everyday plain white dishes and splashed Thanksgiving color in the form of place mats, napkins, place cards, nuts and a pine cone wreath.

Here’s a closer look:

I scored the metallic gold place mats for $.98 each on a recent Pier 1 trip.  I love the bit of sparkle they add to the setting.  Brown floral napkins that I sewed rest on each plate while a walnut turkey place card watches nearby.  A few leaf-shaped bowls are also nearby for any individual portions.  I think it would be cute to have salt and pepper in the small leaf bowl, also from Pier 1 clearance.

The centerpiece is super simple, consisting of a silver Pier 1 charger, though I should have gotten a gold one, too.  On top of the charger, a bird and branch candle holder rests, surrounded by nuts. 

What are your plans for the big day?  Hosting Thanksgiving or traveling?  We’re feasting on Sunday, not Thursday because my sister will be here.  Any favorite Thanksgiving traditions?  Funny thoughts about turkey day?  My favorite comes from a Friends episode where Joey wears Phoebe’s maternity pants to accommodate his huge stomach because he eats so much.

How To: Pinecone Wreath

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By now, I bet you’ve learned two things about me.  Number 1: I like to make a lot of things myself.  Number 2:  I’m cheap.  I like to make things because I’m cheap.  One item I’ve been working on is a pine cone wreath. 

What I love about this wreath is that it can easily transition from autumn, to Thanksgiving, to Christmas, to winter, just by adding a few accessories.  That means, one wreath to store, but two seasons and two holidays of decoration.  Sweet, huh?  Yeah, I think so.  What’s even better?  It’s practically free!

To make a pine cone wreath, start with a wire wreath form, available at craft stores, pinecones, wire, and wire cutters or scissors if your wire is thin enough. 

Cut a length of wire between 9 and 12 inches long.  Wrap the wire around the base of the pine cone, tucking under the petals. 

After wiring a few to the form, I learned that the cones flop around less if you keep part of the wire on each side, rather than twisting like the picture above.

Once your cone is wired, wrap around the wreath form, pulling tightly to keep it firmly in place.  Wrap the wires of the next cone to the previous wiring.  Again, this will keep the pinecones in a tight formation and prevent flopping. 

Group the pinecones as closely together as possible.  The back will look something like this. 

Twist the wires together and cut the ends off.  Continue this process until you re covered the entire wreath form.

If you used large pinecones like I did, you’ll have to find smaller ones to fill in the gaps where the wreath form is visible. 

I bought some golden pine cone picks from Hobby Lobby for $.50 each, after a 50% discount. 

I cut the pinecones off the pick and followed the same wiring process to fill in the gaps.  Add the small filler pinecones and the wreath is finished. 

The way you choose to hang the wreath will depend on your situation.  You can add a few lengths of fishing line or hang from a hook.  You might be wondering why my wreath is on m dining room window.  Well, friends, that’s because it’s friggin’ freezing in Montana.  I literally have not left our house in days due to the cold.  Cold like a high of 5°.  Which means, the suction cup hook I bought won’t work on the outside of our front door.  It requires a minimum of 40° to stick.  So, it’s hanging in our dining room. 

I will share details on how to add decorative items to add some seasonal pizzaz.  What are you doing to spruce up your home for Thanksgiving?

Turkey Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode18 Comments

Now that Halloween is over, I am officially in Thanksgiving decorating mode.  To kick things off, I created cute turkey place cards. 

If you would like to make some for yourself, you’ll need:

One bag of mixed nuts, in the shells.  Pull out the walnuts and hazelnuts.

Hot glue gun

Dried, pressed leaves.  If you don’t have pretty leaves to dry, fake leaves or paper would work, too. 

A black pen

Oogly eyes or cardstock circles with black dots drawn in

Colored cardstock for beak and feet.  I used an old cereal box for the feet. 

To start, glue the hazelnut, pretty, slightly pointed side forward, to the top front of the walnut.  Again, the walnut should have the slightly pointed area to the front.  Then, write each guest’s name on one leaf.  Find similar sized leaves (4 more) for each turkey.  Glue the name leaf to the back at the center of the walnut.  Glue the remaining leaves and cover the glue from the previous leaves.

Cut ‘feet’ out of cardstock or thin cardboard.  First, make a slightly rounded ‘V’ shape about 1 inch long.

Cut toes by making another rounded ‘V’ in the center.  Then cut two more ‘V’s, totaling four toes.  Add a dollop of glue to the back of the V and place the walnut on top, making the turkey stand.

To make the face, use an all purpose glue to attach the eyes.  For the beak, cut a small piece of cardstock, fold in half, and cut again into a triangle.  Add glue to the V of the triangle and glue to the hazelnut.  Then, you’re done!

Top each place setting with a turkey and get ready to feast. 

Isn’t he cute?  And, when you’re done, you can eat him.  Sort of like eating the chocolate Easter bunnies.

Oh, here’s another cute idea.  Well, I think it’s cute.  Remember these felt leaf bowls I made?  Well, why not create a few more and use them as individual bread baskets?  We always have so much food on the table and so little room for each person.  This can limit the large platters on the table, and it’s something cute for guests to take home. 

If you don’t want to take the time to use tweed, you could just cut out several felt leaves, stitch the darts together and use a felt only bowl.  The leaf bowl above used a 6 inch, from top to bottom, excluding the stem, template. 

 

Post Halloween Fun

Published on by Our Humble Abode88 Comments

Usually, I don’t get very into Halloween, but this year, Vincent really did.  You’ve seen the decorating we’ve done, including a feather wreath, spooky tree, a stump side table, and carved pumpkins.  Although this isn’t home related, I just had to share our boys’ costumes.  Vincent requested to be a credit card.  Seriously, I did not suggest it.  What three-year-old wants to be a credit card?  Mine, I guess, so I went with it. 

I bought one piece of foam core from Hobby Lobby for $1.99 and cut it in half.  Then I measured and taped off lines to mimic a VISA card logo.  I mixed up my paint and filled in the areas and letters.  To create the letters, I printed off a set of 16 numbers, cut them out, painted and glued each number on the card.  To create the back, I simply measured and taped off a magnetic strip area on the back, painted it black, made a border for the signature and filled it in with a Sharpie.  To make this wearable, I hot glued two strips of ribbon over the shoulders. 

Total cost for a credit card costume: $1.99.  The look on Vincent’s face: Priceless.

I decided that Everett would make the perfect baby Hulk Hogan, so we used a pair of red sweatpants, red socks, and a plain white, long sleeve shirt from his wardrobe. 

I sewed a ‘tank top’ out of yellow felt, left over from this pillow, using a shirt of his as my size guide.  Gaudy gold fabric for $2.00 made the perfect wrestling belt, which I sewed to the yellow felt.  I bought a small piece of red cotton for $1.99 to make the ‘Hulkamamia’ logo.  To create the logo, I used left over fusible webbing from my tweed leaf bowl project and followed the same directions, only drawing the logo backward on the paper.  I ironed the logo to the front of the shirt, added three buttons to the back and we had a Hulk shirt.  A $.99 red bandana completed the look.

Total cost for Hulk Hogan:  $4.98

Grand total for Halloween costumes:  $6.97

Vincent’s costume was a big hit.  Everett’s didn’t get as much attention, but he wasn’t standing at the door asking for candy, either.  What are your favorite costumes?

Pumpkin Carving 2010

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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?