Seasonal & Holiday Decorating

Gimme a Giveaway Winner & Favorite Florals

Published on March 29, 2013March 29, 2013 by Our Humble Abode3 Comments

Happy Easter Friday, everyone! Are you looking forward to the weekend? We are! My family is coming in today to spend a week with us. And our weather is finally warming up. Bring on spring! Which is the inspiration for today’s post. But first, the winner of the Lamps Plus giveaway is Elizabeth G! Congrats and have fun picking out pretty lights.

Spring is my favorite season. The fresh green leaves, warm, sunny skies, and bright flowers. Though our weather has warmed up a little, we still don’t see signs of spring. Instead, I brought some in the house with a brightly colored floral fabric I found at Hobby Lobby.

I love it paired up the nearly citron green pillows. I can’t find it online, so I thought I’d share a few other favorite floral fabrics.

Tangerine and pumpkin large floral:

Richloom Cevennes Peacock:

Perch in Seaglass by Thomas Paul:

Spoonflower has pretty, modern florals galore. My favorite is the Garden Lark:

Or you can create your own fabric print.

Manly Valentine Gift

Published on February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

Happy Valentine’s day, friends! Do you have special plans for today/tonight? I planned to share this yesterday, but sick kids need a lot of attention. Go figure! Luckily, this is a crazy easy, crazy awesome Valentine gift for a hard to buy for man. Ben isn’t a tech guy, so that’s out. Doesn’t have a suit and tie job. Likes hunting, DIY-ing, and usually buys things if he really wants/needs it. What to get him? Alcohol and ingredients for his favorite drink.

Usually he sticks to red wine. Depending on his mood though (or how obnoxious I’ve been?), he’ll have a beer. But his favorite mixed drink is gin and tonic. Oddly enough, I don’t think we’ve had gin in the house in the time we’ve been married. A stop at the liquor store before grocery shopping and I had a gift ready.

A bowler hat topped bottle of gin was too cute to pass up (I totally buy things based on packaging), bottle of tonic water, and a cake plate (on clearance at Target) full of limes. No wrapping necessary! The new addition to the bar prompted a rearrangement. Ben found the antlers from his first deer. Aren’t they small and adorable? Perfect man addition to balance out the heart print and pink straws.

And the shelf above it got a burst of (fake) life. Two faux green succulents from Hobby Lobby in a sugar dish add color to the white grouping. I swear, a shot of green makes everything look more lively.

Next I want to make a drink chart to frame and hang in the nook. I’m 98 percent sure I want a second shelf. And 130 percent ready for painted walls. Frankenwall be gone!

Ben surprised me with a beautiful necklace. And a bouquet of flowers. And chocolate covered pomegranate. Totally spoiled and not worthy.

Of course I had to make a Hey Girl meme (or three) to take part.

I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine’s day.

Peace and Joy

Published on December 26, 2012December 26, 2012 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

I hope everyone had a happy holiday! And, happy Monday, I mean Wednesday! I could get used to four-day weekends. It was so nice to have time to work on the house and still get a few days to relax. I’m going to take a few minutes to write out thank you cards to our families out-of-state. Of course I could use a plain card, but holiday colors and faux glitter are more fun, right? For this reason, I made two sets of Christmas cards. If you’ve got a thank you or two to write, here are the designs. Wish Peace on Earth:

Download the .pdf print sheet for the Peace on Earth set.

Or sing a little song with Repeat the Sounding Joy:

And Repeat the Sounding Joy set.

All cards are flat, measuring 5 1/4 inches by 4 inches, sized to fit in standard A2 envelopes. Or, the perfect size to mail as a postcard. Just write on the back your message on the back, include the address, and a postage stamp and you’re done.

Snowy Scene

Published on December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 by Our Humble Abode1 Comment

Did you know powder laundry detergent makes a great faux snow substitute? Well, it does. Last Christmas, the boys and I made snow filled ornaments using doll house birds and Epsom salt. This year, we made snowy scenes in open glass containers. We poured Epsom salt in one, pushed in a tree, set a bird on it.

After that one, we ran out of salt, so we improvised. Laundry detergent to the rescue to make a larger forest-ish scene.

(So sorry for the glare! Any photography tips for glass and glare?!) Power detergent looks like snow (minus the glittery effect), but smells lovely.

When we’re ready to change things up, we can dump the detergent back in the original container. No faux snow to store or save.

Brown Paper Packages

Published on December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Tied up with paper tape.

This will be our first Christmas spent at our own house. Heck, in our state. The first year our little family of four won’t pack up to head to Minnesota for Christmas. Instead, we’re staying home, sending gifts to family and friends through the postal system. To keep wrapping simple, I used plain kraft paper, paper tape, and a black Sharpie to decorate the packages.

Paper tape, from Target’s office supply section (I tried to find it online, but I didn’t see a link), adds a festive, unsquishable, mail ready ribbon replacement. And festive flair.

In all honesty, I don’t know what USPS allows for wrapping paper. To prevent issues, I kept decorations flat, sticky, and minimal.

I think it still seems fun and holiday-ish.

For the boys, we’re using fun patterned wrapping paper they picked out and simple stick on bows. Because that’s what makes them happy. Especially the snowmen, deer, and mini bows.