Seasonal & Holiday Decorating

Festive Flair

Published on July 3, 2012July 3, 2012 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Sorry this is last-minute, but that’s how my mind works these days. Tomorrow, we’re planning to have a small barbecue at our house. So I’ve been brainstorming cheap and easy ways to add festive flair to the table. Here’s a super quick rundown of what’s going on.

Traditional red, white, and blue with sparkle. I borrowed the coral utensil caddy from the bathroom to carry the silverware and a few candles hold down the center. Due to time constraints and little hands, I set only one place, but it shows what I had in mind. A white vinyl place mat at the bottom with an 11 by 17 sparkler print on top to add color. Our every day white dishes mix with everything. We don’t have fun colored glasses, so I filled a clear glass with a cold red drink and topped it with a festive stirrer. A napkin on the side held together with a sparkler-esque pipe cleaner ring adds more bling.

To make the drink stirrer, I cut a piece of aluminum foil into a three-inch wide strip. Then I folded the bottom over to stiffen the base. Cut lines, without going completely through. Add a piece of tape to one end and wrap the foil around a bamboo skewer, securing with tape at the other end.

For each pipe cleaner napkin ring you’ll need two sticks. First cut one cleaner into 4 pieces. It’s better if they aren’t perfect.

Group the cut pieces together and wrap the long pipe cleaner around the bundle once.

Wrap the pipe cleaners around your napkin and twist around to secure the ends. Fluff up the spikes and you’re done.

Add a sweet touch to dessert plates with powdered sugar. Make a star template from paper and dust with sugar. To add a touch of blue, I made a paper flag. Use the flags as cute accents, place markers, or as drink stirrer.

What have you made for the 4th? Favorite foods? I love skewers. What is more American than food on a stick?!?

We’re taking the day off tomorrow, but we’ll be back on Thursday. Enjoy your day off, my fellow Americans.

Green = Green: Valentine Flowers

Published on February 14, 2012February 14, 2012 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Ahh Valentine’s day. The day to buy and send flowers to a loved one. Rather than cut flowers, why not send (or buy for yourself like I did) a potted plant? Let me explain. I’m not talking about a potted fern. No, no, no. Flowers are still better. And, you’ll probably save some money in the process.

Take this mini rose bush I bought at the grocery store for five bucks. It’s cute, and at least $20 cheaper than cut roses.

It will most likely live longer than cut flowers, too. Even under my care, it should last longer.

But you know what I really liked about this little plant? Come spring, I can dig a hole in our rose bed and pop it in to enjoy for years to come.

Thus adding more green to our environment and saving some dough. And that makes for a very happy Valentine’s day.

You know what else makes Valentine’s day better? Heart-shaped pancakes, hand-made Valentines, and two cute little boys.

What are your Valentine plans? Going somewhere special? Making dinner? Do you exchange Valentine gifts?

Valentine’s Folding Cards

Published on February 8, 2012October 9, 2012 by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

Want another Valentine’s free printable? Sure you do! This time, we’re sharing fold over cards. If your kids have a Valentine’s party to attend, we’ve got you covered with a few cute (though I’m biased) tag printables.

If you’re looking to dish out candy, Nuts About You! tags are perfect.

Click the link, print, cut along the tick marks, and fold along the dotted line. Grab a bag of cellophane bags from the craft store (mine are 3 1/4 inches square when closed). Fill with peanut M&Ms (or another nutty treat), close, and staple the card over. There’s plenty of room for your little one to write a message to their friends.

If you don’t want your kids hopped up on sugar, give stickers instead. If your kids are anything like mine, they love three simple things: balloons, bubbles, and stickers. Any stickers.

Here’s Sticking With You, the girly version:

Or, we’ve got blue for a more boyish look.

Same routine. Print, cut, fold, staple to the package.

I couldn’t find stickers I liked, so I designed and printed my own.

But I had a problem. I printed the stickers on full label sheets. So I cut the designs out. Now I had to package them. A piece of wax paper cut to fit inside the same cellophane bags became a perfect backing for the home-made stickers. Just peel the label backing off, stick and seal.

I happened to have a mini stapler with orange staples, so I used that. Seriously, mini + office supplies = adorably irresistible.

You can make your own stickers to go with, too.

Print on full label sheets, then use a ruler and utility knife to cut apart, keeping centered between designs. Or, buy a big package at the store and divide up on wax paper sheets for a quick and sugar-free gift.

What Valentine’s cards have you given? Store bought? Hand made? Candyless?

P.S. This is the last Valentine’s project we’ll share. Pinkie swear.

Wear Your Heart on Your Garland

Published on February 6, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

When E takes his afternoon nap, I try to do a fun project with V. Sometimes we make a puzzle. Other times we color and practice our letters. With Valentine’s day coming up, we did a special project involving crayons. Before V could get started, I used a utility knife to cut crayon shavings. I looked for a pencil sharpener, but we don’t have one because really, who uses anything but a mechanical pencil now days?

Of course a little help is always nice, especially when the help is a cheesy-grinned four year old.

After shaving four different colored crayons (red, orange red, red violet, and flamingo to be exact), we finally got to the good part. We spread out a few sheets of kraft paper and one sheet of wax paper. V and I sprinkled the crayon over the wax sheet, trying to keep it as even as possible.

Cover it up with another sheet of wax paper.

And two more sheets of kraft paper.

Warm your iron to a medium setting and run it over the paper, melting the crayons.

Check as you’re going and keep ironing until the wax is completely melted.

Make a heart template, I recycled a flyer from the mail. Trace as many hearts as possible and start cutting.

To string our hearts, I used a needle to poke holes on both sides of each heart. Thread a small needle without cutting the other end from the spool. String the hearts on until you’ve reached the desired garland length.

I hung our garland in front of the living room window by making small loops on either end of the thread. Brackets are the perfect hangers.

And Dexter would have liked some of our red hearts, like this one that reminds me of his infamous blood slides.

What fun projects do you do with your kids? Do you remember making ‘stained glass’ as a kid? If I were crazy and needed another DIY light fixture in my house, I would most definitely make a faux capiz pendant using this same process. Just sub the hearts for a circle punch and sew the circles together. A wire wreath form would make a perfect multi-tiered base to hang the strands from. Can you tell I’ve considered this?!? Haha.

Handmade Hostess…

Published on December 13, 2011December 13, 2011 by Our Humble Abode11 Comments

Cupcakes? Twinkies? Donetts? No, that can’t be right. Gifts, that’s the word I was looking for! Chances are, you’ll attend one or more parties between now and 2012, so we’ve got a few hostess gift ideas that are quick, cheap, and easy. Just the way I like ’em. (That’s what he said).

First up, flour sack towels. I bought a set of four towels for $3.99 at Target. Then, hit up a craft store for fabric paints, either in a tube or a pen, and perhaps a stencil.

The key is to choose a design that looks good filled in. Choose something simple to start. I started a random chevron pattern along the bottom edge. Work with a piece of cardboard beneath to protect your work surface. Paint your design, let it dry, and then iron it for packaging. You can see I didn’t follow those last two steps.