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Bow & Arrows

Published on July 9, 2012October 18, 2012 by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

After deciding to paint the backs of the entertainment center yellow, I decided to add pops of yellow in the living room to tie everything together. My first focus, pillows. Redesigning the blog inspired a pattern. Flipped and repeating arrows.

Of course, I had to make the design. In Photoshop, I altered the background design for a more suitable stencil. Enlarging, beefing up the lines and shortening the overall design gave me a good base.

I opened a new page, copied, pasted, and rotated the arrow design 45 degrees. To make a repeating design, I duplicated my arrow layer and flipped it horizontally. When I like the placement, I merged my two arrows together and duplicated that layer, this time flipping the design vertically to make this design:

Printing to plain paper gave me my template. I had transparency sheets on hand, but you can pick up a package at an office supply store. Taping the template to the underside of my clear sheet made cutting a crisp design quick and easy.

Once I finished cutting my stencil, I gathered my fabric supplies; yellow duck cloth, fabric paint, a foam brush, paint tray, and my new stencil.

I’d suggest marking both the center of your fabric and the center of the stencil. Making reference points for a repeating pattern would be a good idea, too. Eyeballing this design wasn’t difficult, but a more intricate design might be. So, remember that when making a stencil. Then, starting at the center, I worked my way toward the edges.

Fortunately, the fabric paint dried quickly, but I did cut the edges of my stencil to make overlapping easy.

After the paint completely dried (about 20 minutes later) I cut two pieces of yellow fabric to make an envelope closure style pillow. Now we’ve got a completely custom pillow on the couch.

Time to start thinking about curtains, but that could be an entirely different post. So many options, so little time. What have you stenciled recently? Walls? Pillows? Maybe you’ve been sewing? Whatcha making? Or are you starting curtain planning? Let’s discuss.

Gimme a Giveaway: Heart and Craft

Published on July 6, 2012July 13, 2012 by Our Humble Abode101 Comments

This giveaway is closed. Thanks for entering! See who won here.

Well folks, we’re half way through (unofficial) summer. You know what, I’m okay with that. So far this summer we’ve had record highs and record low rain fall. I’d settle for a cool down. Today, we get to giveaway some cool products from Heart and Craft.

Fun patterns and bright colors drew me in like a kid to Kool Aid. Don’t take my word for it, have a look. Kat has pretty prints.

Multi Colored Birds:

Home is Where the Heart Is:

Woodland Heart:

Feather Illustration:

And pretty screen prints. White Birds:

Birch Trees:

The Goods: One print or 8 by 10 inch screen print from Heart and Craft.

To Enter: Leave a comment, which can (but doesn’t have to) include our Just for Fun question.

Just for Fun: What do you heart to craft? Art? Quilts?

For additional entries:

1. Follow Collect and Carry, then come back and tell us in another comment.

Contest Closes: Thursday, July 12th at 11:59 pm, central time.

Number of Winners: Two!

Ships: Anywhere in the US of A.

Other Info: We will select the winner using random.org and announce on Friday, July 13th. Good luck!!

On My Way Home

Published on July 6, 2012September 21, 2012 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

Happy Friday, friends! We’re House Guests at My Way Home, Wayfair’s fun blog.

Stop by and check out our bathroom remodeling tips.

June Acronym

Published on July 5, 2012 by Our Humble AbodeLeave a comment

Jazz it up: Painting over the red wall, adding fun yellow to the back of the entertainment center, making and hanging new map art

Unzip and unearth: Discover the possibilities of a hand stitched zipper bag and unearthing roof problems.

Never ending: Bathroom projects; mood board planning, industrial pendants, and painting the vanity bold blue.

Enjoy the upgrades: A new vacuum, more sun filled spaces thanks to cutting down a tree, a semi clean basement, and the beginnings of an entertainment center.

I fully intended to watch fireworks from our living room. As it got darker, I became more excited. Afterall, this is the first 4th in our mountain house. At 10:30, I saw fireworks from the neighboring town. 10:30 rolled past and still no fireworks for us. At 11:00, I laid in bed because a watched firework never starts. And that’s where I made my mistake. I laid in bed, waiting to hear the fireworks. Then, I’d get up, watch, and maybe take a few pictures. Well, I fell asleep before I heard the fireworks start and must have slept through. Completely lame. How was your 4th of July? Did you stay up to watch fireworks? Have friends and family over?

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.