Etsy Favs: November

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Etsy time again.  Here’s what we’ve added to our favorites this month.

A hanging twig lamp from The Light Store has such beautiful texture.

This beautiful butterfly photograph by Eye Poetry Photography.

Bees and beehives are a timeless design.  So are these modular cherry candles from Pretty Dreamer.

Leave these leaf candle holders out on a table for an elegant touch of fall.

I’m a total sucker for almost anything nature.  A hand cast leafy twig necklace by Donkey and Lemon included.

Keep your neck warm this winter with a beautiful wool garland scarf from Peeko Apparel.  I love that it can be worn in several ways for a different look.

Love your state?  Get a special piece of art from Curiously Wrought.

I love this pear art print by The Joy of Color.

Christmas is creeping up.  How adorable are these wooden snowflakes from Stranger.

I love to have one of these cork jars by Paulova Ceramicsin my kitchen to store salt.

Yes, I am obsessed with owls.  And birds in general, but that doesn’t mean this owl vase by Guten Tag Fibers is any less cute.

Add a pop of color to your fall or winter wardrobe with these parrot green earrings by Botny.

Dress up a Thanksgiving table setting with a set of feather linen napkins from Tangerine.

These great Etsy shops are also offering Our Humble A{Bowe}d readers a special holiday discount.  Stop by for great deals!

Use the code OHA2011 at check out to redeem.

All of these items would make great holiday gifts.  What is your favorite?

Our Humble Sponsors: November

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Well, we have a new sponsor here!  S and S Babee recently opened its doors, offering stylish baby items.

While the company is very new, it is also very promising.  If you’re looking for a hand-made baby gift, you’ve found the right place.  So far you can buy burp cloths or cloth baby wipes, but new items are added daily.

And my blog BFF Jen from IHeart Organizing is continuing to sponsor us.  Jen always amazes and impresses me with her clever, pretty and useful ideas.  Her fairy tale closet has made tons of progress.

She’s making a fun space for her boys, too.  Check out their new playroom with a fun chalkboard building table and organized Lego system.

If you’re needing looking to get more organized, stop in Jen’s Etsy shop to stock up on charts, labels, and more.  Use the code OHA2011 at check out to get a 10% discount.

Just Face It

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As I had hoped, we crossed a few more items off our kitchen to do list.

  • Install the new dishwasher.  Did that on Thursday night.
  • Sand the ceiling and walls smooth
  • Build the five remaining drawers we’ve waited on (we needed to see how things were in place before we could build one drawer in the dining room, the trash can pull out, and the under the sink drawer)
  • Fill, sand, prime and paint said drawers
  • Install every drawer, 16 total
  • Buy the wood for the counters.  Hopefully we’ll get a call today!
  • Haul the wood slabs to a cabinet shop to have them sand both sides smooth
  • Cut the wood to fit and install the counters
  • Hang the upper cabinets
  • Add decorative face trim to all cabinets for a smooth, pretty, even front
  • Fill, sand, prime, and paint all cabinet faces
  • Build the drawer and cabinet fronts, including two glass front doors
  • More filling, sanding, priming, and painting of the cabinet fronts
  • Install the drawer fronts and hardware pulls
  • Prime and paint the kitchen and living room.  Probably the dining room too.
  • Add lights: sconces, recessed light halos, and the rope lighting
  • Trim out the posts and door frames
  • Add crown molding to the top of the cabinets
  • Decide whether we want to add decorative trim to the vent hood or paint it to match the wall color
  • Install the pretty new marble tile backsplash
  • Put everything back in place and enjoy
Ben built five drawers: the top dining side:
See the window sill?  We had to make this drawer narrower than the others so it doesn’t hit the sill.  Instead of wasting three inches on the entire stack, Ben attached a few plywood scraps to build the cabinet out to the width of just the top drawer.
Three for the drawer stack we thought would be the trash drawer:
The top drawer by the sink isn’t installed because we ran out of drawer glides.  We bought 15 when we planned to have only two drawers in that stack.  We’ll install it once we get another set of glides.
And one under the sink:
I think this one is my favorite, just because I’ve never seen a drawer under the sink, and it’s so much more functional with the drawer.  To cover the exposed plywood edges, we filled the top with wood filler, let it dry, then sanded it smooth.
We could have used iron-on wood veneer, but it peeled off easily when we tested it for the laundry room.  That’s why I’ve made a few light fixtures with it.
After fitting the drawers, Ben started on the cabinet face framing.  Quarter inch MDF cut into strips cover the rough plywood edges.
Visible cabinet ends got a layer of 1/2 inch MDF followed by a 2 1/2 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick MDF decorative frame.
Wood filler seals the cracks.  Once everything is sanded, it should have a seamless edge.
We have a special plan to deal with the bare back and the drawer front for the dining side.
And, the trim covers the gap between the dishwasher and counter.
If all goes well, I’ll have the trim sanded and primed later today.  Hoping Everett takes a long nap.
What did you do this weekend?  Start or finish any big projects?  Planned out your Thanksgiving dinner menu?  Rake up leaves?  We tried but then it snowed.  Can you believe winter has already started?  Folks in warm climates, please send your weather our way.

A Washer of Dishes

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Our kitchen is officially back to a fully functioning condition.  All because we installed the dishwasher that arrived yesterday.  After plenty of online research and in-store visits, we decided on the KitchenAid Classic Series dishwasher in stainless.

We like that it has the stainless tub interior, hidden controls, some adjustable tines, and an adjustable upper rack which they claim can hold full-sized plates.  That would be cool, but we haven’t tried.  After all, we just installed it.  Originally, we thought we’d end up with a LG, but Ben didn’t want to pay their higher price.  The normal price of this KitchenAid is $799.99, but thanks to a Columbus Day sale we got it for a mere 513.89 bucks.  Also known as 36% off, which is actually better than our smokin’ good deal on our range.  Thank you Columbus for discovering America.

Ben picked the dishwasher up from Sears yesterday afternoon and installed it after work.  Installation was easy.  Add a hose, an electrical cord, plug-in this, clamp that.  But we do have another problem.  Do you see it?

Ahh, we built the cabinets 1 1/4 inches too tall.  Gah.  I guess we were in a hurry to get the kitchen started and forgot to measure our old cabinets.  Apparently 36 inches is the standard height including a counter top.

Oh well.  We gained another inch of cabinet space.  And it’s nothing a piece of trim can’t fix.  It just makes it easier to see the hidden buttons right now.

I’ve never had a dishwasher with hidden controls, but I’m nerdy excited about it.  Now I just have to re-learn how to load this reconfigured dishwasher.  Ha.

Now you’re 100% up to date on the kitchen status.  Hopefully I won’t be able to say that come Monday.  Have you ever made a silly rookie mistake?  How’d it work out in the end?  Maybe this is for the better because the trim will be a better match to the drawer stack on the other side of the sink…

Gimme a Giveaway Winner: Celadon Home

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Raise your hand if you’re excited for the weekend.  Consider us raising all eight hands (me, Ben, Vincent, and Everett).  Last Friday we asked what you do to make a house feel like your home.  Many of you find comfort with personal art.

We couldn’t agree more.  Maybe because art is so diverse and easy to acquire?  One lucky reader, number 31  Jenna Nicholson, has family photos all over her house to make it feel like home.  And, for her 6 month wedding anniversary, she will receive one custom piece of art from Celadon Home to display in her home.  Jenna, the wedding vow art would be perfect for you.  

As we have been for the past month, we’re planning to get some kitchen work done this weekend.  What are you up to?  Work or play?

P.S.  Looking for personal and affordable art ideas?  Check out our past projects here under the Easy Art header.