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Gimme a Giveaway: For Animal Lovers

Published on December 6, 2013January 2, 2014 by Our Humble Abode74 Comments

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

Who doesn’t love a cute critter? I know it’s extremely tough for me to refuse one. If we’re kindred spirits, you’ll love this month’s giveaway partners, Wilderness Romance and Chipmunk Cheeks.

Wilderness Romance specializes in hand printed fabric goods like pillows and pillow cases. Like this Hand Printed Buffalo Pillow, that I now have living in my house.

Or this Moose pillow:

And a cute Plush Rabbit:

And Chipmunk Cheeks, oh goodness, there’s so much to love.

This Squirrel Flowers print is in my house, waiting to be framed and hung, but oh so adorable.

This Fox Flowers is a handsome fella, too.

Elephant Flowers, amazing flowers and I almost got her.

Pink Hedgehog Flowers, so pretty.

Come on now, get in on this action!

The Goods: Two prizes! For the first winner, one $30 shop credit to Wilderness Romance and one $25 credit to Chipmunk Cheeks or Katie Vernon. For the second winner, one $25 credit good for or toward anything in the Chipmunk Cheeks or Katie Vernon.

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

Just for Fun: How many animal related pieces do you have in your house? Art, pillows, sculptures, you name it. Me? I’ve got at least 30, if I group pairs or sets together. As singles, easily over 50.

For additional entries:

1. Add Wilderness Romance to your Etsy favs and leave a comment.

2. Add Chipmunk Cheeks to your Etsy favs, then leave a second comment.

3. Like Our Humble Abode on Facebook, and comment again.

Contest Closes: Thursday, December 26th, 2013.

Number of Winners: Two, chosen by Random.org.

Ships: Anywhere in the US.

Other Info: We will select the winners using random.org and announce on Friday, December 27th.

P.S. I’ve lowered prices on nearly everything in the shop for the rest of December. 8 by 10 inch prints are only 10 bucks!

Table Tableau

Published on December 4, 2013December 4, 2013 by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Something monumental happened on Monday night. We bought a dining set!

Now, I realize this might not seem like a big deal. But for us, it really is. Because this is the first time we’ve had an actual table in our formal dining room. For Thanksgiving, we used folding tables and cheap Target chairs.

Before that, we had a small, round thrifted table with a glass top.

And hey, we bought furniture! That rarely happens.

Ben found this set on Craigslist for less than half of the retail price.

We talked about building a table, but it was never a priority. And we can’t agree on chairs to save our lives. This West Elm table was my front-runner.

If you like that table, too, check out Yellow Brick Home’s similar DIY table. While the Mission style isn’t what I had in mind, I’m surprised at how much I like it in our house.

And the size is perfect. Plenty or room to walk around, even with a tree in the corner. With the two extra leaves in, we could seat 8 people very comfortable. The warm wood is a really nice finish and is easy to clean. Unlike the glass top that always had fingerprints.

There are four normal chairs and two leather upholstered captain’s chairs.

My first impression was to reupholster the seats. But when the chairs are tucked in, the seats read more neutral than green. This is the most accurate picture of the color:

One chair even has a slightly noticeable leather brand. Which Ben loves because you can easily tell they’re real leather.

While these rooms are far from finished, every step is progress.

Craig, can you get me the prefect couch? Do you have a hard time pulling the trigger on furniture, too?

It Felt Nice

Published on December 2, 2013December 2, 2013 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

This Christmas, our theme is school, per V’s request. He started kindergarten this fall and absolutely loves it, so it made sense when he wanted to carry it to Christmas. Hobby Lobby had everything we needed to deck our tree. Wooden letters and colorful felt. I bought 8 different colored sheets of felt. Then, cut them in thirds, lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch ish strips.

With my sewing machine, I stitched on long chain, keeping the pieces close to centered.

When I ran out of pieces, the garland was roughly 30 feet long. Not bad for two bucks worth of felt!

We wrapped it around the tree, then hung our painted letters. A few silver ball ornaments, last year’s cubes, and all the silhouette ornaments I’ve made of the boys.

And here she is, a school themed Christmas tree.

V and I talked about our Christmas theme in October, so it was funny to see a similar tree in Martha Stewart Living this month.

Colorful, letters, and painted wooden cubes. Have you started holiday decorating? Do you have a theme each year? If so, what’s your theme this year?

Gimme a Giveaway Winner & a Sale

Published on November 29, 2013 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

Hey, hey! Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! How about a winner of the Girl and Parrot giveaway? Jen N, you’re the lucky duck! Congrats!

We’re also having a big Black Friday blowout sale. 60% off anything and everything in the shop, new and old alike. So you can get a Carved Initials Cut Out for only 20 bucks.

Or an Astrological Sign Cut Out for $12, customized with your colors.

But I added three new, festive prints. So a new Eat, Drink & Be Merry print is only six dollars!

A new Wishing Wishbone print is six bucks, too.

New, custom art would make a lovely, affordable holiday gift. Or get something for yourself! Use the code BLACKFRIDAY60 to activate the code and save.

Foam Plus Paint Equals Stamped Runner

Published on November 25, 2013November 25, 2013 by Our Humble Abode4 Comments

Part of our Thanksgiving table setting is a gold plus stamped runner. It didn’t take long to make and cost about 5 bucks.

I bought three yards of 32 inch wide white muslin, normally $1.99 per yard, but I had a 50% off coupon. Only 3 dollars for fabric. Then I folded the fabric lengthwise, right sides together and stitched along a short and long side.

Next, I flipped it right side out and ironed it flat. Once flat (with the seams pressed), I sewed all four edges, leaving a 1 inch seam. For a little detail, I made a plus sign from a foam take out container to make a stamp. Because the foam is so thin, I taped a crayon to the back to serve as a handle.

I tested out dipping and brushing paint on using a scrap of fabric. I actually preferred the brush strokes, so I stamped it on the runner. Martha Stewart craft paints also work on fabric, so it was about two bucks for the paint.

And we can use this runner year round because it isn’t a specific theme.

I love super simple holiday projects. Usually things are crazy and it’s nice to have something fun and useful. Did you make holiday decor for your table?