Tag: DIY

Pillow Palooza

Published on by Our Humble Abode24 Comments

Up until yesterday, we still had very summery weather.  I’m a little late, but I’ve started decorating for fall.  Usually I don’t go all out on seasonal decorating, but I like to switch up a few things.  I started with new fall colored pillows for the couch.  Thus, pillow palooza was born.

Red doesn’t often make an appearance in our house.  However, I can’t get enough coral lately.  Spurred by a towel I bought for the bathroom, I figured dark coral and gray could replace red nicely.

I happened to have half a yard of light gray duck cloth in my stash, so I cut it to an 18 inch square piece.  Wanting a simple design, I taped off two-inch wide random stripes.  Then I mixed up a batch of dark coral using apple red, orange, and a dose of pale pink.  Painting went quickly, covering in one coat.

Peeling off the tape is such a fun moment.  A few areas of bleed through, but nothing terrible.  Definitely fun color.

For something even more fall-ish, I had the idea to add a leaf design to a pillow.  Preferably, I would have used fabric for the leaves, but I had my heart set on metallic.  Sadly, our little fabric stores don’t carry much in the good-looking metallic department.  Again, I turned to craft paint, this time in a metallic copper finish.    Freehand leaves appear to fall and settle at the bottom.

Later, I went back and added a few metallic gold leaves, too.  Yellow is a great fall color, so I kept the fun Target pillow.

For the other side of the couch, I started dip dyed a piece of natural colored canvas in a tangerine dye bath.  Just a simple dip and wiggling to get an ombre-ish pillow.

To incorporate orange, yellow, and gray to temper the bright colors, I had my heart set on a triangle pattern pillow.  I cut a 7 inch equilateral triangle template from card stock, then traced it to scrap fabric left over from other projects.

Pinning the pieces together to create a line of triangles.

After completing the strips, I sewed them to each other.  Randomly placed colors made a fun mix.

Of course the yellow arrow pillow fit in, so it’s still around.

So that’s our fall-ified couch.  Nothing ground breaking, but I’m happy with a change.  Both the pillows and weather.

What have you been changing up?  New pillows?  A fall mantle?  How do you incorporate fall colors in your home?

Craspedia, Billy Buttons, Whatever

Published on by Our Humble Abode17 Comments

I’m sure you know those cute yellow flower balls I’m talking about.  They’re everywhere lately, and for good reason.  Except in the state of Montana.  Seriously, I have yet to see these guys anywhere.

{photo via Flored Del Sol}

I’ve got plenty of cute vases.  Though most, okay, all, are empty.  While decorating the entertainment center for fall, I decided that had to change.  A simple, modern shape and bright color would be perfect.  Billy buttons, that’s what I needed.  So I set out to make my own.  I’ll let you judge how realistic/cute they are after the tutorial.

Using small foam balls (from Dollar Tree), green floral wire, paper clips (not pictured), and sunny yellow spray paint, I got to work.

First I skewered each ball with a straightened paper clip and stuck it in a piece of scrap foam.  If you don’t have foam, you could stick these in a pile of small rocks or even hold at the end.  Then I spritzed each sphere with the yellow paint and let it dry.

Once the balls dried, I cut pieces of floral wire to length and pushed the balls on.  Voila, faux billy buttons.

Looking back at the thicker painted yellow paper clips, I might like that better.  But I’m happy with my two dollar ‘flowers.’  Ben thinks they look like cheese balls stuck on wire.

{photo via}

Though if you ask me, I think cheese balls are more orange.  I suppose if you have cheese balls in your pantry, you could give ’em a shot.

Rather than tucking these cuties on the shelf, I plopped them on the bar cart turned side table for a pop of color.

So, what’s the verdict?  Cheap and cute?  Or cheesy?  Literally.  Where do/have you found billy buttons?

Painting on Jersey Shore

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

Um, not the show Jersey Shore that I refuse to watch for fear I’d have three brain cells left.  Or even the geographic location of the Jersey shore.  I’m talking about a little painting project the boys and I did yesterday that vaguely resembles modern sports jerseys.  Back when we still lived at our first house, I made magazine ad artwork for the boys’ bedroom.

Great colors, fun animals, and free, in a word, love.  But neither of my boys are babies anymore.  Vincent is Rubik’s cube loving, movie quoting, bike riding five-year old.  And Everett’s a jump on/off/to everything, dirt digging, Matchbox car racing two and a half-year old.  The baby-ish artwork didn’t match their personalities anymore.  Five cluttered looking frames weren’t working for me either, so I set out to make free, personalized art involving the kids.

I found two still in the package 16 by 20 inch canvases in the basement, begging to be used.  Then I opened Photoshop and typed 21 and 25, Vincent and Everett’s birth dates and changed the fonts until I found one I liked best.  Museo Slab, if you’re wondering.  To make the art look less like a jersey, I decided to overlap the number slightly for a more artistic look.

I considered tracing the numbers, taping off everything and letting the boys paint, but that seemed like too much work.  Instead, I flipped the numbers to make a mirror image, printed on card stock, and cut them out.

The boys each painted their number using acrylic paints.

Once the paint dried, I flipped the numbers over and stuck plenty of rolled tape on.  In another attempt to make these look less like sports attire, I placed the numbers in the bottom left corner, rather than the center.

V stuck with greens and yellow for his.

Then went color crazy by adding various blues to the mix on E’s number.

I like that these are personal and were as easy as printing, cutting, and painting numbers.  And we can just as easily pull the numbers off and paint something on the canvases if we get bored.

I might use stronger tape though because the thick card stock is kind of warped from the paint.

If not for my free goal, I would have preferred square canvases, perhaps 24 by 24 inches.

Like I said, we can easily change this down the line.  For now, I’m really happy with the white space versus painted design.  And fonts/numbers are always good in my book.

Now I’m curious, what do you have as art over beds?  Whether kids, yours, or a guest bed.  Do you prefer single larger pieces?  Or a grouping of smaller ones?  Perhaps, you’re a font/number geek?  Let’s unite!

P.S.  In response to our recent survey (which you can still fill out here), several commenters suggested bigger, brighter pictures.  For larger pictures, click on the photo.  Are these brighter/bright enough/too bright?

You Didn’t Have to Cut Me Off

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

Sorry, Gotye, but we wanted to.  Had to.  Did.  Cut concrete, that is.  For the basement windows to pass egress in the basement bedrooms at our first house, Ben hired a concrete cutting company.  When we decided to cut this concrete, we knew who to call.  A $300-400 bid wasn’t bad at all, so we made our appointment and got started a week later.  The process was interesting, and not only to the boys.  First, a metal guide gets bolted to the concrete.

Then the giant saw gets set in the track, hooked up to hoses, and starts cutting.

Following the guide, the saw moves on its own.  The guy, Pete, adjusted it along the way and changed directions until it cut completely through.

Once the bottom was cut, he switched the guides and cut the sides.  A nice shove and the concrete fell to the ground.

Over the weekend Ben and Sammy framed out the opening for a sliding door and double hung window.

Having installed a door and several windows made this easier and they had the new window and door in before the evening.

It’s a little more finished looking than last time, right?

And certainly different than what we started with.

Now the sliding doors are at the same height.

No more climbing up three steps to get to the wet bar, then down three more to get to the patio.  The back yard is looking worse than ever, but that means we’re one step closer to rebuilding.  Just a little more excavating, cutting down a tree, and waiting for spring to get started on our plans.  Speaking of plans, I figured it was time to share the ideas we’ve been tossing around.

(not to scale, just to give a picture)

Oye, that’s a lot to take in.  Let me explain.  Because our house is built on rock, there’s no way we could drill a well to water grass.  We’re far too cheap to pay for city water for green grass.  And Montana is too dry (especially this year) to keep grass green.  So, a large concrete patio should minimize dirt/dust in the house while giving us a space to relax.    Centered on the family room sliding door will be a pergola.  I’m thinking something simple and more modern than traditional.  Perhaps we’ll have an outdoor dining table under or we could go more toward an outdoor living room.  We’ll see where we land.  The rock stairs to no where will stay.

Some of the sandstone boulders we dug out will be used as a natural retaining wall.  But we carved out a larger area for a waterfall feature and a gas fire pit.

I’m thinking something rectangular like this bordering on the patio with moveable bench seating for maximum enjoyment.

A small stream will meander down the hillside to a waterfall with hidden storage pond below.  Hidden meaning we’ll use holding tanks to recirculate and keep an open pond from looking gross/filled with rocks deposited by little boys.

In the surrounding areas, we’ll add crushed limestone to further cut down on the dirt.  Drought resistant plants are on our list to add life and greenery.  Because the back yard connects to the driveway, a wooden walking path, or boardwalk, will connect the patio to a set of stairs down to the driveway.

Of course this is all subject to change as we gather inspiration, search out materials, and take measurements.

Yep, we’re officially crazy, but it should be totally awesome when we’re done.  My pergola dreams will be fulfilled.  What do you think?  What’s your dream for an outdoor space?  Are you already planning your spring landscape duties?

Brass Be Gone

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

Let me preface this by saying I don’t hate brass.  At least not aged brass.  I can’t stand the bright/shiny/fake/80’s brass.  Don’t hate me for doing what I’m about to show you.  Last week I had to run to UPS to send my felt leaf bowls to Germany for a photo shoot.  While waiting for the main UPS to open at noon, the boys and I stopped at a park to play, bought groceries, and popped in a Goodwill.  Not needing anything in particular, I puttered around the store and saw a brass bar cart.

I shoved a little lady to get to it…in my head.  In real life I patiently waited for her to pass and then snatched it for, wait for it… 13 bucks.

Because it was a decent size, I rationalized we could use it just about anywhere, and not only as a bar cart.  Yeah, Ben’s jug-o-wine wouldn’t look too fancy on this bad boy.  The details were so nice.  Double tiered, wooden legs, and on castors.

I’m guessing there was another glass shelf at the bottom, but we can replace that.  Either with another piece of glass or painted MDF.

Everything was great, except the finish.  While I liked the brass color, it was certainly worn, and not in a good way.

Hoping to keep the brass, I tried using Rub N Buff on it.  No such luck, it just wiped right off the slick surface.  Well, it was worth a shot.  Sure, I could have used spray paint, but I’m not sure how it would hold up over time.  When in doubt, I turn to my trusty friend Blue Magic.

Pair Blue Magic and fine steel wool and you’ll get a shiny, chrome finish on brass plated items.  Because this stuff is stinky, I rolled my cart outside.  I strongly recommend wearing rubber gloves, too.  The thicker, the better.  Then, dip the steel wool in the cream, and polish away.  Ten or twenty seconds later, depending on the thickness of the brass and how hard you’re scrubbing, you’ll see chrome.

Keep on going.  Now, I’m not sure exactly how/why this works, but here’s my best guess.  The steel wool acts as a fine sandpaper, removing the brass plate.  If used alone, it would scratch the metal, so the Blue Magic polishes it.  Thanks to all the crazy joints and details, it took me about five hours to get this done.

I decided to keep the brass on the wheels, both because I like the look and I didn’t know if the metals were the same.  I quickly sanded down the legs to re-stain them a rich walnut color.  Boy was that quicker!  A coat of silver spray paint on the black rubber pieces and here she is.

Obviously I’m using it as a side table in our living room.  The size is great, but I’ve got some styling I want to do.  Oh, and the bottom shelf.

I’m loving the shiny finish.

Those dark wooden legs, me-ow.

I’m excited for the bottom shelf and pretty details.

Castors are awesome, too.  If we don’t need it as a side table down the line, we can always roll this to another room, inside or out.

Basically, it’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.

How about a budget breakdown?

Cart:  $12.99 at Goodwill

Blue Magic and steel wool:  Already had on hand (costs about 12 bucks at car stores)

Sand paper and stain:  Left over from the bookshelf and bench

Silver spray paint:  From my stash

Time: roughly 6 1/2 hours

Total: $12.99 plus 6 1/2 hours of my time.  Not bad at all.

Do you like the changes?  Or did you prefer the brassy finish?  What’s your favorite recent thrifty find?  Ever tried Blue Magic on brass?  I’m contemplating using it on another project, but I’ve got some testing (and probably convincing of Ben) to do first.