DIY Image Transfer

As I was doodling mandalas for DIYNetwork.com, I got an idea for a funky gift tag. In college, I played a bit with image transfers (like every other design student in history), and I’d been itching to try them again. So today, I thought I’d show you how I DIYed these gift tags using an image transfer. It adds such a personal touch and bonus: it’s super easy and quick–2 minutes + walk away for an hour + and 5 more minutes.

You’ll Need:

Mod Podge (Don’t worry about the sheen!)
foam brush
wooden gift tag
spray bottle full of water
an image to transfer*

*Note about the image: You can easily transfer a variety of images, but the easiest is a print made with a laser printer. If you want to make some bohemian printed gift tags like mine, click here to download the mandala I used from DIYNetwork.com

The first thing you’ll do is trace your tag with a pencil on the mandala. (I’d suggest doing several at once.)

Cut out your traced shape And put a good layer of Mod Podge on the image.

Lay the image on top of your tag and walk away.

Let it dry for one hour.

After an hour, use a spray bottle to dampen the paper. As it dampens, it will start to become translucent.

Gently start rubbing away the paper.

Alternate between gently rubbing away the paper and dampening until all remnants of paper are gone.

And that’s it! You can put a little message on the back of your label and then affix it to your gift.

It’s Time to Color! Coloring Pages for DIYNetwork.com

Some of you may remember that I instagrammed a mandala I was doodling recently. Well, it was part of a bigger project I just did for DIYNetwork.com: Coloring Pages!

There are 5 designs to download and color while you’re watching tv, flying to see family over the holiday, or sitting at your desk on those super long conference calls. It’s such a relaxing activity and made me think of the hours Grandma and I put in on all those Snoopy coloring books when I was little.

Click here to download all 5 on DIYNetwork.com. You’ll also see a few ways you can use the final products. The best part? They’re free!

If you end up coloring, we’d love to see! Instagram them and tag @diynetwork & @hb_belle

More…

If you’re interested in what I do when I’m not blogging? Click here to see hannahbdesign.com

TGIF!

Hello and Happy Friday from the old house on the hill! (She looks pretty up there, doesn’t she?) Before we kick this weekend off, I thought I’d show you a little bit of what went down last Saturday. Ladies and Gentlemen, project #1 is officially underway.

What is that weird pattern-y thing, you ask?

Oh, that?

That’s the ceiling!

If you recall, there are several little sheds out behind our house. This one, the one on the far left, was the *perfect* 1950s clubhouse–or so I’ve been told. In my head, the Kerr boys were basically the Little Rascals. (I wonder if there was a Darla?)

Years before that, it was the home of Lewdy, the groundskeeper. I was told you could smell him coming a mile away. (Perhaps he’d been in to the jello shots? See yesterday’s post.) I also heard he had a thing going on with the maid.

window weights

Well, for its next incarnation, it will be… */drumroll please/* my studio! Last Saturday, as I was working upstairs in the house, Husband and our faithful apprentice, who is currently occupying the guest room, were deconstructing parts of the shed.

We are not tearing the building down, but parts are beyond repair. So we are going to save the parts we can and rebuild the others to suit our purposes. Windows were taken out (carefully) and saved for future use. While we are tearing out the ceiling, the roof was replaced recently so we shouldn’t have to touch it. I’m thrilled with how much they got done last weekend, and I’m excited to get my hands dirty tomorrow. Stay tuned!

My old studio space was one of several crafty spaces featured on DIYNetwork.com. Click here to see it!

Click here to get my tips for dressing up your cubicle!

3 Minute Frame

As you’ve seen before, we really like to put fun artwork in our bathrooms. Think about it: It’s the one room in the house, most people will visit so why not give them something to look at? (Bonus: We’ve never had anyone drop a phone in our toilet at a party. They’re too busy looking at the random art hanging on the walls!) The thing about art in the bathroom is that it’s subject to moisture and mildew. So I suggest a 3 minute frame that’s quick and fun.

This is a lady from the Lower East Side that I cut out of a magazine years ago. There was just something about the pointing (and mocking) that I had to save. Fast forward to our current bathroom that was sorely in need of a little tongue-in-cheek, and she now hangs above the toilet where she points and laughs at everyone who visits.

You’ll need 3 things:

paper with a pattern (I collect old sheet music. When it’s no longer usable, it’s perfect for craft projects.)

a picture you’ve cut out from a magazine (remember: Nothing too precious.)

a frame with glass

DIY:

First, pull together a pattern for the background and then an image to be the focal point. If you’re hanging this in a place where moisture isn’t a factor, choose whatever you like. But if you’re making something seasonal (like this Christmas gallery wall) or a fun piece to hang in the bathroom like me, use scraps that are easy to switch out.

Lay the glass over your pattern and cut the paper to that size. The glass acts like a ruler!

Use a piece of double-sided tape in the center of your layering image. This will keep it from sliding around under the glass.

Note: If you’re using a photo that’s more precious: use acid free tape!

Finally clip the frame together. That’s all there is to it!

The Kitchen Renovation: Evolution of a Home Pt. 5

Last week when Husband was traveling, I woke up early one morning to find the light was perfect in our kitchen. So I grabbed my camera to capture a few of the moments while I cooked breakfast. I decided it was the perfect excuse to finally share pics of our kitchen renovation.

If you don’t know anything about our house, it was built in 1935. You can read about the history of the home here or see pictures from before we bought the house in this post. (Please note the strawberry contact paper as I spent hours getting that stuff off the walls!) When we moved in, we painted the house a classic palette using lots of blues with red accents. It wasn’t very ‘us,’ but it definitely did the trick.

(Before) The Kitchen Renovation | Hannah & Husband

A couple before pics. (See more of our house circa 2006 here.)

Then last year, we decided to move (we didn’t), so we thought we should redo the kitchen. While this may seem counter-intuitive, you should know that one of the only rooms in your house that you can actually invest money in and expect to get it back at selling is the kitchen. A nice kitchen is a must-have on virtually every home buyers list, but it’s such a big investment, not to mention a pain to have that room torn up, that most buyers will never want to do the work themselves.

Homeowner Tip: If you can redo it yourself, update the kitchen before you put your house on the market.

So we went about drawing up a simple plan. We were lucky for two reasons:

1. Husband was able to do the work himself because he was doing contract work from home at the time and could make his own schedule. This saved money but also insured that we wouldn’t have a group of strangers in our home that we had to nag about a timeline.

2. We bought new appliances in 2006, which majorly cut back on our costs. (Our biggest expense was the countertops.)

The Kitchen Renovation | Hannah & Husband

By far the scariest moment of this renovation was cutting the hole for the sink in that gorgeous piece of butcher block.

We ended up making a total of 6 updates to the kitchen:

Butcher block countertops (We get a lot of questions about these, and I’ll talk about caring for them later this week.)
A new undermount, single bowl sink
Painting the walls and bottom cabinets (inside and out)
Adding a tile backsplash
Shelves with a small countertop on the other side of the range
Under-cabinet lighting

Snow Days and New Work

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: “If it’s going to be cold and grey, the least it could do is snow!” Well this has been one of the snowiest weeks I can ever remember, and I’ve been trying to soak up every second of it! Snow days have been particularly welcome because I’ve been working on a couple projects for work that require lots of illustrating. Truth be told, it is much easier for me to make pretty things from my home studio with it’s perfect light, a cup of coffee, and Dexter. So on this snow day, I thought I’d share some new work that I’m pretty excited about.

First, a peek inside the sketchbook. I’ve started reading T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets (as part of this challenge), and that second page is covered in some of my favorite quotes. One in particular that has been on my mind…

What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

The doodles above represent 4 different styles of some concept art I made last week for DIY Network. It’s so much fun to try different techniques and styles, and I think what we landed on will be pretty rad. You’ll see it this Spring.

Below are some doodles I did for another video I’m working on with HGTV. This one is all about decorating your walls, and it’s been really fun! (You can see the first two videos here.)

The silhouette also makes a return in this video. Below is how one of the silhouettes evolved into just the right character. It always takes a few tries.

I guess I should get back to it. Hope you have some lovely snow to enjoy wherever you are too!

3 Ways to Add Soul to a Room You Don’t Use

We all have those rooms–the ones we shut the door on and try to forget the Christmas gifts we’ll never use that are piled on the chair we meant to have reupholstered. Shudder no more my friend! It’s a new year. You can do this. Here are three ways to add soul to a room you don’t use. In no time, you’ll have guests thinking, “They just know exactly what to do with their space!”

For us, that room is an upstairs bedroom. We have the one guest room that is used for guests and the other one that is used for linen storage/books/that pile for Goodwill. Sure, we could have kids some day and this space could come in super handy, but at the moment we think of it as that one other room we have to vacuum. So one weekend we took a few easy steps to add a little soul, and now it’s known as our “sitting room” thankyouverymuch.

The gallery wall and rug in our “sitting room.” If you want to learn how to make the upholstered bench, click here.

3 Ways to Add Soul

Cozy things up

ie: Buy a cheap rug. You can sometimes find vintage orientals on Craigslist* or in antique malls. Another option is salvage stores. My instinct is always to look for color and pattern (hides the wine drips). But if you want a lighter look, find a white rug with some seriously soft texture.

*The one rule here is to make sure they don’t smell like smoke.

Personalize

Hang some art. Better yet, hang a lot of it. Gallery walls are a great alternative to painting walls. (Hello, renters!) When we first bought our house, I was paralyzed by the fear that I would hang something in the wrong spot. Remember, if you don’t like where you hang something, you can always move it later.

Click here for an easy way to hang a gallery wall.

Next: Books, board games, and linens. Extra rooms are a great place for storage (thus all the piles) so why not embrace that? But (pro tip) this is not the place to put your DVD collection. Think of tactile personal objects that add warmth–a shelf full of clean quilts ready to be grabbed for a spur-of-the-moment picnic perhaps!

We picked this vintage hanging light up for $5 and redid it. Here’s how.

Look at Your Fixtures

Fixture: A legal concept referring to something that
is permanently attached to a property.

Think door knobs, light fixtures, outlet covers, even the hooks in the bathroom. What one fixture could you replace to make things feel a bit more you? Regardless of what you choose, this is an upgrade that makes a big impact with less than an hour of effort!

Pro Tip: Scour the vintage shops for fixtures. They always come with a bit of the story, and that’s just what you need.

Finally, a little recommended listening for your room redo. Trust me on this one…

Sheet Music Garland

Husband and I are both musicians (for example…) so over the years we have acquired a lot of sheet music. While I absolutely adore old sheet music, some have unfortunately been tattered beyond repair. So, in those instances, I say “Repurpose!” As you can see, last week I made this sheet music garland to hang above our archway. (Incidentally, I made too much and it now encircles most of our front room too!)

It was super easy. I simply trimmed off the tattered edges of the music using a metal straight edge and an xacto knife. Then, I cut the music into 1¹⁄₄ inch strips and used a stapler to connect the circles.

Bonus: Because it’s not straight up jingle-linging, it will probably stay up through the winter.

Homemade Blueberry Soda

Put this on your list of simple pleasures: sipping homemade blueberry soda on the front porch in the late afternoon sun.

Sipping sodas used to be a more glamorous pastime as exhibited by Marion the librarian’s hat.

For months now, Husband has been experimenting at the bar with fresh fruit sodas, and I am relishing my job as official taster. So when an influx of blueberries showed up at our house a couple weeks ago, we decided blueberry soda was a must-have.

You’ll Need…

1 pint blueberries, fresh or frozen
a quarter cup sugar
water
club soda

First, he made a very simple syrup. To 1 pint blueberries, he added a heaping quarter cup of sugar in a heavy bottomed pot. Then, he filled the pot with water until it covered the berries and simmered on super low heat. Eventually the berries broke down and a syrup formed.

When it had cooked to a syrup-consistency, he let it cool and then used a strainer to catch the berries as the syrup fell into the jar.

That’s it! Just put a few Tablespoons in a pretty glass and top with club soda! You can store the rest of the blueberry soda syrup in the fridge for a few weeks.

This post was done in partnership with Darby Smart. See those flutes in the picture above? I etched them myself in about 30 minutes using the “Etch: Your Own Glassware” project from Darby Smart. The idea is simple: You choose a DIY project from Darby Smart’s ever-growing list, and you’ll receive a box in the mail containing all the supplies and instructions (with pictures) that you need to complete the project. This one even came with a practice flute just in case. So heads’ up DIY friends, you’re all getting Darby Smart gifts for your birthday!

DIY Laundry Detergent

Yes, I know you can find the recipe for DIY Laundry Detergent on any number of natural/hippie/DIY/earth mother sites. So please understand that my intention is not to be redundant. However, I couldn’t resist sharing how a few simple DIYs have so positively affected my own skin.

I have really good skin-it’s combination, free of sun damage, and I’ve never had a lot of acne. But a few years ago, I started getting eczema on my legs. If you’ve ever had it, you know it can be a bit maddening. I thought I’d scratch myself to death, and I had huge red patches all up and down my legs. I’ve used creams from the dermatologist, lotions marked especially for eczema, and natural remedies. But what finally worked? A DIY laundry routine.

Store-bought products full of chemicals I can’t pronounce have all be replaced with simple solutions that *bonus* are a lot cheaper. And, I’m happy to report that in the last month my legs have cleared up! I’m wearing short skirts sans leggings for the first in a couple years.

So here’s our new routine…

DIY Laundry Detergent

1 bar Fels-Naptha
2 cups washing soda
2 cups Borax

Here’s the trick: Grate your bar of Fels-Naptha while sitting in front of your favorite tv show. (Your living room will smell divine!) Then, throw the bowl of grated soap in the food processor. This will break it down so that it won’t clump when you store it. Just remember to let it settle a minute before you take off that processor lid!

Mix all 3 ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

We use 2 Tablespoons per regular load and 3 Tablespoons for a load that’s super dirty.

Removing Stains

Again, there are a ton of fab products out there. Our go-to is Goop. However, we’ve also found that a bar of Fels-Naptha rubbed on the stain with a little water can work wonders!

DIY the Dryer Routine

We’ve found that a combination of dryer balls and homemade dryer sheets does the trick! I covered both of those how-tos for DIY Network’s Made + Remade…

Click here to see the dryer ball how-to.

Click here to watch the dryer sheet how-to YouTube.

Hannah and Husband

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Tag Archives: DIY

DIY Image Transfer

You’ll Need:

It’s Time to Color! Coloring Pages for DIYNetwork.com

More…

TGIF!

My old studio space was one of several crafty spaces featured on DIYNetwork.com. Click here to see it!

Click here to get my tips for dressing up your cubicle!

3 Minute Frame

You’ll need 3 things:

DIY:

The Kitchen Renovation: Evolution of a Home Pt. 5

Snow Days and New Work

3 Ways to Add Soul to a Room You Don’t Use

3 Ways to Add Soul

Cozy things up

Personalize

Look at Your Fixtures

Sheet Music Garland

Homemade Blueberry Soda

You’ll Need…

DIY Laundry Detergent

DIY Laundry Detergent

Removing Stains

DIY the Dryer Routine

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