Wedding Decor - Purple & Cream Picture Plaquette

It's the little details and the pretty finishing touches that make your big day personal to you so I was delighted when Funky-Junk was chosen to design and make a one off photo-hanging plaquette for a special couple for their wedding recently.  A bespoke wedding adornment which was hand made and therefore absolutely unique was my quest for this very special day on 1st January.  I am happy to say that my custom made design which was chosen to suit the happy couple and their wedding theme was a total success and loved by everyone especially the newly weds.  It can now be kept as a memento of that wonderful day.  Below are some pictures of the finished item - double-click to see larger sized pictures:

Lamp Revamp

I gave up searching for a new lampshade for my standard lamp as I just couldn't find one that would match my newly painted dining room.  I was all set to re-cover the existing one but again didn't see any fabric that caught my eye that would do justice to the room.  While tidying my crafts cupboard I came across these lovely napkins (below) and I decided to try découpaging the lampshade but was unsure if it would work as the original shade (below) was covered in a purple fabric and I didn't think the napkins would stick well to it.  It was a little difficult to get them to adhere to the lamp but in the end perseverance paid off.  Now at least I have a lamp that matches my room - a perfect temporary fix until I find a new shade or some suitable fabric and it cost me nothing in the process.

Kitchen Accessories - A Complete New Look

Sometimes it's not just about saving money - getting the perfect match is just as good a reason to renew some of our old household items.  When I got my house repainted recently I found that I was having trouble finding kitchen necessities to match the new decor  Everything I had was tuned into the old colour scheme and didn't match the new.  It takes me time to shop around and eventually I do find what I'm looking for but what to do in the meantime?  Put up with looking at the miss-matches?................I don't think so!  Paint them? .............well why not?

This is what I did with a tattered wooden kitchen towel holder and a purple liquid soap dispenser:

I made up some chalk paint with my plaster of paris and some emulsion (recipe on this blog) painted on a couple of coats and then sprayed with sealant.  Now I have an exact match to my new look decor!

Easter 2014

Well that's it for this year's Easter craft creations, which I'm happy to say were all a success.  I hope you all enjoyed looking and that my tutorial on how to decorate your own Easter eggs was useful.

These are the last two Easter bags but watch out for my new novelty kids bags coming soon.

 

Chalk Chalk Paint??

While awaiting delivery of my upholstery supplies to finish my bar stool, I got to thinking again about painting the inside of my display cabinet. What colour should I paint it?  Not sure - but I didn't want to paint it the same as the outside of the cabinet as I will, at some point in the future, be changing the colour of that.  So, I started to experiment with a few colours and during this time of great mess in my kitchen, got the idea to try making chalk paint from plain old blackboard chalk and guess what?  It worked!

First, I cut the chalk stick up and crushed it using a pestle and mortar, then added a small amount of water.  Result - as above.  A bit gritty but a light rub with fine sandpaper would sort that and on some projects would probably even enhance the finish.  I tried it out on a wood cutting above. This would not be a good idea for large projects for obvious reasons but if you just needed it for a small project like a tray or a jewellery box, it would work perfectly  Once dried, it should be sealed with finishing wax.