Re-take Two and three

I bought a vintage layered cake tin a couple of years ago. I found it in my local treasure trove aka charity shop. In principle I like old and a bit worn out stuff. This tin was yellowish cream coloured and had sage green lid, colour combination which did nothing for my kitchen.

So I decided to something about it. I was thinking of spray painting them, maybe with polka dots. It was a good idea, but it would have been really costly and I could not find the shade of green I had set my mind to.

Lucy in attic24 was doing some decoupage with specially produced paper and I thought that it was the way to go. Again I could not find the green I liked or even pattern I liked in slightly different green. So I decided to go for and white combo. I had a go and the result was this. Not good.

So the tin was a UFO while I was re-grouping. I think that the paper bit is totally oversold thing. They say that it doesn't rip. It did for me.They say it doesn't bleed. It did for me. Or I might be the most sausage fingered crafter on the planet. I was even using their special glue to do the work with. I don't have any evidence, but I think I was taken for a ride with the glue. It smelled and felt like any PVA glue.

In the end I realised that I had the polka dots and the colour in my fabric draws, so that was what I used. Didn't rip or bleed  FYI. The lid needed two layers as the green paint was showing through and making the lid considerably different in colour. (It still shows a bity, especially in the picture, less so in person)

The only problem is that the tin was quite tight to open to begin with. To stuff a bit of fabric in between doesn't help. We will see what happens. Maybe I should have given it just sandpapering a la Jokke from Jokkemaa. I like the colour though!

My IKEA chandelier with self-hung beads had lost some of its jewels.You can see it here in its former glory. I replaced them, as I cannot find the container in which I put the ones that had fallen off and added a few more beads and colours for fun.

 PS. In pictures you can see how there are some air bubbles left, because my decoupage work was not perfect. It actually shows far less in real life, the pictures really bring them up. 

Re-take One

 Sometimes my projects are fine to begin with, but then there is a problem as time goes, sometimes its just the usage the things get. I have had a few things needing re-doing in my kitchen and lately the issue has bothered me as much as to propel me into action. Remember my kitchen sweeties aka cabinet knobs? I blogged about them here. I used varnish, which seemed ok, smelled ok and brushed on ok. I did not heed my doubts about using a product which has travelled with me from country to country even shifted continents a couple of times. And actually, when I started to think about it, I know which project I bought it for and when. And hmmm...it was 15 years ago!

So the varnish started to get glue like and got gunky and unattractively dirty. I have now re-painted them and re-varnished with new varnish.

First time around I kept the colours slightly muted for the most.

I noticed though that I liked the bright ones best. I think I was a bit worried to make them too bright, but the amount of the colour is negotiable in the sea of white cupboards, tiles and walls. So this time around I have used brighter shades. Very Happy with the result : )

What can You Get for 50 pence?

A bunch of colourful dishcloths in cotton! I bought a toddler's hoodie knit in the local charity shop, cut it in pieces and sew it them together in dishcloth sized pieces.

This is one of those obvious things I hadn't thought of before I saw this done in Jokkemaa. I had before read about using your old t-shirts as dishcloths, but I am ridiculously attached to my "knitted" shop bought ones. So this is the obvious solution. I get cheaper, recycled dishcloths and as a bonus they are in pretty colours. Jokke's are far prettier than mine. Even if you don't understand the language, it's a good place to go and get some inspiration, the pictures are worth it, Jokke is extremely productive and creative crafter.

And as a bonus for this production I got a cute zip as well!























Heart hair clips were made for my friend's littele girls. Very simple, very cheap, well under 50p a pair...