Tag: Makes

Up-cycle old books and children’s toys to create stylish book ends.

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If you have some ‘time expired’ books such as out of date restaurant or travel guides or have a few charity shop finds why not create some book ends from them. Top with a child’s toy animal, sprayed with Rustoleum paint.

1

You will need

Rustoleum Neon Spray paint

Rustoleum Metallic spray paint

A few books (hard back are best) Make 2 piles of books and make sure that both piles are roughly the same height when on top of one another

Paint brush

Glue gun

2

Using PVA and a brush glue the pages together round the three sides of the book. Obviously the spine is left as it is. Once the edges are dry, Use the glue gun to stick one book on top of the next.

3

In a well ventilated space, spray the pile of books you have stuck together, with the neon  paint. Spray the plastic toy with the metallic paint and leave to dry.

4

Glue the sprayed animal, to the top one of the sprayed books. Repeat steps 1-4 with the second book end.

Upgrade your dining chairs

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I was lucky enough to find a couple of mid century modern dining chairs on ebay, but the covers were dull as ditchwater and needed replacing. I found a great upholstery fabric at https://www.craftysewer.com/ that gives more than a nod to mid century. I loved the colours on the underside of the fabric so I have used it reverse side up.

You will need

Screw driver

Fabric

Stapler

Scissors

Tape measure

Step 1

Unscrew the seat from the frame.

Step 2

Place seat on fabric, and cut out the fabric including a 4in overlap.

Step 3

Staple on the fabric at each of the 4 corners, as shown in the picture.

Step 4

Fold and turn the edge fabric over each side of the chair and staple into position. Screw the newly covered seat back onto the chair.

Valentine Wreath

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by Juliet Bawden photo by Antonia Attwood Styling assistant Elsa Collier

I have devised a simple heart shaped wreath for Valentines day. This is a one off for the day. If you want the wreath to last longer use fake flowers and leaves, or use a heart shaped florists oasis for the foundation and use fresh leaves and flowers as we have here. 

1.You will need

15cm Polystyrene heart from £2.20 from Hobby Craft

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/polystyrene-heart-ring-15-cm/591593-1000

Roses pink

Eucalyptus leaves

Scissors

Glue dots

Dress makers pins

2. Using, inexpensive scissors, cut the heads off the roses. You do not want to ruin good dressmaking shears.

3 Pin the roses down their middles to the top inner edge of the heart shaped wreath.

4. Cut the eucalyptus leaves and glue dot them, so that they slightly overlap, around the heart. They should cover all the white polystyrene.

Fringe Lampshade

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 Fringed Lamp Shade

Hessian, Fringing and all things textural are still going strong as an interior trend. So I thought I’d buy some fringing and upcycle an old lampshade. I am very pleased with the result.

You will need

Lamp Shade

Glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

Roll of Hessian Fringing

1.Wrap the fringed hessian round the base of the shade and add an extra centimeter and then cut.

2. Stick the first band of fringing to the bottom of the lamp so the edge of the fringe is parallel to the edge of the lamp.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 sticking the fringing so it just touches the row below.  Do this until the lamp is covered in fringing.

4. Pull away the cord that holds the fringing together on all the rows and then put it on the lamp base.

Potato Printed Wrapping Paper

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Print your own Christmas wrapping paper.

If you’ve been reading the press recently, you may have seen the headlines about how many Christmas wrapping papers are none recyclable. So we waste lots of resources on something we then cannot get rid or reuse. So apart from it being fun why not print your own Christmas wrapping paper and save the planet at the same time.

You will need

Cutting board

Kitchen knife

Tape or string

Acrylic or poster paint

Potatoes

Kitchen paper

Spare sheet of paper to practice on

Brown wrapping paper

Lid of a food storage box

½ inch Paint brush

Instructions

Step 1 

Using the kitchen knife cut the potato in half and then score and cut out your design from one half. Choose a simple design such as a star or a stylized Christmas tree.

Step 2

Press your potato onto to kitchen paper to get rid of the excess starch. Pour some paint onto the lid.Using a paint brush apply paint to the stamp you have just made. Try the design out on a piece of scrap paper. Print on the brown paper.

Step 3

Leave the paper to dry and then wrap it round your parcel, tying it with stringand adding a bit of foliage as decoration.

Quince Jelly fit for a Queen

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I was recently given some enormous, if somewhat bruised, windfall quinces. So as a great lover of cheese I decided to make some quince jelly,  sometimes  known as quince cheese. Suffice to say as soon as I wanted to make the jelly I couldn’t find a recipe. Then I found buried amongst all my other cookery books a slim volume called   WI Book of Jams and other preserves written by Pat Hesketh and published in 1984.  It has over 100 recipes tried and tested by the women’s institute.

So I turn to the page for Quince Cheese, on the same and facing page were recipes for cumberland rum butter, apple butter, marrow orange cream and bramble cheese. Fruit butters are a softer consistency than cheeses and are usually spiced and should be hermetically sealed. They are usually served as a spread. Cheeses are cooked to a stiff consistency and set in small moulds so that they   can be turned out for serving and cut into wedges.

Quince Cheese 

500g quinces chopped into roughly 1cm pieces

500g sugar

water

Instructions 

  1. Wash the quinces and cut up into pieces
  2. Place in a pan and barely cover with water.
  3. Cover and cook until reduced to a pulp.
  4. Pour through a sieve and weigh the liquid. (discard what is left in the sieve).To each 500g of liquid add 500g of sugar.
  5. Cook over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
  6. Continue cooking until a thick consistency is obtained.
  7. When a spoon is drawn across the base of the pan, it should leave a clean line.
  8. Pour into prepared moulds. I used small glass pots used for ‘Gu’.
  9. Make some fabric tops by cutting out circles with pinking shears.

Create a boho bench

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Design by Juliet Bawden Photography Paul Craig

Today’s make is really an Ikea Hack of a Nornas Bench  transforming a rather dull nondescript softwood bench into an on trend vibrant padded seat/coffee table by being creative and painting, dying, and doing some sustainable up-cycling.

Boho Bench copy

 

You will need

Nornas Ikea Bench

2 meters thick wadding

Black paint

Paint brush

Korbond iron on hemming tape

Goldfish Orange machine dye Dylon 

Old velvet curtain

Old rug

Staple gun

Old duvet

Sewing machine and thread

Scissors

Saw

Iron and ironing board

Invisible marker pen Korbond

BohoBenchDetail

 

Instructions

Step-by-Step

  1. Following the makers instructions dye the velvet and leave to dry.
  2. Saw off the edges of the bench so that there is no overhang.
  3. Paint the bench black and leave to dry.
  4. Cut a double layer of wadding the size of the bench top, plus enough to drape over the edges. Cut away the corners and then staple the wadding to the underside of the bench.
  5. Press the velvet before using. Drape the velvet over the bench and leaving enough for a 2cm seam allowance, mark with a pen remove the fabric and then cut away the corners.
  6. To give a neat edges to the corners, turn the corners under and iron on the webbing
  7. Place the velvet over the wadding covered bench and staple the velvet into position on the underside.
  8. To make the cushion. Cut an old duvet up so it is the size of the bench top.
  9. Cut the rug into two pieces, the size of the bench top plus 1 cm all the way round.
  10. Sew the old duvet round its edge to the wrong side of one piece of rug.
  11. With right sides facing sew the piece of rug with the duvet attached to the other piece of rug. Sew round three and a half sides.
  12. Turn the cover through the correct way and then close the opening by over sewing.

 

Tips. I learnt this trick at art school, when I was stretching frames for printmaking. To get straight edges when stapling, start in the middle of one side and staple to the edge then do it with the other edge and then repeat with the opposite side and then do the other two sides in the same way.

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