Paving

Here is a project that took up a good week of our family time - paving our backyard.  We have used old bricks that were piled up in the corner and 45 cm concrete pavers to create a sitting area outside our back door.  It was a lot of work and created quite a lot of mud, along with two large piles of dirt (one in our front yard and one in the back corner of the backyard) that are still there, but it had made a real difference to the outlook from our lounge.  Before it was even finished my 2 year old was busy doing 'mud cooking' on a section of it, and yesterday morning all the kids took their drawing stuff outside to sit in the autumn sun and be crafty.

Pin cushions and leather purses for the Mothers Day Stall

Over the last month I have been so busy doing that I have had trouble documenting.  Mainly I have been thinking about mothers day.  This year I am helping out with the school Mothers Day Stall and have been busy trying to come up with things that kids would like to buy for mums that mums might appreciate.  Inexpensive to make, handy and/or use-up-able (and thus disposable) are my priorities when choosing projects.  To get some inspiration I did a trip to Reverse Art in Ringwood and filled up a bag with all sorts of goodies including brown glass bottles, quilt wadding, timber offcuts, cardboard, leather offcuts, elastic and other bibs and bobs. 

The first project I undertook was to make some pin cushions.  This involved sewing together two circles of fabric and stuffing them with some tubular foam shapes from Reverse Art.  I then sewed all the way around the outside and in doing so sewed up with stuffing hole. 

They look quite cute, and I would be happy to receive one for mothers day, which I think is my fundamental criteria.

My next project was making some leather purses from the brown leather offcuts that I got at Reverse Art.  I cut out a basic rectangle and rounded the corners on the top edge.  I sewed along the bottom edge.  I then folded the bottom edge a bit more than 1/3 of the way up the leather to create the purse.  I started on one folded corner at the bottom and sewed all the way along the sides and top to the other folded corner at the bottom.  Then I just put on the embellishments (different sized circles made of olive leather and floral silk ) which helped to hide the velcro that I sewed on to keep the purse closed.  I like these little purses.  I did make some last year in vinyl, but I think they look a little classier (although admittedly still rustic) in leather.

A first attempt at screen printing

Today I had a go at screen printing for the very first time.  It was easier than I thought, and created minimal mess (which is always a good thing) - I did it on the kitchen table and managed not to get any paint anywhere.

I did three shapes, a vase of flowers, an elephant in a black box and a toadstool in a black box (I didn't like this one so much).  I cut the stencils out of newspaper and followed some online instructions (I googled 'screen printing' to glean some advice). 

I printed on to an old white sheet - I think my mum got it when she was married. 

The prints are not really perfect, but that is OK - I am not patient enough for perfection, but I quite like the effect of the simple shape in the black box - I think some letters would look good printed like this - I will give it a try at some stage.

I have ironed the paint to set it, and added some detail (flower centres, elephants ear) with some material that I zig-zag stitched on.  I have now turned the screenprinted fabric into wheat bags. 

I wonder who will be the lucky recipients of these gifts?

Today I made some vintage tea towel cushions

Today I made some cushions for my lounge room out of old tea towels that I have been collecting.

 

 

Fairy toadstools

Yesterday I went to Ikea and bought some plastic coated red material with white polka dots.  I also bought some 35cm square pillow inserts.  I woke up this morning at 6.30am and fitted in a bit of sewing before the kids emerged for the day.  I have made 4 fairy toadstool cushions to sit on top of the logs out in the garden. 

 

The kids are now dressed as fairies, and with their dolls in tow, are enthusiastically playing imaginary fairy toadstool games.  My oldest is keen to use the cushions for musical toadstools at her next birthday party.

Finally ... you can tell it is a wooden sink

We have been away for nearly all of January, relaxing at the beach, and I came home with a new enthusiasm for organising my house.  Last week I finally hung the pictures in my loungeroom, and also fixed up our outdoor sink.

The sink used to be painted cream to match the house, and was covered with paint and splashes and dirt.  I have now stripped back the old timber sink surround and waxed it, and I have repainted the cupboard gloss black to match the gully trap which I painted a few months ago. I forgot to take a photo before I started, so it is hard to understand the difference, but since this blog is about  documenting my projects, I thought I would include a photo of the finished project for my own sake.

Given that this sink has hot and cold taps that hoses can be attached to, I am now on the look out for a suitable outside bath.  Just before we bought this house I found a fantastic claw foot bath for $50, but gave it to my sister for her garden ... I think about it all the time ...

Restoring a desk chair

My project this week has been to restore an old desk chair.  I picked up this chair for a song, and it was in pretty good nick. 

I have given the timber a light sand and wax with a product called Howard Feed n Wax , and I have sanded and oiled the metal - but I was keen to retain the old aqua paint that was there, so I tried hard not to sand the painted areas too much.

I am very happy with the outcome. 

Unfortunately I don't really have a location in my house for the chair, but I have put it in my bedroom for the time being.  It will be good for collecting clothes!