Upcycle: Green Painted Drawers

One of the things you might have spotted in our beroom were these drawers. You may have guessed this but they weren't green when we were given them (another gift from those generous in-laws.) This is what they looked like before:

These are bigger than the drawers I had in my room before and I definitely needed the extra space but I wanted something a little brighter. If you have seen any of my other painted furniture posts then you will know what I do to paint wood but here are my steps in case you missed them. It took 3 simple steps:

1. I washed it with sugar soap solution. and then lightly sanded down the surfaces, just enough to roughen it up so the paint would stick.
2. Painted it with 'leaf' coloured paint from the habitat range, it needed 2 coats.
3. Varnished with clear varnish.

I am now totally in love with painting furniture, I know this is a very simply upcycle but I wanted simplicity in our bedroom. What furniture have you painted? I'd love to see. Zoe xx

Homemade Wall Hangings Part II

This is the second idea for homemade wall hangings, you can see the photo hanging in part 1. For this second one we are going to make some art. You might remember me suggesting you save all your scraps from your quilt, even some of the quite tiny ones that were clearly too small to sew into anything and this is why. I was planning to make some 'art' out of them. Even if you haven't made a quilt or you have but haven't saved scraps you could easily make one of these out of some patterned paper, other fabric scraps cut into any shape you like.

I simply bought some blank canvases and got out my fabric scraps. I had a little play around with a few different layouts.

When I was happy with my layout I mixed up some PVA glue and some water to make a gloopy glue mixture (Mr Makers technical name for it). I then painted the canvas with the glue mixture. I dipped the fabric pieces in the mixture and then pressed them onto the canvass where I wanted them to go. It got quite messy so in hindsight I should have put some newspaper down underneath.

Then I made two more and left them out to dry. They're now up in our newly decorated bedroom. 

I find it hard to chuck away good bits of fabric, even these tiny ones so I am really pleased I thought up this project, plus it's much quicker and easier to use them this way than to try and fit them into a scrappy quilt. I have another idea for using some scraps that I will show you soon too, not for making art with this time... Zoe xx

Homemade Wall Hangings Part I

I recently shared with you our decorated bedroom. One of the projects I did for the room was to make some homemade wall hangings and this is the first of the two projects. I really wanted to have this photo, taken by the lovely Rebekah Cox, up on display. The origional photo was actually in colour:

But I felt that the room had a lot of colour coming from the quilt so I wanted something a little more 'grown up' and went with black and white, one day I might redo it in colour though because I do love this version. I prefer the look of a photo to a photo on canvas but I didn't really fancy having a large photo frame up. I decided to have a poster size photo printed and mount it on foam board to hang on the wall. This isn't exactly a tutorial because its so simple I am sure you could figure it out but I will tell you what I did any way.

I used my print in the largest size I could buy that kept the quality high, some foam board, a long ruler, some double sided tape and an old rotary cutter and some scissors (not shown). If you don't have an old rotary cutter you could just as easily use a stanley knife. Using the double sided tape a carefully stuck the photo into the corner of the foam board.

I then used my ruler and old rotary cutter to cut through the top layer of the foam board along the edge of the photograph. You can then bend the foam board back and the bottom layer snaps too.

And you can use your scissors to cut and parts that didnt make a clean break. You may need so trim some of the foam too.

Then thats it, you now just need to hang it up. It is so light that all I did was hot glued some string to the back to hang over my hook and you have a lovely hanging photo without needing to buy a large frame too.

Have you got some photos you've been meaning to hang for a while? I quite fancy doing some mini ones and making a wall collage since it was so easy. You can see the second of the two wall hanging projects soon. Zoe x

Newly Decorated Bedroom

When we moved into our house 3 years ago I wanted it to be really colourful, so we painted the walls really bright colours. It didn't take me long to realise that bright colours didn't have to be all over the walls to have a brightly coloured house and that these bright colours were not creating the restful atmosphere I needed. Luckily one of my favourite things to do is redecorate and the next room up for a change was our bedroom.


I am not sure I am ever finished with decorating and I haven't decided yet what lighting to have so these are the pictures before we change the lights. The colour on the walls is a much lighter blue than the original colour and now the most vibrant colour comes form our quilt. All the furniture and decor in this room is either second hand or homemade, or sometimes a mixture of the two. Our first house was almost entirely furnished with second hand furniture any way because we couldn't afford to buy the new things that we wanted, but over time I have built up quite a collection of second hand goods that I genuinely love. The two 'bedside tables' are a perfect example of this.

My Bedside table is also my desk. Our 3 bed house is quite cosy for the 5 of us so we have to make our rooms multifunctional and our bedroom is no exception. I showed you the bed that I upcycled and I have also redone a few other bits of furniture in here. We have left a few pieces exactly as we inherited them like these wardrobes. One of them we were actually given from my very generous in-laws when they moved house, the other we bought on eBay.

I saw this mirror at a car boot and thought it would be perfect in the room with the Octagons Quilt. You can see these flowers on my very first post ever which I made after seeing this Pin (one of my very first ever pins) planning to put them in my new bedroom so you can tell how long this project has been going on for. I will share with you the other projects for the room over the next few weeks. Time to plan the next room to decorate. Zoe xx

Make a Chalkboard Pinboard

I have already shared with you about the Nearly Christmas Mini Craft Fair and I mentioned this board we used to display our prices (I removed the prices for the blog because these may change). It isn't just a chalk board though, oh no, it's much more than just a chalk board. Its a pinboard too! Well OK I know its not a surprise now because you read it in the title but still.

You could easily make one of these yourself out of a pin board and some chalkboard paint and use any where and for any purpose but I always had the craft fair in mind. That didn't stop me letting my daughter Romilly go wild with a chalk on it before we needed it though.

When we no longer need it for craft fairs I may put it up in her room to display her 'craft' and draw pictures on. Such fun! Zoe xx

Upcycle: Decoupage Birds on Wire

These little birds on this box were inspired by the brilliant Martha Stewart and her Encyclodepia of Crafts Book. Her instructions suggest putting the decoupaged birds on a chest of drawers as it makes them look as thought they are balancing on wire but I wanted something to jazz up this chest. This chest has in fact been in my parents house for as long as I can remember but I begged them for it and when they finally agrees I painted it my own colour and added the birds. 

Its currently stuffed full of hats, gloves, scarves and coats so my kids can wrap themselves up easily when we are on our way out (well thats the theory any way). You may have spotted it when I shared about my blue bureau. I still have to finish lining this but I will definitely update you with it soon. I love a good upcycled piece of furniture. Zoe xx

Crochet A Circle Cushion With Free Pattern

I am on a bit of a crochet kick at the moment and my latest completed project is this. I know it looks just like a doily and that is sort of the point but it is going to be a cushion soon so I wanted to make it from scratch rather than just just a doily and dye it.

To make this I used DK yarn and my trusty 4.5mm crochet hook. I made it up as I went along while trying to make sure I had the correct number of stitches in each round and I have done my best to write down for you what I have done. As usual I am writing with the english stitch names.

First ch6, ss into the first ch to form a ring.
Round 1: ch3 (counts as first tc) then 14 tc into the ring (15 total) and join with ss to form a circle.
Round 2: ch3 then 2 tc into each st (30 total) and join with ss.
Round 3: ch3 and put 2 more tc into the same st. Then miss a st and put 3 tc into the next st. Continue making cluster of 3 tc's all the way around until you can ss into the first one. (total 45 tc OR 15 clusters)
Round 4: ch3 and then 2tc into the space followed by ch 1, then put 3 tc's into each space between clusters from round 3 with 1 chain in between. Ss together the circle. (total 45 tc and 15 ch OR 15 clusters with ch 1 in between.)
Round 5: ch2, then dc into each tc below and 2 dc into each space. Ss together.

Round 6: ch3 and tc into same st then tc into 4 st, followed by 2tc into next stitch. Repeat this all the way round and ss together. 

Round 7: ch3 and tc into same st then tc into 3st followed by 2tc into next st. Ss together. 

Round 8: to make the scalloped edge count along to the 3rd stitch from where your hook is, in this stitch put 5 tc's, then count along to the 3rd stitch from here and ss into this stitch. This makes your first 'scallop'. Repeat this all the way around. As you get near the end check you have enough stitches left to make whole 'scallops' and if not you make need to count along 2 or 4 stitches for a few scallops to make sure they fill the space but mine worked out perfectly so yours should too.

The outer rows of crochet are slightly more complicated and sadly did start to become slightly 'wobbly' near the end so I may have no counted correctly.

Round 9: Once you have finished the row of scallops you need to ss along the first 3 stitches of the first scallop so that your hook is joined in through the top of one scallop instead of the gap between two. When you get to here you need to chain 7 and ss into the top stitch of the next scallop. Continue to ch7 then ss into the next scallop all the way around.
Round 10: ch3, 8tc into the space and then tc into the stitch at the top of the next scallop. Repeat this all the way around and then ss together.
Round 11: ch 2, then 1 dc into each of the next 4 stitch's. 2dc  into the next stitch (the one at the top of the bump) then 1dc into the next 8 stitches until you get to the top of the next bump and put 2dc into here. repeat this all the way around.
Round 12: This round we are attempting to get rid of the wave that was put in when we did the scallops. So you are currently at the bottom of a wave, so ch3 (counts as first tc as usual) then put 2 tc into the same stitch, ch1 and then 2dc into the stitch that is 'this side' of the bump, ch1 and then 2 dc into the stitch that is 'that side' of the bump, ch1 and put 3 tc into the stitch in between the two bumps. This makes a sort of 'reverse wave' and fills in the gaps. Do this all the way around until you reach the first tc and ss together.
Round 13: This round is made up of clusters of 3tc into the spaces below. So ch3, then do two more tc into the same space. The sequence on this round goes 3tc's into space, ch1, 3 tc's into next space, 3tc's into next space, ch1, 3 tc's into next space. And continue this all the way around. I.e you need to do ch in between every one cluster of 3tc's. When you finish the round ss together.
Round 14: This last round is very similar to round 8. From where your hook is, count to the 3rd stitch and then do 6tc's into this space. Then count to the 3rd stitch along from here and ss into this stitch. Repeat this all the way around until you get back to the beginning and you're finished.

I hope you find this pattern useful (for personal use only though) and as usual feel free to ask if it's unclear. Soon I'll show you the finished cushion. Zoe xx

Upcycle: Painting an old Bed

We bought ourselves a new bed on ebay several months ago and I have always been intending on painting it, but this has been one of those projects that has never been at the top of my priority list (i.e I had more fun things to do). Since the weather has been nice recently and painting outdoors is about 50,000 times more convenient I finally got round to it.

If you're thinking of painting a piece of furniture these are the steps I followed. 1. Clean your furniture with sugar soap solution. Then gently sand the surface, just enough to roughen up the texture so the paint will stick. 2. Paint the furniture with the your chosen colour. 3. Varnish your furniture with clear varnish. That's it. I used to think varnishing after painting would make it look too shiny and totally change the look but I now I love the stuff. It doesn't change its look much but it makes the paint much more durable.

Origionally I intended to just paint the bed white but then I thought it would be cute to dip the feet in a colourful paint. The husband wouldn't go for pink (he said it was too girly) but he was totally happy with purple (his favourite, and very manly, colour).

And what a good decision this was! Love it! Its in our room now, with my new (but actually old) apple crates as under-bed storage. I'll show you a picture of the finished bed when I have also finished my Octagons Quilt. Zoe xx

Sharpie Flower Pot

 The Sharpie mug. They've been all over Pinterest and the crafting blogosphere for some time. So I had a thought, what about a Sharpie flower pot? I had this plain white flower pot:

I decided to give it a make over. I drew triangles with my Sharpie all over it:

Then I popped it in the oven at the hottest temp it would go and cooked for 30 minutes. I turned the oven off and left it in until it cooled.

That's it. This is great because some people have been complaining about the pen coming off in the dishwasher but I don't put my flower pots in the dishwasher all that often so it'll stay on. Yey! Zoe xx

Upcycle: Blue Bureau

I've been decluttering and redecorating my downstairs over the last year or so. To do a proper job I needed to buy a few new peices of furniture (ironic when I'm trying to get rid of things). When I say new, I mean new to me. I found a sweet old bureau to go near my entrance but wanted to make it my sweet old bureau. So I decided to paint it and distress it to make it my own. 

This is what I used:

1. A sweet old bureau 2. Sugar soap solution 3. White emulsion 4. Blue emulsion 5. Fine and coarse sand paper 6. Clear varnish 7. Two large paintbrushes  8. A drill 9. New drawer handles 

This is what I did:

I started by removing the original drawer handles and hinges and then I cleaned the furniture with sugar soap solution and used the find sand paper to lightly sand down the wood. I then painted it with a thick coat of white paint. When dry I painted it with the blue paint. I needed two coats of the blue to cover the white but if you can do it with one that's even better. 

I then sanded down the corners and areas where natural wear and test would occur with the coarse sand paper. This allowed the white paint to show through and created a 'shabby chic' appearance which I hope looks as though over a period of time it has received several paint makeovers. It's tricky to know how much to sand but I would really go for it because I wish I had sanded more. 

When I was happy with the look I used the second paintbrush to varnish it. This needed two coats. Then I screwed back in the hinges and drilled new holes for my new drawer handles. I bought these on eBay and LOVE them. 

Once the new drawer handles were screwed it it was finished and ready to go. 

I'm so pleased with this transformation and I'm looking forward to lining the drawers and inside. Ill show you that when I'm finished too. I hope you have some old furniture you can revive too. Zoe x