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Upcycled lamp
Kitsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer containing precious metal, celebrating the full life of the piece and making something beautiful out of something broken. This was my inspiration for this upcycled lamp. As you can see, it is an old lamp base made out of an oriental style vase and had a lot of areas where the paint had chipped away. I used gold leaf to fill in these gaps before painting over with a clear varnish (I actually used nail varnish here!). I think it looks a lot better and means I can keep it in our guest bedroom rather than throwing it away!…
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5 tips to help you sleep
Did you know that adults need between 7-8 hours sleep a night? Who’s actually getting that much sleep at the moment – almost everyone I speak to wants more sleep and better quality sleep. It’s really important to get a great night’s sleep – it impacts everything from mood to concentration. My new books follow Sophia and Noah who are tired, grumpy, can’t concentrate and rely on sugar to keep them awake. In the stories, they meet some animals who share tips to help them develop healthy sleeping habits. I wanted to share some top tips to get a good night’s sleep (even if I don’t always follow them!): 1. Have…
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Upcycle – Welsh Dresser
I found this dark wood dresser in a charity shop a few years ago and loved the half circle designs and pane glass windows, plus it had great storage cupboards for toys and games. It was crying out for a bold colour to upcycle this welsh dresser. So I grabbed a can of peacock coloured paint that was suitable for wood and got painting. I like to see the original colour of the piece so focused on the drawers, cupboards and back of the piece while keeping the shelves original. To pick out the details, I used a drybrush technique on the patterns to make them stand out more. What…
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Children’s Books
Here are details of my children’s books and where you can buy them: Nanny Pastry and the Nimble Ninjabread Man. When they make a baking mix up and create a ninjabread man, can they catch him before he causes mischief and mayhem? This laugh out loud take on the story of the gingerbread man is a modern classic and is a tale that children and adults can enjoy together. Available at all good bookstores. The Girl Who Dreamed of Sleep teaches children about healthy sleep habits. Sophia is tired. She can’t concentrate, she’s clumsy and the only way she can stay awake is with lots of sugary foods. One day…
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Rope Rainbow Hair Clip Storage
After seeing a hair clip rainbow from the fantastic Nerdy Knits, I wanted to have a go at making something for my little one’s growing collection of hair clips and hair bands. After a lengthy discussion involving mermaids and unicorns, we landed on a rainbow hair clip storage solution. You will need: Macrame rope (I used 10mm thick) Wool in your choice of colours Ribbon for hanging Fabric Button Needle and thread Hot glue gun (or use the needle and thread to attach) I used the same method to make the rainbow as in my Rope Rainbow post, except I used three lengths and cut the rope long so there…
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Climbing Wall
Last Christmas, during yet another lockdown, we wanted to do something special for the kids. I had a crazy idea that we could build a DIY climbing wall in an unused alcove. It was a few days of work but well worth it as the kids love it, so here’s how we did it. You will need: CLS Timber for the studwork (we used 38x63x2400mm) 18mm softwood structural plywood for the walls (we bought 2 large sheets and cut to size) Wall bolts M10 x 50mm (we used BP Fischer FWB wallbolts) – 4 per upright stud 50mm decking screws – 8 per upright stud strong drill with masonry bit…
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Fabric Paint Meeple Curtains
Another lockdown, another lockdown project! This time, I wanted to brighten up our games room by zshushing up some plain curtains with brightly coloured meeples. Read on to find out how I created these fabric paint meeple curtains with a homemade stamp. You will need: craft foam cardboard pva glue scissors or scalpel to cut out the foam masking tape fabric paint paint brush or roller to spread the paint curtains / material To create the stamp, I (full disclosure – my husband did this bit as he’s a lot better with the scalpel than I am!) cut a large meeple shape out of the craft foam and then stuck…
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Rope Candy Canes
These rope candy canes are super simple to make and feature macrame rope and wool, so you can use up your yarn stash. You will need: Macrame rope (I went for 10mm thick to get chunky candy canes) Wool (I went for double knit red and white from my existing stash) Floristry wire Cut a length of rope as large as you want your candy cane, I did this by eye and these are roughly 17cm long. Wrap the rope with floristry wire, leaving 1cm at each end for fraying. I went forward and back with the wire so it was doubled before cutting off, making sure any sharp ends…
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Upcycled fabric Christmas tree wall hanging
I have a quilted wall hanging that I made a couple of years ago and I love it, but it’s autumnal so I always feel I have to put it away at Christmas. This year I decided to make it reversible so that back is now an upcycled Christmas tree wall hanging and I can have it up in my house for longer! This was also a great scrap buster for green material! First, I edged the wall hanging with red material from an old pair of curtains. This formed a nice 4 inch border frame for the picture. Next I arranged a selection of green fabrics into a pattern.…
