Decorate a Box with Upcycled Material

Happy new week everyone! Today I feel particularly well rested and the reason is simple. Yesterday evening I closed my phone for few hours. It is surprising how much energy an open phone can take. I tend to browse it quite often, check the weather and time, see whats happening in the social media, write messages, read some news etc. If it gives a sound I will go and see whats up, usually a new e-mail is in question and then I begin to think what ever is the subject of the message. You know how people send e-mails in weird times even though they would be living in the same time zone. Before these phones I saw the messages when I first went to computer in the morning. Now those might wake me up at 2 a.m. Also I guess that the thought of being online all the time uses our energy unconsciously. Smart phones are great for connecting and getting inspiration and support from other creatives. It saves time not to be forced to open the computer all the time. But then the opposite side  of the coin is that immediate reaction is required. And that readiness state consumes energy. 

I have been drawing and writing a special summer bullet journal. I made a mind map about things I want to do this summer. Most of the things I listed where relaxing and offline activities. I want to read books all day, bike, craft and, what really woke me up, to spend a weekend with no plans at all. These days it is challenging to have a weekend without plans in advance. Always someone sends a message and demands a meeting when you have planned to spend a day without responsibilities. I don't dream about spending the whole weekend doing nothing or meeting no one. I dream about empty space I can spend as it feels like in the moment. That in the morning when I wake up I don't have a booked calendar but possibility to read til afternoon, go to thrift stores, attend to an event, call friends, pick flowers or clean the house if I choose. These empty spaces are easily broken. First there is one meeting, then a task and another. This is a question about personality too. I am an introvert and need days when I can load batteries without a need to be social. Some might get more energy when they know they can fly from meeting and task to another. It is not being selfish or difficult if you say no when you need time to relax and go according to your own plans.

Getting inspired and doing creative work consist of stimulation (for example object, material, picture, voice, scent), time to ponder and hard work. When one of these factors is working an idea might be born but to get it finished is quite impossible. To turn a rough idea into a diamond I need all these three. This is a second DIY post where I use the same material, wooden shade I found from garbage. I have plans to make a third post too. In the first post I showed how I made a Nordic Style Plant Wall. Today I show how to use the left over material in a smaller project. Smaller just in it's physical form because this project requires more time. In the third project I will use left overs of this material. Material should be appreciated and used well even though it is upcycled and I want to provoke thought how many inspirational uses there are for a very common product when it goes broken. So the stimulation for this project was an object/material I found from garbage. Then I needed some days and empty evenings to look at the material and test it to process the ideas that occurred to my mind. I had and idea about a wooden box that could be decorated with the wooden pieces from the shade but how will I make it? Then it was hard work to go through ideas, choose one and make as neat finish as possible. I am very pleased with the end result. 

I had this wooden box that I had bought seven years ago. Back then country style was very fashionable but after the trend the box has served as storing box in the closet. I have been keeping Bullet Journal for an year now and thought it might be practical to have all markers, pencils, stickers, rulers, post-its etc. in one box that I could easily reach from table and spend few hours drawing. The box had to fit my home decor so I don't need to hide it back to a closet. Old box was perfect what came to size but it looked a bit silly with my current style. I wanted to give it a makeover and use upcycled material.

This is how the box looked before. I took the pieces apart and began to work with the box first, leaving the cover to wait. I measured the height of the box and began by sawing pieces of wood with the same size.

Then I used wood glue and glued the pieces side by side to cover the sides. When the work was dry I sanded the uneven ends.

Then I took off the framed chalkboard from the cover. I sawed a bit shorter pieces that matched to the cover better. I draw a line in the middle and glued the first line of herringbone. Then I worked the sides. Little gaps in the edges I filled with small leftover pieces. Then I let the work dry properly.

After the work was dry I sawed of the parts that went over the plate.

Almost ready. I still wanted to change the color of the frame to fit better to my home and it's colors. I used leftover coconut paint and painted three layers. Then it was time to put the pieces together. 

I am pleased how beautiful and stylish this box looks like in my living room. It hides the pile of BuJo equipment but keeps it near so I can anytime spend an hour of two drawing. Writing letters is trend these days so this box could also work as a keep for envelopes, papers and pencils. Or you could store in remote controllers, tissues, keys and all sorts of small stuff that lies on desks and on top drawers. Handy and pretty!

Hope you found this post both  inspiring and thought provoking. I wish you an inspiring summer week!

Sannu

DIY Nordic Style Plant Wall

Happy new week! After a while it is time to share some DIY inspiration. I was going for a walk when I noticed something interesting in the middle of garbage. Broken shade made of wood or bamboo catch my eye. Instead of waste I thought it as great material. It is a way of thinking to see the material and it's potential. I am very picky and I don't take any crap from garbage. For example if the piece is made of something that is difficult to work with or too dirty to bring home I will leave. But quite often I see wonderful projects. For example last week there was this pretty wooden chair that would have made a pretty stool for flowerpot in the garden. I had no space so I had to leave it. But this shade was pretty simple to clean, pile and store for further use so I took it. I didn't have to store it long though because I had an idea or two how I could use it. When breaking the shade into pieces and cleaning it I thought about all the material in the world that goes to dump or burnt as energy waste. And I also thought all that new stuff produced every day. We have limited amount of resources, global warming and trash filling our (and flora and fauna's) living space at the same time when we feel we need new things.

I would somehow understand it if the stuff we put to garbage was actually trash, something we can't use in any form. But quite often we cast away things that are, in the current form (without manipulation out of our expertise or equipment) ready to be used again. Like this shade, after cutting off the strings and washing the pieces it could have gotten a price tag and put to a shelf in some hardware or craft supply store. Get what I try to say? For example plastic is something we can recycle and it is made new products in the factory. Same with newspapers, glass, cardboard, tin. Then again: An object with wooden pieces can be broken into particles, cleaned and used again at home. Same with for example broken dress that can't work in it's original use. It can be washed, cut into pieces and pieces used as fabric. Or broken coffee mugs can be turned into mosaic material using basic home equipment. I do buy new fabric and wood too. But I try not to waste good materials. Also if you don't make mosaic, sew or do makeovers you can give clean materials to your friend who does or ask in social media groups if someone is interested. My friends and relatives have given me broken mugs, plates, empty tins, fabric etc. for my projects and all those materials have been spared from ending to garbage. In my experience upcycling saves money and gives so much inspiration. When I saw this shade in the garbage my brain started humming, how could I use this, what fun project this could turn out? I would say 40% of my ideas come from an interesting material I have found from garbage or thrift store. And it is always a win to see polished trash as a part of interior decor.

This is in what shape how I found the shade. I took it to my balcony to be broken to pieces and cleaned. It had only some dust on the surface otherwise it was clean.

Beautiful material ready to be used. You see the difference how a trash becomes something with a price tag at store? This pile of great material would be more difficult to cast to garbage than the broken shade, don't you think?

I decided to make a web to a wall where I could twine climbers that are in pots on the table. I measured the middle of two pieces to get an even start. Then I just began to weave working every side evenly.

Sitting on the ground weaving. The material is so beautiful and my head was bursting with more ideas how to use it. One could decorate doors with woven webs or glue pieces side by side to cover boxes. If it would be sawed to small particles it would make good material for mobiles or wind chimes. 

When you weave the web tight enough it will keep it's from without a need to secure the pieces with screws or staples. I attached the ready web to a wall above a table so I could easily put flowers under the web.

I had one Tradescantia albiflora and I bough new Epipremnum pinnatum. Now the plats are still watching the web made for them to climb but I am already dreaming how those will cover the whole wall :)

Wishing you all the most inspiring and creative new week! Please share this post on social media if you liked <3 I am an indie blogger and it means a lot to me that you people visit my blog, get inspired, comment and share :) 

Sannu

Wall Plate Installation

Permanent markers. A pile of old plates that are originally from a thrift store. And few pictures from inspiring views. 

When I make my long walks I tend to stop and take pictures if something interesting catches my eye. Some weeks ago it was bright sunny day and I saw tracks on ice. Tracks looked like a graphic print to my eye. Back then I was making a quilting project and all that I saw connected to quilting. You know, I have quilting weeks (or months) when I quilt a lot and then I have a break and do other projects. So when I looked at the surface of the ice I thought it might work as a stitching pattern. I let this thought rest and went to plan next projects. 

Then two weeks ago I came across two white wall plates that I had in my cabinet. I had all sorts of ideas to decorate the plates but then I remembered the pictures I had taken of the tracks. I actually first thought about making these plates black and white. But why if there are all these spring colors to use. Free hand I began to draw the tracks that snowmobiles, skiers and people by foot had made to the ice. Then I colored the drawing. Working with permanent markers was a good school about accepting mistakes. It was not that easy to go and correct and I just had to let go and draw. When I followed the circling paths people had made I came to think about how it is said in Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago that "Life is no stroll through the field" (I like this saying and I wrote about it before when I talked about Cheryl Strayed's Wild). Actually these colored patterns on ice look like pictures taken from fields. I still think I might draw black and white version on paper using very thin marker. It would look like graphic print. It would be also easier to work on paper compared to slippery plates and permanent markers. When you scroll down you can see the two pictures I used when drawing the plates.

Comb Ceramic Inspired Easter Eggs

Easter is not so far away and I think it is time for a small Easter DIY project. I am not taking huge pressure about Easter decorations. Although I have to tell you about a nightmare I had in January. I saw a dream that Easter had gone and I hadn't decorated any Easter twigs and in that dream I was very sad about that and thought that now I have to wait another year to make things correct. It is a bit funny actually that after that dream I knew it was a nightmare but now that I think about it it would't be that tragic if I don't have any Easter twigs, laugh. But because of that dream and the feeling of disappointment I had in that dream I have already bought feathers to make Easter twigs. Also this Easter my friend from the other side of Finland is coming to spend the holidays with me so I want my home to look festive. Some decorative eggs, Easter twigs with feathers, Easter grass and a bunch of chocolate treats will do the thing. I have a storage full of decorations I have made during the years so I might bring some of my favorites to display. 

My recipe for a relaxed celebration is to spend some time with a simple craft that goes with the theme. Every now and then I like to put hands in clay so to speak and mold and ponder what shape the it will take. When I concentrate on some simple project it allows me to focus that moment and forget all the busy thoughts that sometimes occupy the mind. The best thing about this Easter Egg DIY is that the technique is easy and materials needed are minimal. In this DIY project you get to examine nature's own patterns, plan what kind of pictures to draw and feel the material taking shape. I got the inspiration for this project from the current terracotta trend and old comb ceramic objects that have the most interesting patterns. 

You will need:

Plastic Eggs

DAS Modelling Material in Terracotta Color

Water

Tools to make patterns:

Get creative and look what you have in your cupboards. 

Look for example shells, wooden sticks, forks, knives, buttons, pearls, yarn..

Step 1. Cover the egg with modelling material. Put some water to your hands to make the material work better. Use knife if needed to make the surface about even.

Step 2. If you need guide lines to make the decorating easier, yarn is a great help.

Step 3. Decorate the egg with some pattern tool or draw triangles and lines with a toothpick. Here you can see some examples of tools that make interesting patterns. Shells are wonderful and create beautiful organic shapes. With a chopstick it was easy to make a fun dotted egg. Herringbone and triangles I have drawn with a toothpick. 

Step 4. Let the eggs dry about 24 hours or more. Turn the eggs to make them dry from all sides. Now you have trendy terracotta colored Easter eggs that go to different styles from minimalist to bohemian.

Inspiring new week to you all!

Sannu

Quilt Tutorial: April Eclectic

Happy Weekend! This week my evening program has been clear and simple, stitching and some more stitching! To get beautiful texture and 3D effect to this pillow I covered bigger areas with stitches than I usually do in my quilts. Hand stitching makes the look organic and alive and it is always worth it to put some extra hours to finishing touches. I have been inspired by coming spring and its clean green and blue hues. It is still two months before the spring comes rushing to these hoods. When it arrives the pace is breath taking. The small idea of spring turns into first leaves and lush green forests. The scenery goes through rapid changes sometimes in a matter of days. I think the traditional quilt patterns I combined in this work resemble quite well the energy of spring and April, month that brings it to us living here in the North.

As you can see from the pictures this new pillow works well with the other pillows I have already published in my quilt tutorial series. You can check all the tutorials and make these pillows your own! I will put direct links to the tutorials to the end of this post. I would love it if you could share my posts on social media so everyone else interested in quilting can find these and maybe get inspiration to create.

You will need:

Cotton fabric in: Purple, Lime green, Blue and Lavender

Batting Fabric

Batting

Back fabric (Blue)

Sewing yarn

Embroidery yarn

You will also need:

Sewing machine

Quilter's rule

Cutting mat

Rotary cutter

Scissors

Iron

Needle

Embroidery hoop

Pins

Ruler

Pencil

This stunning pattern is actually relatively easy to make and we have already used different modifications from this basic technique before (in case you have followed my quilt projects). The pillow consist of two chains and three whirl and square rows. We actually make the pieces for the whirls and chains at the same time, as you will see.

Step 1. Cut following pieces:

Purple 10 pieces in 8*8 cm and 30 pieces in  7*7 cm

Blue 10 pieces in 8*8 cm and 30 pieces in 7*7 cm

Lime 20 pieces in 8*8 cm and 20 pieces in 7*7 cm

Step 2. Put together following combinations in 8*8 cm: 10 blues & 10 limes. 10 purples & 10 limes. Put right sides together, draw a line from corner to corner and sew from 0,75 cm from both sides of the line. Cut according to the line and iron open. 

Step 3. Now pair triangle squares with 7*7 cm purple and blue squares: Blue & lime squares with purples. Purple & lime ones with blues. Do the same thing as before, put right sides together and draw a line from corner to corner and sew and cut according to line. Then combine the rest of the 7*7 cm squares: Blue & lime together and purple & lime together as in step 2. 

Step 4. Now collect the chains according to the picture using the parts you have.

Step 5. Sew first the rows of four together and then combine the rows together. Remember always open the seams before you go to the next step.

Step 6. Then use the rest of the tri-colored squares to make whirls. Then cut 6 10*10 cm squares from lavender. Sew three whirl blocks and two lavender squares to a row as you can see from the picture. Make three rows. 

Step 7. Sew whirl rows and chains together. Iron properly.

Step 8. Now put together batting fabric, batting and quilt and sew loosely together. Using embroidery hoop stitch one part at the time following pattern's lines. I usually use the same color's lighter hue in the embroidery yarn as I have in the fabric.

Step 9. When you are finished with the stitching cut of the extra batting and sew quilted piece to a pillow. Tips for that I have got in this previous quilt tutorial.

Inspiring quilting days to you all!

In case you got interested in quilting and want further inspiration check these quilt tutorials <3

>Brisk Winds, Warm Stoves Part 1. 
>Brisk Winds, Warm Stoves Part 2.
>Bohemian October
>Memory of August