Modern Global: Wall Clock DIY

Happy Thursday and DIY day! I have had both fun and productive day. Because it is fun when you get things done, right? Although my productiveness didn't show out, it was mainly immaterial. Point is that I got ideas finished in my head. I tend to collect projects that I am not sure how they turn out. Then when ever these something to be -projects start to pile it is annoying. It takes time to develop major ideas as I don't want to ruin good materials. This way it is a breakthrough when ideas make their arrival one by one and random stuff becomes part of an actual project that is scheduled to BuJo.

Main material that I am using in today's project, an old tray, is from thrift store's free to take basket. The tray was broken yet had very beautiful details in it. I thought it's frames could be used in some DIY project. After I carried it home it has been moving from bench to bench and table to table. I didn't immediately get any marvelous idea. I have got another tray that was planned to become a wall clock but as it is still intact I thought this broken piece could be better used in this project. Because the tray had hole (and hideous picture) in the middle I was sure the middle part must be removed. Plywood was obvious answer to cover the middle but for long I had no idea how to paint or decorate it. Sometimes (quite often actually) the most simple answers are the most difficult to see. All that the clock needed was bright contrasting paint and modern clock hands. So here you have, first material evidence of my productive Thursday :) For your project you can choose any metal tray that is thin enough to be easily cut and any bright color that matches your own home. 

***

You will need:

Metal tray
Thin plywood
Chalk paint
Clockwork and modern clock hands
Small beads to mark the hours
Strong glue
Brush
Drilling machine plus 10 mm drill
Coping saw
Pencil
Ruler
Compass
Scissors

Step 1. Measure the middle circle of the tray and draw similar circle to the plywood.

Step 2. Use coping saw to saw out the round piece from the plywood.

Step 3. After you have sawed off the piece drill a hole to the middle. The hole should be big enough so you get the clockwork's middle piece through it. I used 10 mm drill.

  Step 4. Sand the edges if needed. Paint twice with chalk paint.

Step 5. Measure 1 cm from the middle circle. Use compass to get even line.

Step 6. Cut out the middle part following the line you draw. I used plain scissors to do this. You can use special scissors made for cutting metal if your tray is heavier material. Clean the tray. I polished mine with toothbrush and toothpaste.

Step 7. Attach the plywood circle to the frame using strong glue. Let dry. Combine the clockwork and clock hands to the middle. Glue beads to mark 12, 3, 6 and 9.

***

I quite like the look that combines both modern and vintage. Old tray gives global bohemian vibe to this clock and new bright red color balances. Now I feel a huge motivation boost to get other projects finished. I have banned thrift stores and garbage bins (I am allowed to put trash in, not take out) until the corners are empty from all interesting materials :D

Have a Wonderful Weekend You All!

Sannu

Vintage Christmas with 3 Simple DIY projects!

Advent time is near. Here in Finland First Advent is important day because it officially starts the Christmas season. Of course many of us begin our Christmas preparations a bit earlier ;) and for example commercial Christmas season openings are usually on mid November.

I am trying to slow down at the beginning of the Advent time, relax and enjoy all things Christmassy. Usually most of the decor is on it´s place and I love to drink glögi (Finnish warm and spicy Christmas drink), bake plum tarts, listen to Christmas radio, read familiar Christmas books and watch movies. I also try to find as much time as possible for `fairy light´ -walks. With that I mean long walks at the neighborhood spying beautiful Christmas lights that fill all the balconies, gardens and window sills.

In this post I will show you some simple tips how to build a Christmas table centerpiece and decorations for a small dining area. In these decorations I focus on vintage and a little bit old fashioned style. Key elements are gold, vintage baubles, candles, nature, flowers and glass. Remember that everyone can bring a piece of Christmas magic to their homes, whether big or small. You can also use quite bold and big elements even though you would decorate a small space. Think big, live small! 

***
Rime Glass Jars

Glass jars seem to be a continuing trend even though it is almost ten years when I bought my first one. Maybe it is a classic. Well, some of these have got scratches and chips so it was OK to do some DIY.

I attached star shaped outline stickers and spray painted the jars with transparent rime spray. After the spray paint I removed the stickers. 

Now the spray painted and non painted jars make a nice arrangement. I put in nature elements like braches, pine cones and Christmas baubles. One of the jars got amaryllis and battery operated fairy lights that do not heat.

Tip! Use led tealights and fairy lights and you can decorate more freely.

Lace table runner

Lace tablets used to be very cheap at the thrift shops and I collected these a lot. Sometimes I even got 3 handmade tablets with 1,50€! Those were crazy times :D Some of these tablets are from a friend who rescued them from a garbage bin because she thought I might make something nice of them. I have used many of these in my home decor but some are a bit peculiar color or have spots that are difficult to remove.

So I chose four lace tablets that were either wrong color or worn out and combined them (pink marks are to show where I sewed) with cotton yarn and ironed well. Then I simply spray painted the table runner with golden spray paint 3-4 times. For a finishing touch I brushed golden acrylic paint to get more shine.

Pearl flower planter

 What would be Christmas without a tin DIY project? This DIY is extremely simple. You just need a hot glue gun, tin and pear chain (this chain is a Christmas decoration and I checked that these cost nowadays 2€ at the store).

Put glue little by little to the surface as you swirl the pearl chain around the tin. Remember that tin can be hot after hot glue! If you want the same look as I have in the last picture spray paint with gold spray after the glue is dry. Do not use spray paint when the glue is hot!

***

Golden Christmas tree cost 2€ at the thrift shop and I decorated it with baubles. Cocoa tin is also an ancient thrift shop find. There is water washable snow spray on the window. Golden candle holders are from Ebba and Erkki boutique that situates at Levi. Candle holders cost 12€ per one.

Happy First Advent, May it be Peaceful and Relaxing!

Sannu

I updated my About page with new pictures :) I think it is nice to know who is behind the blog. All portraits taken from me are current and unfiltered, I have added just a little contrast and color. I think it is important to show real pictures of real people. In this cyber world it is so easy to create human 2.0. When I bought my new smart phone I was shocked about the selfie filters that modified my head and skin tone. I do understand artistic freedom and I use filters on Instagram to make colors better in my pictures. But I don´t understand filters that do not just change color but modify the whole object in the picture. Maybe I am just old fashioned :) But can that filtered 2.0 introduce her/himself in the real world?

Colorful Grunge Christmas

It is time for some Christmas inspiration again! I am very early so don´t take any Christmas pressures. My point is to be a bit early bird so that you have more time to gather ideas and think what you are going to make for this Christmas and plan how your festive season will look like. Also most of my projects are made of recycled material so if you choose to make them you will need time to collect materials needed. Plus now it is the best time to go thrifting and hunting for bargains. My experience is that month or two before Christmas all the prices go up but if you are awake now you can find last season pieces and craft supplies from sale :) And as I make a lot I do need to look at the prices too.

For this post I got inspiration from bottle caps that are nice glittery material if you figure out how to use them. About a year ago I bought metallic colored beads from sale and now I combined the caps with the beads. As a result I got decorations that can be used in a Christmas tree or as a table/wall decoration.

Technique is easy, you just open the plaits from the cap by hammering with ballpoint hammer. Then you use tongs to fold the cap. When you string the beads and caps to a wire close the folded cap tightly from the corners.

Many might think that it is somehow strange to use this kind of recycled material in Christmas crafts. But there is nothing modern about this, quite the contrary. If you look at the home made vintage Christmas decorations you might be surprised  of the innovative use of material. All kinds of (glittery) papers from packages and news papers were saved for festive decorations. Not to mention trillions of school classes that have been using toilet paper rolls and egg cartons in crafts class. As an example I have made the little stars that I put to my mini Christmas tree from an old news paper. 

I made the quilted table cloth for last Christmas and it is made of fabrics found from a thrift shop. When quilting you do not need huge amounts of one single fabric so flea markets are great places to find material and quilting as a technique is great when you want to use all the scraps from your favorite pieces.

 Think again things around you and use color, that is the key to this style. Even though you are using cheap recycled material it does not have to mean poorly made. Use all your crafting skills and make a statement with the pieces you craft!

I would like to hear about your Christmas projects and plans. What kind of Christmas person are you? Do you make all by yourself or are you enjoying the holidays with your friends and family in a bigger gathering where someone else is in charge?

Have a nice Tuesday to you all! 

Sannu

Have you already red my thoughts about Christmas 2016 trends. If not you can find my post here!

3 Fun Fall DIY projects

Sometimes we need a bit silly DIY projects to cheer up and enjoy just the making process without pressure. Some materials like colorful garden twine and old glittery bracelets offer good feelings per se. As much as making crafts can be serious art the process of crafting can also offer a chance to play. These simple projects offer that fun moment in the middle off sometimes hectic and stressful life. Don´t mind the result, take a cup of coffee with a bun, put your favorite music on and enjoy the journey!

You will need:

a basic stool (mine was faux wood plus metal)

white primer

chalk paint

antiquing wax

glue

colorful garden twine

scissors, paintbrush, cotton cloth, builders tape

1. Paint the sitting part with white primer two times.

2. Paint the sitting part with chalk paint two times.

3. Apply the wax to the sitting part with a piece of cotton cloth.

4. Cover the legs with colorful garden twine. Use glue to attach the twine to the surface. Hide twine ends under the second color as shown in the picture.

You will need:

a glass jar

old metallic bracelets

glue

wire cutters

1. Cut old bracelets with wire cutters to small pieces.

2. Glue bracelet pieces to the glass jar´s surface.

You will need:

colorful garden twine 

crocheting hook

needle

1. Chain 4 (= a loop and first double crochet) and crochet 11 double crochets to the first chain stitch. Close the round with slip stitch to the first dc.

2. Chain 3 (=first dc) and crochet two double crochets in all stitches, close the round with slip stitch.

3. Change the twine color. Chain 3 (=first dc), *crochet one simple crochet in every next 3 stitches, 1 dc in the next stitch and 2dc 1chain 2 dc to the next one (=corner of the square) and 1 dc in next stitch* ** repeat.

4. Finish the twine end´s with a needle.

Wishing you all a good start for the week!

Sannu

Used Food Tins Transformed into Statement Home Decoration Items

This is for experimental souls :) Used tins can be reformed into statement home decoration pieces that add a little something into garden, front door and reading corner. Check out the ideas and start creating your own projects! I am quite sure you won´t be lacking material if you cook at home every now and then. Also you can ask your friends to save tins for you.

1. Decorative Garden Crown Ornament

2. Midas Touch Golden Wreath

3. Reading Under the Pickle´s Light

To learn more about the basics of this technique go to my tutorial that I wrote on January this year. Back then I made chandelier DIY and showed how to cut flowers and leaves. Also I made a table chandelier DIY on February. 

To the lampshade I made holes from inside using a nail and a hammer and then made the holes bigger from the outside using a drilling machine and metal drill. I removed both bottoms and attached lampshade frame using soldering iron. Even though the lampshade is relatively simple to make I would say that to make this you should have some experience about using tools needed in a safe way. Also use a light bulb that does not heat.

Garden crown is basic cutting and hammering. In the wreath I used a glue gun to attach the leaves to a styrofoam wreath. 

Have a fearless and fun DIY week!

Sannu

Early Bird Easter DIY: Decorate a table chandelier

This table chandelier is an easy and quick DIY project. Remember how I made flowers from a tin can? Now I made five small and five big flowers and put them together. I did not paint flowers because I wanted to show the recycled material. Instead of that I spray painted a Christmas chandelier that I bought from the January sale. Then I just added some beads.

The eggs are another idea from recycled material. I made these couple of years ago and still like them. You can use old news papers or loose pages from broken book.

How to attach the flowers and before picture of the chandelier. Here is a link to the post where I show how to cut flowers. In this project the only difference is that I cut squares from the tin and then formed them to circles to cut flowers.

Some might think it is early for a project like this but if you are up to making decorations yourself it is perfect time to start collecting ideas. You still have plenty of time to collect material from sales and flea markets, enjoy DIY projects and make a few extra pieces for a gift. 

Have an inspirational start for the week!

Sannu