Craft - Rope Swirl Tapestry Art

If you are a fan of Pinterest then you might have seen the stunning Rope Swirl Tapestry photos doing the rounds. The original photos come from HERE. If you haven't seen them then you must go look.

They were even kind enough to post instructions HERE. I think it is totally awesome of them to share the instructions. As soon as I found the instructions I rushed off to my local Spotlight store to buy wool.

It is a very fun project and easy to do. The one thing that isn't clear is that you need to skip a section in each row as you weave to keep the pattern going.

Here are my attempts so far. I haven't cut off the green twine ends yet so it looks messy. I will wait until I am ready to attach them all and then work out what needs cutting and trimming.

When I am ready to attach them I will add bright tassels and pompoms. I love the colour in the original photo and mine currently looks quite drab even though the wool is quite bright. The rope dulls the overall look so it definitely needs to be jazzed up. Don't hold your breath for the completed article, I think it will take me a few months of work.

Furniture renovation project - Mum is having fun with a can of white paint.

Here are some projects that my Mum wants to show off. Mum loves white. Recently she went crazy with a can of white paint and here are the results. Firstly she painted this old tray to fit in with her Nautical themed outdoor area.

The tray must be over 25 years old because I remember it from when I was younger. Now it looks brand new and loved again.

Next she turned an old cork board into a mood board for all her ideas.

Then after a few coats of paint it looks quite different.

Then she worked on more chairs for her outdoor area.

Then she set about doing up 4 old chairs that were given to her for free because no one else wanted them. They were sturdy but very dated, and not in a nice retro way.

Mum pulled them apart, painted the frames and recovered the cushions.

And now for the finished items.

The chairs look very fresh and modern now. It is hard to believe that they were ever destined for the tip.

Sewing/Craft - Using up fabric scraps on skirts and headbands

I love fabrics and have bought a heap over the years. These fabrics tend to sit in piles looking pretty waiting for the day when I learn to sew. Getting out to sewing classes is hard as a single mum with little kids but recently I have found a great alternative. It is an online site with craft lessons. It is called Craftsy.com and this site has fantastic courses on sewing, quilting, cooking, gardening, etc. There are some free courses but most you pay to access. I have done quite a few courses now and they are great value for money. If you sign up to their newsletters there are often sales on different courses. I recently bought a few courses when they were on sale so over the next few months I will watch those and make new projects. You can watch each course over and over again too.

Today I wanted to share some skirts I have made from the Project Upcycle course. In the course the Instructor uses old pillow cases for her wrap skirt whereas I have used fabric scraps from my stash pile. I made a Christmas themed wrap skirt and a fun summer skirt.

 Here are all the panels. I know it needs an iron but my iron died very suddenly.

 Here is my bright summer one.

 I think these skirts will be great for the hot summer days we are having. I plan to buy some plain singlet tops to go with them. I then wanted to make some headbands with the fabric scraps. I googled for a template for headbands and then made these. I plan to make a few more of these as they are very quick to make.

Next I plan on watching the photograph course so I can improve the quality of my photos. Let's face it, my photos look very basic. I have a new camera and need to read the inch thick manual to work out what all the buttons mean as well. It is one of my goals for the year to master my camera. That is when I am not sewing, cooking, painting, cleaning, and being Supermum.

Craft - Handbag upcycle

Happy New Year!!! Woohoo!! There is always something special about the start of a new year.

This year I am determined to do a lot of thing,  such as finishing last year's "To Do" List. I am also determined to sort out my wardrobe. Anything bland is going to get a makeover or will be donated to charity.

Today I have sorted out my handbags. Many of my bags are older than my boys and are very worn out. There are far too stains from baby bottle spills and those sticky leftovers that kids always seem to stuff into my handbag when we are out.

I have a few bags that are still in good condition, mainly because they were so boring that I never used them.

 Time to get to work to make this bag a little bit more me. I have used beads and ribbon from an old piece that was too worn out to fix.

My After Photos.

 

I have restrained myself from going too extravagant. I think it is fun but still a little classy at the same time.  I have a brown handbag to do next but I first I need a trip to my local Spotlight store to get inspiration and materials. 

I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Day and that this year is kind to you and your family. 

Recycling - New uses for old suitcases.

I am still trying to clean up the shed. Very slowly things get pull out and given a new lease on life. I had a few old suitcases that weren't suitable for traveling but still too good to be thrown out.

The first suitcase belongs to the boys but they have outgrown it. Now they want to pack more clothes than I do. They are ready for larger suitcase so poor Buzz is getting a make over.

 After a few hours of school holiday crafting fun, the suitcase has been transformed into a work of art.

This will be eventually wall mounted to match the rest of the bedroom.

The other suitcase I had was turned into a small sandpit. The youngest child loves playing in the sandpit but as it is summer the sand gets very hot. The wet season is meant to be here now/ soon/ whenever it wants to show up, so I have made an undercover sandpit. The beauty of this is that I can close the lid to keep out animals.

Christmas - May the force be with you

Ok. I know I am very late with sharing my tree... or I am really early for next year.

I wanted to do something different this year with my Christmas tree.  Every year I do a traditional tree but I wanted to do something for my boys this year.

I bought a black tree and Mum helped sew the cape. I bought some Hallmark Star Wars ornaments, but I couldn't afford many. Most of the decorations were out of Kinder Surprise chocolates. They had Star Wars themed toys and despite our best efforts in eating heaps, we never managed to find Jar Jar Binks or R2-D2. The boys volunteered to keep eating chocolates but our local supermarket sold out of the Star Wars range.

Here are the older boys with their special tree.

The boys loved their tree. We put up the tree at the end of November and my little foster son kept plucking the decorations off so that he could play with them. By Christmas Day the tree was looking a little bare but luckily everyone was too distracted by the presents.  It is surprising how many people came in and didn't even notice a giant Darth Vader in the middle of the lounge room.

May the force be with you this Christmas... or next Christmas. :)

Craft - My fun new bedroom lamp

It is rather embarrassing to admit but this lamp project took me 9 months.... I'm not sure why either.  I painted the lamp around Christmas time and it has sat in the shed ever since. I just didn't get around to doing something with the lamp shade or finding that little black plastic bit that holds the lamp shade still. If anyone asks I will say I was letting the paint cure.

Anyway here are before photos.

And the before of the lamp shade.

The lamp base was in good condition but it was brown. I am trying to get rid of boring colours in the house so this needed a paint. The lamp shade was old so I really wasn't sure how I was going to upcycle it. This was another project where I was determined that I wasn't spending any money which really limited what I could do.

I got out the fabric markers and let the kids help me decorate it. I figured the lamp shade was so old that if it didn't turn out I would throw it away or recover it with fabric.  The boys took turns to decorate a panel each. Three of us went for an outdoor garden theme but one of my boys drew himself as a red Power Ranger. He currently has a Power Ranger obsession so I wasn't surprised with his choice. Here is his contribution. It think it is awesome.

My boys aren't into craft so a quick colouring in project is perfect for them. I have a few little craft projects for the boys to do over the school holidays as we need to make a start on Christmas presents and cards.

Now here is the finished bedroom lamp. I love it. The flowers were crochet flowers I bought on ebay a while ago. I also added a few random buttons that I found around the house. It is certainly unique and I know many people wouldn't like it but it suits my room and my personality. I still haven't found that plastic bit that holds the lamp shade still but it will turn up eventually... the shed isn't that big.