Showing posts with label up-cycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label up-cycling. Show all posts

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

DIY wooden crate

Just something I knocked together (pun intended...hehe) the other day with a hammer and a few nails....


It went from this......


......which is off-cuts from this.....


to this........




The Captain was horrified at first, to see me hammering this box together with only nails, but after I painted it  and stencilled some numbers on there, he agreed it doesn't look too bad...hehehe. It's  very basic, perhaps even a bit ugly and a bit dilapidated old wooden crate/box for a corner in the garden, but I like it!

Happy day!

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

Up-cycled hanging basket

The Captain is forever calling me his "squirrel" because I can hardly ever throw anything away that "I may have a use for in the future".  I did a bit of swimming pool maintenance now that summer is upon us and part of that was replacing the weir basket. Knowing that there will be a use for it in the near future, I kept the old one (of course!!). This weekend, enjoying glorious weather, I did a spot of gardening when I had this brilliant idea! Hanging basket! I can make a hanging basket with the discarded weir basket. A lot of scrubbing later to get rid of the chlorine residue, and voila!




Of course, if we had the E-clear water treatment system for our pool, I needn't have bothered to scrub at all, but I wanted to be sure to get rid of the chemicals. Now that I've seen how well it works, I might just pop into the hardware store for a few more of these baskets.

Happy day!



Thursday, 5 July 2012

Up-cycling

I've had this little white tray for AGES - I think it was a vessel for a Christmas gift from years ago. Like usual, I didn't want to throw the tray away "just in case" I have a use for it "one day".... Hahahaha! Well, I finally did something with it....







Tuesday, 3 July 2012

Knack Studios

Knack Studios are amongst my new favourites for DIY  and makeover inspiration. If you follow the links to the pictures below, you'll see why. I simply just loved their beautiful photographs until I dug a bit deeper and discovered some real treasures... 



so pretty, from here

simply gorgeous, from here

fabulous cupboard makeover, from here

just because I like this photo, from here

Happy day!


Monday, 2 July 2012

DIY stencilling

I have this piece of wood that was part of an old patio chair; but the chair is so old and dilapidated that it cannot be used as was intended anymore...

                                              

I was thinking of a way to do stencilling without using the actual rigid stencils. I used paper cut-outs before, but that was a bit of a messy affair -  this time around I had a different idea...

Print out your design regular printer paper;


Cut out an appropriate sizes piece of contact plastic to fit your design;


Tape your design or wording to the top of the plastic using cello-tape;  like this. The sticky side must face DOWN.


 Using your exacto knife, cut out the letters/design;  like this...


Peel the backing off the contact plastic and stick the plastic cut-out on your intended surface. Make sure you smooth out any air-bubbles.  I had three separate pieces to my design so, I drew lines where I wanted them to line up...


Paint over the plastic making sure you don't go over the edges and onto your painted surface; use a sponge roller for this - I used a paint brush and the bristles went under the plastic and messed up my letters a bit;  also make sure the contact plastic is stuck down tightly onto your surface, it will prevent any spills.


Allow to dry and peel off the plastic to reveal your design.....





I sanded the whole thing again because the letters got a bit messed up from the paint brush and with a bit of sanding it looked much better. It also got a coat of antique glaze and voilà!!




Happy day!!


Friday, 29 June 2012

Industrial / up-cycled lighting

Okay, these are all from the same seller on Etsy, Rough South Home but this stuff is just so awesome, I had to show them off..... There are loads of re-purposed items on his site for sale, so don't just look at these, check them all out!!! My favourite is this blue Gas Station Light below... What is yours? Oh, and even though I'm just showing off the pics of the lighting, there are other items of furniture and décor for sale too!!


source 

source 

source

Happy day!!


Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Up-cycled picture frame

A simple old picture frame, minus the glass and the backing....


Same old frame, painted with a base coat of black and a top coat of blue; then sanded to give it an aged look. Over the blue, I rubbed some "Antique Glaze" to give it an even more aged look....


Next, some "chicken wire" and a staple gun to attach the "chicken wire" to the back of the frame...


All "stapled up" and ready for the next step.....


I attached  a few little glass bottles with string and a few sprigs of lavender  - in summer I'll exchange the dried lavender blossoms for  pretty, colourful blooms for a bit of cheer....


And finally......

Happy day!!!

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

Winter gardening

Even though the soil is cold and very wet, it is not time to be idle in the garden.  I try to do as much as I can on sunny days (when I'm not raking up leaves...hehehe) and I'm excited to see some pretty blooms as soon as the weather warms up again in August/September.


I love Violas, Pansies and Nemesia for a bit of colour in winter.  Here I used an old bread tin (with holes punched in the bottom for drainage) for my winter blooms.


I keep all sorts of recyclable containers; an up-cycled food tin is a good "home" for my succulents.


Old garden furniture can make for wonderful planters. I am excited to see the "Forget Me Not" in full bloom in this old chair.


Old telephone directory pages used for a seedling "tray". It's too cold yet but these little guys look rather happy in their little "pot" for now. See more pictures of this kind of container here.



Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Crafty up-cycle

When I saw this, I knew I had  to share. This is one of the coolest up-cycled projects I have seen in a while - thanks to 365 things you can practice crafts


Visit the site here to get the "know how" and for more crafty ideas.

Happy day!!

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Green gardening

A visit to one of our local nurseries inspired me to think about pots and vessels I use for seedlings and ways of sowing my spring flowering seeds. (Okay, we've got a long way to go before Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere but any time is a good time to start planning, no?)

Here are some pictures from the garden centre, where they up-cycled newspapers into plant "pots".




This is such a brilliant idea - I have plenty old phone directories which I'm putting to good use in this way now. The best of all is that you can probably put the whole thing as-is in the ground, since the paper will de-compose eventually and provide some food for your plant.

Some other brilliant ideas on the Guerilla Gardening website on how to prepare seed bombs; a fun way to beautify your garden and neighbourhood. I will wait until just before the end of winter and then let Cheetah and his buddies "let rip" with their bombs for our spring and summer garden. The possibilities are endless and I'm quite excited to see how it will eventually turn out....




Hope you enjoy these! 

Happy sowing and bombing!!



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