Pottery Workshop - Pinch Pot Windchime

Another pottery class attended ('m pretty addicted) this time it was a windchime theme, Stephanies were amazing design ideas but after searching through pinterest and seeing this I was hooked! (parden the pun) on creating something similar as a gift to the man of the house for his love of Koi!

Rather than working with clay in slab form, I rolled it out quite thick and using a circle cutter I cut out my shapes one at a time, and after a quick demonstration from Stephanie about pinch pots! I used that technique to create each scale!
Once done I pressed in doilies and stamps to add some scale details

I enjoyed making this one so much I couldnt wait for them to be fired in the kiln!
I also bagged the funkiest apron whilst there!

Stephanie added some black glaze to it and then each piece was complete
Each scale was strung together with a knot under each one, if I'm honest I'm super proud of this make and totally love it and cannot wait till another pottery class

Stephanie holds pottery classes in her workshop, contact her for more details

Learning new skills - Upholstery

I'm all about learning new skills so when I saw a local two week part upholstery course I booked on it straight away.
The project was a footstool which was included in the price, all I had to bring along was some fabric, I chose quite an old style of fabric but with the idea of making it quite contemporary!

Week one was all about stripping down the footstool and learning some techniques of how to do it properly

As you can see it was quite a vintage footstool with a very faded fabric, but once stripped it was a basic base of wood, I've brought it home to do some homework on the legs, before we start recovering next week
A good sanding and clear wax and I was all ready for part two of the course

Week 2 was all about the re upholstery, with everyone on the course doing their footstool slightly different it enabled us all to see a few different techniques that we could use on another project.

It was a great course teaching us how to use the foam, stretch the fabric, staple to the footstool, add decoration as finishing touches and tidy up the underneath

It wasn't until the end that I realised my fabric was not upholstery fabric at all, and to be honest I hadn't even considered it as a problem, I just loved the print and knew it would be lovely for the footstool, thankfully it worked really well so I know when I do this again to not worry too much about the choice of fabric and to challenge myself with a different design

The course was run by Maude & Stanley

Frame that picture!

Making Memories count
This is an Instagram photo I took whilst on holiday in New York City, its just one of the memories that we both love, its destination will be our bedroom, I ordered a 12x12 print of it and found the perfect frame to put it in

I was going to keep it pine but I think adding a pop of colour has really added to it.
I used Frenchic Hot as Mustard, this is my new go to paint as I love their colour range and ease of use, so expect to see a few more projects popping up here

Pottery Class - Bird Feeder

I've treated myself to a few extra pottery classes this summer, the first one was a bird feeder
When I arrived I had no idea in mind at all about a design, until I saw a butterfly print on the chair cover and went with that!

The clay we use turns out white (still surprises me everytime) so I chose to add a few hints of blue colour to my pot

For this class we had to throw the pot and make a bowl, then on the table we had to curve the bowl in to make a lip so the food wouldnt drop out and then add our decorations, of which were two pretty butterflies
I'll be honest, mine needed alot of support! Loo rolls make great supports, i'm certain there was 3 at one stage holding various bits up!

But the outcome was worth it! I LOVE it
I just need to find a place in the garden for it now!

Fairy Lights

After seeing a great idea in a magazine I set about trying to create something similar myself, so I used fairy lights I already had sitting around and got to work
I decided to use mine to pretty up the kitchen area in the workshop (more on that soon)

All you need is
Fairy lights, fabric, plastic shot glasses, decopatch glue and brush and paper and pencil to create your template

 Using the shot glass as a template roll it to draw a template of the size required

 Cut out your template and then use this on your fabric to mark out the design, I needed 20 fabric cut outs

Brush some decopatch glue onto the outside of the shot glass
Gently put your fabric cut out on the glass making sure you line the edge of the fabric with the rim of the cup, press gently so any air bubbles disappear
You may have a small overhang of fabric, simply add some decopatch glue to this and again gently press closed

Leave on the side to dry

Once dry you then need to add a hole in the base of the cup for the lights to go through
(after much trial and error, this is the way I found the best!)
Using my glue gun (no glue) just the heated end I placed it in the middle at the bottom of the cup and waited as the heat melted through it, I pushed the fairy lights through straight away, as when the plastic cooled it also shrunk a little holding the light in place perfectly

Then look pretty darn proud of yourself because you've just created some pretty fairy lights that everyone will want :)

The sewing box!

I love cantilever sewing boxes and have managed over time to acquire quite a few, well I cant keep them all can I?
I've made a start with this one by decopatching it all over with various papers, it was totally took to pieces and each section decopatched individually
I love it...

Retro Tiled Table

This cute handmade tiled top table was a super sweet find, the tiles are in perfect condition but the woodwork needed a makeover and the wheels needed a clean up

I chose to use Annie Sloan Graphite paint and a few coats of wax for extra protection

I love the retro feel of this little table

Retro Drawers - Makeover

When I saw this chest of drawers I had to have them, I love the retro look of them, the legs and the dodgy way the drawers open!

A new lease of life was needed and I chose some bright colours to really make this unit pop out

I started off by using Craig & Rose Maria Theresa Yellow but I'll be honest it just wasnt covering it how I wanted it too so I added a top coat of Annie Sloan English Yellow and a Graphite drawer for contrast and clear waxed for extra protection

I really enjoyed this project and love how she turned out in the end

Deco Guitar!

I got hold of a half size guitar and I knew straight away I wanted to decopatch it
I got this paper free with a magazine some time ago and its a gorgeous woodland scene, sadly I  have no idea where it can be purchased from, otherwise I'd purchase a whole stack of it!

The strings were broken so I binned them and gave the guitar a good clean

Then I set to work on decopatching just the front

 Little man wanted to model the finished guitar!

My lovely fella put new strings on for me and retuned it, as he's good at that sort of stuff and certainly more practised in that department considering he's got 4 guitars of his own!

Now I'll be honest! I was going to keep it and learn guitar myself but I do too much stuff already so it will be for sale in My Little Vintage, Earls Barton very soon

DIY Ironing Board

I was after a small ironing board for my workshop and remembered I had a long piece of mdf from the painting course I did at My Little Vintage, well I'm all about recycling so an ironing board it became

This took me about 20 minutes to make, I used some thick heatproof wadding, pretty fabric and the awesome staple gun!

 I used a double layer of the wadding

One useable ironing board in a very short amount of time and space saving too

Cable Reel Coffee Table ...

I've been after a cable reel for what seems like forever!
Finally I got my hands on one, only a small one but then I was so undecided as to what to do with it, it sat on the top of the storage unit until inspiration came my way!

I chose to paint the top with chalkboard paint as it would make a fun coffee table for everyone of any age to use, I painted the bottom with a blue chalkpaint and decoupaged with vintage sewing patterns (incomplete ones of course)

I added 4 casters to the bottom so its moveable and hey presto, a funky little cable reel coffee table

I love it, its now for sale in My Little Vintage in Earls Barton

Wall Cabinet

I got hold of a wall cabinet that needed a little paint job to brighten it up a little, once done I knew its new home would be in my den in Vintage Fleur to show off some of my makes

After giving it a good clean and sanding it back, I used a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint and a couple of coats of clear wax for protection
I used some offcut of brown polka dot oilcloth to cover the shelves which really match the paintwork

I really enjoyed updating this and I've got many more projects in the pipeline...