a ‘new’ food cover

Posted on November 14, 2012 by zefiart

Remember this?

Its an old sieve I found somewhere in my travels.

Inspired by this…

…it became this:

A handy little addition to the kitchen table in summer.

framed

Posted on November 11, 2012 by zefiart

Another gorgeous little project, inspired by this pin on Pinterest, though I approached the subject a little differently.

I got the frames at a garage sale not long ago and knew they’d be perfect for this project. Of course they were dark wood at the time…

I had an old dictionary I never use (after all, there are dictionaries gallore online).

The images came from The Graphics Fairy

Pretty.

I have more framed projects on the go… I’ll be sharing those later. For now I have to get back to work.

intricate birdcage

Posted on November 10, 2012 by zefiart

As promised, here is a preview of something I’ve made for the Shabby Market coming up at a great rate of knots.

Lately I’ve gotten all wired about wire.

I love the stuff. I love the whimsical things you can do with it.

A while ago I made a teeny tiny birdcage as inspired by Pinterest and since then I’ve been feeling the need to make more. So I did. I made more teeny tiny ones. (Pics of those coming later).

I looked through the items I’d collected in my travels thinking they’d make interesting suncatchers or objects d’art. I found two of these little beauties… and I did what any self respecting re-purposer would do:

I made them into bird cages.

Aren’t they cute?

I’m now working on a set of 4 very tarnished silver cups…

Are you as mad about wire as I am?

dangling around

Posted on November 9, 2012 by zefiart

Things have been very busy around here lately. And I’m so glad I no longer had to blog every day!

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some of the projects I’ve been working on.

Today its the latest suncatchers and windchimes. These were made for a lady who was interested in buying a few as Christmas presents. She said she may be interested in four but I had to make more to give her a choice.

Naturally.

What she doesn’t buy will go with me to the Shabby Market on December 8th.

The first one, above, is one of my creations, made from a tea strainer, keys, beads and crystals.

The one below is a very bent fork (I think Wayne may have had some anger issues on the day he made this one). I then blinged it up with cyrstals and keys.

The one below is more of Wayne’s twisted wire shapes, my bling and antique silverware.

The one below is an ‘on my own’ creation made with a coffee filter (I think it came out of an old coffee pot), lots of different chains and keys – both shiny and rusty.

Another Wayne creation – I love this one. The decorated flat spoon… very pretty.

Wayne’s wire flower suncatcher.

Again, an abused fork, wire and my blinged up forks.

We work well together don’t you think?

day 28 – it gets worse before it gets better

Posted on October 28, 2012 by zefiart

That’s what they say. And let me tell you, its true!

Here is what the office looks like now:

I’ve pilled old suitcases and metal boxes on top of the dresser to hold things in an organised fashion. I added tags to everything so I’d know what went where.

I can see the desktop. But give me 5 minutes…

And I found a use for a couple of the bedsprings I got from the tip shop a couple of weeks ago.

This is what the office looked like earlier today:

Yep. There’s a desk under there somewhere…

This was yesterday:

This was today:

So, you’ll agree… it did look a lot worse before it got better, right?

Then, cause I loved the whole tag thing, I went a bit crazy and started tagging everything. Including the suitcases in the guest room which act as a bedside table.

I’m pretty happy.

What I did today:
I found my desk. I found the coffee table in the living room. I did 3 loads of washing. I made a cheesecake.

What I didn’t do:
Clip and wash the poodles. Its only been on the list for 3 weeks. Fold the washing and put it away. Cook dinner.

I’m going to go eat some leftovers and watch TV. I think I earned it.

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day 26 – wedding decorations

Posted on October 26, 2012 by zefiart

Yes, yes. A day late. I know. I know. I had started this last night but I couldn’t get photos till this morning. So live with it!

I don’t know if I mentioned that our friends Kelly and Simon are getting married today. They asked me for help decorating the church.

I’d tried to get into the church a week ago to see about the decorations they’d arranged to use… the church is always open but there was no one there. And I had no idea how to find someone to ask. I’m greek orthodox and our churches are different, as are our wedding ceremonies. Not that I’d know how to decorate for a greek wedding either…

Anyway, I thought I’d make a few things for the wedding to use at the church or the reception… Whichever worked. In the end, thanks to the endless amount of free time I have, I only managed to do two things – a heart wreath which I think I can place at the head table at the reception. Or on the cake table. Or on the door…

I used willow twigs, wire and jute string to make the heart, then reinforced it with raffia bows. I added flower decorations, a bought (and Zefi-fied) wicker heart, a jute tassel I made with a small clockface and rusty key and some pearls. I really want to add a tag which has their names and wedding dates on it but I dont have any tags! If I can get one this morning in town I’ll add that to the wreath.

The other thing I made was a small sign I had planned to put at the door to the church, as a kind of welcome to people as they walked in.

I made this out of an old sign which I’d sanded back to resurface. I used an image of hand made paper with flower petals in it and created the sign in InDesign.

I then glued it to the timber using spray adhesive (I get too many bubbles with PVA glue) and then covered it all in some satin varnish for protection.

I added a rusty wire heart which I fixed to the sign using one of my pre-rusted eye hooks. Unfortunately there’s nowhere to hang the sign at the door so I’m going to have to compromise. I’m taking in a small plate stand to put it on at a table near the door.

Another thing crossed off the list.

Gotta run. I have to get going this morning. Tons to do. Tell you later!

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day 19 – shabby bustier

Posted on October 19, 2012 by zefiart

It all started out as an innocent browse through a tip shop.

Then this thing kind of leapt out at me.

A wire bustier thing. Gorgeous. I think its made to hang earrings on… Whatever. It was pretty.

Even prettier when I finished with it!

Now its not just an earring holder. It’s a work of art all on its own. It could hold its own in Marie Antoinette’s boudoir.

Yep. Another thing ticked off the list. Way to go!

What I did today:
I bought a new ironing board cover. I bought a couple of new paintbrushes. I had coffee with friends. I pooperscooped. I weeded. I pulled out a plant I didn’t want and planted some sage in its place. I watered the potted plants. Next I’ll have a shower cause weeding makes me itchy all over, then I’m making bruschetta for dinner. Yum.

What I didn’t do:
Buy chicken for the dogs. Buy black paint. Pay bills.

Tomorrow is another day.

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day 18 – suncatchers

Posted on October 18, 2012 by zefiart

Last night I ended up doing a little more than I expected. I stayed up till way past my bedtime and made two suncatchers. With another two to finish tonight, I’ve made 4 for the lady who ordered them. I figure if I can finish 2-3 more before I see her, she’ll have more to choose from.

These two are made using Wayne’s wire creations. The one above is delicate and pretty, a flower with clear and pinkish crystals. It’d look great hanging in a window.

The one below is centered around a flattened antique spoon which Wayne has added wire embelishments to. This one is about 12in long all together.

The other ones I’m working on are recycled and re-purposed items. Stay tuned.

What I did today:

I finally cleaned up the mess on the guest bed. When I removed the linen closet from the living room I ended up with a huge amount of doonas, sheets and blankets that needed a new home. This is a small house with small rooms and a huge living room. I only have one wardrobe in the guest room and its really small… I’m cutting down on the amount of doonas I have and will get some vacuum bags for underbed storage for what I keep.

In short: one thing ticked off the list – clean up the guest room and sort the bedding.

Actually, that’s two ticks. Yippee!

I also brought the ironing board in from the shed (we don’t iron in this house – its against our religion). That’s one tick off the sub-list in my make cushions and curtains from old flour sacks project.

Of course, before I can do anything I need to buy a new cover for it. The one on it is pretty disgusting… Its not handled the shed very well and I think mice might have been using the top of it as a lover’s lookout…

Yeech.

So one thing crossed off the list, one more added to it.

What I didn’t do:

Go back to the tip shop to pick up a couple of things I saw yesterday which I’m thinking I might ~~need~~ want.

Then again… I’m rethinking it now. Maybe I don’t ~~want~~ need them after all.

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day 14 – a collection of scissors

Posted on October 14, 2012 by zefiart

Today I finally managed to do something creative.

I have actually been doing lots of creative things in bits and pieces, all the time… but I finally managed to do something and finish it all in one go. It feels good.

A long time ago I found these old wooden crate/trays in a tip shop. I grabbed them cause I knew I could use them. One day. Like everything else.

I had plans for them, but they just took up space, got moved from here to there and then to further over for quite a few months.

Over the last few months I’ve found, and collected, a couple of old shears (the ones on either side). When cleaning out some of Wayne’s old horse gear I found these very old, rusty scissors. Perfect.

I now knew exactly what to do with one of the crates.

I drilled holes in the sides, threaded wire through to hold the shears in place. I had to use wire through the back to tie the scissors in place.

I love it. I’m thinking I might use old tools in the other two and make a set to hang on a wall outside somewhere…

Things I did today:

I groomed a dog. I went to a garage sale and bought a ton of printing paper and two printers – one to replace Wayne’s busted one and one for a backup. And a matt cutter. And some almost antique thick cotton sheets. I bought fuel and I whippersnipped the entire yard.

An observation… no matter how much care you take to pooperscoop the yard before whippersnipping, there will always be some mines for you to find, which you will hit and scatter. At least the horse pooh is bigger and easier to spot. Though I think I now know what the inside of a horse tastes like. Yeech.

I’ve started a whole heap of projects. I started and finished one (above). I washed dishes.

Things I didn’t do:

I didn’t fold the washing. I didn’t cook dinner. We went out instead.

Not a bad day overall.

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office accomplished

Posted on September 30, 2012 by zefiart

I can’t wait to see Wayne’s face when he sees his new work space tomorrow!

So, you want the nitty gritty?

This morning when I woke up, I found I could barely walk. So sore! But I cowboy-ed up and got on with it.

After 2 cups of coffee and a breakfast of Weetbix (the breakfast of champions apparently) I was up to facing the mess I’d made in the living room.

First thing I did was mix up some more putty for the patched hole and apply it. Since its under the desk I’m not fussed about finishing it. That’ll be a job for when I paint the living room.

I had an unpainted corner to deal with.

I did what every DIY person would do… I looked around at what I had that I could use. The easiest thing I found was 3 metres of burlap.

Using upholstery tacks (leftover from my kitchen chair makeover), I tacked the burlap to the wall. I had to cut and overlap a bit to cover the entire area, but I think it looks ok.

I then had to put together my old office desk. Its one of those corner units, made up of two separate desks joined together by a triangular piece.

I found the triangle piece and the metal joining strips. Naturally I’d lost the screws to put it all together.

Of course I didn’t have any screws fat and short enough to do the job. I had to improvise.

I drilled new holes to fit the thinner screws I had on hand… then made little screw and nut kebabs to shorten the length of the screws so they wouldn’t come up out the top of the desk.

I never said I did things right. I just said I got things done.

After much wrestling with desk parts and crawling around on my knees, I got the desk together. And while I was down there I untangled all the cables and put Wayne’s computer, printer and speakers back together again.

At least I hope I did….

I got a whimsical wire frame Wayne made for me (as inspired by Pinterest) and put it on one wall. I put the floor lamp in the corner behind the desk, and a vase of flowers. Not sure how Wayne will like that!

I also brought in a couple of boxes I’ve been using in the shed for my tools. This gorgeously chippy box used to hold my framing equipment. It now holds Wayne’s notebooks and sketch pads.