Category Archives: DIY

this year’s christmas tree

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Its not exactly what I’d planned, but I love it.

I had planned a 3D tree, made using old timber on a central rod. Then I found the old crib sides I used to use as dog barriers when I lived in Fentonbury and thought “hey, I’ll use the slats!”…

So I cut them up for branches. I drilled holes in the middle. I cut blocks to go between the branches. I drilled holes in those. I created a base for the rod. I put it all together and went “yeech”.

Then I found myself with all these cut up slats – luckily not all had holes in them – so I went for plan B.

And this is what I ended up with:

Pretty huh?

Yes, I know its a bit wonky… but you know me. Nothing is ever quite perfect. I’m of the ‘close enough is good enough’ school of DIY.

I used the base I cut the slats off as the bottom, I like the way it grounds it. I had to stick the trunk slat back onto the base so I used an old hinge.

I then decorated it with the timber stars I bought a few years ago and some brown, natural looking, florist wire I’d had for years (I knew I’d find the right project for it one day!)

Its hanging in the middle of the living room, right over the air conditioner. Basically, its on the only bare wall I have. I’d been wondering what I’d put there, well, problem solved for the next few weeks. Gives me time to think about future displays.

Did you notice I put the presents under the tree (on top of the air conditioner?) They won’t stay there. When I clean the old grate we use to hold firewood for the wood heater I’ll put the presents in that.
Don’t know about you, but I love wrapping presents. I’ve had a thing for plain brown paper for years now, adding different embellishments each year to pretty them up. This year I made large bows from burlap ribbon and a brown linen type ribbon.
The spotted paper was something I saw at a shop while browsing… I thought “I’m not paying that for wrapping paper!” so I made my own. I love the way it looks having plain and spotted paper wrapped gifts together.
I’m all excited now. I can’t wait to get stuck into getting the house ready for Christmas and mom’s visit.
I’ve already started in the garden. There’s been weeding and some new planting (to fill in gaps) and heaps of general cleaning in the yard. Still much to do on that front!
I’ve also started building my tv unit/room divider. 
Its a big job and I can’t believe I’m doing it, but after months, years even, of thinking about it and hesitating and doubting myself, I suddenly got hit with inspiration. Before I had time to rethink it I’d measured up and gone out and bought plywood.
Its half done now. I’m thinking it’ll be a work in progress. The base part is done except for putting the legs on. Then I can move it into the house. It’ll need polyurethane to protect it and I’ll need to do the back, but it can be used and I can rearrange the living room the way I’ve been planning to for ages!
Later I can build the rest of it. The idea is to make it so it can be pulled apart in case I want to move it one day, thus making it in 2 stages works for me.
But more on that later. When I have decent photos to share.
Other than that I’m doing great. Well, other than the wisdom tooth I had pulled out last Friday cause it was loose (and turns out it had an abscess). And the fact that its now more sore than it was on Saturday. Thank goodness for strong pain killers! 
I’m falling apart.
z

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3 ways to make a display mannequin

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Maybe I should really call this “three variations on making a bust”… 
Either way, we started with a plastic bust and then duplicated it using a variation of plaster mixes to see which would work best. I say “we” cause I worked on this project with a friend at work in order to find the best way to make busts for displaying jewelry.
First up, we used a bust which had been made with papier mache over a plastic one (then cut into pieces, which I had to put back together again like a jigsaw puzzle, missing a piece or two, hence the odd distortions… its a long story…). 
Whatever.
After piecing it back together with masking tape we mixed up a batch of plaster of paris with some PVA glue mixed in to combat brittleness.
I applied the plaster with my fingers, using swirling patterns and leaving small furrows and peaks. Kinda like frosting.
The result is a textured bust which, while retaining that plaster look, has none of the brittleness of plain plaster.
Next, we used a half bust which we used paper mache pulp in first. The pulp we used had too much water in it so it took forever to dry but was nice and strong once it did. Since we didnt want the rough look of the paper pulp showing, we used some plaster bandage over it to even out the texture. We then mixed up a plaster paste using both PVA and a bit of gap filler.
This time I applied the top coat smoothly, using damp fingers. I don’t have photos of the back, but in order to make it strong enough to hang on the wall I filled the shoulders with a plaster mix and embedded wire into it.
Lastly, we decided to see what happened if we used paper pulp and mixed it with PVA glue and silicone… Other than the smell (gack) it worked really well. The bust is light but strong, even a bit bendy.
This bust was painted black by someone while I was off work and wasn’t smoothed over, but its still an interesting piece and a great way to display light coloured jewelry.
All in all this is my advice:
If you want to make your own bust with plaster, add glue to give it strength or use plaster bandage. Another way would be traditional papier mache.
Whatever you choose, have fun with it. What’s the worse that can happen?
I don’t know if any of these would survive being dropped but my bet is on the black one.
z
PS. In editing mode this post is left justified. In preview its centered… and I hate centred posts. So please forgive me for whatever bug got into blogger today.

propeller (fan) light fitting

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Time just flies, doesn’t it?

Every day I think about posting on here but something comes up. I think “I’ll do it later, tonight”. Then tonight comes and I’m wiped out and it takes all my energy to change TV channels.

So, given its been two weeks or so since I last posted, I thought I’d better share this project. I finished this weeks ago and just never got around to posting about it.

Not only has it taken me a long time to share this project, its also been a few years in the making. I bought this propeller for Wayne for Christmas ages ago, with the aim of making it into a light. Its been gathering dust in the casita up until a couple of months ago.

I’ve put it in the enclosed part of the porch where I used to have the fry basket light fitting before. I like this one better and it was time for a change anyway.

Please ignore all the electrical cords. We don’t have enough power points and I’ve got extension cords everywhere for the time being.
I’d originally thought I’d put this light over Wayne’s desk, making his office area more industrial… but the living room ceiling isn’t high enough for a large pendant light. I could just see him knocking himself senseless every time he stood up at his desk.
Not to mention this is one heavy sucker. I doubt I could find a beam in the right spot to hang it from in the living room. On the porch I can see the beams! 

When I first got the propeller I had a friend weld a chain to it for hanging. I already had the bits to make the light part so it was just a matter of joining things together and adding a globe. I chose an LED edison bulb for bigger shine. There’s already a light fixture nearby so I put a bayonet end on the cord to plug into the socket.

Funny how the house looks yellow in the photo… I hate pale yellow houses and picked this grey/brown tone to change the look of the house.

I’m loving the new light. It makes me smile every time I walk through the door.

z

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birdwire light fitting

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I went through a phase a couple of weeks ago where I was updating, making, changing light fittings. If you know me, you know I’ll do nothing for ages cause I’m worn out, then do all kinds of things which aren’t on my to-do list, then begin working on things which are on my list, then get side tracked with spur of the moment things.
The light fittings were like that. I began by doing the office/guest room swap and thought it’d be a good idea to change light fittings in those rooms while the furniture was out of the way.
Somehow I managed to stuff up the light connection (no idea what its called, but its the bit that’s in the ceiling and holds the globe) so the guest room has no light currently.
The office has a light (a working one I might add) but it hasn’t got a light fitting. I want a pendant in here as the ceiling is high enough.
So, having given up on the guest room light and having put off the office light, I went ahead and changed the light fitting in the wardrobe room. For those that don’t know, that’s a tiny room in our house which I converted into a wardrobe for Wayne.
Yes. You heard me right. In our house the man has the walk in wardrobe cause he has more clothes.
Anyway, back to what I was saying… The original light fitting in there was a real quickie I whipped up using wire and an old lamp shade. 
I never liked it much.

The new light fitting is made from some leftover bird wire I found in the shed. It was a bit crushed but that made it perfect. Imperfection is what I’m all about. Sometimes its even on purpose!

I had this shallow shade frame so all I did was attach the bird wire cylinder to it. Originally I had a long Edison bulb in it but they really don’t give off much light. Now it has a big white ball glove in it.

I think Wayne’s happy with it. Its a light. It comes on when he hits the switch. He’s happy.

z

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a pink step-ladder bedside table

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Before I show you this project I’d like to apologise for the fact that I can’t find my ‘before’ photos. I know I posted about this step ladder when I got it, but when you give your posts wierd non-topical names, its impossible to find specific posts!

When I got it the middle step was broken off and it was natural timber but badly stained on 2 of the steps. And the top step was warped. Still is, in fact. I think the poor thing had been exposed to the elements and mistreated.

First order of business was to re-attach the middle step. I tried glue and clamps. Nope. It broke off when I thought it was all dry.

So I nailed the sucker down.

I have a hammer and I ain’t afraid to use it!

I tried sanding off the stains with the intention of varnishing it, but that was too much hard work and didn’t look like it was working. Paint was the answer. Paint is the answer to everything.

Even two coats of Zinsser Stain Blocker didn’t cover those stains! So, I did two coats of that, then two coats of DIY chalk paint in grey.

While I was at it, I made a shelf for the bottom step, making it more useful as a bedside table. I cut and edged a piece of MDF, used a strip of timber to hold it in place, and viola. Easy (removable) shelf.

Then I painted it light pink. I still had some DIY pink chalk paint from a previous project.

Lastly I wet sanded it and rubbed it down in places to expose the grey, the white undercoat and even the timber in places. I’d never tried wet sanding before and I think I like it.

Here it is in the guest room.

I haven’t yet styled the shelves or made the bed properly (no rush till I have visitors, then I’ll run around like a headless chook trying to do it all in an hour), but I’m liking the new bedside stepladder!

The photos aren’t the best. I’m having some trouble with my camera. I was playing with the settings one day and now I can’t seem to get good photos…

I’ll figure it out eventually. Hopefully before I’m too old to care.

z

my new office, or while the cat’s away, the mice will play

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Welcome to my new office.
Thing is, I had a nice office before. Let me remind you what it used to look like…

The office used to be the room beyond the bathroom, the room furthest from the living room. When making it over I ripped out the carpet and finished the floorboards, painted the peach blind, painted the walls, put up shelving… I did a lot of work making it a gorgeous room.
Then I never used it.
It was cold in winter. I used it as a store room. I’d open the door, toss something in, then close it again.
Meanwhile, the guest room was depressing. I painted it taupe when we moved in and its a dark room, with a small window. It was gloomy. On the down side the room was unwelcoming. On the up side, none of our visitors stayed long. 🙂
Anyway, I got the idea to swap the rooms. Make the guest room the prettier room, with the big window, lots of light and fresh air. Bring the office closer to the heater, with the carpet to keep it warmer, and make it more usable.
I began operation Room Swap on Friday, once Wayne had gone off to spend a weekend with friends watching the Grand Final and male bonding.
Here is what the guest room looked like once I removed almost everything and before I began painting.
I started painting before I got the bed out cause I needed help to do that. The colour I chose was Dulux Mountain Snow half strength. Its a much cooler white than the one I chose for the kitchen. It might be a bit stark with its undertones of grey, but I really wanted to crisp up the room. The taupe was really getting me down. Here it is after one coat on the bottom part.
After 2 coats.
And here it is finished. Its very white and bright, especially since I haven’t got any window coverings.
Here is the same corner once the room was finished. Notice my new wardrobe? I’ve put shelves in it and am using it to store craft stuff. I’ve never distressed anything this much before and I’m not sure I got the balance quite right.
The desk I was using in the old office wouldn’t go through the door to the new office, so I had to make do using the filing cabinets and an old shed door.
All I did was sand the door, it hasn’t been finished in any way. I used an old crate to hold the dvd player and the TV I use as a large monitor. I no longer have a desktop and just connect the laptop to the TV when I need a bigger monitor.
Its a work in progress. I’m not showing you the other side as its still a bit of a mess, with things which need proper homes.

I love how the light comes in through that window and how bright the room looks in all white. Though it is hard to photograph it.

My favourite part of the room is the wardrobe and armchair. And the old wash board with photos of my mom. Even the old icon my aunt gave me when I was in Greece last time.

It took me all weekend. I just finished this afternoon, finally got (almost) everything out of the living room and cleaned the rest of the house. I have not finished the guest room… yet.
Here’s a preview of the new guest room…

I told you I’ve been busy.
z

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a cute paper towel roll holder

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Do you ever get sick of all the things that seem to gather and multiply on your kitchen bench? I do.

And one of those things is the $2 wire paper towel roll holder I’ve had for years. It gets shuffled over this way and that but its always there, another bit of clutter.

So while I’ve been running around moving furniture and painting rooms (more on that later) I got sidetracked and made a new roll holder.

I’m like a magpie with ADD when I’m busy, but I got inspired when I was looking for something in my workshop and knocked down a pile of wooden junk useful items I’ve collected. Among them were these spindles which I looked at and thought, “hm… that’d make a great paper towel roll holder…”

I had the perfect cast iron bracket (only one) so I cut a bit of timber for the top. Naturally I painted it the minty green I’ve used in my kitchen as a highlight colour.

It was all going great till I realised I’d cut the spindle too short.

I do this all the time! Nothing I make is ever quite perfect. Its always a bit off or a bit too long or a bit crooked… I did measure. I just cut off the wrong end of the spindle to the right height…,

In full solution mode, I looked around for something to add length. I have a broken shovel handle which was perfect. I cut a slice off that and joined it all together.

… I won’t bore you with details, lets just say it wasn’t pretty. The result is this odd looking chunk of wood at the bottom but guess what? It works! The thicker bottom bit holds the roll in place so it doesn’t rattle around too much.

I capped it off with one of the knobs from my kitchen cupboards (again, a little crooked cause I can’t drill a straight hole…)

My methods aren’t exactly professional, but in the end it worked out great.

When I asked Wayne if he liked it, he said “Its cute.”

I’m pleased with how it turned out. Now I just have to put in the shelves above the coffee tray and the kitchen will be finished.

After 2 years.

Meanwhile, I know I’ve been really silent on the blog. I’ve got great excuses. Firstly I was sick with a bad flu for about 2 weeks. I felt lousy and really didn’t feel like doing anything at all, must less finding interesting things to post about.

Then I went to Victoria for a week, where I stayed with a friend and groomed her toy poodles for 3 big shows. The shows went great, I got a good fix of toy poodle love and then I got back to work just in time for a week off!

Way to plan! 🙂

My week off has been flat out. Grooming dogs I had to put off while I was away or sick. Swapping out the office and guest room. Painting walls. Moving furniture. Mowing grass that seems to grow a foot overnight. Replacing plants which didn’t make it through winter.

I’ll leave you with some photos of the poodles I groomed – I love the smell of hair spray on poodles!

Armani
Kismet
Zena

I miss having a toy poodle… I almost stole a baby puppy Iris had at home. Maybe one day again…

z

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subway sign for a baby’s room

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I’ve always loved subway sign art in general, and having one with baby’s details on it would be the perfect gift.

When my brother’s partner had a baby earlier this year I had the perfect excuse for creating my own subway art for his bedroom.

I found on an online store which does canvas prints and got measurements for one of their canvases. I used Adobe Illustrator to design the sign to the right size. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, fitting the words in together.

I love doing stuff like that.

Once I had the artwork finished I saved the file as a jpg and uploaded it to the site, selected the canvas size I wanted, made sure it looked how I wanted and ordered it.

Its a decent size at 16 x 20 inches.

It arrived last week and I’ve got it all packed up to go.

How cool is this going to look in baby Angelo’s room?

z

simple jug suncatchers

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There is nothing new to share, but since I have a bit of time (nothing but time) I figured it was time to catch up on some projects I’ve had to share for ages.

Below are a couple of simple stainless steel jug suncatchers. I made these as part of a commission for a birthday gift. Basically I had an order for one so I figured I may as well make two while I was at it.

They’re really, really simple.

1. Find stainless steel coffee pots, milk or water jugs at an op shop.

2. Bend wire into spout.

3. Attach chandelier crystals (or beads, or whatever you want) to the wire.

4. Admire.

The second one had a broken knob on top so I glued on a broken earring for added bling.

Easy and pretty. Normally I’d use old teapots but my collection was low on those so I used what I had.

Another variation, for when you have a jug without a lid, would be to put a succulent in the pot – suncatcher with plant! What more could a girl want?

z

not quite what i envisioned

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The title was meant to refer to the project below, but its now also referring to my weekend… my week…

Its definitely not what I envisioned. I had plans to groom and work in the casita, tidy the house (which needs it, believe me) and generally be active. Instead, I’ve been in and out of bed since Thursday.

Seems I have one of those illusive flu bugs going around. It started with a kind of premonition type pain in my head and throat on Monday night. Tuesday I had headaches and a dry cough. Wednesday I was getting chills, coughing and sneezing and feeling irritable.

Then Thursday I woke up with a chesty cough and feeling like I’d been hit by a bus. I stayed at home most of the day but had to go to the chemist in town.

I thought that taking a day off would nip it in the bud and I’d be back at work on Friday…. Uhuh. I woke up worse on Friday. So I went to the doctor. She gave me some antibiotics just in case there’s a bacterial component, said drink lots of fluids, don’t skip eating and rest, rest, rest.

I’ve had to cancel all the grooming appointments I had this weekend and the worst of it is I don’t even have the energy to work on my own craft projects in the comfort of my armchair!

What makes it worse is that I’m having elective surgery on Tuesday so I need to be well by then… and then I’ll be recovering from that!

Talk about it all hitting at once.

But enough of my woes. Thought I’d share something with you that didn’t turn out as planned and, though its not a total failure, it sure ain’t what I envisioned.

I had this little tray. I wanted to make it into a key rack. So far so good, right? Easy.

It was painted in a cream oil paint with some acrylic over it, not very good, so I sanded it, cut out a key shape in contact paper, then sprayed it using a black and then ivory. I sprayed the hooks ivory as well.

I then sanded it back to distress it.

I hated it. It was bland.

So I decided to use oil based blackboard paint to liven it up.

This is what happened:

The paint just chipped off!

Ok. I love chippy paint, but I didn’t want to lose it all!

So I rubbed off the loosest paint, then sprayed it all with clear varnish.

The chips are now stable. And the whole thing is gloss.
Oh well, can’t have everything!
I put the hooks in (drilling into the side like that was a challenge and the hooks are all crooked as you can see…) and put a wire hanger behind it.
It is what it is.
Someone might love it.
I hope!
z