Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Franken-chair number 2: Part 2
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Franken chair #1 is (almost) sanded
Sigh!
So instead, I borrowed an electric sander from a friend and have generally finished the first chair - it probably took 2 hours total. I went through a lot more paper than I expected and even the electric sander took some patience. I've now decided that the arms will be painted black so, although I will sand into the tight corners by hand, I've just been aiming to get the varnish off and have stopped worrying about getting all of the colored stain underneath off. That is the upside of painted arms!
For lovers of these types of chairs, before you shoot me, the wood is just old pine...I'm not defacing a collectors item with black paint, I promise!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thea and Sami cushion
Tv chairs... What is the big deal?
As the hugely talented girls from flourish and bloom explain in this post:http://flourishandblume.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/diy-your-mouldy-old-chairs.html, retro TV chairs provide a satisfying DIY project with just some basic sewing skills and some patience with the sanding back of the frame. Typically, these chairs are super comfortable and don't take up as much space as a traditional armchair- handy for any townhouse or apartment dwellers.
I tried (and lost) a few bidding wars on eBay. Geez, you can tell that something is suddenly trendy when moldy old chairs are jumping rapidly in cost during the last few minutes of an auction! After getting over my frustration- and noticing that the professionally refurbished chairs were going for around $500 on eBay- I found my own special pair of chairs at my local lifeline. $45 for the pair was the perfect price for me.
I'm hoping the refurbishing is an enjoyable project. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
As always, any advice would be much appreciated.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Make a Patchwork ball for the baby in your life!
Anna Maria has done a great job with this book: it is full of easy to complete projects that I hadn't seen in other books and many of them immediately jumped out as perfect gifts for different friends and family. Best of all, this took a short afternoon to complete. Did I mention it was my first burl at patchwork?
More projects can be found in AnnaMaria's blog: http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/
Thursday, January 19, 2012
What's on your walls?
To spruce up the space, at least just for a while, I have grabbed some of our old racing bibs, old sports photos and some tickets to sports events that we went to while living in the US.
I like it because it is one space that reflects both of us (not just my tastes - whoops!). Also, it is made of tangible items that mean something to both of us: our tickets that we held when we went to our first NBA game (on Christmas day: our first Xmas without our families around), the passes to the local baseball match just before we moved home (and the all you can drink tickets that went with them!), and the race bibs I wore in my first road race and first half marathon. Best of all, I already had the stuff lying round in boxes, so it was free!
There are heaps of ways to personalize a little corner of your home. I really like this idea to reclaim some crappy art and make it your own: http://simplemom.net/what-to-do-with-bad-paintings/?doing_wp_cron=1327006086
Also, printed canvases with your own photos are all the rage now but can be a bit pricey. Instead try this idea: http://www.curbly.com/m/13293-diy-biggie-size-photos-for-under-20
Monday, January 16, 2012
I made a glass necklace charm- Sweden!
I got this kit from KristenKrafts on Etsy.com and used a bit of an old map. This one was a present for my brothers girlfriend. Yes, she's Swedish! My lucky brother :)
What do you think? Have you tried one?
Would also love to learn how to make the full resin ones. Any tips?