nostalgiecat

Friday, 21 February 2014

The "halfway there" hallway: Reveal

...reveal!

Hi!

So, the big home makeover plan that I announced back in January has now started in full...

After successfully turning little miss Moo's bedroom in to a big girls room a few weeks ago, I was itching to get on with the rest of the house...

Its funny how your dreams and ideas can lay dormant for so long, and then when you finally pull your finger out and get started, it can't happen soon enough!!

I was actually meant to do our bedroom first, but another twist of faith would have it that I felt inspired to the hallway next...

Whilst out and about snooping in antique and bric-a-brac shops with a friend a few weeks ago, I came across a beautiful little bargain: a white Le Klint style lampshade for a fiver - perfect for the hallway!!...However, as I was trying to be careful with my money, I didn't pick it up (doh!!)...Something I regretted as soon as I got home! I went back to the shop the following week...but it was gone! I could've cried!! Then I figured: Why don't I try to DIY something similar??

So I did! (See my DIY paper origami lampshade tutorial)

But then I realised that with my shiny new Origami lampshade, the hallway seemed very scruffy...

Of course I already knew this...it had not been touched since we moved in over 2 years ago...and even then it was not to our taste with its beige walls and pine bannisters on the stairs...even the light fitting was something that we just made do with as the previous owners left it behind! And Little Miss Moo had been adding her artwork on the walls in the form of crayon scribbles and mucky handprints...

As it was already on my list of things to do this year, I thought why not, and jumped to it: I already had a plan: Crisp and white with a birch forest stencil in shimmery silver along the hallway wall....

So I ordered my stencil from cutting edge stencils and got cracking....

First I Spent a couple of days painting the stair bannisters white:

When painting anything wooden, like furniture, or in this case: the bannisters, the key to success is all in the preparation: Sand, prep and prime!!

Because there was a lot of detail in the wooden banisters (and I am impatient), I skipped the messy and long winded process of sanding, and used some liquid sandpaper instead...I simply painted the solution on and wiped off any excess. I then painted on a coat of wood primer before adding two coats (?)of brilliant white one coat satin wood paint!

I then got to work on the walls and ceiling...painting everything white...

First I did two coats(?) of brilliant white onecoat emulsion (It is never actually enough with just "one coat" is it....no matter what it says on the tin!!??), then I painted a coat of brilliant white soft sheen emulsion over.... to make the light bounce off the wall, and enhance the sense of space...

With everything now looking crisp and white - a definite improvement - the hallway decor now blended seamlessly into the already white painted living room.

I was now ready for the stencil, that had arrived just in time...

My friend Tamzin kindly came around to help me, as she wants to use the stencil in her home as well, and we are splitting the cost of the stencil (It ended up costing me £80,-, with £20,- postage from the US ...and UK customs charging me another £20,-...grrrr!)

It actually wasn't that difficult to do...and NOT really a two-man job! I took us under 3 hours to do the entire wall...with a few tea-breaks thrown in!!

The stencil was easy to line up, and using a rounded dense foam roller gave a lovely and even finish...the trick is to not overload the roller with paint!!

I knew I wanted a shimmery, barely there look to the stencil, and was hoping to get a pearlescent pale grey paint to do it with...however this proved to be unattainable here in the UK, so I ended up mixing some Crown "sophistication" silver metallic emulsion with some white to get a pale grey shimmery paint effect....

When mixing the paint up, it seemed to loose the silver in the pot, but it actually dried to a beautiful shimmery grey on the wall....these pictures doesn't really do the effect justice!!

Again this helps bounce the light around in the narrow hallway improving the sense of space!

I am so happy with how the stencil turned out...in fact, I spent a few days just staring at it!!

And I love how my old IKEA curtains' pattern works with my birch forest wall...

It all looks so shiny and new, it makes my heart skip a beat!!

And of course, my DIY origami lampshade now looks perfectly at home in my "new" hallway!

My decorating efforts so far has only taken me to the top of the stairs, and I am planning on finishing the rest of the hallway off next week...including creating a January cure style Landing strip.

We also still need to replace the dirty old carpet on the stairs..... and it really wont be completely finished before we have the new laminate flooring put down...

But for now I am happy that I have actually made a big start on our home improvement plans for 2014...and just coming down the stairs to our crisp and clean hallway in the morning is like fuel to my motivation to get all our decorating updates done this year...

What do you think of my new hallway?

Do you like the stencil?

All white...yay or nay

See the rest of the hallway transformation, including the stairs here

I'd love to hear what you think!

Please leave a comment below!

xxx

June

Monday, 17 February 2014

DIY Origami paper lampshade...

Paper Origami lampshades are very fashionable at the moment, but for what they are, they can cost a bomb!

Today I want to show you how YOU can create your very own paper origami lampshade for next to nothing.

Origami is one of those skills that looks more complicated than it really is....which is basically just folding paper. But you can create some stunning effects...and a paper lampshade looks smart and gives a warm glow...

The second most important thing to consider when making an origami lampshade is the paper you use:

You can use any colour paper that suits you, but it needs to be a certain thickness: Between 160-200gsm is ideal, as it will be thin enough to fold neatly, but thick enough to hold its shape.

I am using A3sheets of premium 180gsm artist paper.

The MOST important thing to consider when you make a lampshade out of paper, is safety!

So before I show you how to fold your very own origami lampshade, I am quickly going to show you a simple way to fire-resist your paper:

Boil up 4-6 cups of water in an old saucepan, and add 2,5 tablespoons of borax per cup of water.

Stir until the borax has completely dissolved to make a saturated solution.

Place your paper in the sink /a large bowl, poor over the solution, and leave to soak for 5-10 minutes:

Carefully lift the paper (it will be quite fragile when wet) out of the solution and blot off any excess liquid. Hang to dry. If your paper has curled up a bit in this process, simply iron flat.

NOTE: Paper can never be fully fire-proof, but this will make the paper fire-resistant (meaning it won't burn without contact with a flame or ignition source).

Now for the Paper folding!

You will need:

A3 paper

3 sheets of FIRE RESISTANT A3 paper (160-200gsm)

A ruler

A clean, flat work surface

String

A hole puncher

A pencil

Clear tape

The first thing to do, is to draw out THE GRID to guide us when folding the paper.

You can do this on "normal", non-fire resistant paper. as this will be a guide and practice piece only:

On an A3 piece of paper , use a ruler to draw up 9 vertical lines(red) 4 cm apart.

Then draw up the blue and green diagonal lines as in the picture above.

THE FOLDING

Step 1: Fold the vertical (red) lines all the same way...

Step 2: Turn the paper over, then fold the (green) diagonal lines...all the same way.

Step 3: Don't turn the paper over, and fold the (blue) diagonal lines.

Next up you have to manipulate the folds into shape....The paper should naturally want to do this! It is quite hard to explain, but please use the pictures below as a guide:

It is not difficult to do...You should end up with a folded flat shape like this.

Now that you've made up the grid-guide,and had your practise: unfold this piece of paper and lay it flat over one of your fire resistant papers...

...make some small marks with a pencil where the folds should go.

(As you don't want pencil lines on your paper lampshade)

Repeat the folding process described above, using these marks and the edges of the paper as a guide.

Try to be precise when folding and use your fingers to create sharp creases in the paper.

Repeat on all 3 sheets, then manipulate the folds into the shape.

Next: Use the hole-puncher to make holes in the top and bottom inner fold.(See pictures below).

Make sure the holes are in the same place and line up so that the lampshade will be beautifully symmetrical.

You are now ready to assemble your Origami lampshade:

Stick the 3 pieces of folded paper together with some clear tape on the inside,

then re-shape your paper shade:

Thread the string through the holes...

Pull the string tight and tie off the bottom of your paper shade on the inside.

Then thread the top of your shade...

...and pull it tight over your light fitting and tie it off.

All done!

NOTE! Use a low wattage light bulb to further minimize any risk of fire!

I hope this has inspired you to give origami a try...it really is a beautiful art form!

What do you think of my origami lampshade?

I will be back with a big reveal post on my hallway makeover at the weekend!

So please pop back then!

xxx

June

Friday, 14 February 2014

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

I wish you all LOVE!

Just a quickie post today to wish you all a Happy Valentines day!

This is the card I made for Mr ....in the same way as I made my Graphic gold-leaf art ..inspired by Oleander and Palm's geometric heart art.

I also stamped up my own design wrapping paper using the stamp we made for Little Miss Moo's DIY Valentines cards....in the same way I did my DIY print christmas gift wrapping

Little Miss Moo was so excited to give her friends at school her home made Valentines cards this morning...and Mr loved his Larger version she made him!

Short and sweet today...I have a big post coming up...still a work in progress...so stay tuned for that one!

Happy Valentines every one!

xxx

June

Saturday, 8 February 2014

Ombre Macrame wall hanging....

....with a copper pipe heart.

(my valentines project)

Being a nostalgic at heart, I love things that takes me back to my happy childhood in Norway.

And being a child of the 70's I remember very well my mums macramé plant hangers in the windows...Macramé was a craze of the 70's all over the world, and if you are still not sure what I'm talking about, it is the art of knotting.

For years this has been considered a passé art...left to the hippie generation of my parents, but in the last few years it has had a bit of a revival, with artists like Sally England and Pippa Taylor of Ouch Flower creating some beautiful and fresh looking

macramé wall hangings...They've modernised macramé by bringing in touches of neon and techniques like dip-dying into the art...

It looks complicated, but having been taught a number of boat-tying knots by my granddad as a child, I thought: Lets give it a go!

I found a really nice tutorial from May of Himo Art on A pair and Spare, that got me started...

....and once I got going, I found that it got easier and easier as I got used to the knots!

So don't be daunted...this is something YOU can make:

I am going to show you how I made mine, using just 4 different knots...

HERES WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Approx. 50 meters of cotton string/rope (I used 6ml curtain string for chunky-ness)

A dowel

Scissors

measuring tape

Dye+salt (if you want to dip-dye, like me)

masking tape

Paint

brush

....Some copper pipes.

I wanted to make this my valentines project, and originally I was looking for a macramé heart pattern to incorporate into my design, but couldn't actually find one (I did try making one up, but found it too complicated...this is my first go at macramé after all...) But when I saw this lovely macramé wall hanging, with copper pipes at A beautiful Mess, I knew I could make a copper heart shape in my wall hanging instead. Luckily my friends husband is a plumber, and he kindly donated me some copper pipe cut-offs. I simply sanded them down to bring out the coppery shine again!

Anyway....LETS GET KNOTTING!!

The first thing to do is to cut your cord...You'll want an even number of cords: I cut my 50 metres of cord into 18 pieces at just under 3 metres each...

Double them over, then tie to your doweling using

THE LARK HEAD KNOT:

...Pretty self explanatory...like the picture above!

When you have tied all your pieces of string to your dowel, hang it up on the wall at a comfortable working height....use some cheap adhesive towel hooks, if you don't want to drill a hole on your wall...

The next knot I will show you is the

HALF HITCH KNOT:

The half hitch knot is the most commonly used knot in macramé, and the foundation to most macramé designs...

You are basically knotting one strand around another, keeping the strand you are knotting around tight and working across your row of strings from the right to left...

When you have finished this row of half hitch knots, but you find that it looks a bit messy (like mine, above)....simply pull on the string you where knotting around, and tighten the knots....

...then manipulate your macramé and the knots back into shape...

We will be using this knot throughout this design...

The next knot I did, was a

SQUARE KNOT:

Doing The square knot you want to use 4 cords:

1. Bring the right cord over to the left of the two anchor(middle) cords, and place the left cord over the right cord.

2. Bring the left cord under the anchors and through the loop formed by the right cord.(Pull tight and you have now formed the first half of the square knot...but for the purposes of showing you, I have left the knot loose in the pictures above)

3. Bring the left cord over and to the right of the two anchor cords and place the right cord over it.

4. Bring the right cord under the anchors and through the loop formed by the left cord.

5. Pull the cords tight and you have finished the square knot.

Repeat this knot in a second row, like I did.

Then I added a row of half hitch knots (as before)

Next I did a diagonal row of half hitch knots.

When doing this, it helps to kneel down and pull the strings down as you work along...

Then I added another 2 rows of square knots.

At this stage, I decided to dip dye the ends of my cotton (very important) ropes..

I prepared my dye (according to the instructions on the packet) in a plastic bowl, dipped the ropes in, then lifted tem out again half-way, leaving the ends in...

...This way gravity will help you achieve that gradual ombre effect.

I left it for 2 hours, then pulled the rope-ends out of the dye, and left to dry.

In the mean time, I cut my copper piping (using a pie-cutter) to size and sanded them back.

With my copper pipe heart shape ready to go, and my dip dyed rope dried, I continued to knot....

I added another row of half hitch knots at the ends of my diagonal square knots..

Then straightened the pattern off with a straight row of half hitch knots.

ADDING THE COPPER PIPE HEART:

I found the middle two of the ropes, then thread the copper pipes on , like in the picture above.

Then added the copper pipes on either side until it formed a heart shape..

I secured them in place by tying a simple knot under each pipe, then manipulating the knots for the correct positioning.

Next I tightened off the strings by adding another row of half hitch knots straight across...

I then did another row of half hitch knots diagonally across my macramé wall hanging.

The next knot I did was a

SWITCH KNOT:

The switch knot is basically a looser version of the Square knot.

1. Start with 4 cords

2. Tie the first knot like you did with the square knot. Tighten.

3. THE SWITCH: Bring the two outer cords over the anchor cords (The 2 in the middle), so they rest between the two cords. They will now become the new anchors and the previous anchors will be the new set of working chords for the next knot..

4. Tie another square knot over the two new anchors. Tighten.

5. Switch the cords again: Bring the two working cords over and rest them between the anchor cords.

Tie the final square knot. Tighten.

These knots may seem complicated, but will become easier as you get to know them...

The switch knots are looser in appearance that the square knots.

I then finished off the switch knots with a diagonal row of half hitch knots, then added another straight row of these to finish off my macramé wall hanging...