DIY laced up hanging planters....

...With a Faux glaze

OK...so here's a little random DIY tutorial for you:

I've been dreaming up this project for a while now, as I wanted to add some funky hanging planters to this corner of my living room for ages...

And having been a very busy bunny this week with my VERY IMPORTANT PROJECT (that I will tell you all about next week...promise!) I needed a little creative fix and some time away from the computer. So I spent yesterday making these funky laced up conical hanging planters....complete with a faux ceramic glaze....

...and in today's post I will show you how:

You will need:

Paper template to ensure your plant pot will fit inside....I will show you how to make one in a minute...

Large block of Ovenbake Polymer clay (I like using this one)

Rolling pin

Baking paper

Kitchen foil

Straws

Sharp knife

Leather Cord (4 meters should be plenty)

For the Faux glaze (A bit further down the post) you will need:

Acrylic paint in the colors of your choice

Paint brushes

Water

Water based polyurethane varnish (Like this one)

HOE TO MAKE THE TEMPLATE:

Get an A3 sheet of paper and wrap int around the plastic plant container into a cone shape, as shown above.

Secure with tape.

Use some scissors to cut the paper cone just flush with the top of the plant container.

Take the container out and fold where the paper laps over. Use this fold as a guide and cut along to make the template.

MAKING THE POLYMER CLAY CONE PLANTER:

Knead a big block of polymer clay until soft and pliable.

On a sheet of baking paper roll out the clay until approximately 4-5 ml thick and large enough to fit the template onto.

Place your paper template on top of the rolled out clay and cut around using a sharp knife.

Using the straws, make holes all along the edges (Equal amounts of holes, equally spaced out)

and make 3, evenly spaced out, holes along the curved top of the clay shape...

Cut the baking paper ca 2cm all around the clay shape.

MAKE A SUPPORTING INSERT OUT OF FOIL:

Use some kitchen foil to make a conical shaped insert to fit inside the clay and support it when baking in the oven. 

TIP: Fold over several layers of the fold to make it thick enough to retain it's shape under the weight of the clay.

Place this on a oven tray covered in baking paper.

Gently lift the clay shape onto the foil cone, using the baking paper it is placed on...

Fold the clay around the foil cone, until the two sides almost meet, as shown below:

 Secure the shape of the clay cone by gently pressing some sausage-shaped clay leftovers along the gap. This will help the clay retain it's shape whilst cooking in the oven. We will remove these as soon as the clay is cooked.

Cook on the bottom shelf of the oven according to the instructions on your polymer clay. As a rule 5ml thick clay should be cooked for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees c.

When cooked, remove the little clay sausages, and leave to cool.

(It may help the clay to retain its shape if you wrap some more foil tightly around the cone shape whilst it's cooling)

THE FAUX GLAZE:

Use some acrylic paints (I like these) in the colors of your choice.

Water them down a little for a more even application.

I stuck to one color for the base, a pale grey,  then used black to create the splatters...

I applied the paint from the (pointed) top of the clay come, stopping approximately 1/3 from the base...I wasn't too precious about it, and let the paint drip towards the table....and I think this makes for a nice faux ceramic glaze effect...

When the base color was dry (apply more coats if you want a more opaque finish, but I think a slightly translucent effect looks nice), I mixed some black paint with a few drops of water, and , using a stiff paint brush (a toothbrush would work well here) I flicked on little spatters of the black paint all over the cone:

This adds a nice faux ceramic glaze effect, I think.

When these spatters had dried, I Simply brushed on a thin, even  coat of the glossy polyurethane varnish, giving the conical clay planter a nice sheen all over...

LACE IT UP

There are loads of colors of leather cord to choose from, but I used a natural for this one....

Simply thread the leather cord though the holes and lace the clay cone up as you would a shoe....

And of course add three equal lengths in the holes along the top of the cone for hanging your cone shaped planter up from.... Secure with a simple knot.

Here's some useful info on how to securely hang a hook from a ceiling, so that you can hang these up...

Then simply place your plant into your new, funky, conical, faux glazed, laced up hanging planter...

Of course, as these planters are not water tight, they would be most suitable for plants that need hardly any watering, like succulents etc...

And if you do want to give your plants a watering, just remove them from the planter first, and wrap the plastic plant container in a plastic bag before replacing ...

Here's a close up of the other one I made....This time in a mustard-y yellow with black leather cord...

I love the way they look together, and create a bit of interest in the corner of my living room...

They may not have been a 5 minute make, but they are not difficult and, assuming you've already got some paint, the materials needed to make two will cost you less than £20...

....and in return you'll have something unique to put your plants in...

What do you think??

And as it is the last day of voting today...Pretty please spare a moment and give me your vote for best DIY blog in the Amara Interior Blog Awards:

Easy DIY shelf...

Hi!

OK...so this week is very hectic around here, but I thought I'd share this Super easy DIY shelf I very quickly whipped up yesterday when I was styling some artwork for a project very dear to my heart, that I'm hoping I'll be able to tell you more about later this week.

It is literally just a plank of plywood...

With holes drilled though on the edges....

I just pulled some string through the holes, added some wooden beads for a bit of decoration, and hung the shelves up from screw-hooks/eyelets on the wall...

Sometimes I think some of my little DIY's like this one, is almost too easy to blog about...But it is all about finding creative ideas and solutions for your home decor and interiors....and sometimes the easiest makes are the best, as they take hardly any time to do...

So if you're in need of a quick little shelf, this would be perfect!


By the way...The artwork on my DIY shelf is by Philippe Debongnie, a Belgian illustrator...

I you like this little DIY, ot any of my other DIY projects, please spare a minute and give me your vote for best DIY blog in the Amara Interior blog awards, by clicking on the link below:

Please vote for me for best DIY blog

Thanks!

DIY wire laundry baskets

I am so happy!

I've taken my own advice from my last post, and prettified some of my laundry essentials: I've de-cantered my laundry detergent, fabric conditioner and stain remover into some pretty bottles and jars, and even treated myself to some new wooden pegs that I'm keeping handy in  a nice storage basket...It is a good start...and doesn't it look good?

But the stars of my new look laundry station are these DIY wire laundry baskets.

Not only do they look good, but they are also super functional, as they are on castor wheels, making them easy to move around.

And of course, being a DIY, they are custom made to fit that little space under the shelves in my mini-hallway just outside the bathroom!

In today's post I will show you how I made them.

Of course you should make them to fit your own space, and maybe you can think of another use for the, other than laundry...They would also make great craft or toy storage, I think!

Super useful!

It took me 1 day to make two of these laundry baskets, but as I have done all the hard work of figuring out how to for you, it shouldn't take YOU that long, making this an ideal weekend project!

Here's the step by step:

YOU WILL NEED:

Piece of wood, cut to size (I used Plywood)

2 X Galvanised mesh panels (or you could use chicken wire)

4 X Swivel castor wheels

Galvanised florist wire 

Screws

Canvas (I used some that I had left over, but something like this would also look nice)

polymer clay (you'll need 2 packets)

Twine

TOOLS:

Jigsaw/wood saw

Sandpaper

Drill and drill bits

Wire cutters

pliers

Staple gun and staples

hammer

Pencil

Sewing machine and thread

Scissors

Letter stamp kit

BEFORE YOU START....

When deciding what size to make your laundry basket, obviously keep in mind the space it is going to be in, but also , to make life easier for yourself, consider your materials...

For instance, the size of the mesh panels I bought for this project made me change my original measurement when I cut the wood for the base, so that I knew that two of these panels would be sufficient to fit around the wood, and with a little (Ca 1cm) to spare...

This will make more sense to you further down this tutorial.

Now lets get started:

So baring in mind what I mentioned above, cut your wood to size, then use some sandpaper to remove any splinters or rough edges.

Attach the castor wheels to the corners of the wooden base. Make sure you drill pilot holes into the wood before screwing the castor wheels in place.

The reason I attached the castor wheels on to the wood before I got started with the with the wire mesh, is because the height of the wood with the wheels attached would help me decide how tall I wanted the wire basket to be....

And considering the space I wanted my laundry baskets to fit in to , this helped me determine the measurement to which I cut my mesh.

Using wire cutters, I snipped the mesh as close to the previous square in the mesh as possible, this way avoiding any sharp sticky-outy bits!

I then used my pliers to bend over (by ca 1cm/1 square) and flatten the top of the entire length of each cut-to-size mesh panel. I did this for two reasons: To minimize any sharp bits of mesh along the top of the basket, but also to add a bit of strength to the structure...

I Then folded each of the panels, by pressing along a square edge, to fit around the wooden base.

This is where my earlier advise will come in handy:  If you considered the length of the mesh panels when you cut the wooden base to size, two of these panels should fit perfectly around the base, with a 1 cm/1 mesh square extra lip at the corners where the two panels meet, for attaching them together.(More on this a little further down...)

Starting at the corners, where the mesh panels are bent, use your staple gun to fix the mesh to the base. Try to get the staples to form a nice, neat pattern, if you can....it'll look nicer!

Use a hammer to gently tap any protruding staples flat to the wood..

NOTE: Make sure the two mesh panels are level with each other at the top of the basket before stapling in place!

At the corners, where the two mesh panels meet, use your pliers to bend the little overlap into place all the way up to the top of the basket. Then attach some florist wire near the base of the basket, by twisting using the pliers, as shown above. Use the wire to "sew" the two mesh panels together where they meet. Use your pliers to tighten  the wire throughout for a neater look...

That's it: 

You're Laundry basket is almost done:

Now, all you'll need to do is make a canvas lining, so that your laundry doesn't get snagged on any protruding mesh or wire we may have missed:

SEWING THE CANVAS INSET:

I am, as often stated here on Nostalgiecat, NOT a sewing expert, but the canvas lining for these baskets are really easy to make, and require hardly any skills with a sewing machine.

The trick is to make the pattern do most of the work for you, so that all you'll need to do is stitch it together in 4 places.

I simply laid my canvas out flat on the ground, then drew up the pattern, below, on to it and cut out...

Insert your own measurements , taken from the inside of your basket, to this pattern, and you can whip this basket lining up in no time...

The extra 15 cm to the height of the canvas lining compared to the height of the basket, will form a nice fold to the top edge of the basket...

No need to hem up the top edges of your lining , as you can simply fold it under when placed in the basket.

ADDING THE FINISHING TOUCH...

If you like the look of my little basket labels, these are also really quick and easy to make:

In a similar fashion to what I did HERE, I simply rolled out a ball of white polymer clay, and stamped the words into it...I used a butter tub as a template for the shape, then cut out....and I used a straw to make the holes in the clay....

Ovenbake according to the instructions on your polymer clay and leave to cool...

 I then just neatened up the edges with a bit of sandpaper, and used a pencil to color in the wording..

Then I attached the clay labels to my laundry baskets by tying on with a bit of twine...

Simple and stylish...

The perfect solution if you have an awkward space, like me, that you are struggling to find a use for...now you can squeeze a little handy storage in!

I love how they've neatened up this space in a useful way...Goodbye junk-space, Hello beautiful linen baskets!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. But if you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you asap. And if you like this or any of my other DIY tutorials, please spare a minute to give me your vote for best DIY and craft blog in the Amara interior blog awards, by clicking on the link below:

Please vote for me for best DIY blog

Oh, and if you like the look of my DIY laundry labels on the pretty bottles and jars, sign up for my weekly newsletter, by entering your e-mail address in the minty-blue bar at the bottom of the page, as I will treat all my subscribers to a free download of my design + instructions on how to apply them to plain glass jars in next weeks newsletter!

Next week I am hoping to announce a very important project I am involved with...

...stay tuned , you don't want to miss it!!