Solo Craftiness: Lacquered coasters

On a Monday night not too long ago, my sister in law was staying and we were twiddling our thumbs after dinner. I mentioned the magic words "Mod Podge" and we were off, experimenting with some MDF coasters I had lying around.  I raided my card collection and cut this delicious painting of pomegranates by Brisbane artist Raquel Redmond to size.  After several layers of Mod Podge and then a final coat of acrylic sealer, the coasters were ready to support in style a tall cool drink, or piping hot winter warmer.
Amanda. 

Project 8: More dresses for gorgeous girls

The dresses Jess made for her girls a while ago were so lovely we decided it was time to revisit them. We whipped up a couple for some friends plus a few extra for our own girls. They are quick to sew - under an hour - really cute, and comfy to wear.

They have the sweetest little pockets using contrasting fabric.

 This red and white spotty one below is using a fine winter corduroy, and it has little gathered three-quarter sleeves.

Kate.

Project 7: Lacquered storage boxes

I found this box at Ikea ($39 - above) and thought it would be the perfect storage for the hair related paraphernalia that overwhelms your bathroom when you have two daughters - clips, hairbands, headbands, school hairbands, ribbons, combs, brushes, nitcombs.....you get the picture. And after our previous success using Mod Podge on the trays, I thought it would probably work on these boxes too. And it did. Really well.

We bought a few beautiful sheets of wrapping paper and also had lots of odd bits of paper already in our craft ammunition. We simply traced the shape of each drawer onto the paper and cut it out. A coat of Mod Podge first, then we stuck the paper on carefully and smoothed out the bumps, and gave another coat of Mod Podge on top. It dries really quickly and you can build up the strength of the surface by applying several coats. You can also add an acrylic waterproof sealer if you plan on storing the object in a damp bathroom or other water exposed area.

Amanda made a four and six drawer one for each of her kids to store their treasures, and they are just beautiful.

I am just rapt at how easy this was, how effective, and how beautiful the finished product is. I have mine in my bathroom next to my new curtains and they look gorgeous together.

And despite this being my genius plan to tame the hair related carnage at home, I keep finding my one year old standing on a stool and pulling out each drawer to systematically empty their contents over the floor. Bah!!!

Kate

Solo craftiness: pretty curtains

For four years I have been looking with hatred at the brown mouldy shutters that were already in our bathroom when we bought the house. They clattered every time a breeze blew and looked awful, but the bathroom was so daggy that I guess I just got used to them, and never quite knew what to replace them with.

Then recently we stayed at beautiful Basils Brush (basilsbrush.com.au), a house in the Byron Bay hinterland and I was completely inspired by the gorgeous retro furnishings done by the owner, Kitty. She had made some cute cottagey curtains in some of the rooms and I thought they'd be the perfect way to cheaply and easily replace the terrible bathroom shutters.

I found this cute floral gingham fabric during a harrowing trip to Spotlight with all the kids, and it really only took me an hour or so that night to sew the curtains. I added some little pintucks along the top half just to add some interesting detail. I also left a good size edge along the top hem to create a ruffle when the curtains are drawn back.

I got some clothesline-type cord and little hooks at the hardware shop and it was a really easy job to hang them up. Now I'm in the mood to do a few more windows - how many vintagey cottage curtains is too many in one house? Mmmm....

Kate

Project 8: Painted Plates

Painting can be a tricky beast so when I came across this project on A Merry Mishap that involved paint pens, I was excited.  Surely it would be easier than mastering a paintbrush!  And for the most part it is easier thanks to Pebeo Porcelaine pens.  I tracked them down at Spotlight while Kate went on a mission to IKEA to source a variety of plates.

Inspiration for our designs came from book covers, Islamic Art books, Marimekko and even a children's colouring in book!  It was hard to take that first step in committing paint to porcelain but steady hand Kate was the bravest among us.  In no time at all, she had created three quirky plates featuring trees, flowers and a yellow bird.

Jess tackled more intricate lines designs and they really tested the perfectionist in her!  She discovered quickly that you could wipe off the paint easily before it dried or scratch it off later on down the track.  Her hypnotic designs certainly catch your eye!

I explored the world of ladybugs and pea pods for my plates but hit a creative wall when it came to the large brown platter.  It was only after the girls had packed up and gone home that I finally settled on a starting point.

We each took our plates home and, after letting them dry for 24 hours, we baked them for 35 minutes in a 150°C oven.  We learnt a few things along the way - the thicker pens give a more consistent colour than the thin pens, some colours are too dark for filler - so next time we plate up, it will be a breeze!

Amanda

                                 

Project 7: Yarn Block Printing

After an epic week involving too many sick children we rallied for Crafty Friday. I am so glad we did. These yarn blocks worked so well!

We were inspired by Modern Parents Messy Kids. And then all we needed was a trip to Eckersleys at Milton, some acrylic paints, nice 300gsm paper, different sized wood blocks, some yarn and jute and looked what we whipped up.

Amanda gave wrapping paper a go, using similar techniques and also using the ends of cardboard rolls and brown paper. I will make sure she gets us some photos to share. Now, to bed! Jess

Solo craftiness: dresses for little girls

Ok so I have the ongoing problem of finding dresses that cover the girls' shoulders from the sun but are still summery, pretty and easy for them to play in. Like the felt clip that started Crafty Fridays, I have paid way too much money for dresses in the past. I had a bit of a hunt around Etsy and found patterns for these dresses over at Too Sweets. They took me no more than 50 minutes - I think I spent more time in the fabric store! I think the girls' favorite part are the pockets and I am ok with that.

- Jess