Altering a glass bottle is fun. There are tons of ways to go about it. I am sharing four techniques here. And in case, your wondering why are there only three bottles in the feature photo, the fourth bottle did not turn out as expected due to . . . . lets just say, my over indulgence with the spray can !
For the first technique, I soaked roughly torn strips of newspaper in PVA glue and adhered them to the bottle. After two coats were dried . . . . . .
I used “shoe polish” – thats right – you read it correctly, I placed some shoe polish on a brush and smeared the color on the bottle.
The idea is to give the bottle a vintage look. The ‘veins’ have to look prominent and present a crackle effect
Next step was to decoupage some tissue and add some lace and beaded ribbon on the bottle.
For the ‘Egg shell mosaic”, i gave one coat of Gesso to the bottle, followed by sticking pieces of egg shell on the bottle.
Once the egg shells were dried and adhered strongly to the bottle, I decoupaged some fancy issue flower shapes on the bottle, followed by one coat of concealer (modge podge)
I ended the project with a fancy flower ribbon on the lip of the bottle. Voila !!
Although this project started off, pretty well. I got over zealous while using the paint can, without realizing that if too much paint is sprayed, it will spread thru the folds of the masking tape.
I will recommend that if you must try this process, just give a quick splatter effect on the masked bottle. That is far better and will get amazing results.
Disaster 😦
In this picture, none of them have reached their completion stage.
By far the easiest technique. Inorder to create a little friction, i painted alittle gesso on the bottom the bottle. Once dry, I started wrapping the yarn on the base of the bottle, with some pva glue. If you wish to continue in the same color of yarn, you can complete the entire bottle in one color. I wished to break the monotony hence I used two colors.
Once the yarns were wrapped snugly around the bottle. I added two “quilled” felt flowers .
Which technique did you like the most ? Have you tried any one of these techniques before ?
Have you tried altering bottles ? Do you fancy painting glass ? Which are your favorite products ?
Please drop in a line to tell me if and how, you liked this easy and fun creations
Recycled objects :-
Used Barbican Glass bottle
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Thinking out- of- the- box comes naturally to some, while some of us have to figure out this thought process.
I’ve made several frame projects and plenty of wreaths, however, this time, I’m creating a mix of the two !
I love baubles – But who doesn’t ??
I took a few baubles of various sizes and hot glued them on the back of a picture frame which had a damaged glass. Naturally it was a perfect candidate for my experiment 🙂
The once sad and damaged frame, now has a renewed function ( and friends) !! It poses in style with its new buddies.
This ikea frame had a similar story 🙂
The mantle is complete.
For those of you who visit me regularly, already know, by now, that nothing gives me more pleasure than breathing a new lease of life into old, damaged goods. Most of my frames are bought at Ikea as is section, Pan Emirates or garage sales. Its a shame that here, in Dubai, we have places where we can donate our clothes, shoes or even books – but there aren’t any places like the charity stores in the West. So most of us put up garage sales or join the only flea market available here 😦
What do you do with broken or damaged frames ?
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Recycled objects :-
Damaged photo frames
Previous years baubles
Old bows
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I was thrilled when I got requested to design ornaments, decoration. gift wrapping and lights for Christmas. As much as I enjoy the festivities involved in any occasion, I believe, the true essence of any religious festival is two folds. Not only does it bring us closer to our own Creator and but it also helps us realize the deeper values, our religion imparts. It is the one time of the year, when we tend to feel closest to our families and loved ones. Any occasion with out family presence is really quite a hollow shell 😦 Don’t you agree ?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, consumerism has diluted human emotions and human values. Its all about brands and image. Everyone is lining up in the express lane to be fed with Pinterest images and a glamorous instagram existence.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Instagram. Infact, I am a self-proclaimed, Pinterest addict. But I don’t let these phenomenal tools take over my entire existence. I love shabby chic and elegant home decorations but I am frugal. If I can replicate a certain enticing design, I’ll try it out – OR just wait for the “sale offer” or “discounted price ”
I’d rather feel overjoyed with a “white Friday” Copic Marker set than pride myself over an exotic piece of jewelry. But that’s just how I am and its not necessary that you find my attitude normal. Infact, you actually might find it bizarre 😉
Ok, so back to today’s project which is Christmas decoration light.
This idea was mainly possible, b’coz just lately while scavenging thru one of my craft tools, I realized I had bought a wood burning tool which had drowned in the tsunami of other craft tools.
I placed several bottles together in a flower shape to decide how many bottles could be attached easily and how much distance is needed between the bottles. Made markings and used the wood burning tool to burn holes. It is compulsory to carry out this process outdoors AND STILL WEAR A MASK. The reason I use wood burning tool is becoz the plastic reacts with heat becoming hard and thick, so that squeezing the funnel mouth later, becomes very easy and the funnels don’t slip or fall off.These are #MountainDew plastic bottles. I cut the bottle into three parts. The funnel, the slim “waist” and the base. The maximum uses generally come from the base, however, here, I am using the “head” or “funnel” part of the bottle.Finally managed to squeeze all of them on.I bought decorative tiny lead lights from Ikea from the As Is section for dhs 8 ! I love how the wires crumpled in the center, almost give it a “Real Flower” look. It was quite difficult to get a “night’ shot of the lights so as to show just how remarkably the lights lite up..These can be hung or stuck on the wall.
So what do you think ?
Would you attempt this project ? I really hope you are inspired to give it a go.
Please drop in a line to tell me if and how, you liked this frugal simple creation.
Recycled objects :-
Empty Mountain dew plastic bottle
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Do you like to quill ? I love quilling and I really like collecting photo frames as well as frames for paintings. This project is an ideal mix of both.
Most of my picture frame collection comes from stores like Pan Emirates, Home Center, Ikea as is section and garage sales.
I’m almost obsessed with finding potential in unexpected mundane objects which are considered trash. Some projects start immediately, while some bare bones, are stacked in the shed, on a waiting list.
The past two weeks, I have been super inspired to work with frames, so at long last, a pile of photo frames are being repurposed and dressed with some simple and easy art. This one, being the first one.
Our guests are pleasantly surprised when they find out that the creations are my own !
I believe, alittle creativity, color and innovation can transform the ugliest objects into pieces of art.
Here is one Ikea frame which I found in the ‘as is’ section which did not have a glass protection in front. Ofcourse, I was overjoyed 🙂
It was perfect for my three dimensional quilled heart.
This project is perfect to use up your stash of scrap paper.
One of my husband’s new shirts came wrapped in this corrugated thin cardboard . Ofcourse, I did not dump it – Would you ????
I positioned the outer hearts and then started hot gluing them.
I love the contrast of the white frame against a cardboard background – with pink and red flowers in the foreground. The pearls were a last minute addition but i feel, they really enhance the look of the flowers.
Infact, I think, I will start a wall gallery for all my art frames projects.
Please drop in a line to tell me if and how, you liked this frugal simple creation.
Recycled objects :-
Photo frame
corrugate cardboard.
scraps of scrapbook design paper.
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Two important aspects of any crafters life is inspiration and storage !! And somehow both these two aspects seem to go hand in hand. Although I “think’ I breeze through, even in a cluttered chaos, I know, I would be much more productive in a more organized set up, where all my tools and supplies are easily accessible.
I am a visual person – I need my tools to be seen, so as to be able to use them. A punch which is tucked away in one of my bins, generally does NOT get played with – AT ALL 😦
So these past weeks, i used up most of my “recyclable stock pile” and made a few desk organizers.
I hope you enjoy this pictorial and find some inspiration to use up those cans lying around in the kitchen.
Clean cans thoroughly and organize them in a rectangular or circular manner.
Although i have brush – painted two coats of acrylic colors on these cans, I would recommend spray paint cans
Decide in which order, you’d like to place the cans.
Gather the cans together and glue them together on the sides where they meet each other
The 1 kg yoghurt bucket, comes with a white handle which fit in, snugly in the middle container, so that I could be lifted.
So as to enforce them together, I wrapped them with a large ribbon. You can use any fabric, ribbon or even jute or twine. I also adhered this lovely frill ribbon from Daiso, on the edge.
I am using the lid of the cookie box as the base of the organizer. I used STRONG STIK glue to stick the cans to the base. It is a remarkable glue, which I bought from Creative Minds.
I was not quite satisfied with the ribbon, hence I added two thinner orange ribbons on the border to give it a more defined look.
This silver stand had not been used in decades, so it was more than happy with its new found job role !! It provided a much needed height and was quite stable. We don’t want a stand that could topple all the contents.
And there you have it !
I love how all my promarkers, copics and paint markers are all now easily accessible. Its such a huge relief and joy.
I’m inspired to make a few more of these to house my scissors and paintbrushes etc.
Please drop in a line to tell me if and how, you liked this frugal creation.
Recycled objects :-
Food cans
lid from cookie tin.
Serving stand.
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” Not only did I design the jewelry but I also designed the jewelry display stand !! “
Some of my favorite words are, create, creativity, craft, upcycle and repurpose ! What are yours ?
Like I explained in my previous post, I have been designing jewelry. We held two trunk shows, and I found that we were short of display units for my leather jewelry collection.
Alittle scavenging into our shed, and my trusted wingman was back with a full size narrow mirror that we had dumped in there, a few years back !! I bet your asking why I stored a broken mirror stand, right ? My husband asks that ALL THE TIME !!! I’ll give you the reply, I give him – We’ll find a use for it someday. (not that he ever believes me 🙂 ) But for once – THAT DAY, finally came !!
Obviously, the stand looked worn out but I decided, to keep the shabby chic distress look on the white border, but paint the cork board, within.
The diehard optimist in me, only noticed that the wood was sturdy and the size was perfect to hold as many as 40 pairs of earings !!
A couple of coats of paint should do the trick.
I mixed some white acrylic to a pastel shade of peach and pink to get this color.
A dozen or so nails on the side to hang the strings at and voila ! We have a display unit to hang our jewelry – from TRASH !!!
Absolutely in love with this piece !! Not only did I design the jewelry but I also designed the jewelry display stand !!!! 🙂
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I’m delighted to share with you guys a new development – I have been designing handmade statement jewelry !!! What a leap – in terms of creativity, atleast !!!
Please drop me a like at https://www.instagram.com/madelineposh/
We held a trunk show at The Villa a few months back; the details of which will be in an upcoming post. One of the things, that I realized is that most of my necklaces were long and most of the display stands, I had, were short display units for the table stands. Hence, I improvised.
I bought some white foam sheet and designed a display stand – however, quickly I realized that the stand was not large enough, inorder to allow my neck pieces to hang freely.
Also, it meant that I would need to make atleast 70 of these boards ! Plan A did not work out.
Plan B – I’ve stored several bulletin boards (cork ones) in the shed. Time to make use of them.
I decided that these bulletin boards would be ideal since they could carry multiple strands and would be sturdy as well. However alittle prepping was in order. Here are some photos explaining what I’ve done.
A couple of coats of paint, and we’ll be ready in no time.
One of these boards had a large hole in it. I decided that for this one, we would place some dark blue, thin fabric over it, so as to hide the damage. It worked so well coz we did not even have to glue or staple it – the push pin did the job !!!
Tip – Cork soaks up alot of paint. The final coat is drying here.
I spray painted these push-pins to a dark shade of grey/black. These would be the hooks on my display board.
VOILA !!!
I love the look and how perfectly, everything fit in.
These are easy to store and very convenient to carry around too.
The length of the boards, helps to bring out the flow and drop of the necklaces.
Its a win win situation for me.
I love upcycling and I love to repurpose mundane objects. How about you ? What was your last upcycle project ?
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What was spectacular about the villa, is that it was designed by an Emarati for an Emarati lifestyle. Whats different about Arabic styled houses ?
Well, Arabic style houses generally have two main entrances to the main building, one for the family, and another one for the male guests. The men guest entrance is greeted by a very large hall which is called the Majlis. This comfortable large space is generally where the men of the family entertain their male friends, hence it is lavishly large.
Another significant thing about the villas’ is that every bedroom is ensuite. Which meant, my 5 bedroom home had 7 bathrooms !!! (1 extra for the lounge room and another for the dining room)
Cleaning such a large house is not for the faint of heart ! But Thank heavens for the abundance of easily available part-time help in Dubai.
Another aspect, which we were lucky, we did not have, is the presence of an entire block of an adjoining building which houses the maids and drivers of the house.
Most of the times, the kitchen is also a part of that building block. But we were lucky, our kitchen was in the main building.
That was too much space for a family of five, however, it would benefit, the constant arrival of relatives and feline friends ( fostering that me and my family volunteer for.)
Thanks to alot of persuasion and prodding – We decided to convert the majlis into my craft Studio.
Was it a dream ??
Absolutely YES !!
For someone who started crafting 12 years back from a modest desk placed at the corner of her bedroom … here I was, in a HUGE studio with craft supplies and goodies, I could have only dreamt of years back !!
The studio took nearly three months to be shelved, stacked, stored and organized.
As you will notice from the pictures below, 100% furniture and 95% storage items (like boxes, pots ) are from #Ikea !!
I think, for artists, Ikea is a PERFECT !! They cater to each and every need of ours brillaintly and I have NOT been compensated to state so 🙂
Don’t they look organized ? Even the white pots holding markers are from Ikea.
The large striped boxes as well as the white bookshelf is Ikea.
These wired racks make it easy to locate ribbons etc
Different sizes of #Trofast boxes
The white cookie or cupcake , wire stand is also Ikea.
This PVC rack was designed and constructed by yours truly !
Ribbons, twine, yarn, embellishments all stored in the ikea wire racks
Linnamon study desk ! Notice my delicious pinking shears ! Over the years, I have picked quite a few diecut machines, as you will notice, there’s the Silhouette, Revolution, Cuttlebug, and Big shot !! What ?? Hoarder, you say ???? No way – just moving with time !
4 Glasholm glass tables !! Every shelf counts as storage !!
The two drawer racks on the left of my chair, houses all my rubber stamps and diecuts. My throne is the Marcus swivel chair from Ikea
I picked these white storage boxes from Ikea as well as the Trofast shelf and storage boxes.
Unfortunately these wire racks have been discontinued by Ikea !! The newer version are not as sturdy as these.
Trofast storage combination
This stores my jewelry making supplies
Most of those colored plastic drawers have paints and glue
10 Snille swivel chairs.
My precious books and notes – one of my fav Ikea cubby cupboard
Felt, fabric and more stored in the Ikea cupboard
Another Ikea cupboard
Was the craft room a good idea ?
Absolutely !!
How long did it take ?
Very long to organize it all ?
what happened next ?
We moved out of this house this January (2016) !!!!!!!!
How do I feel about it ?
Miserable !! I miss the sprawling length and breadth of that room so much, so dearly 😦
It was perfect in every way and the best possible gift, my husband could give me !!
Our new home is in the area called The Villa – Dubailand. Its a modern villa and the added benefit of the majlis is deducted in the form of a pool. We have converted the 5th bedroom into the craft studio – but it is still a project under progress. Will share with you the development in another post.
I hope you enjoyed my craft studio tour and found inspiration in some of the ways in which I manged to store some supplies.
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If you’ve been following me, then you know, that the past couple of weeks have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for me. I have been participating in several weekend fairs and exhibitions. Not only has it been exhaustive but for a change, we have been such an “outdoorish” family !!
I have been loving the fairs, interacting with people, getting little hands to try out crafts and just having a blast letting these events dry the creative juices out of me !! Its been fun.
I am one of those people who works best under pressure. I have a tendency to try out a dozen projects for a couple of days, and then there are those ‘slumpy’ days when I am glued to pinterest/fb and almost never enter the studio for weeks.
This particular chalk board tray was from ELC, I think. The boys used it for a couple of years until we moved into Warqa House and then, it gave in 😦 I loved the thin wooden tray used to keep chalks and dusters on both sides. It was a shame to let it go, given it was made of wood and I really like those cheerful snakes/worms. So I unscrewed the trays and it remained as a stationery organizer sitting parallel to eachother on Sawaab’s desk.
Long story short. While the past few weeks have been full of finding dumped tree trunks and branches and utilizing them in various ways. I decided, I could give that tray a facelift. The best way to organize on a busy study desk is to go vertical ! I cut out two chunks of wood trunks and used the drill machine to drill some holes in them from above and bottom.
From not having a place to keep the pair, we not have 2 boys quarreling over who gets to keep it to display their stationery !!
I decided against painting the trunks ~ Love the rustic look against the comical child-like colors of the trays.
I love how the little branch protrudes from the main trunk. I deliberately trimmed it and kept it that way. I feel it adds character to piece. Do you ?
This was one of my fastest projects to date !! It was over in just a matter of minutes. So if you too have any two pieces of shelves that could be given a similar look, please share it with me.
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