Home-made charm is a cinch
The truth is some of the most endearing, fashionable home pieces are a few hour’s work in the making. Here are a few ideas to have a go this weekend with the whole family.
Hula Hoop Chandelier: Prise a hula-hoop from the youngest unmarried. If there’s a struggle, try throwing a chocolate bar some distance and making a grab. Wrap it in Washi-tape or pale, wide ribbon. Suspend the hoop from at least three points to one gather of ribbon or string, ensuring it will hang parallel to the ground. Wrap the hoop in several untidy drapes of white solar strings, covering it completely. Set low over a table. You can use old bike wheels for this project, but add strength to the suspension with soft rope or chain.
Paper bag garlands: Safer than real flame in a bag for a path, suspend a length of solar or battery string lights across a path (over head height). Set the bulbs facing downward. Poke each bulb into a slit in the base of an upturned light paper or sweet bag (you may need a little tape to keep these in place). You can use cup cake papers for this to make clambering blossom plants, but only using cool wireless LEDs. Wind around uprights all over the garden or embroider over doorways.
The skeleton of a used charity shop lampshade? What is she on about now? If you’ve ever examined the frame beneath the fabric on a large shade, the outline can be remarkably sculptural. A number of design houses have picked up on their potential in all their naked loveliness. The simple one in our illustration, is from Not on the High Street would set you back €92. Simply strip the fabric off an old shade completely, ensuring you don’t damage the metal structure that holds it safely off the bulb. You can spray the frame, leave it as is or even wrap the wires in fabric. Add a fringe or a chime-style series of hangings from the bottom lip. Shells and rough twine would be fun for a coastal theme, or set small beads and ornaments on the cage of the frame itself. Ensure nothing you add is set too close to the bulb if you use the shade as a shade.
My grandmother, like most Irish women of her time, was never without a piece of work in her hands. In the evening, when her fingers were not bound in rosary beads evening up the score for our boldness, she was stabbing at a delicate piece of crochet set against her one good leg. My communion dress was crocheted complete with a Juliet cap. Crochet is experiencing a renaissance from its twee history and is extremely trendy with all age groups right now. Cheap, quick and simple to pick up in the company of experienced fingers, you can sew up patches and single flowers of crochet into everything from bed spreads, to throws and cushion covers. There are knitting and crochet groups all over the country with sessions priced at a mere €2-€4, a constantly boiling kettle and I would imagine some useful local flavour on the tongue between stitches. Children are generally welcome to inhabit the space under the table. Go online to find your local group http://irishknitting.wordpress.com/knitting-groups/
Another way to start is a free online tutorial, such as crochet.about.com.
Kirstie Alsopp, the acknowledge queen of the British home made renaissance, champions this little bit of easy crafting, and if you need an all but free way to dress a table for a party or even a wedding, it’s nothing short of fabulous.
Take some spare 6cm square ceramic tiles (we all have them from some project) and coat the front and sides with PVA glue. Lay on pieces of your chosen colourful (paper!) napkin cut to go over the tile, showing a nice area of the design.
Press down onto the tile and sides, wrap a centimetre or two onto the back. Snip the corners and fold neatly.
If you want a white edge, just sandpaper off the excess paper/ PVA once dry. Allow to dry before coating the fronts with PVA again, This will dry clear sealing the tile and paper. Place a piece of felt on the underside for a really neat finish.
Turn that heap of hammered magazines or waste paper around the printer into something truly gorgeous with any one of the many rolled paper projects available online. We love a delicate vase using hundreds of pieces of folded and rolled colour magazines set on a balloon mould during making. The finer the rolls, the more professional and mesmerising the finish. Use the thinnest glue you can find to soak through the paper and bind it to its neighbour. The strips of paper must be even and straight, folded along their length and then rolled, ideal as finger work while watching TV with baskets at your elbow. Setting the pieces on a firm surface such as a picture frame, you can add folded paper stars and other inclusions.
Seal against dust and damp with a coat of PVA when finished. Pinterest is a wonderful jumping off point for every conceivable craft and offers hundreds of rolled paper projects. www.pininterest.com
We all have a vintage sleeper lying in a shed or back bedroom that’s murdered by its ghastly colour and finish. Find a timber piece that’s structurally sound and not likely to fetch more than €30 at auction. Having wiped off any sticky residues with a solution of sugar-soap (any DIY shop has it), let it dry and then give the wood a light sanding. Don’t worry too much about getting right into the detail, we just need a ‘key’. For added interest, choose a darker undercoat and lighter top coat. Chalk paint is ideal (try The Paint Pot, Patrick’s Quay, Cork). Work the paint all over the piece and into the detail, avoiding dribbles with a lightly loaded brush. Allow to dry before applying the lighter shade in a top coat. Then allow to dry again and sand through the top coat at points where wear would naturally occur —edges, the top plain of detailing — and here and there on legs and tops. Finish with a soft clear wax to seal. Go for tropical bright colours, the look can be fabulous.
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