DIY Rustic rope coaster

This actually qualifies in the Great Rope trick. I had bought this rope for some work at home and then left the remainder in my junk cupboard. I thought this would be a great weekend project and took out the rope. After staring at it for the longest time I despaired and went to sleep. The rope does not bend easily and I could not use it as a handle for my leftover wood tray project. How frustrating I thought but that was yesterday. What I did though before I slept was to cut up the rope into sort of equal segments ( I kind of suck at equal, straight and such stuff ) and trimmed them with thin metal wire which is easy to work with .. Today is another day and I finished the project differently. Here is what I did yesterday

This morning I had another idea so I took out a transparency or a transparent sheet and my trusty glue gun and stuck the rope bits on it working them as close together as possible. That was a challenge - the rope has a mind of its own! I then cut the transparency to size before sticking the last rope bit.

Tada! Coaster ready! I just love the totally rustic feel it has. I wish I had coloured raffia to trim it with. That would've looked lovely. Well what can I say!

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Adding bling to everyday bags

How is this the rope trick you ask... the answer lies in the fact that these are decorative ropes much like the link chains I used in the blingy bag in my previous post and they are available in a mind boggling range at the local fancy store as they are called in India. This red bag is again a pretty packaging... believe it or not!

Here is how you do this in four simple steps with some fabric glue, scissors and the said fancy rope.

 I drew the leaf with the fabric glue tube directly since it comes in a convenient pack with a thin snout.  If it is a complicated drawing you can draw it with fabric chalk and then run over it with the fabric glue. Then comes the fun part. Just glue the rope on. This takes a bit of patience - cut it at places where you will need a sharpish edge and use a pair of blunt edged scissors to nudge the rope into place. When I was done with the leaf I just snipped individual stones and stuck them randomly to make it prettier.

Here is another which I use as an instant kolam or rangoli. These can brighten up any piece of decor in just 15 minutes ... I say that is a snap!

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Decorating with design transfers

Last Sunday when I was cleaning my cupboard I came across this which was basically packaging... yes incredibly beautiful black taffeta bag. I had some transfer paper handy so I pulled out my craft bag and did this.

Here is the how... I transferred the tree of life design on silk which stitched on to the bag, stuck the fancy stone edging around and finished the rim with thick gold coloured rope. As a sling I used the gold chain link which I stitched to both sides and thereby hangs the tale of the bag...

Transfers come out very well on silk or very fine cotton. Here is another one on a silk cushion

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Working charms into more than decor

I love charms they are a great way of accessorizing anything. Here I work some charms from Michael's in San Jose, evil eyes from Istanbul and even pendants or earrings into chain links.

I got this link chain from a local store where they sell it by a meter in a myriad colors. Choose from pendants, earrings or charms which you think will go best with it. The nice thing about the link chain is that you can open up any link and stick the pendant or charm in.  Buy some metal rings like you see in the photo right above and use a pair of tweezers to make a S hook out of one. Link these two to the ends of the chain and you have a custom hook to keep the belt in place. You could also use fish eye sets or spray paint these hooks to match your belt. The options are endless.

Turns out the uses are endless too! Use as a belt or my favorite option - a curtain tie.. I am quite fond of these. You can also make a bunting out of them but more on that later. Make a funky necklace out of them and post a picture for me...

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Creative uses for clothesclips

We have at one time or another seen the large sized clothespins which serve as photo holders.I have used normal sized clothes clips to do that and more... here is one I picked up in Surrey. I printed the day and date I got it. Then  I tilted it back a little so that the photo does not fall over and stuck it to a block from an old Jenga game. Then I put in a relevant photo and a stiff card stuck to size to prevent it from falling backwards and my photo holder is ready. You really just have to slide the photo and card in so changing the photo is easy too...

Here are another pair of clothes clips - the regular ones that we get here in India. Use a pair and trim as you wish - in a party this could be a place holder... the happy thing about this pair is that you don't even have to attach it to wood. Use a stiff card cut to size as backing and  the clips will just hold the photo in place. Attach trims with blue tack for a temporary arrangement. Only glitch is that you can use only small size photos in these holders, but it is a fun arrangement and one that gets a lot of attention!

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Working cross stitch into everyday decor

And the cat sleeps......on the laundry basket

Another patch which I unearthed long after I made it found a perfect spot on the laundry basket

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Box fetish

Boxes from here and there

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Transform photo frames to curtain decor

Micheal's has some lovely photo frames which I thought I would use as such till I came across a store where they made curtain ties which looked different. When I laid eyes on my unused chopsticks I knew just how to recreate that look. Here is the curtain tie

And here are the photo frames and chopsticks involved

I have to say I love the look...have a great weekend!

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Simple curtain charms with bells and jewels

You might have seen these bells in my blog -  before on my furniture. Well I decided to give them a new, ornate look and I was also looking to clear my jewellery closet of old chunky pieces which I don't wear anymore, so here is what I did. I just threaded some of the beads and the pendant on a twine to keep the rugged look and hung them... they look pretty don't they?

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Coaster decor

Take a circular coaster and a big bead. A light coaster works well for this project.

Use the trusty glue gun to glue the bead to the centre of the coaster. That's it.. a  lid for your water glass is ready in a snap

As a precaution use only non reactive metal coasters for hot and cold liquids. This one's good for water and even little bowl of peanuts.

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Upcycling hosiery packing to door decor

These cute door signs were not cut to shape but came ready from sock packaging.. Check out the easy method to make a cute door sign

Here is the packing card that came with some socks.

  I thought it looked like a doorsign so I printed out some quirky lines to stick on it. Here is one such

I stuck the lines and shaded / burnt edges for effect and voila! door signs with minimal stress and mess. It was a great hit with my daughter and friends.  Well, what do you think?

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