DIY home lighting solution

Simple and effective, this lighting solution is assembled in 10 minutes flat.

 I have used 

-Miniature paintings done on thin marble

- an ordinary square sided bottle and 

- battery operated serial lights (the only ones I had)

You could use

- any set of  images copied on a transparency

- a square sided bottle or vase

- batter operated or even electric lights of the correct length.

Assembling this works the same way and is easier if you have a vase so the neck is large and easy to work with.

Here are the miniatures. The fourth miniature doesn't fit so I have to get a vase with larger squares (in time!)

Here is the bottle I had in my pantry

Put a scrap of cloth inside before you begin so that the pictures don't fall in and break.

Insert the pictures one at a time

Remove the cloth carefully and put in the serial lights (mine look ugly on their own!)

 Put in the serial lights...

and click it on!

Lid it or not, the miniatures come to life through the glass

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My home office / WeWork

When I relocated to a city away from my office, I had to create a home office in a desk unit in my rented home. I sure miss the chatter of co workers and office lunches but I took this as an opportunity to combine work and my blog right here on my desk. The decor on my tiny work space changes now and again and when WeWork invited me to share my work space I was delighted! (it gave me the chance to redo a bit of my tiny desk.)

Here is my tiny work desk. This is where I plan people's travel and where I think up ideas for my blog. When I visited the WeWork website I straightaway got a few decor ideas!  Such amazing shared work spaces! I love humour and I am a great fan of Gerald Durrell, the British author and Mario Miranda, the late Goan cartoonist.  Mario's poster features prominently on my desk. This is a permanent fixture in my otherwise varying decor.

Here is a sugar container I picked up in Mario Gallery, Panjim Goa.I turn it round ever so often and every picture brings a smile to my face.

A little something from my craft cupboard - here is the vintage coaster I made where my late night tea mug sits; my fave mini chest of draws and a lighting option I created with some miniature paintings from Rajasthan, India. That is the subject of my next blog post. Love the block print stamps...

Finally my inspiration - my travel collectibles. Since my work involves hand crafting itineraries I travel a bit and look for things that take me back to the countries I have been to. This is but a small fragment of the entire collection - I am quite the crazy collector! Norfolk Lavender, Zell am See, Prague, Istanbul.. ...

Have to plan my summer holiday now! Ciao!

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Two ideas to repurpose and upcycle coasters

Here is a way to use interesting coasters to bling up plain bags.

All you need are interesting coasters, a good adhesive and a sting of coloured stones or pearls; anything that you have lying around at home that matches the bag and coaster.

Assembling this takes very little time. Just stick the coaster in the centre and the string around it and it's done.

It is easy to assemble little wall hangings using native style coasters 

Hot glue bookmarks, old jewellery or Christmas ornaments to the back of the coaster and use double sided tape to stick it to the wall. 

Here is another way to use translucent, funky coasters. Use a glue dot to attach four of them to four sides of any suitable bowl. Here I have used a ziploc box.

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DIY Vintage coasters

If you have old embroidered pieces, combine them with old fabric and burlap to make vintage feel coasters. These are cross stitch pieces I dis a while ago and have been repurposed here.

Here is a look at the material you will need - the embroidered patch or edging, burlap, old fabric, fuse bonding paper and threads in different colour.

Cut fuse bonding paper to the size of the embroidered piece.

Iron it on to the burlap or old fabric cut to size.

Finish with a running stitch in a contrasting colour.

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Fixing magnets on glass without glue

Attach attractive  magnets to glass without fuss or mess. All you need are the magnets and basic magnets which look like donuts.

Clean the glass well, hold the basic magnet on one side of the glass and the fridge magnet on the other. That's it! 

Here you see magnets on both sides of the glass. Since like poles repel in magnets, if you find the magnet pulling away from the glass turn it round. The other side will move towards the magnet on the other side of the glass.

 To hold heavier magnets, even clip ones like below, stack two or three magnets together, opposite sides facing and put the magnet clip on the other side.

Tip

For this to work, the glass cannot be very thick and the magnets cannot be super heavy. 

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Relocation and such

Hi there!

Yes I have been missing for long, long time ...apologies for letting life overwhelm me but that's me I guess.  So much to do. I have to redo my home tour page and even revamp the look of the blog..well for now I am into door charms,  since we have a few more doors and windows in our new house. They just add a little colour and sound to our home and of course take me back to the places from where I bought the pieces or the whole!

Here is the first one - old buttons, the lovely heart from a shop now closed; takes me back to that delightful place bursting to the gills with ribbons, beads and baubles... and of course that endless roll of ribbon... this is one from my craft basket...

Love the sound the metal flower makes when the wind teases it.  I hear it first thing in the morning, followed by birdsong. Metal art from the South east Asia..

This last one is inspired by a  lovely sleek one I saw at a learning centre. Of course it was sleek and well done. My copy is ...well ...rustic shall I say! So it is Bastar bell meets cow bell from hardware store (of all places!)

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