Kitchen dresser: Upcycle project #7

You may remember a while ago I posted about a few of my up-and-coming projects. Well, here is the pine dresser that my sister bought for £20 from our wonderful local bootfair in Cheltenham. She even managed to get £5 knocked off after being brave and haggling.

 

So it started off like this. Again, nice enough but not really fitting with my sister's kitchen. I had to give it a good scrub with a decent scourer and a large squirt of Cif, as it was extremely greasy. 

 

After a few coats of Annie Sloane Paris Grey paint, a rub down with fine sandpaper and a coat of dark beeswax, it started to look a little more presentable.

 

And here it is, pride of place on the kitchen wall. Perfect for my sister's Victorian tea, which was incidentally, £7 from the same bootfair. What a day of bargains!

 

VVx

Step ladder goes into retirement!

I acquired this sturdy beast from freecycle and it looked like it had lived a hard, laborious life. 

 

 

So, I took it home, gave it a good lick of pale lilac and grey paint.

 

 

 After a few days I realised that really, to be a feature piece in my garden, it needed to be a bit bolder and brighter to make it stand out, especially as the nights draw in. The garden needs as much help as it can get, colour-wise! So I repainted it a beautiful forget-me-not blue from the Culprinol Garden Shades range. I got the paint for a stitch of a price, £1 for a small pot from my local bootfair.

 

 

I have added a few colourful pots around the base of the ladder and have found that the steps are an ideal home for my little bee house (50p from the same bootfair) and for my potted basil which I grew this Summer.

 

 



 

Happy retirement little stepladder!

 

VVx

Learning to sew...again.

I recently saw an advert in my local wool shop for 'Sewing Classes' and thought, why the hell not?

Despite studying textiles for GCSE I can hardly remember what a sewing machine looks like, let alone how one works, so this morning I spent three glorious hours in a workshop relearning the basics.

The class was held in the teacher's garden workshop, a lovely airy space, full of fabric and machines. Two other ladies and I were set the challenge of making a patchwork cushion by the end of the three hours. I must admit I wasn't too confident. Jenny, the teacher, was fabulous and patient and took us every step of the way. After a few cups of coffee, a bit of chit-chat and a good half-hour or so selecting fabric I was ready to get started.

 

 

 And here is the finished piece. My cutting was a little wonky but actually you can't really tell once it has the pad in. I will most certainly be returning and have even started looking up sewing machines. Oh, I can feel another hobby coming on!

 

VVx