Simple DIY kitchen wall decor

We all have those little wishes to decorate our kitchens, don't we?

We may have those days when we wish those dirty dishes in the sink took care of themselves, or the kitchen floor mopped itself up while we rested...but we do not want to limit colour to a cluttered fridge door.

But then, while kitchen may be the heart of a home, spending big currency for kitchen decor is not something most of us may feel inclined to do.

I visited my friend Shirley's place recently. Check out the post on her impressive DIY graduation party archway. And what she did with the wall over her counter-top awed me.

Wow! Why didn't I think of it?

``I wanted something in red and gold colour. I went looking for frames and pictures. Nothing fit in. So I decided to do something myself,'' says Shirley.

Here it is, her lovely three frame 3-D set. No glass like in a typical wall pic. No picture or painting. Yet, a stand-out set.

A red frame, a golden one and a red frame. All to bring in the essence of her kitchen. She picked the bare wood frames up from A C Moore crafts store, for $ 4 each. And spent another $2 on the red and gold colour paints. She painted them and let them dry.

So what you need, is:

photo frames with no glass, from your craft store

embellishments with some glue

satin, threads, and the likes for fixing your pieces in the frames

some festive decor items, party paraphernalia..

This tea-pot that she strung and hung from the frame's top end, is actually something she picked up during the Christmas sales. And is a Christmas tree ornament!

Look close, the heart centre-piece here, is in reality, a cookie-cutter that she painted red! She simply strung it with a satin ribbon! And the flowers that she used to embellish it's left bottom corner, were gifts from her New-York based cousin who makes and sells them.

Spoon and fork - perfect kitchen pieces - utilitarian. But as decor, you'd settle for giant pieces. Remember the kitchen wall at the home of Raymond's mother in Everybody Loves Raymond!

These two pieces though, were part of party items at Wegman's. Shirley gladly used them on the frame. They're plastic, but look like steel!

The ensemble shows that a bit of imagination can do wonders to your dream decor at home. It's just about going out there and giving colour to your ideas.

Pics courtesy: Shirley Gandhi

For permission to use, write to me: radicreative@gmail.com

Button earrings n toilet roll owls

When my Boston-based nieces visited me during Thanksgiving last year, they had come prepared to indulge in crafting and play every minute.

The younger one, a six year old, would drag me from my kitchen work so she could learn something new to craft.

On my part, I had enough trash to keep them occupied too.

I had a crate full of toilet tissue roll cardboard. A quickie Google image search revealed umpteen owl crafts using the rolls.

The image of these owls I found on Creative Jewish Mom and similar experiments by other crafters were quite an inspiration. The kids took no time in working away furiously.

Glue,

Markers,

and some tissue to wipe off stains from hands...

Here is what Sowmya, the 13 year old, came up with:

Notice that the first owl in this picture has eye-circles cut from another piece of cardboard and stuck there for effect.

The curvy head for these owls comes about when you press the edges of the toilet tissue roll on one side, towards each other. You can then use a masking tape or glue the edges on top. Rest is all about black lines!

The kids also did some button craft. I had some jump rings and fish-hooks among my stash of jewellery findings. All I did was to teach them, to use the jewellery pliers.  Here is what they made:

This pair needed all of four green buttons, and eight jump rings, besides two fish hooks for earrings.

The next one did not quite turn out perfect, but I love the effort they put in. If you want a video tutorial about how to make button earrings, here is one from Youtube:
Button Earrings

In the meanwhile, I found some bread tags in my kitchen drawer. Using a geometry box compass, we punched holes, and lo! we had another pair of earrings!

These quickie pairs could make great party give favours. Or, you could simply organise a `make and take' party for a bunch of kids around the block!

Owl crafts can be great for theme parties, `make and take' , and inexpensive to teach too - especially if your raw material comes straight from the toilet and before it gets trashed!

Pics courtesy: M Radhika
Crafts by: Sowmya and Saahitya

For permissions to re-use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

Rangolis on jewelry boxes

During my recent trip to India, I looked around at craft shops in vain for pain wooden boxes that one could paint on. Tough luck. I did find some cute gift boxes made of bamboo possibly, but with no scope of personalizing.

That's a reason I love Dollar Tree and the craft shops out here.

If you are an avid scourer for stocks, you can get desktop wooden boxes that are unpainted for as little as $1.

I love painting rangolis on these boxes, although it is a tedious process. I do not prime the wood with a wood primer before getting started, but I do sand-paper it thoroughly before starting the paint work.

For more instructions about painting wood boxes, you can also refer to my ancient post: Rangoli on a jewel box

A tip or two with those instructions though - things I learnt during the numerous painting sessions.

For the initial lot of boxes, I stuck to glossing them with Mod Podge. But switched to Martha Stewart Crafts High Gloss Finish. I am happier with the results although I don't think it is the perfect one.

• When you sandpaper the inside of the boxes, make sure you scrape more from the surface near the box hinges 
• Do not give extra coats on the surface connecting the lid and base. Doing so could make the paint stick and peel
• Always paint the narrow frame top that connects lid and base in the end, and leave it to dry more than you would possibly dry the rest of painted sides
• For intricate designs like the rangolis, using a zero size paintbrush helps- stock more than one Size Zero paint brush though
• Stick to simple designs for a start and move on to more intricate designs as you progress with a few boxes
• If you wish to spray paint them, try as much as possible, to use the paint outdoors 
• Spray paint may not need more coats the way hand painting would need, but you need to use masking tape extensively for the hinges and latches
• Cut large plastic covers to rectangles and place over newspapers when you spray paint 
• Paint about three boxes simultaneously. It helps save time, because by the time the painted surface of your first box dries up, you are done with the third box
  
  • When you use a brush to gloss the painted boxes, make sure you use single strokes and do not rub the glossy finish 
  • Keep a container of water handy so you can drop the gloss brushes in it quickly
  • Make sure you wash the brushes with soapy water after each session of painting
  • My personal experience with olive green or camp green craft paint over orange surface has not been great
  • Whites over dark surfaces work great for me, but if you have any tidbits you can share, please tell
  
  The yellow box I have painted above is my favourite. These were the colours used on the doorstep of my Ammumma's home in Chennai. The tikka you see on its side, is called Kalyana Bottu in Telugu. It is the design used as bindi on the foreheads of brides and grooms in Telugu marriages.
  
  
  
  
  

 Rangoli patterns can be used on plain cardboard cartons too. Give the experiment a shot and let me know how it goes. After a lot of dilemma, I learnt to use gold coloured paint over a painted surface. I was not so satisfied with the first attempt, but my friend who I gifted the box to, was thrilled. This one is a bright red-gold combo, but I tried a gold over maroon surface and gifted the box to my mom during my India trip. The result was good.

My friend Ashwini Deshpande, of the popular Indulge Ashscorner food blog shared a picture of one of my boxes.

 

These boxes are a sample of what I regularly paint. I did a bunch of them more, to gift away in India. The most unexpected reaction was from my friend's kids.

You would assume that such boxes would be a hit with women, those who are religious and otherwise, to store their jewellery and tiny treasures. I stashed one such painted box for my friend's mom and some kid stuff, all in one tote, when I went to meet them during the India trip. The kids - a six year old and a two-year old, saw the box first, and decided it was the best toy in the world for them.

For the next couple of hours, they took turns in playing with it, smiling at it, opening and closing it a hundred times, watching its corners and carrying all over their home! My protests that the box was meant for their grandma hardly mattered. And we presume that kids take a fancy only to bright coloured plastics!

The next time you paint a wooden box, do not be sure only 20 plus and 30 plus people will like it. My slow discovery -- no age-bar for rangoli box love.

Flowers, ferns and broken plastic

It's been a long long time that I posted something on Imprints Handmade. For all those who patiently waited for a post, thank you!

Since October last year, have been caught up with Fall travel, Thanksgiving travel, Christmas travel, and an India trip. Not to forget the huge shopping lists before my India trip, non-stop travel in spite of fragile health back home, and a post-travel bout of flu. But enough is enough, I thought. No more excuses to stay away. Here they are, ideas from Lalitha Menon for last-minute gift wrapping and more.

Have you ever faced gift dilemmas? Those last minute sprints to gift stores when you just remembered today was your close kin's birthday?

What can you possibly do during such days when nothing seems to go right?

Lalitha Menon who had sent me some of these pictures eons ago, shows how. My apologies Lalitha, for the pre-Thanksgiving to post-Valentine's Day delay in putting these through. One of the hazards a trip to India brings up.

Meanwhile, here is the first picture of her Christmas gift for a friend.

It looks like a paper towel spread on a plastic plate. But in reality, it is a translucent chocolate box put to good re-use. So, the paper towel you see is actually inside the box. And those little candy coloured embellishments are decorated on top of the box. Believe it or not, she picked them up from an old shoe.

Inside the box, are an expensive coffee mug and some coffee powder. The thin lavender coloured line around the box, is actually her signature satin ribbon that she uses generously for gift wraps.


Now, for some flower gifts that gave away. When you want to gift a bouquet on some occasion, is it not typical that you head to a florist, get them to suffocate those stems in plastic wraps and staples? On the contrary, all it takes is some thoughtfulness and putting your garden to use.

These roses she placed on ferns from her garden, tied them up with an old piece of dupatta. She then rolled silver coloured satin ribbon on it, and tied it up into a bow.

These gladioli and gerbera daisies were tied up similarly too. As for the bunch below, she used her favourite lavender satin ribbon, and left them at the doorstep of her uncle in his 70s. She left him guessing who the flowers came from.

It's the next set of pictures though, that take the cake - perfect example of how your empty soft drink bottles can help.

Look close, what does the picture below show?

A card on top of a gift wrap?

It's a shopping list post-it slip that she used for a cute little note with the gift.
As for the gift, you will know how it got wrapped, from the pictures below.

So, it was a coffee mug, with some exotic tea bags that went into an empty soft drink bottle that she cut in half. She topped the container with some colour paper. and fixed her note.

``The gift was for a friend from abroad who called on suddenly. I gifted her the coffee mug from a mall. But she refused to accept it without `my own' gift wrap!'' says Lalitha, who had to take it home, gift wrap it and give before the friend's departure from her city.

Now, that's an idea for what can be done to old Pepsi and Coke bottles!