I was asked this month to be the Guest Pinner for Homemade With Love magazine. I’ve been a bit lazy of late with my own Pinterest boards, mostly re-pinning from those I follow or pinning my own creations. Being asked to pin for someone else has refocused me; what I loved most about Pinterest when I first signed up was discovering new blogs and actively searching for inspiration. I’m really enjoying perusing blogs, magazines and websites for new and exciting craft and home projects. If you would like to see what I have pinned so far, you can see my Guest Pinboard here.

I originally discovered the joys of Washi tape from Pinterest. It comes in all sorts of contemporary prints, patterns and colours and gives everything a modern edge. The tape is very low tack, which makes it very versatile and there are so many different things you can do with it. One of the ideas I like, and have copied the most, is using Washi tape to create photo frames around pictures and postcards. I also use it to tape up notes or pictures above my desk for inspiration.

Mia Fleur, an online homewares boutique, very kindly sent me a set of their lovely vintage pictures. I decided to combine the freshness of the Washi tape with the vintage feel of the pictures to create an alternative wall display.

You can use the tape to create all sorts of different shaped frames.

You can experiment as much as you like because the tape peels off very easily but doesn’t lose its tackiness.

I really like to stick postcards, notes and pictures on the wall temporarily by just taping the corners. It’s so low tack that it leaves no marks when you want to take them down.

If you would like to buy some Washi tape, you can order it online here.

Thanks again to Mia Fleur for the lovely pictures, which are very reasonably priced for a collection of nine printed on beautiful paper. If you would like some you can buy them here. x

I recently came across the inspiring work of Sarah Moore, when I featured her vintage wallpapered stairs in a previous post. I bought some of the vintage wallpaper Sarah sells on her site and decided to try to transform a little bathroom cabinet that I bought on eBay for £4. Sarah advises to line cupboards with wallpaper and lace edging to give them a vintage feel so that’s exactly what I’m going to do…

An example of Sarah Moore’s beautiful work.

You can buy a collection of a dozen A4 sheets from Sarah Moore Vintage for just £12.99.

You will need:

Wallpaper (or you could use pretty wrapping paper)

Lace edging – I bought this from eBay (search for crochet lace edging)

PVA glue

Paintbrush

Scissors or craft knife

Ruler and pencil

Drawing pins

Tutorial:

BEFORE

1. Measure the areas that you would like to cover and draw these measurements onto the wallpaper and cut out using scissors or a craft knife.

2. Use the paintbrush to apply a thin layer of the glue (make sure the shelves are clean before this step). Place the paper onto the glue and smooth out so there are no air bubbles or creases.

3. Paint on more glue to seal it and leave to dry. Once dry, use a craft knife or scissors to trim any excess pieces of paper from the edges.

4. You can then repeat the entire process on all of the other panels that you wish to decorate.

5. Attach the lace edging with glue. You can fasten it with drawing pins whilst it dries, but the lace I have used is so light I didn’t need to do that.

AFTER

This is such an easy and inexpensive way of personalising a piece – I might have to try this in my wardrobe next.

What have you been up to whilst I’ve been on holiday (which was bliss, by the way)? Any good home projects? I’d love to hear about or see anything you’ve made x

I’m off on my hols today, so this will be my last post until September (no Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest either…eek!). Me, my mum and my two sisters are going to stay in a villa in Portugal, so hopefully I will return bronzed, relaxed and ready for the start of a new school year.

I’ll leave you, for now, with a handy tutorial that will hopefully keep you going until I return….

I’m constantly scavenging around whenever I see a skip or a pile of stuff left outside a house. You never know what you might find. Recently I came across this small chest of drawers in a skip. The front is white, the back is black and there are no handles on the drawers. The paint is chipping off and it’s been very badly painted, with ordinary matt wall paint, I would assume. However, it is solid wood and there’s no sign of damp so there’s no reason why, with a lick of paint and some new handles, it can’t be as good as new.

BEFORE: Sorry about the bad photo – I forgot to take a proper one. This shows the back, which is black. The front and sides is chipped, matt white with no handles.

You will need:

Small foam roller, small paint brush and paint tray

Masking tape

Paint – water based eggshell or oil based eggshell (I never use oil based paint as I find it very difficult to use and messy). I used Farrow and Ball’s Estate Eggshell Teresa’s Green.

Primer (optional)

Water-based polyurethane varnish (optional)

Fine sand paper and block (orbital sander if you are working on a wood veneer or varnished piece)

Wood glue

Wood filler and spatula

Dust sheet

Tutorial:

I only paint solid wood or wood veneer pieces that can be sanded. If you try to paint laminate furniture you will end up having to use so many coats of paint (as the paint slides off it) and it chips very easily. Don’t be put off by varnished wooden furniture – just needs a sand.

1. Remove any hardware (knobs, handles etc) which can usually be unscrewed easily. If, for any reason you can’t remove them, cover with tin foil so you do not get paint on them.

2. Use the glue to stabilise any dodgy joints but only if necessary.

3. Use wood filler to fill any holes, gaps, dents. If you want to change the hardware and place the new handles in a different place, fill in the original holes. It’s easy to buy the squeezy tubes of wood filler that you squeeze into any holes or dents and smooth over with a spatula.

4. Sand all your filled areas and add more filler if necessary. Repeat this step as many times as is necessary to get a smooth finish.

5. If you are painting onto a piece that has previously been painted give it a light sand all over to give the surface a bit of grip to take on the new paint. You can do this with a piece of light sand paper that you can attach to a sanding block. If, however, you are painting a wooden veneer surface or varnished wood you will need an electrical orbital sander. Sand until the wooden surface no longer has a shine to it.

6. Use your hoover to get any dust off the piece and use a damp cloth to clean it all over and allow to dry.

7. Use the masking tape to tape off all areas that you do not want to get paint on. Tape off the sides of the drawers so that when you open the drawers you see a clean line (too late for my piece – it’s obviously been painted many times!). Tape off the inside of the piece to keep all runners free of paint.

Hardware has been removed (the screw that held the handle in was still in the drawers when I salvaged it but I need to take this out too when I begin to paint.) My drawers have obviously been painted before and you can see that there is a messy paint line so when you pull the drawer out it looks scruffy. I have marked with taped where I need to paint to in order to create a clean line.

Mark with tape where you will paint to along the runner of the drawers. Make sure you let this part dry thoroughly before replacing the drawers so they don’t stick.

8. Lots of people would now prime the piece of furniture but I think you can get away with not doing this as long as you paint your chosen colour with at least three coats.

9. Pour your choice of paint in the tray and get your paintbrush full of paint. Use your brush to cut in all areas of the piece that the roller cannot reach and then use your foam roller for the larger surface areas. You should work on one section at a time to make sure that you have covered the piece well and there are no drips. Paint the back of the piece as well as you never know where you will use it in future. If you prefer to use a brush for the whole piece, use long strokes painting in the direction of the grain. Always apply thin coats of paint, instead of one thick coat, as this will make the finish more even and solid.

10. Apply 2-3 light coats, giving it a very light sand between each coat, and then let it dry overnight. Replace the hardware only when the piece is completely dry. You can varnish the piece once the paint is completely dry, but this is optional and dependent on the finish you want. I didn’t varnish my piece.

I’ve had to buy new knobs that I bought from John Lewis. I went for something really simple and plain as sometimes if you go overboard when painting a piece of furniture and you finish it off with ornate knobs or handles, it can end up looking a bit tacky.

TIP: Line your drawers with vintage wallpaper or pretty wrapping paper to make it extra special! Measure the area you want to cover and then use scissors or a craft knife to cut your wallpaper pieces. Then stick it down with some double-sided tape.

I bought this vintage wallpaper from Sarah Moore Vintage. I will be transforming a bathroom cabinet with it in a couple of weeks!

And the finished transformation…

What do you think? See you when I get back from Portugal x