The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Upgrades.

One of the things I talked about in my ebook was making use of what you have or what is available to you when making gifts. Lots of things come to us in different ways and it is easy to overlook great supplies we might have that have awesome potential!

This is something that is easy to come by... old pots. In this case I found half a dozen on the side of the road. But maybe you have some in the shed or see some in garage sales or at the op shop. Keep watching out!

Over the weekend I did some potting up with my road side finds.



First I should show you how they were.







They are all quite large pots. And they were grubby and one came with a free red back spider! (nice bonus)

There were also three smaller pots all the same. I thought with those I could paint them with blackboard paint and fill them with herbs. Then write the names of the herbs on the front in chalk paint. This would make a good gift as a set.

Pots are really useful. Depending on size and shape though they could be a utensil holder, hold bathroom supplies or used for indoor or outdoor plants. Even a little Christmas tree! 

I just gave them all a good wash and dry then painted them with what I had in the shed which was a plat white paint. The first planter with the flowers I was wishing I had some floral transfers but I had none left. So I bought a packet of lovely paper serviettes and carefully cut out roses. These were two ply so I gently separated the layers and glued them onto my pot. I used a clear craft varnish to cover them and did several coats. This was really similar in effect to transfers. And I only used three serviettes so I have most of the pack left for other projects. Talk about cheap and easy. If you have children cutting out projects are great for them! I slightly overlapped the flowers and worked my way around the pot...



The next one I used a transfer which I did have left from a project. Normally I get transfers from Arwen Moore Design studio who you will find online and on Etsy.




The largest pot I left alone (except for painting) as it had interesting texture and scrolls...



As I had everything except the serviettes the three pots came to under ten dollars. And it was fun! 
Plus I have three more small pots to play with.

So this is a practical example of what I said in my e book.... use what you have or come across. The serviettes as transfers has me realising I can use these from now on to decorate the tops of my jar lids. They are really pretty and you can get so many designs. I found these in our newsagent but I have seen floral serviettes in gift stores as well. The thing is you are getting hundreds of flower "transfers" for under $10.

It is lovely here today. So mild and sunny. A perfect day really.

Have a wonderful week. There is heaps to do. I feel it gets busy leading up to Christmas and even shopping takes more time as there are just more people even in the supermarket.

Look around and see what you could give a makeover for some free home wares or gifts! xxx






15 comments:

  1. WOW Annabel they look great!! What a difference you have made to those pots, amazing what paint can do especially in the hands of someone so talented :)

    Have a beautiful week!

    x

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    1. Thanks Tania! You have a beautiful week too and I hope the weather is kind! xxx

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  2. I just love what you have done to transform your "finds" Annabel! You really have a green thumb - all of your plants always look so lush and beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Kaye. I love a road side find... As for plants I have done a lot of moving and dividing. If something looks sad I move it. And keep up the water that is number one in the warm weather I think. I am loving my bargain hydrangeas they add a real pop of colour! xxx

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  3. You have transformed these pots into something very special. Lovely.

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    1. Thank you Jean. Have a wonderful week. xxx

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  4. Annabel, the pots look absolutely gorgeous. You are very talented indeed. We have so many pots at our place (in hubby's stash) so I should dig some out and make something beautiful out of them. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  5. Just lovely. There are some beautiful serviettes around. My mother in law has been making cards with my kids by utilizing some stunning serviettes. They just glue the chosen picture on some card stock. The same picture from a matching serviette is glued on what will become the greeting card. Then the first picture is glued directly on top of its matching picture with those little card raisers, to give a 3 d effect. Sorry I am terrible at explaining.

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    1. What a good idea! I have most of the pack left form this and I chose the roses as I loved it... so I can do lots of other projects. I think I understand what you mean by a 3 D effect. Thank you for the idea. Your MIL sounds very creative! xxx

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  6. Annabel, everything just looks lovely, as one would expect from you. That serviette method is also wonderful to embellish candles although the method is slightly different, and I'm drooling over another idea using them to decoupage Pointe shoes :)

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    1. Candles! I was thinking about glass votives... but yes it could be candles! I have so many ideas now and not enough time. Thank you Mimi! xxx

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  7. Oh these turned out so lovely! And I like the jars in the post before this one as well. I was just looking at all my mismatched lids. I save jars to use as storage in fridge (if I can see it I generally don't waste it) for leftovers and bits, as well as in my pantry and baking areas and even for snacks and such. I was thinking how much I'd love to have my jars match. Ha! Brilliant!

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  8. Annabel, I thought I had asked you this but can't see my comment here so perhaps I forgot. What happens to the varnish when it rains? Is it waterproof? I was looking for some pretty serviettes today but couldn't find ones with roses but I have the feeling I have some scrapbooking paper which would be suitable that I bought many moons ago. I will have to declutter some drawers I can see :-)

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    1. Hi Nanna Chel I didnt see that question, it might have hit a bird and never made it! Thats what we say when something fails to arrive via the internet. should have mentioned I intended the pot with the serviette images for use inside. I wonder too if the image would fade in the sun? But you could try with waterproof varnish. My outdoor one was just plain ceiling paint which made the pot look clean and fresh but should be fine in the rain etc. I hope that helps. xxx

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  9. I will have to experiment as I have a number of terracotta pots I could paint. I will put one with the serviettes added out in the weather and see how it goes. They are so very pretty.

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