Kitchen shelves

Hi all,

I thought I would show you the shelves I made for my kitchen roombox.  I made the brackets from the remainder of the plastic wrought iron piece I used as the worktop support.  They have been painted with black enamel paint and then dry brushed with gold plaid paint. 

The shelves have been painted with oak stain varnish so they are a similar colour to the worktop.

Kitchen roombox update

Hi all,

This afternoon I have done some more work on my kitchen roombox. 
I made some little handles for the cupboard simply by twisting some wire and used a finding to cover the hole where I pushed them into the doors.  I am really pleased with how they have turned out...

Then I painted a sandstone wash on the walls to make it look more like stone, then grubbied it up a little bit in places that would get a lot of wear or little cleaning using some green and brown. 
I put a dirty wash between the floor tiles but that made them look dull so I painted them with a coat of matt varnish which has brought out their colour. They do not look as shiny in real life as in the photo below (this is because of the flash on the camera). 

Finally I added my basin.  It is a cut down lid from a face wash bottle which has some peel off strips stuck on and has been painted with black enamel paint and then dry brushed with gold plaid to make it look like tarnished copper. 

I also put the finishing touches to 2 pieces I think I will use in the room box.

The first is a plate rack.  It is made from lollipop sticks and cocktail sticks and card.

and the second is a notice board.  This is made from lollipop sticks, card, fabric, embroidery floss and peel offs:

I hope you enjoyed looking at my project so far.  I will keep you updated with it as it progresses further.

Natalie

Kitchen Room Box Progress Report

Hi all,

This afternoon I have been working on my kitchen room box.  Last time I showed it to you it looked like this:

I have been quite busy as you can see from the picture below. 

Unfortunately the box warped a bit as it dried which made things more difficult as all my measurements were out but as you can see I have added a kitchen worktop and mini shelf with taps. My basin is still in progress.

Plus I have added the cupboard on the left.  This is made from a dresser which was 3 cupboards wide.  I dismantled it and then put it back together.  I would not recommend this. To say it was a nightmare is an understatement! Consequently only the middle 2 cupboards actually open. The wrought iron under the worktop is made from some plastic wrought iron pieces cut to size.  There were quite a few gaps around my cupboard so I filled it in with papier mache, will have to wait for that to dry before I can do any more but will keep you all updated. 

50 Followers - Draw Results

Thanks to everyone who left me such nice comments and entered the surprise draw. 

This morning as promised I put all the entries into a bowl and pulled out the winner

Congratulations to My Wee Life.  I hope you like the surprises in the picture below.......

..........a little handbag, 2 opening boxes and my newest make a little shabby chic coat rack picture. 

My Wee Life - Please send me your address so I can post you your prizes. 

The Big Five O

Hi all,
        I am so pleased that I have reached the grand total of 50 followers. So as a HUGE THANK YOU for all the encouraging comments I want to offer you all the chance to win a surprise mini present made by me. 

To enter the draw you must be a follower of my blog and you must leave a comment on this post.  I will choose a name at random on Sunday and post the winners name. 

Good Luck!

Casting Minis - Tutorial

Hi all,

        whilst I have been waiting for my current project to dry I have been playing around trying out lots of different things from my ideas book.  I thought I would share with you a really easy and quick way of casting pieces.

You will need some plasticine, something to cast and some casting powder.
I used the casting powder shown below.  In my opinion it is much better than plaster of paris as it mixes really well and does not get air bubbles.  Plus it seems more robust. 

The item I am casting was part of a child's toy that I cut up to use. 

First you need to make the plasticine pliable, but not so it goes very soft.  You want to be able to push your item into it and then pull it out without it being deformed.  

Push your item in the plasticine, you might need to push the plasticine against the edges of the item so there are no gaps.  Then remove the item from the plasticine leaving behind a mould.

Next mix the casting material so it is the consistency of double cream.  Then pour it into the mould.

Give the mould a wiggle and the surface of the casting material should level out.  Leave to dry thoroughly. 

Remove the plasticine from the cast. 

Finally clean up your cast using a craft knife and fine sand paper to remove extra bits and level off the base if required.   If you find your plasticine has stained it slightly you can remove this using some nail polish remover. 

This is my finished casting.  It can now be painted or decorated as required.  I will show you what I do with mine when I decide how to decorate it. 

Kitchen Room Box Project so far....

Hi all,  I thought I'd share with you my latest project.  I was inspired by a programme called Le Salvager.  Its about a man called Rico Daniels who makes furniture from what some people would call junk and reclaimed pieces of wood.  He made a simple french style kitchen including worktop, sink, shelves and cupboard.  I have looked for a picture online but cant find one. 

I started with some foam board cut to size.  Its very easy to cut with a metal ruler and craft knife.

The overall size of my box is 25cm high x 28cm wide.  I stuck all the pieces together with PVA glue,pinning them in place until they dried. I use a double thickness for the sides as it gives the impression of walls.

I added a support for my worktop.  Then I used papier mache and covered the inside and outside sides and top.

I left it to dry .....a bit...... then yesterday I added the terracotta floor and the splash back made from DAS air dry clay.  I made a template using graph paper, drawing on the tiles.  Then I cut around this on some rolled out clay and marked the corners of the tiles with a pin so I could mark the edges of the tiles on the clay. The designs on the tiles are made using a stamp. 

It needs to dry thoroughly before I can do anything else to it. I want to age the tiles with a bit of sanding.  There will be a worktop on the right hand side with a sink and taps.   Above it there will be a shelf or 2.  On the left there will be a larder cupboard with shuttered doors built into the recess.  I have been making this from an old dresser I took apart.  


I will continue to share this project with you as it progresses but I hope you like it so far.