Kitchen curtains tutorial

Few month ago I refurbished my kitchen, these small curtains finished just recently (number of other things to do combined with laziness).

As a general idea, I applied text that used to be very popular decades ago to be stiched on the fabric and hanged on the kitchen walls. So, first I measured and cut off two pieces of fabric. For the text, used first Fantom pen for fabric (it is one of the most useful things in my craft tools bag). By this pen you can write or draw as with any other, but when acrylic paint (or just water) is applied, it vanishes. So, I wrote text first with this pen and then with fabric pen - black and red.

Why did I started this way? I saw a risk sewing first and then write, as I was not quite sure if I am going to be happy with the result. And sewing takes more time and effort than just writing.

How I sewed these curtains, find out below.

Tutorial - how to sew simple curtians

First, I folded raw edge of the curtain - cca 0,5 cm, and did it twice. Pinned the fold and ironed the edge. 
For the bottom edge, procedure is the same, but this time I first folded raw edge cca 0,5 cm, and then 4 cm.

For the upper edge, decorative band was added. I cut 5 pieces of the band, 8 cm long each. Each piece was pinned on the folded raw edge. After that, I pinned cotton strip and, to make sewing easier, I basted stitch the strip.

Ironed all edges and sew on the machine. Curtains are finished. Hung them instead of cupboard door.

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How to clean and care wooden furniture

Is it just me, I am not sure, but I always feel extra energy in spring and urge to clean, tidy dressers, makeover rooms. With the sunny days, stains and dust is much more visible. Stains on furniture could be very frustrating, particularly if this is our favourite piece. But before I decide to buy something advertised on TV (usually rather expensive and inefficient), I try domestic and more 'green' stuff.

Try some of the recepies below, they really work.

'Green' tips and tricks how to remove stains from wooden furniture

 Remove ugly rings left  after wet glasses or vases

Mix equal amounts of (distilled) vinegar and olive oil, rub it with a soft cloth on the stain. Use another clean, soft cloth to remove excess oil and vinegar and polish with the surface. For leather furniture, use only  vinegar-soaked cloth.

Remove stains left after hot dishes 

Mix equal amounts of tooth paste and baking powder, rub it on the stain, leave few minutes and clean with wet cloth.

Thoroughly cleaning dust

Apple vinegar or beer are excellent for thoroughly cleaning stubborn dirt on furniture. Apply vinegar or beer on woolen cloth and rub the surface.

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Spring is here, garden is waiting for us

It was such a beautiful Sunday, sunny all day, after dark, foggy, wet winter. I  finally started spring activities in my little garden and enjoy blossoms of Lonicera (variety that blossoms since December).

 Although  mornings are still rather cold, I bought geraniums on the market and planted them in pots.

 One of my favourite flowers is Nasturtium. I sown seeds in pot, can't wait to see first leaves coming out. 

This is modest and beautiful plant, and during past few years it spread all part of the garden - I just love it. Those photos were taken last year, during August.

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Furniture makeover 3 - Benefits of Primer

      As the weather is improving, I am making plans for my furniture makeover - always have some pieces waiting to be refurbished. I don't have proper studio for such work, particularly for preparations eg. sanding, so I am waiting for warmer days to work outside, in the yard. Another reason is that I like to paint on daily light, as can better notice imperfections and flaws. 

      In addition to surface preparation, I usually use primer before painting and this post is actually about primer.


Read more about primer after the jump.

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Felted birds

Spring is near, birds are coming back!

                                 

Spring is near (I do hope so, although  snow is forecasted in Zagreb for this week), birds are coming back soon. After black/grey/brown season,  bring some colors in your life.  I had so much fun making these birds and new ideas hot to use them were popping in with each new bird. I made decorations,  brooch, garnish for my purse, key charm, just with little customisation.

Read more in the tutorial: How to make felted birds

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Flower made from egg cartons

There are a lot of discussion on internet whether it is OK to put other people's craft on your own blog or not. I feel sometimes I just need to pay tribute to some authors, this time I can't resist to this work of Jane LaFazio. She made this beautiful flowers from egg cartons and published also a tutorial how to make the flowers.

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Word clouds

Or: How to play with words!

It might be a common knowledge for a lot of people, but somehow I missed the 'word clouds'. Of course, I saw them occasionally, but didn't know how to create them or even the terminology, and then of course, how to find right tools. And, as it often is, I accidentally found the right site. As I love letters and fonts, fell in love with them. It is actually very easy to create clouds and choose different shapes, font types, colors.

The best known is probably Wordle : it is a tool  for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. 
The Tagxedo Creator enables you to create various shapes and there are number of others. 
Read these reviews to find something more about other tools. And try some of them, it is realy fun to play.

On the examples above I tried the same text for all of them, see how different each of them is.

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Traditional wooden toys of Croatia

In today's consumeration world we are used on mass-production, same product found in New York, Zagreb or Tokio. It is my pleasure to show you these beautiful, handmade toys from Croatia, Hrvatsko zagorje (North-West part of our country). You can feel love and passion built in each of them. 
Wooden children’s toys are recognizable traditional products of Hrvatsko zagorje with a long history. Precisely in this area, a peculiar production of toys was developed in the 19th century and it has been preserved in some villages. From very simple reed toys, the assortment widened so that, at times, one hundred and twenty different toys were produced. The method of their production was passed on from generation to generation in some families and has been kept to this day. The peculiarity is that they are handmade by men and mostly painted by women. 

There can never be two completely identical toys since each one is handmade. The material used is soft wood from the area, willow, lime, beech and maple that craftsmen hew after drying and then cut and shape it with the help of wooden or cardboard models. In painting they use eco paint and their base colours are usually red, yellow or blue. They paint the toys with floral and geometrical ornaments. Today, about fifty types of toys are made, ranging from various reeds, tamburitzas, animal toys and objects of common use. In the year 2009 UNESCO  declared them as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Till the end of May, 2013 you can visit the interesting exhibition hold in Ethnographic museum in Zagreb: World of toys. 

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Valentine sugar card

In my believe, it is always better to make cards and gifts by yourself - in that way you show people you do care about them - in the hectic and busy era we live, time is the most precious to give. This card is easy to make, I like to use material I can find at home.

Read this simple tutorial how to make Valentine sugar card.

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