My DIY test tube vase

I stained my test tube vase base at the weekend. This piece of wood required a lot of sanding but I love the finished look with the visible wood grain. I used Liberon Tint and Wax in Dark oak. It goes on so easily with a sponge brush and doesn't have a horrible smell either. I've used it before when restoring my singer sewing table. Now all I need is someone to buy me some flowers to fill the vases with!

After the success of my crochet baby blankets my understanding of how crochet works has led me to experiment. As I have already mastered circles I wanted to see what other shapes I could do. Can you guess what I'm going to make out of these triangular shapes? As I still don't understand crochet patterns this was something I made up through playing around.

Test Tube Vase

This is currently work in progress but thought I would share what I've been up to today. I bought a couple of test tubes at a car boot sale last week and I wanted to make a base so I could use them as stem vases. 
I was invited round to my sisters for dinner today and my brother in-law has a pillar drill he said I could have a play with. So, will a little assistance from him setting it up I was able to drill two holes into a piece of scrap wood. I decided to have the test tubes at varying heights so drilled the holes at varying depths. I then spent the next hour sanding the wood so I have a nice smooth surface which I'm later going to stain. 

My airplant hanging feature

I was given some lovely tea-light holders for my birthday from a friend whom knew I am a little obsessed with terrariums. She thought these would be great for making hanging terrariums. I had seen pictures of some very similar (See bellow) on other people's blog and a few on Etsy so knew what she was thinking. 

However, I feel I have explored and experimented with succulents enough in my current terrariums and felt it was time to try something different. I remember my parents having a couple of airplants when I was younger, I was alway intrigued as to how they survived with no soil so thought these would be perfect. My dad even kept one in his car for a while! 


So this was the plan, I wanted to have my new glass orbs in my bathroom with airplants in them, after a little googling I found a UK based company that specialised in airplants called what else but Just airplants. There was quite a selection on offer so I dropped them an email to ask which they thought would be suitable in a bathroom and they got straight back to me with a list of recommendations. My lovely new airplants have now been in my bathroom for a couple of weeks now and seem to be quite happy. I've only watered them by spraying them a couple of times since I've had them as they seem to get a slight steam bath every time I have a shower. Very low maintenance, I thinking this could be some Christmas presents sorted. 

How too vintage floating shelf

I have been loving all the floating shelves that I've seen around in the interior blog-o-sphere recently but haven't found any that go with the granny chic (aka vintage charm) look I have going on in my living room. So, I thought I would have a go at making something. I started off with an old wooden box I picked up from a car boot sale for £2, bargain! I'm not sure what it was used for previously but I know my brother in law used something similar to store tools in.

I gave it a quick wipe down and I was good to go. I used two medium mirror plates and four screws that were long enough to go into the frame of the box securely, about an inch deep. These are to go on the each end of the box.

I then measured to the middle of the box sides and placed the mirror plates so I could mark where the screws would go. I put the mirror plates aside and then used a bradel to start off the holes to make it easier when screwing in the screws.

Once I made the guide holes I placed the mirror plates back and I was then ready to screw the plates on using a screwdriver.

If you have done this then congratulations you have just made a floating shelf. Now you are then ready to fix your new floating shelf to the wall. You may want a friend to help with this part. As I wanted my shelf to be centred to a picture I already had hanging I measured the centre of the picture and aligned the shelf. I check with a spirt level to see if it was straight and marked a couple of guide holes where I wanted to drill into the wall. You will need two screws and two raw plugs suitable for the screws and make sure you have the right sized masonry drill bit. It makes all the difference! However if you are attaching the shelf to a plasterboard wall make sure you have plasterboard fixings. 

Once I drilled the first hole, I put in the first raw plug and attached the shelf loosely so I could check that the other guide hole was in the right place and the shelf was not at an angle. I drilled the second hole attached the other side of the shelf to the wall and I was done. A very cheap project and a great way to display your treasures. Mine currently holds a little wooden village I used to play with when I was a child.