DIY _ tin tea box

This is a sweet vintage look DIY tutorial. The good thing about following a tutorial is that someone has tried it before you and can teach you about which mistakes they made. It took me a few goes to get this right, so you can go ahead and do it well straight away!
You'll need:
_ an empty cookie tin 
_ spray paint in 2 colours
_ a piece of card
_ a colourful piece of rigid paper (I used some tapestry I had at home- I ordered a free sample for another DIY project)
_ scissors
_ tea bags

Step 1. Get any dogs or children out of the way. My curious chihuahua was there the whole time :-p

2. Place some paper down in order not to get paint on your floor. I did all this on the balcony as the smell of the paint isn't very pleasant. Spray the tin on the outside. Let it dry completely (follow times given on spray can). I think it's about 20min for touch dry and several hours for complete dry. You only need to do 1-2 layers of your first colour.

Cut out your shape on a piece of card. I got inspiration from an old vintage tea-pot. Place it on the lid and spray with your second colour.

In order to create a division for the different types of tea, measure the diameter of your cookie tin and cut two strips that are l=the diameter of your tin and h= slightly less than the height of your tin. Cut an incision in the middle of both, half way through.

The incision will allow the two pieces of card to fit into each other.

Write the names of the teas. You'll need to think a little bit in order to write it in the correct place. On the left of one strip and the right of the other, so that when they are put together you'll have the name on both sides.

Place the tea bags in their compartments.

Finished result.

 Now, in order not to make the same mistake as me:
1. Chose the right type of paint! a water based paint will not stick to the tin!
2. Wait! Let the paint dry before doing the next layer. I wasn't patient enough
3. Don't paint the inside of the tin! The spray-paint smells for a long time afterwards and is absorbed by the tea. I had to through the first bunch of tea-bags out and do it again.

Wedding inspiration _ DIY flower girl ballerina tutu

 I found some lovely (and very easy) tutorials on how to make a ballerina tutu on-line. There are many on YouTube, etc.. This is the inspirational photo with the look that I would like to achieve. Sadly I don't remember where I found these photos as I would love to give them the credit.
It's an easily accomplished look as the tutu is really simple to make and you can just put the skirt over a normal singlet or body.

So how do you make this tutu?
As I said earlier, look for "new sew tutu" on-line and I'm sure you'll find much better tutorials!
I chose a high quality soft tulle which is slightly more expensive than normal tulle, but still very affordable. I wanted the material to be soft at touch and not too poofy. I think it creats a beautiful soft feel.
All in all it took me about 1,5 hours to make the skirt once I had the tulle strips prepared and another 1,5h for cutting. So a total of about 3 hours. I got much quicker after a while and I'm sure that if I was to make a second one it wouldn't take me more than 2h.

I used:
* 5m x 1,4m off white/natural tulle cut into 80cm x 15 cm strips. You can even buy rolls of tulle that already have the right width which makes the whole process even quicker and easier.
* an elastic band 1,5cm wide.
* thread
That's all folks!

Start by cutting the elastic band according to the kids waist size. Overlap the elastic band 3cm in order to insure that it will be tight enough and sew them together.

Cut the Tulle into 15cm wide strips. The length should be double the length that you want the skirt + 3cm for the knot. For me I ended up with about 50 strips.

Put the elastic onto something relatively sturdy, such as a bucket, a box, a roll of household tissues...

Fold the Tulle in half and place it in front of the elastic band, then pull the both ends through the loop. Make sure it's not too tight and doesn't crunch up the elastic band.

Repeat 40-50 times until you have a skirt that is as full as you want it.

Architecture doll house

I decided to re-new my doll house. I have lovely porcelain dolls that my grandma hand made! I also have some beautiful wooden furniture that I was givien to by my grandpas syblings when I turned 12. I used to love playing with doll houses when I was a kid and perhaps that was the begining of my architecture career? I also played with Lego, so I'm thinking that these two things combined were good for developing my creativity. This isn't actually a complete doll house but more like a "show room".I started looking at modern furniture for dollhouses this Christmas and realised that they are extremely expensive! The mini models of famous furniture such as the Myran chair, cost the same amount as a full-sized one. So that's when the thought came along that I should make my own mini-furniture. I had already made a Mies Van der Rohe chair for a university model so I knew that it was possible. That chair was in a smaller scale than this room will be but at least I knew it was possible. All the furniture won't be copies of famous furniture. So far I only know I'll make a "Moooi Random light" and a Benjamin Hubert light. There'll be a cement kitchen with a rustic dining table. And maybe a library area in the oposite corner with a bookshelf (have to deside which one in that case). So far so good. I will post another entry later on with the updates!