Thursday, October 14, 2010

Drum roll please...my DIY project is done...Tada!


So its finally done! My DIY project I was working on. For those who missed what I was trying to do....you can read about it here.
So once I rescued the cut branches from my hyper pooch, I cut the broader end off for the tray. I did not do too much here....just sanded and scraped it a bit to even out the rough edges....I wanted it to have the rough hewn rustic look. This is what I was trying to make....a fruit/bread platter

For the narrow end I did the same and then enlisted my husband's help to gouge out the holes for the tea lights with his handy dandy drill's attachment. Once that was done I cleaned out the holes and smoothed them out with a spoon. Then because the branch was still a bit green, I gave it a coat of varnish with burnt umber oil paint and linseed oil. Then I sprayed it with a polyurethane fixative spray to seal the paint. Then a bit of adjusting and fine tuning to make sure it sat well, and some paint touch ups. This was my inspiration.....
So here is how they turned out......I tried to imitate the staging as much as possible....grapes, bottle of wine etc, a bit hokey I know....but it was fun! See for yourself and tell me what you think......
The fruit platter




The tea light holder




All feedback, good and bad will be appreciated! Is there anything I could have done differently?

20 comments:

vai said...

perfect!!! I am going to ask my dad to save all the branches until my next visit :)

My Dream Canvas said...

OMG, this is super fabulous. I am very very impressed!

Shanthi said...

WOW!!! Cool very Cool . Brought bsck memories of my chldhood where we lighted diyas placed on such tree elements tied with ropes to pillars in different rows. Diwali is just around the corner :-)

The Fruit tray is so rustic and natural , even better than Viva Terra. Photographs are just as great.

GB said...

This is great Kamini....how did you get it to balance (the tea light holder) and the fruit tray looks awesome. My comment is mainly HOW? how did you dig out the holes for the tea lights???

Lovely, rustic and it fits so well on your dining table (the length). Very impressed!!

Laura said...

Cool!! :)

PreeOccupied said...

How unique is that! Its beautiful. Five stars. The presentation is awesome, rustic, earthy and very chic.

rk said...

I think you did a great job. I would never have thought of using coconut palm for this (not that I can get one easily in US lol!) One small difference I noticed is that theirs is quite concave like a bowl. Not a criticism but an observation. Wonderful that you made something just by being inspired by it online!!!

Sound Horn Please said...

Wow! Ooodles of talent Kamini- they look gorgeous. I'm yearning for the tealight holder now. Btw the paintings I spy in the dining room are yours? Lovely!

Kamini said...

Thanks all, I'm encouraged!
GB - First I flattened the two ends by slicing off a small chunk, then I had to keep shaving off small slices of wood from the broad end to make it sit right. Maybe I should have shown that in a picture? And then there was this attachment my husband had....a circular disc with sawtooth edges, about an inch wide,which basically he drilled an inch deep with, and then I had to yank out the piece. Then I just had to d some clean up work cos the branch is pretty fibrous!
Rk - you are right, but thats how the branch is shaped, so I had to modify! The grapes kept rolling off first....
Soundhorn - 3 of the paintings are mine, not the small one next to the black and white...thats a Gaugin print!

The Ketchup Girl said...

these are incredible! so impressive. :)

Unknown said...

very nice and unique, Kamini

Unknown said...

awesome! awesome! awesome! you totally deserve the drum roll!

Bhargavi said...

what an ingenious idea!! lovely stuff!

vaidhehi said...

this is really awesome..original and creative!love the arrangement of custard apples in the bowl!makes me want to try something like this sometime too..

Sruthi said...

nicely done :),gud job!!

Unknown said...

Great idea with the fallen coconut tree(?)piece....any ideas for using the long, lovely rattly seed-pods from the gul-mohar tree?....they r beautiful, with a lovely coffee brown colour....am dying to use them somewhere!

indian yarn said...

yay for kamini

kantha : tie these seeds pods in a bunch and hang them. Use these as groupings with mirrors

GB said...

Kamini, I thought you might have used that drill attachment. And that stuff is really fibrous, so I was curious about the process.... :)

It looks fabulous!

Rekha said...

Awesome idea Kamini, the creations look so rustic and the thrill of doing up things with your own things cannot be matched to store bought stuff.

Anonymous said...

Awesome idea!! Well done.. those pics look amazing!!