Monday, November 22, 2010

Weekend Wrap-Up! DIY'ed out!

Am linking up once again with Patty's Weekend Wrap Up # 7!!!!

OK, so let's rewind to Saturday morning...I woke up feeling absolutely lousy and icky! Throat was scratchy, eyes were watery, nose was sniffly...yes, the darn pollen had given me allergies again! I was upset cos I had so many things I had planned to do, including going to the theater for 2 movies! But then I figured this was my body's way of saying I needed a break, so I resigned myself to a chilled out weekend, just sipping tea and laying on the couch and reading! Well...obviously I was not thinking too clearly, because in all of my years, I have never been able to successfully "chill out"!

So there I was, book in hand, getting ready to read when my eyes chanced upon my bottles of paint left over from my wooden box DIY project!
Hmmmmmm I thought....what could I do with those paints???? Of course the green paint I had intended for my table runner project(explained below), but the red paint and the black paint and the brown paint....surely I could do something with them? And that precise moment was when my crazed DIY weekend began.....not only did I paint everything unadorned and naked in the house, I decoupaged, I leaf stencilled, I cut, I paste, I ModPodged.....yes! In other words, in one fell swoop, from being Mistress of Misery and Allergies, I became the Duchess and Fiend of DIY's!!!! Nothing was spared.....and it was way more therapeutic than resting in bed!

So here then, are all the poor innocent victims of my rampage. A word of warning - this is a rather long, prose heavy, picture heavy post, so go get a cup of tea or coffee or whatever it is you need to sustain you!

First this poor woman got a paint makeover. She had been laying broken and flesh colored all these years (an gift from my brother-in-law years ago). Last week my husband glued her back together and this week she got some bright clothes painted on! Plus she had no choice. It had to be green, red and black.



Then came this rather plain looking box...

Inspired by Vineeta's decoupaged trays, I cut out a whole lot of artwork pictures from an old ART magazine....
......and turned the box into this




Next came my leaf imprint table runner project....! For those who have not been following, this is what I was aspiring to make. A $86 leaf imprinted table runner from Poppytalkhandmade
I started by collecting a few assorted leaves, and then picked the one with the sawtooth edges.....I also felt it had the strongest veined pattern on the back for a better impression
Then I took some red paint and brushed on some on the back of it
Then I experimented on an old piece of cloth. I laid it down, pressed on it with my palm gently, then removed the leaf....

Not bad huh? Emboldened by this, I then did the same thing on a plain cream colored muslin runner. 



Then after I was done, I washed it, starched it, ironed it and voila! Here it is......

OK, so I'll be the first to admit it is nowhere close to the real thing, but for an hour of afternoon fun, and about 20 rupees/50 cents in paint (I had the runner to begin with)...its not too shabby! I had intended to buy some really expensive beige linen if this came out satisfactory, but I think for the meantime I will stick with this. 

So there you have it.....my crazy DIY weekend! That pretty much took up all my time. Then of course last evening, was the festival of Karthika Deepam for us, the festival we celebrate on the full moon day of the month of Karthigai. So I lit some lamps in and outside the house. 

So needless to say I didn't rest too much, and am dearly paying the price for it today. Still have the insane allergies, but they seem to be leaving me. I really must stop all this DIY'ing and get back to some good designy posts. Am hoping to do that this week! 

20 comments:

Unknown said...

wowieeeeee!!!
That leaf imprint and wooden box ... Nice! Very nice!! Love them both. :)

Anu Gummaraju said...

GORgeous! The box and the runner! Absolutely beautiful :).. And I love the lights on your porch...fairy tale land!

Sanctified Spaces said...

loved the leaf imprint.

Sharon said...

Wow! What a creatibe (intended typo) weekend!!First of all loved what you did to the tray, and second...the leaf thing really works! b'gosh...you really make me want to start my xmas DIYs this minute!

indian yarn said...

kudos kamini

GB said...

LOL the more therapeutic in resting in bed---I SO hear you!!!

Love the runner, am so jealous of your stash of "old art magazines" (wowzie on the tray!) and your dancer lady makes me want to turn up the music and boogey!--we're having another november morning and the fog is thick enough to cut with a knife.......

PreeOccupied said...

Take a bow, K. This is a creative boom. You are so, so inspiring. Your home, art, and your words. Heart your art. Wow, I can rhyme too.

GB said...

Oh and don't stop with the DIY posts---they rock.

Deepa Jagarlapoodi said...

so much of patience..that was a interesting creative project....

Unknown said...

Are we talking about "A" weekend here? You are awesome...love the tray & the runner & the lady with her new clothes...I have a list of DIYs to be tackled and you are such an inspiration I tell you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kamini, i am regular visitor from Uk, well done, not bad for a chilled out weekend!was it more creative than other days; it looks so.anyway may i suggest u something regarding your pollen allergy being a sufferer myself- if you can get some local good quality honey and start taking it, you might build up immunity soon. why local? because its made from the same pollen which trigger allergy. just a suggestion. thanks for a lovely blog and you are a very lovely person as well, take care, jyoti

Sound Horn Please said...

Oh Kamini! I just wait for your next DIY post. Don't ever stop- I LOVE them! That tray is so gorgeous- I think you can give vineeta some competition ;) No flattery intended!

Anonymous said...

Im coming to Hyd to learn all this and more from you.. that is simply amazing!! I totally loved.. loved that tray.. The choice of colours and art work is awesome!! Well done..

And those leaves.. wow.. wow!! You've given me an idea for Christmas..

You braved the allergies to do all this.. wow!! You totally rock.. I've got a lot to learn from the ever so energetic Kamini!! I do!! I'm simply loosing the plot these days.. and havent done anything as per plan.. :-( But I'll get there.. as soon as work and home calm down I guess..

Thanks for linking in to the weekend wrap up.. You totally make my day!! :-)

Shanthi said...

Hey Kamini!!!! I am the luckiest in this whole blogland to first come and see all these wondeful things and ofcourse YOU - the creator. I really wonder the kind of stuff you are made of :-) OMG that tray is out of the world. So is the dancing lady, and is the runner and are the lamps and and and ........

Sudha said...

wow! pretty eventful weekend with so much work done!!!!! :-)

Sumana said...

You have done a lot !! Loving all of them , I hope you continue to do more diys.

Thendral said...

very creative... beautiful too

brinda nilesh said...

simply amazing!loved the doll,the tray and the runner!!
totally inspired...itching to try my hand at decoupage!

Rekha said...

Amazing work Kamini, loved the leaf imprints, you make it sound so easy..

Unknown said...

Wow.I am amazed that you did all that in a weekend.Generally I do one simple thing and pat myself on the back and you have done so many!Truly impressed.Love the decoupaged box and the runner.I am going to try that out very soon.Thanks for the inspiration.