gingerandgeorge

Project Restyle :: Clock

I found this clock in my local charity shop a few weeks ago. It was pretty grisly to look at, not in the greatest condition (faded face, peeling varnish) and cheap as you like. In other words, the perfect restyle candidate. 

The only thing I was really concerned about was how easy it would be to take apart. Thankfully, it turned out to be a breeze - the face lifted away so easily that I actually ended up having to apply a little glue at the edges to hold it back in place once the project was finished.

With the glass carefully set aside, I unscrewed the clock mechanism (if you're doing something similar, be sure to lay out the pieces in the order you need to replace them later on. Take it from someone who hasn't always done this in the past...) and then peeled off the decorative cardboard face. 

I then rough-sanded the peeling varnish, before going back over the whole of the wooden clock surround with a finer grade of sandpaper, ready to spray on 3-4 coats of gloss-finish paint. 

Once that was dry, I traced around the original cardboard clock face onto some patterned paper, cut it out and adhered to the centre of the clock. You could obviously add numbers at this point, but a busy print like this looked better without.

The hands and clock movement screwed back into place really easily, and with just a small amount of glue to hold the edges of the glass in place . . . one restyled clock, ready to hang and remind me just how late I very probably am.

One quick tip: if, like me, spray paint is something you struggle to get hold of, particularly in a good range of colours, it's worth trying either the London Graphic Centre or (a little less obviously) your local branch of Halfords. I wouldn't necessarily recommend using their car paints on paper projects, but for more solid pieces, like the clock here, they give a really good, tough finish and are relatively inexpensive - around £6 for quite a big can.

And if it's a clock like my thrift-store find you're after, there's currently one here on eBay. Let's just assume the bit where it says 'very rare' is a case of fancy seller-exaggeration, rather than an indication I've just wrecked a priceless heirloom with a can of green spray paint, ok?

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Season to season

The loveliest spot, at just about any time of year (although I'm so very glad to see Spring). 

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Clock watching

So, we need a new clock for the kitchen wall, chez Ginger+George. The current incumbent is a very dull, chrome affair bought a few years ago from Next Home. At the time, we were going with the whole keep-it-neutral-because-we-want-to-sell-the-flat-soon thing, but now the flat is sold, and the kitchen in our new-ish house deserves something far more interesting. The trouble is, I'm super-fussy when it comes to clocks. The ones I like never seem to end up being very practical, and the ones which are practical, I don't seem to like. 

As a shameful for-instance, we have four alarm clocks in our bedroom, only two of which work as actual alarms. One of those two lives in a drawer because it's so ugly (but is loud enough, even from there, to wake the dead. Mr P, sadly, sleeps more soundly than your average corpse, but still...). The other is equally unattractive and so sits hidden from immediate view. The remaining pair, which are very pretty but mostly useless, perch together on my bedside table, and most mornings, I end up using my iPod to tell the time.

You see? Hopeless.

What I really want for the kitchen is something old; mid-century would be perfect in our 1950s house. Whether or not I can have what I want depends partly on how easy it'll be to switch the wiring that comes as part and parcel of most vintage clocks for a safer and more aesthetically pleasing battery operated mechanism. While I'm figuring that part out, though, it surely doesn't do any harm to window-shop and daydream a little . . .

[The Fancy Lamb]

 

[Attys Vintage]

 

[Silk Creek Gallery] 

 

[Johnny Vintage]

 

[Kelley Street Vintage]

 

It's a tough call, but I think the square green and round yellow ones are my favourites just now. How about you?

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Thrifted and gifted

Ever since ye olde blog had its mini-relaunch earlier in the year, I've been considering adding another series-slash-regular-feature to the list.

Ok, so everyone who's anyone (and just as many who aren't) is jumping on the thrifted and vintage bandwagon just now, but not without good reason. Buying secondhand makes sense financially, environmentally and aesthetically - pretty much the holy trinity in lifestyle terms. So, dammit, I'm joining in. For the sake of sanity, both mine and yours, I've held off officialising things - no fancy-pants title, or specific day of the week for my thrifted finds and vintage-y treasures, just pretty pictures once a week or so, and maybe even a few 'look what I did to make it even better' tips or tutorials along the way. Sound good?

I was spurred into getting on with the idea by this lovely:

Not only is it vintage, but it was also a present - a surprise present, even better, from my la-la-lovely friend, Gabrielle. She has quite the amazing collection of antique and thrifted teacups, and I'm so happy this one has come to live with me. I may not be a tea or coffee drinker, but I see no reason why that should stop me enjoying fancy chinaware, and drinking plain old water out of it if I'm in the mood. I even filled it up with yoghurt and garden raspberries this morning, like a tiny bowl. Not especially sophisticated, but better than a flimsy old plastic pot any day.  

Sadly, not all of my Adventures in Thrifting will involve such generosity, and many are likely to head off into the land of the super-kitsch, rather than stumbling on proper beauty like this. But who knows? As anyone who regularly visits junk shops or thrift stores knows, it's very much a case of waiting to see what turns up on the day.

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Paper tales

I feel a little like I might have over-hyped these by now, and you're inevitably going to wonder what all the fuss was about, but please say hello to my little troupe of vintage wallpapers.

 
Discovered and donated to the cause by my lovely dad, I think they originally belonged to my grandparents. My grandma in particular was a keen (if not overly capable) fan of the DIY and I remember most of her cupboards and shelves being wallpapered when I was growing up. The two below are my favourites, and I've already used just a tiny bit of the green print in a project I'm hoping to blog about next week. 

As I think I mentioned before, plans are also afoot to share a couple of wallpaper-inspired projects and printables with you over the next few weeks. I think I'd feel mean keeping such kitschy goodness all to myself. If you've seen any clever wallpaper tricks around the internet or, even better, have any vintage pieces yourself, I'd love to hear about them.  

In the meantime, I'm off to add my pictures to Julie's Chasing Patterns group over on Flickr. If you've not quite had your fill of fancy vintage or pretty prints for the day, it's well worth a visit. 

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Etsyness

A little clue as to what's been occupying the Etsy part of my brain over the last few days.

 

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There's some tough competition out there. 

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A life aquatic

Today has mostly looked like this.

Which would seem to be a good thing for frogs. 

Meanwhile, we non-amphibians have been busy indoors.

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Hus+Hem

If you’d have told me back when I started this whole blogging business that, one day, I’d be sitting down to wax lyrical about a shop in my tiny home-town, I’d have laughed at you, scoffed, and then laughed some more. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the place where I grew up – quite the opposite – but it’s hardly a shopping mecca. Small, sleepy and determinedly rural, the high street mainly consists of pubs, estate agents, banks and places to buy tourist souvenirs.

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The tourists come because it’s old and pretty; they don’t generally show up for the retail experience. But there’s a chance, on a small scale at least, that might be about to change. The last time I went back to visit my family, I ended up in one of the loveliest shops I’ve ever visited. Packed to the white-painted rafters with Scandinavian designed and inspired goods, it was the kind of shop I’d be thrilled to stumble upon here in London, let alone back in quiet little Ledbury.

The even happier news, for those of us who don’t live nearby (and, with the exception of my sister and her sweet friend Yvette, I’m guessing that’s you, me and very nearly everybody here), is that you can now shop at Hus+Hem online. They sell all sorts of deliciousness, from furniture and homewares to fabric, books and paper goods.

 

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See what I mean? Completely beautiful. That fruit cushion in particular has my heart. Whether it’ll also have my hard-earned savings when I go down to visit in a couple of weeks remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted.

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I've been making . . . (Part Two)

It’s very much been a month of two halves here – making things and writing outdoors (hurrah for sunshine and pretty gardens), then heading back indoors to edit photos and do computery stuff. It would be nice to think there’s an ingenious-but-pale scientist somewhere out there, busily inventing a way to make laptops more sunshine-compatible, but until then, please go right ahead and enjoy my hard work, while I slap on another layer of tinted moisturiser so my vampire skin doesn’t frighten small children.

The grocery bag above, decorated with Little Miss Radish-me, and the windmill picture below were both projects from our weekend-long blog party over at The Copy+Paste Project back in May. (Lots more goodness to catch up with there if you didn't see it at the time.)

Also in May, a certain someone turned . . . well, let's just say a few years older than his pretty face might suggest. In an effort to decorate with something frugal but fabulous, I took my scissors to a piece of gift-wrap and created the banner below. You could very easily do the same by printing off alphabet letters in a selection of fancy fonts and colours, cutting around them, and folding the top edges over a length of string or ribbon.
  

And then, lastly for now, a little rabbit. It's a finger puppet, but I'm not going to say much more, as plans are afoot involving a few more of them. I do like those round pink cheeks, though.

 
Another catch-up post coming your way in a day or two. Prepare to marvel at the hole-y goodness of my crochet progress. 

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Something wicked this way comes

It really isn't good form to be late to your own party, is it? The Halloween tricksters have obviously been out in force this morning, but I'm here at last and very happy to let you know that this is, indeed, a celebration of all things ghostly, ghoulish, wicked and wonderful. A few weeks ago, Julie and I decided it might be fun to organise a Copy+Paste Project Halloween blog party and, along with a few of our spookiest chums, we've got together to share plenty of tricks, tutorials, pretty projects and an especially special treat. 

For my 'trick', I’ve been inspired by the darkly resourceful Violet Baudelaire, although I think Morticia Addams would probably approve, too. Tissue paper flowers might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to Halloween, but these dahlia-like blooms are big, bold and look amazing in shades of deepest, darkest black. Just in case you’re reading this after the event, though, don’t be put off – the flowers and project ideas below can easily be adapted to work at other times of year which, by strange coincidence, is a trait shared by many of the projects in our Copy+Paste Christmas workshop.

So, to make a basic flower, you start by cutting two strips of tissue paper, each around 50cm long and 12-15cm wide. (I used plain black tissue for the bouquet project and a metallic, bronze-black colour for the garland.) With the sheets layered one on top of the other, concertina-fold them along the full length.

 Snip a length of jewellery wire and wrap it around the centre of your folded tissue. Twist the wire ends together to hold in place. To create the spiky, dahlia effect, snip each end of the tissue strip into a point.

 Now you can start working your flower into shape. Starting at one edge of the strip, pull the upper part of each fold upwards, and the lower part downwards. Pull gently but firmly, making your way along the strip in order.

 Repeat on the other side of the strip, to create a complete flower-head.

 You might be able to see in the image above that a little of the folded wire is still visible in the centre of the flower. You can either leave this as it is or cover it up – I added buttons to the metallic flowers and, for the matt black set, spread glue in the centre before sprinkling (black) glitter on top.

 Once both groups of flowers were assembled, I set about putting them to use. The black group was simplest. With their green wire stems twisted loosely together, I tied seven into a small posy using a length of velvet ribbon.

 These are my Violet set and would, I think, be a wonderful finishing touch to any ghoulish-but-girly Halloween costume. Think dark-coloured frock and stripy tights, or maybe even a Corpse Bride-style wedding dress. If you’re not the dressing-up type, you could try sinking them into a vase or jam jar instead, either as part of a larger Halloween display, or on their own as a simple seasonal decoration.

The metallic flowers, I used to create a simple garland that I’m planning to string above my fireplace. If you want to try something similar, snip your fabric into small rectangles (I used a medium-weight suiting fabric). Fold over a hem along one short edge and fix in place to create a narrow channel along the top of your rectangle. You can either stitch or stick this down – for speed, I ironed on a thin strip of fusible webbing.

 

To decorate the bottom edge, cut a strip of lace and, again, stitch or glue into place.

 Add a flower by stitching a button over the centre, sewing through both the fabric and the tissue paper to secure.

 Make as many of these simple flags as you like, and then thread a length of ribbon or trim through the channel in each one to join them together.

 Despite the fact the above projects are officially my ‘trick’, they’re really not all that tricky. If you want to make them work for other holidays, it’s as simple as changing up the colours – fold a set of red flowers to make Christmas poinsettias, glue a selection of pastel shades round a polystyrene form to create a pretty wreath for spring, or just make a single bloom to decorate the front of a birthday card.

What with this being a party, I'm now sending you off to mingle with some particularly splendid guests. It's always easier when you’ve been properly introduced, so here you go with a quick run-down of the Halloween heroines who've pitched-in to the party and have both a trick and a treat waiting for you on their blogs: 

First up are a couple of people who've already signed-up to '12 Days' and are getting to know each other on our class blog. 

Gabrielle (sign-up number one!) is our environmentally-friendly friend and has a pretty stamped something for you at The Green Gal, inspired by this equally-amazing leafy project she made a few weeks ago. 

Sarah, meanwhile, has admirably found time to treat you between juggling the roles of '12 Days' student and  'student with a dissertation to write'.

Art-journalling, book-loving Kelly, was also an early sign-up. Pop in to see what she's prepared for you here. 

And then there's Sarah LP who, over at Paper Obsession, has been playing along with the pre-class quiz we set this week as well as creating a little Halloween goodness for you to visit. 

Next, head on over to see what Anne Lawrence found time to prepare for us in between teaching students of her own. 

Ashley Watts is planning to spend November up to her ears in words - around 50,000 of them, in fact! She's taking part in NaNoWriMo (that's National Novel Writing Month, for the uninitiated), but before that kicks off, she's scribbled down a little spooky something for us.  

And then we have an especially well-dressed pair who've recently taken to trend-spotting in their 'Fashion Forward' posts.  Katherine's take on trick or treating is at Paper Pocket, and Clair Rigby's got a little fashion-inspired project to share with you in more ways than one. Not only has she made a pretty Halloween-ish project, she's also offering you the chance to win it over at Obstinate Pursuit.

Sharmaine Kruijver shares her take on Halloween couture in a fabulous layout over here. 

Last but not least, there’s self-proclaimed 'art-tart', Michelle Jackson Mogford. Last Halloween, ex-theatre designer, Michelle, transformed an old church into a witch's castle for a local fundraiser so it’s probably safe to say she'll have something special for us!

And just on the off-chance all of that doesn't sound tempting enough, I'll leave you with a few sneaky peeks at their amazing work. Whatever you're up to this weekend, have a very happy Halloween.