Great weather and a great group is really all you need. We had a blast, made our lampshades and a fiew friends. What a lovely day and a great workshop.
We had a great time last Sunday making hanging gardens with you guys. It seemed to be a great time for it too - it was just warm enough to sit outside. The group that attended today was brilliant, everybody managed to make their own unique pieces.
We started off practicing making the nets in which the gardens ‘hang’ – this is probably the hardest part. When everybody had that figured out we had lots of stuff to recuperate into hanging gardens; empty bottles from the café, old pots and even a coconut. Here are the pictures of the day!
Wood looks best when it's old and stained, we wish everything had this look. Fortunately, you can make your non-vintage-looking wooden things look this way using kitchen appliances only. The process isn’t easy, so there is enough reason to come to our workshop this Sunday. That said I will give an explication on how to do it!
What do you need? - Used coffee grounds - Steel wool - Vinegar - Glass container with a lid - Sandpaper - Something you want to give the vintage wooden look! 1. A day before you start, put 1 part used coffee grounds and 1 part vinegar into a glass container. Also put a bit of steel wool in it, you will use the steel wool to put the coffee and vinegar mixture on to the wood. The steel wool needs to soak in the mixture overnight, with the glass container sealed off with its lid! 2. Start by sandpapering the thing you want to give the vintage wooden look. On Sunday we will use wooden photo frames, but it could be anything made from wood, going from a toothpick to a closet. Sandpaper it gooooood – the wood needs to be able to soak in the mixture you’ve made when you put it on ere.
3. Take the steel wool out of the glass container and start rubbing the mixture of coffee grounds and vinegar on to it. It will look like you are just making the wood wet, but not like you are changing the color of the wood at all. Be patient, all will be okay. If you are really worried, take some coffee grounds from the bottom of your glass container and rub that onto the wood.
4. Wait until its dry. We know this is difficult, but we are in this together.
5. When the wood is dry, put on a second layer. It will still look lighter than it will be when its completely dry, but you just have to believe in the outcome.
6. SUCCES! You have successfully stained your wood!
Last Sunday we had our first workshop of 2014 and it was really nice to see so many of you there. We had such a nice time.
In a previous post we already talked about other persons who also do interesting things in the DIY sector. This time we want to draw your attention to the Trash Deluxe Upcycling Festival that is being held on the 26th of January at OPEK. At the festival you can take workshops, browse at the fair, look at the expo with the works of different artists or get your old stuff fixed at the Repair Café.
For more information, check the Website! http://www.reused.be/trash-deluxe.html
For now, have a happy weekend and hopefully we will see you all at our workshop on Sunday the 19th.