Tips for Style on a Budget-Guest Blogger

Ideas!

The ideas below come from Greg Kinsella of London's Chelsea Harbor. He is guest posting on this blog today. What Greg offers us below are ideas that are creative, inexpensive to complete and can be done at home.

I especially like the use of doilies for the "Chabby Shic" style of decor and the idea for all those wine corks that I've been collecting for years. Now I know what I can do with them!! Also, take a look at the use of Indian saris on the bottom. I personally love this idea.

Thrifty Style: 5 Tips for Style on a Budget

Decorating on a budget can be lots of fun since it challenges you to adapt random materials that you can find for cheap into cool items that radiate personality. Here are a few ideas for turning often discarded items into treasures:

1) Sand Candles

Make the most of old candle stubs by melting them and making sand candles. Press a glass or vase into a damp bucket of sand to make the right shape. Embed some crystals or sea shells around the edges of the sand mold and pat it down so the sides are firm. Then pour the melted wax into mold and make wicks out of birthday candles. When it is cooled and firm, dig around the candle and remove it. Gently and evenly wipe some of sand off, but not too much. Use a hair dryer -- or blow torch -- to heat up the outside shell of the sand so the wax penetrates and glues the sand together.

2) Old Aquariums and Fishbowls

Just because a glass aquarium has a crack in it is no reason to put it out to pasture. Plant a terrarium using your favorite herbs and set it up near a window. Create your own frame for the front of the aquarium to disguise its original aluminum framework. For a great bookshelf light, fill a fishbowl with white Christmas lights and crystals.

3) Wine Cork Mats

Put those wine corks to good use to make your own a bath mat, kitchen rug or even a huge area rug if you have enough corks. Simply split the corks in half lengthways and design a layout using the different shades for your pattern. Use a hot glue gun to paste the corks onto a single piece of non-stick shelf liner that measures the size of the area you want to cover. That's it, you now have a new, cool mat that absorbs moisture and muffles sounds.

4) Lace Doilies

Turn old lace doilies into decorative accent pieces with a little imagination. Cover a plain white lamp shade with layers of overlapping doilies to create a romantic scalloped effect. Make a chain of doilies and hang them from the ends of the curtain rods to soften up a window's straight lines. Glue them onto the glass of ceiling light fixtures to give the room a soft, dappled light.

5) Saris

Indian saris are made of exquisite yet durable materials woven into single long pieces that can be used for many decorating concepts. Saris hung across the ceiling in a bedroom can create a harem motif. For a special touch, hang strings of white Christmas lights inside of the saris for a striking ambient light source.

Guest post by: London interior designer Greg Kinsella

01 02 12

More Effusion Lamp Wick Info

The New Platinum Wick

I'm taking some time off this summer to finish up a couple of projects. I do have some information to share with my readers. The info below is about the new wicks for the effusion lamps.


I just received this information for http://www.stonewick.com
This pertains to the new platinum wick for all you effusion lamp lovers!

Most problems that have been reported have been caused by one of 4 reasons. The first thing to make sure is that the catalytic screen is not touching the top of the wick, it should be at least 1/8th of an inch from the top.

Make sure you are only trying to heat up the screen that is going around the wick, you do not want or need a flame of any sort to come from the wick.

I use a jet flame or wind resistant lighter to light the wick. It should only take 10 to 15 seconds to heat the screen. After you see the screen start to glow that should be all you need.

My lamp will burn all day if I let it. If it is placed in front of a fan or under one it will eventually go out.

I have seen a few brands of fuel work for a while but then clog up the cloth part of the wick. The only reason we can see for this is that they put too much fragrance in the fuel because most effusion lamp wicks burn through a lot of fragrance just to get the aroma in the air.

If you are still having problems with the wick please contact us thru the website at Stonewick.com and we will be glad to assist you anyway we can.

We have our own fuel coming out this fall as well as a new wick that has two parts. The top part is the catalytic screen assembly and the other is a replaceable cotton wick.


Thanks to Stonewick for this info!

Christy

01 02 12

More Cactus Pots and a Goodwill find

I worked on a couple of pots for my cactus collection last week. I'm up to about 12 now. Just a few more to paint and I'll be ready to find a spot to keep them.

A few weeks ago I went over to the local thrift store to check out some things. I found this odd candle holder there-$2.50. Most of the paint had worn off so I figured I could take it home and touch it up.

If you closely below you can see where there is a small place to put a tea candle.

I decided to use oil paint for this project. Acrylics seems to be just a little too bright for this job. I knew that the oils would give a more muted, antique look.

Not really the greatest of photos, but you can see that the oil paints worked the way I wanted them to. The oils took 4 days to dry and then I sprayed the whole thing with a clear coat to protect it. I put it outside on the porch where a small tea candle can be placed on it. It's actually pretty cute.

$2.50-you can't beat it!

Christy

01 02 12