Wednesday, August 1, 2012

CRAFTS: Rescued Garden Bench and Mosaic House Numbers



I admit it. I look at the stuff people put out on their footpaths after they have booked a "hard refuse" collection by their council. Subtly of course. Most of it is stuff that needs to be thrown away after years of service. It also reminds me that I should be chucking some stuff out too. But I'm a bit of a closet hoarder and secretly hate to part with things.

Me being crafty...... makes my brain look at rubbish with a view of giving it "potential".... improving, restoring and giving the item the ability to shine on in another life. Don't show me old wooden furniture. I'll be ordering my long suffering husband to lug it home for me under the cover of darkness in the evening.

That's what happened to this garden bench. It was painted up in the "folk art" style with ivy leaves along the backrest and a huge rose on the seat..... all flaking and peeling and the bench wobbly and unsafe. Again, stupidly I had not taken a photograph so you can't actually see the state it was in. Duh I'm silly sometimes!

So I can only show you an "after picture". After lots of sanding (me)..... and structural repair and reinforcement (thanks hubby).... and three coats of outdoor furniture stain and varnish (me), here is the finished piece:

Not shabby now.

And the seat even has storage under its hinged lid!

I have to admit....that during the sanding process I am cursing myself for my vision of the end product ..... it is hard work and easy to become unmotivated at that stage. But I'm glad I finished it - and I wonder what the people who threw out this bit of rubbish would think of it now!! Lol!


************************


I recently offered to make a mosaic house number for my husband's daughter who demolished and then built a brand now house on the same plot. Unfortunately her house number is "8" on the street and curvy numbers are a bugger to mosaic...... and "8"s  are  *** ALL CURVES!!***

Anyway, I had already offered so it had to be. The step daughter wanted something very plain..... so here it is:

 Dainty and Plain.


Thank goodness I found these wonderful "jelly bean" shaped glass beads...... my solution to "curvy" problems!


Husband hung it up on the house.


And it looks good. Many people have complimented the home owner on it    :-)


Then my sister had a birthday...... and guess what - I decided to mosaic a house number for her. 

You wouldn't read about it......

Her house is NUMBER 8 too!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!


I thought browns and greens would compliment the browns of her house.


I think it compliments the lovely brick pattern really nicely.

She was delighted. I would be too.

Now - NO MORE "8"'s PLEASE!!!!




4 comments:

  1. I'm not much for the ceramics, but I do love to refinish furniture! That little bench is perfectly lovely . . .why don't I find things like that? And yes, I do give a hard look at what is curbside waiting for the haulers!

    Cheers,

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not even an 87 ??? hehehe

    I think the garden bench turned out VERY Well!

    I Like BOTH of your 8's but I must admit that I like the Simplicity of the First one best. It MIGHT be due to my LOVE of all things BLUE.
    BOTH are very eye catching and Eye PLEASING.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Poots!
    I loved your blog and just became a follower!
    I loved the bench, you did a wonderful job! I love benches and had never seen one like that! SO great when we find unique pieces... The old owner did not have your vision... LOL!
    I also LOVED the mosaic house numbers!!!HAHAHAHAAHAH! Sorry for the 8's but in Vancouver it is considered a very lucky number by the chinese community. Apparently houses even cost more if they have the number 8 on them... not sure if this is true...
    I have been looking for house numbers for my house, which are 721
    If you have the patience, please write a tutorial. Hugs,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Claudine,

      It's lovely to have you - I enjoyed reading your blog very much! I promise to write up the process for the mosaics...... but you need to have a few tools and glues, grouts and additives. I find grouting the worst..... very difficult to get it perfect and persistence pays! But watch this space -I'll keep your request in mind and try to write a tutorial soon.

      Poots xxx

      Delete