Personalized Kid's Pillow

A quick upgrade to an old Ikea pillow. 

I wanted to try textile paint ; knowing well my not so super steady paint brush holding skills and the hand writing of a 6 y/o I still gave it a try:) 

I tried my best to paint as neat as possible but with someone telling you to cut a mango for them mid way you get a crooked looking 'y'.

I did use a font as my guide.

Now I know why I was dropped in school to take part in a calligraphy competition :p I always thought that the teacher hated me.

Also, would like to share these lines which I found to be true from Nate Berkus.

Lemon Garbage Odour Absorbers

I would poke fun of my still-in- bachelor-mode husband for assuming that buying lots of bathroom scents meant having a clean bathroom. Thats what I was doing today..making odour absorbers while the rest of the house needed a big clean up! Oh the tricks I come up to avoid cleaning!!

In case you need an excuse of your own make some of your own, here's what you need:

• 1 cup baking/ washing soda
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 teaspoon liquid dish soap
• 1 lemon squeeze and zest

Mix all the ingrediants together in a bowl to make a moist sandy mixture.

Scoop them out onto a lined tray and ideally let them dry for a few hours. I found them pick-able (is that a word? ) in just 10 minutes!

Throw some in the garbage bin or just let it stay on the sink drain to keep it fresh.

This recipe yielded 12 tablespoon size Scoops. Store in air tight container.

Remember that these are only odour Absorbers and not scents. That would require essential oils.

Healthy Banana and Oat Cookies

Today, while browsing for some healthy breakfasts I came across these too instant and healthy to be true 'cookies'. The best part is that they contain no flour, sugar or butter or eggs! Just a little olive oil which makes them all too good. I found the original recipe at Vintage Zest and I made some changes to it...the result is a quick Snack or breakfast to go.

I added two scoops of Panjeeri ( nut spice mix) to add richness. It contains the gum of Butea or Flame of the Forest flower known in hindi as 'kamarkas'.

I like coconut and the recipe called for coconut oil which I did not have but insted I used dessicated coconut..some good 2-3 tablespoons.

I had a box of fruit musli ( not a favorite choice of breakfast here) I added that too, to add a bit more crunch. 

To shape I just used a  tablespoon and scooped them on the baking sheet, rounding them off with the back of the spoon.

I was expecting them to be more crunchy the sort of bite you get off from a Corny health bar but they turned out to be more on the soft side. Its good to try out new recipes and bring them out of the hat at tea time instead of stealing cookies from little tod's jar ;)

 This recipe packs a punch and takes just under 20 minutes.

I skipped the 15 min rest time indicated in the recipe.

From Fugly to Smugly

See this fugly little fella ..

He just had a turn of fate.

3 layers of Gold can change anyone's fate.

I used acrylic paint to make an instant DIY accessory. A quick piece to add accent to the room.

Two Tone Pomander

Pink is my newfangled obsession lately. (I know Pantone's color of year 2013 and its not Pink! ) I can't pin point exactly if its the color or the floral prints and objects that I tend to like more thee days. Well for one, I got some pink flowers from Ikea..the only pink bit in my décor.

 To reflect that in other corners..I made a pink and white crepe paper pomander for my living room.

I rolled up strips of crepe paper with random twists and turns into flowers. Then hot glued them onto a Styrofoam ball. It required a whole lot of crepe paper..only two rows of roses consumed an entire rolled sheet of paper. I was out of pink soon, hence the two tone idea was born. I thought it would be ok to color-block it.

I placed it on an old candle holder.

Just the right amount of pinkness added :)

Sideboard Overhaul

 " How I painted my sideboard with a Kitchen Sponge "

Ahan, you read it right I painted my first ever piece of furniture with a kitchen sponge!

I almost never say that but, I'm proud of myself for stepping up the game here on my blog. I had set myself a goal that I will overcome the fear of painting furniture by giving it a try. With no past experiance with buying supplies and their use I finally gave it a shot. I learned some things on the way but most of all I gained confidence to tackle the paint job better next time.

Here's what I used & spent:

• Apple Green Paint ( on hand, bought for the walls some three years back !)
• Toner ( also on hand, bought for a previous project cost a little over €2 )
• Sandpaper ( 0.69 cents ! )
• T- bolts ( found in hubbard's stash, on hand )
• A faux leather belt ( scored for a mere € 1.99 on sale )
• Clear Lack Spray ( was also bought earlier, used for many other projects, was around €2 )
• Kitchen Sponge ( already in the kitchen..a pack of three costs under €2 )
• Sideboard was dropped over by a friendly  someone who did not need it anymore. Free delivery, I mean no body delivers even a pizza for free here in munich! Plus we have had it hidding behind a door for over 2 years now. 

So I only spent a total of 2.68 euros on the spot for this project ! Why shoud'nt I be proud!

I decided to only paint the drawers and the pull out door so just in case it turned out horribly horrible I could just use the rest of it as an open book shelf.
( gotta have a plan B )

I wanted a cool mint green..so I mixed one part blue with 6 parts green.

Sanded the black paint..not completely, but just to get the top finish off.

I did 4 coats of paint. The first one was what I used in place of a primer. ( it was thinned down paint )

I used the spongy side of the dish sponge to paint. It was a silly idea I know..but hey isn't it the same as what most of everyone is using these days, the sponge brushes? I don't recommend it but I sure do suggest it :/ makes sence? No.

I took advice of my fellow skilled bloggers and sanded between coats. Dusted and then patiently let the next coat dry.

My major mistake was to use a spray sealer at the end. It left blotchy marks which I could not undo, nevertheless I gave my self room for error coz this was my first attempt.

For the drawer pulls..I took a trip to the hardware store..only to find out that getting 6 new metallic pulls will set me back on the budget for something which was literally going to the heap anytime soon. The faux leather drawer pulls are a big hit on the bloggy Homes & Gardens and I love the industrial look that comes from the bolts. Plan set. Luckily I found a belt without holes in it.

From here on..MR. took over..drilled and added my super cool drawer pulls.

I did a quick dress up for my new beauty and 'shopped' around the home for some accents.

I got this piece sometime back in sale. I picked it up with plans of painting it white but for now I've decided to leave it as it it is..I only added a little tassel to add interest.

The tassel was made with faux leather..you can find the post about those earrings I made HERE

I love it all for now..lets see how long this love lasts..it seems like the sideboard is singing to me Lana Del Ray's

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful

Summertide

Summer routine is sapping out all of the pent up activities we were waiting to do for so long. Somedays seem too short for everything to fit in..the clock seems to move faster than the sun. Here's whats been happening lately:

Made cake pops for my son's favorite girl's birthday.My son is 2 and she turned 7 bytheway!

This month I had my birthday too and was treated well by the kin and folk of my clan. Went out for a grill party that day.our first official grill of the season.

We've been frequenting our local gelato ice cream shop late in the evenings..this past weekend we went to a little theme park near munich based on the grimm brother's fairly tales...I packed some homemade pretzels and frischkaese for the trip. Recipe seemed ok but the pretzels were not terribly soft the next day..but platable.

After a long eventful day..Making Pretzels for the first time. Past mid night. Pretending to be nigella :p

 They came out really soft and chewy but went a bit hard later.

I get some off toddler time two days a week when I commute to the city on the train. Perfect time to read and reflect :)

Been reading this great book by Paulo Coelho. I picked it up thinking it to be a novel but this falls more into the category of a self-help maybe motivational book. I was reminded of Coelho's The Warrior of Light quiet a lot of times while reading. Here are some of the best lines.

And those who are alone at this moment, need never be frightened by the words of the devil: ‘You’re wasting your time.’

Or by the chief demon’s even more potent words: ‘No one cares about you.’

The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing.

And when we achieve that harmony, we receive more than we asked for.

I am here to tell you that there are people who have never been defeated.

They are the ones who never fought.

Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.

Displaying Pfingstrose in Sea Glass

Confession: I am a poor plant care taker. I find keeping plants as difficult as doing math. Too much water..they'll die, too less you murdered them. Too much sunshine..they get a sun stroke..no light..fungus. I can only take care of my child. Period.

 

 

Rant: I once read in a book that if a doctor's waiting room has fake plants, don't trust him too much!

I don't know how true that is..but I began hating artificial flora when at a point my mother made huge flower decorations all around our home, on the sideboard, on the mirror, table center piece, in every vase and where not!

 We lived in an army colony and the army wives had this obsession with using  spray painted tree barks and fake flowers!

 I had been avoiding this rosey trap since then..until more recently.

 I wanted to have big peonies or hydrangeas displayed in my main entrance of the flat.

 

 

A trip to Ikea and I got just four of these spring roses in pink.

 

 I'm loving the color boost they give.

Not fresh ; still they do the job for the eye.

To display them I used an old mason's jar with a broken lid. I used a mixture of glue, water and just drops of blue food color to make a sea glass effect. You can find lots of ways to make blue glass on the web. I tried it for the first time..had drips but not noticeable. I'm thinking of making some more sea glass bottles for my bathroom window.

Thats it for now. I hope the skies are clearer soon and we can be back out in the sand.

Scrambling : Wall Art

Yes that's what we called it back in college. Scrambling. All you need to do is to scramble a rough pattern onto your work surface with a pencil.

 I used normal card paper.

 I have done this before, filling the entire spaces of the resulting pattern with either monochromatic or analogous colors. This time however, I chose to fill in only a few spaces and then erase the remaining pencil lines. 

I did plan to use paint but while I was looking for my black paint In the box I got hold of a black permanent marker..and changed my mind.

This was much quicker like 2 minutes!

Simple piece of bold abstract art. Totally my style!

When it Rains, it Pours

You might have noticed in the news about the recent shower bursts in Gemany, Austria and Czech. It literally was raining cats and dogs and cows and sheep!

image

The Danube river has flooded and Bavaria has witnessed its highest flood levels in 70 years they say. We are in the south too, but fortunately only the balcony flooded a bit..no issues other than that. BUT we were forced to spend a mega long weekend at home. Thursday being a bank holiday, Friday Mr. took off and then the weekend. OK..News bulletin ends here.

All snuggled up under the quilt..I've been reading the translated works of Manto.. Got my hands on a second hand book, delivered just in time before the mini holiday. I found a handwritten note by the previous owner inside it.

It reads: Manto plays few notes but makes a grand symphony.....quietly.

Nothing much happened on the craft tab lately, just two tiny projects..which I will be sharing soon.