These are upcycled tiles that I’ve decorated with Art Nouveau or Art Deco Christmas scenes.
Here are some of the tiles….
The how to is here, and you can see that this time I’ve added felt in complimentary colours….
You can’t get your free printout here…
After my Art NouFaux stained glass front door and update of the front of the house I’m adding additional details. I absolutely love these signs, as the post shows, and I thought of a way to get a similar look for our house. It’s normal in France to have your name near your door so, even though I already had the iron number on the door, I thought this would be a good solution. It’s sooooo simple. Honestly, one of the easiest crafts I’ve ever done. Here are the simple steps…
We have a French glass porch, so I’m not expecting the weather to be able to get at this too much. However it always pays to weather proof. Mine started off grey, but I thought it would blend too much with the stone, so I chose black and gold throughout.
Spray front and back. I intend to attach mine and try and seal it to waterproof it from behind, but just to give it a bit of extra protection I think it’s advisable.
As my frame is round I spray painted the insert that goes behind the picture gold too. I didn’t know how see through the colour would be and didn’t want the mirror like shine to be diminished.
I originally thought of doing this with an actual mirror, but then realised there might be accidents outside my house with glare from the sun 🤭 😆. I wouldn’t have been popular in the village!
So this mirrored finish gives the same feel, but without the danger.
I used a frame from the graphics fairy and a monogram. There’s obviously no point in my doing a print out for this. Follow the instructions on your packaging, but you can see my how to here for this craft. This is a picture of the image before sealing and the decal clearly stands out from the backing. The mirror image looked super shiny too.
As I’d cut the decal out too small you could just about see the edging in the one above, so I redid it. But, like pinning your hair in a chignon, finding a couple of stray hairs and attempting to make it perfect, it wasn’t to be. I had the decal équivalant of a messy chignon, because it kept puckering. I don’t know why. I tried a couple of more times to no avail. Tant pis!
So, on my slightly less satisfactory, final attempt I used this really thick craft varnish to create a waterproof finish and seal the gaps between the glass and the picture edge. Make sure it’s glossy to keep the mirror shine.
On the second image i don’t know if you can see that the letter is slightly raised from the backing giving it a 3D affect. I haven’t put it up yet, but I’ll update you when I do.
These will stand out in your borders – just spray paint with gold and write on them with a permanent marker. When you need to change the name spray paint again.
Although I’ve mainly been posting about the potagère I’ve had some projects bubbling away in the background and I want to share this one with you today.
I’ve posted some of the stained glass doors that I love here, but as I said in my post about our house front it’s uniform, drab exterior was one of the down sides of our otherwise wonderful home. I’ve racked my brains to make it more ‘us’, whilst not spending a fortune or opening up our house to the elements. Having rented in an old, Normandy farm house with traditional wood windows I treasure our double glazing!
So when I saw this video of a couple creating a stained glass window effect on their doors I bookmarked it for later.
I really would take a look at this, anything I’m writing here is an add on to this helpful video.
First to my inspiration…….
I love it and as we have white, double doors it seemed to fit perfectly. I approached the project a bit differently than the couple in the video as I had a design to work from. There are loads more photos of stained glass on Pinterest as well as designs for you to copy.
I used one of these for my upper window…..
the centre is obviously intended for a house humber, but having just been to La Basilique du Sacré Cœur I’ve included that in the centre
So, studying the door, I made a plan of it on squared paper. I used the kind of stuff you cover school books with as it has a plastic backing. This meant that I could just stick the plan to the other side of the front door to follow and if it did rain there was a little protection whilst I got it inside.
The first thing I did was to measure a piece of it so it matched the door’s window area. This meant I had something to scale.
I found if you look at the door design it naturally fall into thirds, so having marking off the exterior border, I divided my door plan similarly. You can see by the series of photographs I took below how I made my version section by section….
The circles were made by drawing round a glass pebble as I intended to use these in the final design. There were occasions when I made mistakes, but any time I did I just went over that area with a red line so I knew to ignore it.
The final design wasn’t perfect, and the end result I adapte a little, but it was a good place to start.
I just stuck mine to the outside window with masking tape and followed it internally.
Unwrap a length of ‘lead’ to the size of whatever part of the design you’re copying and cut it with scissors. It pays to add a little extra on to ensure you have enough. Unpeel the backing then attach that strip to where you want to start applying. Using the tool given rub the strip really hard to get it to stick well. Continue removing the backing, following the design and rubbing until the entire length is applied. Be prepared for a sore arm! Once you reach the end, if you need to, trim the length to fit the design.
Whenever you come to an overlapping part press down and rub really hard to ensure it’s stuck before continuing.
On the video she scores the tape prior to cutting, but I found I couldn’t cut it in half as it was difficult to be sure I wasn’t at an angle. So I just ended up cutting with a sharp pair of scissors and that worked fine.
With half the thickness the tape is more flexible and easier to create the line you want.
When you’re approaching a point when you need to apply a glass bead add a little glue to the bead base and some to the point you want to stick it. Continue working leaving the bead to the side so the glue becomes tacky, then stick the bead on. Keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t fall off, pushing it back in place when necessary.
Just go over any joints with it to ensure it’s secured well, and encircle the beads too.
When I did this I wasn’t entirely satisfied; this is what I saw….
I suddenly realised the design I was copying was on a slimmer door and mine looked squatter. I chose to broke up each section by adding dividing details as you can see in the final section.
My husband, who is never one to hide any scepticism of my decorating projects, kept coming and going throughout giving me funny looks. However when I took the plan down from the door and called him over he looked so pleasantly surprised it was comical!
Painting the glass with glass paint is relatively easy but be careful not to overload the area with the liquid as it will seep into the leaded areas and will show up on the other side. So lots of light layers.
I used these colours…..
I’d sometimes add layers of different, complimentary colours after one had dried. Sometimes I’d do this more towards the base or top or outer edge depending on the effect I wanted. Add several layers to get a more authentic look.
It looks good from the outside too, but I’ve got another little project currently being worked on so I’m going to post some pictures of that later. In the meantime here’s some close ups…..
I love the way it compliments the chandelier.
Some men came to deliver something to the house the other day. It was nearly done at that point, but I still had most of the colour to do, so it was evidently an ongoing job. He asked if I’d done it and seemed impressed. When the second man came over and they thought I was out of earshot they were discussing the window. In French one was pointing out the intricacy of the design in seemingly glowing terms and the other was saying he loved the colours. So between them and my husband I’ll take it as a job well done.
If you have any questions drop me a line and I’ll do my best to answer them.
You may have noticed these bottles when I gave you an update on our kitchen here.
I designed the bottle labels with the help of the Canva app. Living in France means that we can’t easily get our hands on a lot of Indian or Chinese cooking ingredients, so when we go to the UK we always bring lots back. Pouring them into these large bottles means that we save on space, so I wanted them to look good.
You can learn how to apply the labels by clicking here, I use waterslide decals to apply them. If you want to give them a go you can download the printout below.
As I said in this post I love kitchen signs, particularly the ones that look handpainted and a little Victorian. I really wanted a sign on the side of the bookcase where I’ve put the French baguette bin, but as it was a fixed position I had two options.
The first was to do a seperate sign and the fix it to the wall. This would have given me the opportunity to take my time in painting the letters.
The second was to apply something to the wall itself. I’ve never got to grips with image transfers, but as I’ve recently found water slide decals this seemed like the best option (see here and here). It meant that I could choose something with a lot of detail too, which is a bonus.
By the way I used an iPad and Canva app to do this, so the instructions obviously reflect that, however I’m sure you can adapt them for other systems.
The first thing was to design a sign. I’d done a lot of inspiration research and I really like a mixture of typefaces and scrolls etc. I also like illuminated letters. I trawled through Pinterest for free to download Wreath illustrations (thank you graphics fairy) and monogram letters to use.
When you come across an image or piece of typography you like you can take a screen shot of it – all computers have different ways of doing this, so you may have to look yours up. However on an iPad, as I tend to us, it means pressing the circular home button and your on/off button to the side of the iPad at the same time. When you do that a photo of the image you want will be taken and stored in your photos.
Your screen shot will have lots of other things apart from the image you want on it, so you need to get rid of the excess. On your iPad when you have your photo open in images you’ll see an icon for editing it in the top, left hand corner; press on that.
The edit facility will look like this
The third icon down, the square with arrows surrounding it in shot 2, is the option you chose to edit the image. Once you’ve clicked on it the image will be smaller and you’ll have two capacities on your iPad; to rotate the image to a position you want it in using the dial on the right, or to resize it using the four corners at the edge of the image. Just move the highlighted corner to move the edges inward until the image is cropped. When you’re done press ‘done’ on the right hand side and your image stays like that. However if you want it to go back to the original go back through the edit system and press revert.
Once you’ve selected typefaces and decorative details for your sign you want to create a layout. I used the Canva app to do mine, which is a free app that you can download. At the top of the open app you’ll see lots of different options – I chose poster for this project.
You can use a pre-existing template, but I just wanted a blank space to try different set ups on. In the left hand tool bar (see above) you can see an option saying uploads. If you click on it an icon for your photos comes up and clicking on this shows you your photo gallery including your cropped images.
Select your image and slide it into the work space. Above the image you’ll see lost of different functions. Move the image to where you want it and make it smaller by touching on one of the black circles moving them in (below).
As I wanted a monogram effect I’d already decided I wanted a stand alone type face in our surname, so I had the image stored in the gallery and added that in the same way. I used the same method to move and make smaller the image. As you can see in the image below, images added from your gallery will have a solid background, so if they overlap another image from your gallery they will block out that part of the image. Canva text boxes don’t have this problem though.
You can see in the next shot that I just position the V in a way that ensures no overlap.
In the next one you can see I’ve applied a text box using the text icon. There are lots of pre-existing layouts you can use, but I find that some are stuck in caps so it’s easier to use the simple ‘add text’.
In the next image down you can’t see a tool bar has come up above the keyboard. It does that when you touch the text to alter it. On the left hand side you can see the typeface which you can scroll through to get your preferred one. Once you see the one you like touch it and you’re text changes. Use the large and small capital to increase or decrease the size of the text and then position the text where you want it to go.
Carry on in this way until you have the design you want. You can see in my final design below how the text of ‘akery’ overlaps the B typeface that I’d downloaded. This is because the text box, unlike the downloaded images, doesn’t have a solid background so they give far more flexibility.
The image below is towards the end of my final design. If you look at the ‘Pastries’ text you will see there is a turning arrow symbol. I used this to give the pastries word a slant that mirrored the scroll design. You can also see the scroll design below has a part of the image I couldn’t crop out, but as I’m going to apply them with water slide decals this doesn’t matter as I can crop them in real life with scissors.
At this stage it’s best to download your image by pressing the download function button on the top right hand side of the screen and a box appears for you to download (See below). I always use the top option and it saves the image into my photos. I then insert the image into a document page and make sure it’s at full size.
The next thing to do is seperate all the parts of the image so that you can remake them on a bigger scale. I did this by using the additional page function, then copying an element of the design and putting it on an individual page.
If you see the images below you can see I’ve copied the image by pressing on the two, overlaying rectangles in the right hand margin. To get lots of seperate images delete all but the part that you want to use in a stand alone capacity. So the wreath and family name I’ve kept as one image on a page, the bread and cakes part another and so on. Some I didn’t make a page for, like the B, as I already had a cropped image of this to make this mock up.
Take a screen shot of these stand alone parts (see below) and crop them as before (below again).
In your pages section, using the mock up as a template, seperate out the parts so that you’ll be able to print them on waterslide decal paper.
In order to determine how best to lay your design out you need to think about how many pages your design will need to be spread over. I did this by holding a piece of A4 paper in landscape and then counting how many I would need to fill the space in the top portion and the bottom. The design was spread over this many pages.
Do a mock up first; printing on plain paper and placing them where you think they should go. This way you won’t waste any decal paper.
Also, once you have an idea of the text size you’ll need, you may want to rearrange your components of text into different groupings in order not to waste too much waterslide paper.
You’ll notice that the finished piece has some additional illustrations. When I put them on the side of the cupboard I wasn’t satisfied with the gap at the top between bakery and our family name in the wreath and bakery, so I hunted around for a suitable illustration and followed the steps again.
I’d also started placing the bottom part too near the base and there was an unsatisfactory gap. The illustration of the woman drinking her tea was perfect to fill it. As far as I’m aware all these are free to use by the way.
Finally, I’d planned to fill the original bakery B with my own colours, but as I sealed the design with a coat of spray varnish they ran. I’d use different sharpies and expected that to work, but alas no. So the B you see in the image was my second attempt.
Also, as you can see, I’ve changed the baguette bin from lavender to a teal blue. I think it’s a better tone for the yellow, don’t you?
What do you think? The kitchen is no where near finished and I might be a bit crazy to have done it already, but I’m super pleased with the result. Even the hubby likes it!
If you have any questions drop me a line!
I have a pot in our kitchen that I’m thinking of painting and have been browsing for design inspiration, so I thought I’d share here today. Have a blessed Sunday!
I’m really pleased with how this turned out; it was super simple to do and didn’t cost a lot at all. At the bottom of the post you can’t print out the chart for free, but this is how I did it.
Be sure to order either inkjet or laser paper, according to your printer, and that the type in question is clear. I used this one here. I’ve a more in-depth tutorial here, but suffice to say you print it out as normal (no need for a reverse image) so the ink goes on the glossy side of the paper. Leave it to dry for half an hour so you don’t smudge the ink.
I can’t stress this enough, but do it at least four times, making sure it’s fully dry in between. This will make it so much easier to dry. It really is the difference between using something that’s like cling film and something which feels like a laminate sheet pre the machine.
Remove the glass from the frame and clean it, making sure it’s dry. I used an old frame which had another image in. It was an old, old french photo which had just been glued on some backing and put in the frame; no mount and the corners where turning. I’d bought a new frame for the photo and put the original aside. So when I thought of this project I dug it out; it’s natural wear complements the image I was creating.
I kept the backing of the frame under the glass whilst I worked so I could see what I was doing more easily, but it wasn’t connected for ease of movement.
As the image is A4 in size I couldn’t use a bowl, so I just used this roasting tin to submerge the decal in water. As you can see it rolls up at first and then gradually unrolls. It takes seconds and when you see that it’s time to take it out.
Put it where you want it to go on the glass, with the decal backing still attached. It’s easier to position like this and leaving the decal in the water that long is going’s to make the backing’s removal easy.
As you’ve given the paper enough time, separating it from underneath the decal should be relatively easy. Gently holding one end, slide the paper out, readjusting it slightly when necessary. However you can tear it if you readjust too much, so it’s better to get it in place as much as possible before hand.
With your finger smooth out the decal from the inside to the outside to get rid of any excess water and bubbles. It helps if after you’ve done this once you hold the glass up to the light and do it again to get the best result.
Start by using a dry cloth and lightly patting it, then prop it up somewhere safe so it dries completely.
Using a clear, preferably water proof, glue around the rim but try not to use too much as you don’t want it smearing when you add the glass. Make sure the glass is facing the right way – yes, I did that 😳, 😆. Slot the glass in and put any clips in place to add an extra layer of security. Lay it face down to let the glue dry.
Here’s the finished image….
As you can see it just has numerous conversions that I need when I’m baking as well as some vintage looking illustrations.
You might not want to use this, but with this method and some inspiration I’m sure you can come up with something you’d like to do.
As I do up the kitchen I’m trying to incorporate little unique features. In the upper part of my dresser, that I’ve painted yellow, there is a space that was crying our for a little touch. I intend to keep all our teas there; trusty PG Tips and my hubby’s collection of digestive, green, Earl Grey…..there’s a lot of tea.
I was cruising the internet one day and came across this quote – how fitting is that for a little tea corner? So I’ve put together this and your welcome to dowñload it and make one for yourself here. Enjoy!
We had storage jars in our kitchen in England and they came wíth us to France. They’re excellent. Not only do they look amazing, in my opinion, but they’re practical.
My husband took the micky out of me when I first brought them home for his extensive flour collection. He used to bake his own bread and he makes his own pizza too. As a result we’d had lots of bags of flour in our cupboard. The thing is, bags split and the contents spill, making a mess. The jars save you from that and they keep your produce super fresh; as I said, we brought ours with us over two years ago and they were full. The contents are still fresh.
In my last post I spoke about labelling my mason jars and, as I’d added to these with jars I’d saved from the recycling bin, I was looking to label them as I’d done with my other jars. I also wanted to give them a uniform look and all the jar lids were different. The easiest solution, I thought, was to spray paint the metal lids.
At first it went well; I sprayed the lids with a light coat of mint and went off satisfied. However when I returned in fifteen minutes I noticed that all the lids with date stamps on them, you know those best befores, seem to run and come through the paint. A second coat was needed anyway, to give it density, so it would solve that this time surely?
Fifteen minutes later – nope. Another coat – nope. I had some gold colour and that covered it well, but I didn’t really like colour (sorry, no picture). However I had a can of matt, black spray paint that I’d bought for another project that resulted in most of the can being left over. So, I tried that.
Perfect! I’d also produced some water slide decal labels on white transfer paper to finish them off. So, brand new storage jars for the cost of a can of black spray paint and a waterslide decal sheet; about 3,50€.
Here are the jars on my painted shelves. Now these bookcases are all painted I’m a step closer to my dream kitchen.
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