DIY – Save Money by Making Your Own Furnishings

There are plenty of creative ways in which you can use DIY in the home to ensure that you are not splashing out on expensive furnishings. If you are a student, or you just want to do things a little more cheaply, it can make very little sense to be spending hundreds of pounds on things, when you could be ‘upcycling’ old furniture or making new stuff! Many people now go in for a certain style that is called ‘Shabby Chic’ which uses lots of reclaimed wood, battered antiques and repainted items, to make a feeling of carefully curated casualness throughout the home, a sort of run down affair that has been painstakingly achieved in many cases! Of course this style comes from seeing houses where people have decked out their rooms in a way that showed them to be indifferent to trends and luxury brands, but rather more interested in how things go together, and showing their own personality through it. Much of this style comes from doing things cheaply and for yourself, and if you are creative and think carefully about such things, then you too can achieve this.
DIY - save money by making your own furnishings
Have a think about what you need for your room. Say you need a coffee table, what kind of material would suit the room, and what size do you need? Many styles now use discreetly modern surfaces, shiny, and dark colored, rather than expensive wood veneers. You should have a look around local car boot sales, and on gum tree to see if anyone is giving away a nice old desk, or an interesting looking door, that you could make a table surface from. For instance, a dilapidated old desk could have the surface removed, sanded, and re varnished to look like a beautifully conditioned table top. You could then place it on a railway sleeper or two and make a perfect coffee table. Think about the juxtaposition of materials – painting a railway sleeper a deep lacquered black, or even a bright color could make it sit strangely but stylishly with the table top, giving you the kind of intriguing coffee table that prompts people to ask of the designer’s name! Of course the main fun in all of this is telling them that you made it!
DIY - save money by making your own furnishings2
Try finding old scaffold boards for various uses. You can use them as is for interesting shelves, or cut them to size and nail them to wooden palettes to make an interesting looking platform bed! Again, if you wanted something a little less shabby, then you can sand and paint them any color you want. Try a glossy white for that beautiful french look, or matte black for a more modern, tactile feel. The most important thing is that you match it with the room. If your room is a fully carpeted living room with white walls, then you want something simple that won’t clash. If your room is old fashioned, then why not think about going a little more modern to offset the antique furnishings? Modern houses look great with a couple of antique bits in there, but perhaps try getting them cheaply and refinishing them in a new color to fit your home, and make them you own, as otherwise it may end up looking like a museum of design, rather than a harmonious living space! You can do absolutely anything you want to, but be sure to research all the methods beforehand, and be safe when you are carrying out all of the processes.

Find more helpful information by visiting: http://www.hiremanandvan.org/W4-movers-chiswick/removal-van-mover-chiswick.html

Easter Bunny Dinner Rolls

166783_599429720087213_1924351677_nWhat a simple and cleaver idea to brighten up your Easter dinner table leaving your guests in awe.

These are made from raw dinner roll dough that can be purchased frozen or made from scratch. Kneed into a dome shape and snip two ears with scissors as shown in our picture above. Poke two holes for eyes and a hole for the nose with tip of shape knife. Coat with egg wash and bake. Make sure to get egg coating around ears and into eye and nose sockets – this prevents them from filling in as the dough rises.

Creative and perfect for Easter – or anytime you want to make a child smile at the dinner table.

Valentimes Day / Wedding Day Wreath Door Decoration

1157459_790952564264554_685403349_nNothing says ‘I Love You’ more than the quick way of expressing it with an X and O for a hug and kiss. These door wreaths would work for a Valentines Day decoration or for a Wedding Decoration. The X is done freehand with with berry branches (faux) and the O is done using a wire formation available at any craft store. They are both backed with a four inch ribbon and bow at the top to hang. These can be made large or small which gives some diversity to use on walls, door or as tale decorations or centerpieces.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Candle Holder / Floral Arrangment Centerpiece

1452559_727376160625808_984816409_nI have always enjoyed decorating for the holidays and Thanksgiving just does not have many options available in the means of store bought decorations to choose from. So I am always so very happy to find cheap and really cool ideas to decorate with – and ones that do not take a lot of time.

This decoration uses small small pumpkins just big enough to put a clean soup can in and dried or fresh flowers and/or a pillar candle. Place the can on the top of the pumpkin and trace around the can to make a guide for cutting. You will want this to be tight so cut just within the line. Cut the pumpkin and remove the guts and seeds (don’t throw those seeds out – see how to prepare them as a delicious snack below) so the pumpkin will last longer. You will also want to scrap the insides of the pumpkin to not leave any wetness that prompts rotting.

Now gently push the cleaned can down into your hole you cut. You want it snug so that the can will not push through into the pumpkin. It will defeat your end design of the arrangement.

FLORAL: If using fresh put clean water in and place your fresh flowers in. Place a wide bow around them at base next to pumpkin to finish off the look. Is using dry do the same without water.

CANDLE: Place the candle within the can and place flowers and filler around base. To keep the candle from going to far into the base wad up aluminum foil to fill in to make the height of the candle where you desire it.

SEEDS: Rinse in a strainer and remove any slippery substance and also the strings or guts of the pumpkin. I actually soak them for a few hours in water I have brought to a boil and added salt to so they absorb the solution to make a nice salty seed. You do not have to if you don’t want to. Bake them spread on a cookie sheet at 350 and turn every couple minutes until you smell that nutty smell and see teh edges of the seeds turning brown. Turn oven off and let them cool with the oven. When cool bag and eat as a delicious healthy snack.

Chocolate Nest Bowl

chocolate bowl nest serve party desert treat foil neat elegant melt

What a completely elegant way to serve strawberries or some other goodies to a special someone or at an elegant party. Take a solid bowl (glass or metal because plastic bowls will tend to shift and can crack chocolate) and use thin foil to cover the outside of the bowl. Melt chocolate or candy melt/almond bark and keep drizzling over foil to create a nesting look. Make sure to get enough so it will be strong and don’t forget to get the ridges of the bowl and the bottom.You can do a two-tone effect of white chocolate/dark chocolate or three if you added a medium colored chocolate. DO NOT FREEZE as this will make the chocolate very brittle. Air dry the chocolate at least eight hours. Gently turn bottom of your new bowl so it is sitting on its bottom. Pull foil away from glass/metal bowl and then remove glass/metal bowl. Then gently pull away from your chocolate bowl.  Slight breaks can be fixed with some patching (melt chocolate and hold a piece of foil on the underside of your chocolate bowl and drizzle to repair and hold for a few minutes. Let dry completely before you pull foil away. Your new bowl is ready – would make a great way to serve Mom or Dad a breakfast of fresh strawberries for Mother’s / Father’s Day. For Diabetic’s use sugar free chocolate and if you want to lower calories the rule of the darker the chocolate is the better.