Upcycling ideas in under a day
We’re poised and ready for this month’s offering of thrifty makes – we hope you are too!
Lighter evenings mean that there’s no excuse not to dig out that old paintsplattered shirt and crack open a tin of paint to cover, well, anything and everything. Here, Juliet Bawden and Amanda Russell have a few ideas to whet your appetite. Put your stamp on a preloved deckchair and give it a dazzling new colour and an embellished seat to match – your neighbours are sure to be impressed. Or update a room with a fun Matisseinspired wall canvas made from fabric scraps. Hands up if you remember Meccano? We thought so. Why not rummage in the loft and put an old box of pieces to use and make a quirky lamp with a funky bulb and flex?
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Insect découpage drawers
To transform this brightly coloured chest of drawers which we thrifted, we opted to give it a creepy crawly makeover using copyright-free images. Découpage is such a fun and easy way to update plain and boring furniture.
Takes 1 hour You will need
✱ Chest of drawers, £35, charity shop
✱ Drawer knobs, £2.50 each, B&Q
✱ Computer and printer
✱ Waterslide decal paper, £2.15, Crafty Computer Paper
✱ Paper scissors
✱ Plain paper
✱ PVA glue
✱ Paintbrush
✱Quick drying matt varnish, £6.99, Homebase
Total £54.14
1 To create the images for the knobs, print suitably sized pictures onto decal paper following the manufacturer’s instructions. Cut the images to size, then soak in water. Slide the images from the paper onto the drawer knobs. For the drawer stickers, print insect images onto plain paper and cut out.
2 Stick onto the drawer sides and interiors using PVA glue. When dry, paint the drawers and knobs with matt varnish.
Terrarium, £25, Debenhams. Brass picture frame, £5.99, H&M. Exercise book, £1; wooden plant labels, £2, both Tiger. Scissors,twine and plant pots, stylist’s own