When you start making a lot of macramé plant hangers, obviously you'll need lots of flower pots too. I had a few, but I wanted different sizes because every plant hanger will need its own shape.
From air drying clay I made six pots and painted them with acrylic paint.
When they were completely dry, I attached little nail stickers on the outside, and varnished them inside and out with clear nailpolish :)
Now I can also show you another cushion I made. This one is made with embroidery threads again, but the same way as I did the blue cushion.
I probably spent two days researching what kind of windows and doors I want, and especially about the sizes. And I'm trying to get an idea about the furniture for the living room, so I can do some of those in between ;)
Making the house one step at the time isn't the hardest part imo. It's having to make so many choices, again and again. The windows for instance; how large, how far from the floor, what kind of window, open or closed, self made or bought, real glass or plexi, etc etc. And when I've finally decided I have to make all those decicions again about the doors (a)
But for now I just needed to know measurements so I can saw or cut the openings in the walls and start putting the walls together.
I finally found this really great window tutorial, so I'm thinking about doing it this way.
Photo's form Jenn's Mini Worlds. Left: inside frame. Right: outside frame
I don't think I'll be making double-hung windows for the cottage, but I think this simple window will match the style of the Scottish cottages. These are the photo's I'm using as a reference;
Since I'm a total failure at painting and aging, I might just stick with staining :')
Also, I think a dark(er) look/wood will probably give a more cosy/witchy/Weasley-ish look. I'm afraid otherwise it'll end up looking too neat and less old.
But those are decisions for another time, first I have to make the openings for the windows. Oh boy ;)
Two weeks ago I shared my plans for a new project with you. Well, I made the stairs and enthusiastically started making some things to decorate the living room with, and then some :')
And all that time the wood panels were lying there, waiting for me to get over my fear of the jigsaw :')
The two large panels had already been sawed the right size in the store.
The other two panels, on top, still had to be sawed according to the red lines.
Last week my sister offered to take a look at that terrifying device together :') I silenced my pride and accepted the offer. Turned out to be rather 'easy' in the end, of course, but that's almost always the case with fears like that, right? ;)
After she left, I practiced by sawing 1 cm strips of leftover wood :)
And it wasn't long before I went ahead and continued with the panels. I managed but wasn't very happy with how it turned out; not exactly straight and the edges were slightly splintered. Somehow I forgot to take photo's of it :')
However, I decided not to worry to much because the wood would be entirely covered anyway ^^
After a few days I worked on it some more and managed to improve the edges.
I drew where the fire places are supposed to be and had fun with taking
some photo's. This isn't the furniture for the house though, just some
props for the photo xD
The left side will become the front of
the house. The room at the wall will be the living room and the room
upstairs (at the wall) will be the bedroom xD
The stairs won't stay there, I was just checking the height:)
Since I had to change some of the
measurements due to the bad sawing job (a) I need to make new drawing
plans as well. But I like doing that :) Next step will be sawing door frames and window frames and the stairwell opening. Oh boy, oh boy.
Voor een jarige vriendin heb ik vorige week mezelf uitgedaagd en een miniatuur uiltje van macramé gemaakt. Aangezien ze ook een Harry Potter fan is, koos ik met Hedwig in gedachten gebroken witte borduurzijde.
For my friends birthday I challenged myself to make a miniature macramé owl. Since she's also a Harry Potter fan I choose light ecru embroidery thread to represent Hedwig :)
I used this tutorial:
Maar in plaats van simpele effen kralen, wilde ik wel het effect van ogen, dus heb ik de kralen geverfd.
Instead of the simple plain beads, I intended to get the look of eyes, so I painted the beads.
Last friday I promised to show you how I made the miniature macramé cushion I posted. I'd started another one right after that brown one, so I took a few photo's (a)
This time I choose bright colours that will fit nicely into the Hogsmeade cottage. Instead of embroidery threads I used some yarn I had in exactly the right colours. Though the (yarn) cushion feels quite cosy, I'll stick with the embroidery threads in the future because it looks a bit less coarse.
I won't bother you with showing the macramé techniques because there are lots and lots of sites and tutorials that explain every knot and step way better than I could ;)
This is one that uses the same pattern I did. It's only Square Knots and Alternating Square Knots.
Well I'll just show some photo's of my work in progress.
With the first (brown) cushion, I started a little more simple, but for the second one I'd figured out how to work more precisely. I used a square cork coaster I found in my dresser and taped it on a small cutting mat/board. You can also use a paper pricking mat instead of a cork coaster, I discovered later. And the cutting mat can be something different too, as long as it's firm enough.
I taped it together with masking tape and added a piece of squared paper to make it easier to keep a straight line ;)
For the cushions I took 16 cords (8 turquoise, 4 dark blue and 4 yellow), folded them in half and tied them to a thread of the yellow yarn. A thinner thread would be even better though.
I pinned it to my corkboard and used some more pins to be sure I started with a straight line :)
I followed the pattern from the video, but made sure my knots were tied very thightly together.
With this yarn and 32 worksthreads (2 x 16 cords) it became 3,5 cm width. I made it approx. 6 cm long, and then cut most of the remaining yarn. Those leftover pieces I used for making the frings and the padding.
I folded the remaining yarn and used masking tape to keep it there while I applied a bit of Tacky glue.
When the Tacky glue was totally dry, I carefully removed the masking tape, and got everything together to finish to cushion.
First I started by using the remaining yellow threads which I had used to tie the cords to. You can see why a thinner thread (with a more neutral colour) would be better.
So, I hide the yellow yarn between the folds and stitched the ends together with a thinner, blue thread.
Using a crochet needle I first made fringes to one side.
I filled the cushion with some of the remaining yarn I couldn't use anymore untill it was more than full. I imagine I could made schoulder bags this way too ^^ Instead I finished the cushion by adding fringes to the other side as well.
After I made a stool with a braided seat (shown here) I wanted to make another, better one. Not from Balsa, but a bit more sturdy wood. This tutorial from Maria Malmstrom inspired me. I like the shape of the stool and the possibilities it gives me to make bigger ones or even make chairs. Also this tutorial gave me the opportunity to learn a different braiding technique.
To be honest, braiding the seat was peanuts compared to making the frame :') It took ages to get every little piece glued in 45°.
Though the new stool had the same height as the first one, it looked somehow smaller. I love how it turned out and I'll certainly make other ones since this little stool was a birthday present for a friend.
I also made her this cushion and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I hope she makes a better choice than professor Dumbledore ;)
“Ah! Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I’m afraid I’ve rather lost my liking for them — but I think I’ll be safe with a nice toffee, don’t you?” He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. “Alas! Ear wax!” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
After the plant hangers I couldn't resist making a cushion ^^ In a next blog I'll show you how I make them (since I already made two others xD).
