Tag Archives: upcycling

Ten Quirky Terrariums

I was browsing and rummaging my way around the lovely Tynemouth flea market recently when I found one of the Holy Grail items of unnecessary but somehow vital purpose – an old terrarium.

What is a terrarium, I hear you cry! Is it a place for fish or reptiles to live? No. That’s an aquarium or a vivarium. A terrarium is a glass container for growing plants, which can be open or sealed (with a little door for maintenance).

The old terrarium at the flea market was swiftly bought (by me) for the end-of-day-clearing-up-time bargain price of £9. Now clean and with a small pane of glass fixed, it lies empty on the living room shelf, watching me mournfully, and hopefully awaiting my imagination to kick in and fill it with awesome quirkiness (which I’m thinking may involve cacti and dinosaurs, and will no doubt become another blog post). Until then, here are 10 quirky terrarium ideas that other people with a little more time on their hands thought of, to tide us over any lean terrarium-idea times.

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Vintage Medicine Cabinet Upcycle

Hello! Today I finally finished upcycling my vintage 1960’s medicine cabinet! Did I need an extremely heavy 1960’s medicine cabinet in grubby condition? Err.. probably not. Did I want it? Yes. Can I imagine how cool, awesome and useful it might be once I upcycle it (if I don’t mess it up)? Hell yeah. Challenge accepted. Continue reading Vintage Medicine Cabinet Upcycle

Lazy Sunday Side Table Upcycle

Hello! You know when you want to do something useful and creative but you have that lazy Sunday feeling? Here’a an easy 20 minute project to make something pretty with minimal effort.

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I bought this little folding mid-century modern side table at a charity furniture store in Byker, Newcastle (note to British readers – yes, that Byker). At £4, it was a bargain, and I thought it would come in handy for occasional use.

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This morning I thought it could use a little makeover, but nothing which would detract from it’s simplicity and clean lines. Then I remembered I still had a small amount of paint left over from my copper spray paint superhero post, so I decided to paint the bottom third of the legs as if they had been dipped in copper (Rustoleum Painters Touch in copper, £4.99).

20150418_125505 Continue reading Lazy Sunday Side Table Upcycle

Copper Spray Paint Superhero!

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A couple of months ago I did a Colour me Friday post on Copper Interior Design – and since then, I’ve become a little obsessed with it. But I’m currently buying a house, and don’t have any spare cash – What’s a girl to do? So I decided to combine thriftiness and a good old pre-move clearout to see if I could become a copper spray paint superhero…
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Vintage Headboard Upcycle

It has bugged me for ages that our double divan bed doesn’t have a headboard (I know, first world problems, right?). I had never really seen one that I loved, was of good quality and could afford, and I really love one-off pieces, so I decided to see if I could upcycle one as an experiment…

Step 1 – Find a headboard! If, like me, you’re fairly new to upcycling, you don’t want to spend  much (or any) money on your headboard. Unless you plan on wrestling one away from your sleeping granny, try Freecycle or Freegle. Failing that, Ebay or your local charity/thrift furniture stores. I got mine on the Newcastle Freecycle website. As a special lucky bonus, the couple who were giving it away had a pick-up truck, some free time and a lot of kindness, and delivered it to my house for free. It’s a 1950’s wood and velvetine French regency style headboard in peach and white, which, on first appearance, Chandler from Friends would probably describe as “a Reject from the Liberace House of Crap”. However, closer inspection reveals that it’s in great condition with high quality materials and workmanship. Perfect for my upcycling experiment. Continue reading Vintage Headboard Upcycle