Home / Crafting & Art
Some of my favourite things in this house did not come from a shop. They came from a Saturday, a glue gun and a pile of leftover trim. This is where those projects live. You will find the gallery wall I hung around the TV, the painted arch mural in the hallway, and the peel and stick wallpaper that finally stayed stuck. There are small sewing jobs too, the kind you can finish in one sitting: a pillow made from two cloth napkins, plain curtain panels from one straight seam. Nothing here needs a workshop or a big budget. Most of it needs a free afternoon, a tape measure and the patience to unpick one seam. I write down the mistakes as well, because the first attempt is rarely the one that works.
A TV is a big black rectangle, so the trick is to treat it as the largest frame in the arrangement. Templates first, holes second, and the frames end up looking planned instead of scattered.
Read more →
One arch, two colours, a free afternoon. Painting a simple mural is the cheapest way I know to give a plain wall a focal point, and it paints over cleanly when you tire of it.
Read more →
Peel and stick wallpaper fails at the seams first. The fix is boring but real: wall prep, a slow first strip, and knowing when to lift a sheet and start again.
Read more →
Two cloth napkins, one straight seam and a cushion pad. That is the whole project. Pick napkins with a woven pattern and the joins almost disappear.
Read more →
Basic curtain panels are just hems on four sides, and a straight seam is the only skill you need. I sew mine long, hang them high, and hem them in place.
Read more →
Picture frame moulding and trim moulding are the same wood at very different prices. Buy the trim, cut four mitres, and the frames cost a fraction of shop ones.
Read more →