Crafts for your new home

Moving into a new home is an exciting but stressful time! You've spent years looking at lovely things in shops saying to yourself "when I have my own house, I'll have something like this", and then when you actually buy somewhere your mind goes blank!

I spent the first month of living in my new flat flicking through house magazines and wondering how the hell I was going to be able to afford to make my home look beautiful. The thing was that there was very few things within those pages to inspire me, most if it kind of looked the same...I wanted something that was a bit more personal and wasn't going to cost the earth. It was then I started to really get into my crafting!

You can't go into a room in my house without seeing something handmade and it really makes my day when someone complements your décor, knowing that it's a little part of you.

My friend Ashley got in contact this week after moving into her very own home, asking for some help decorating. Hopefully these tutorials will help inspire you to make your home as cheerful as your personality!!!

So what better way to kick off than with the first thing your guests will see as they come in...the coat rack!

These 3 coat racks are completely different but would be a real feature piece right at your front door and all of them could be personalised. for example:

If you and your partner were animals, what would you be and why...got them? 

Why not turn that into your coat rack and then you have a fun story to tell people while hanging up your coats!

           animal coat rack - bright nest                          twig coat rack - ali does it

But no-one will see your beautiful pieces of art work without some good lighting. I've found a lamp and wall light to show you that you can have more light in your life than those plastic cones from B&Q!

        

Faux Table Lamp - Hostess with the mostest     
    

                    canvas light - design sponge      

Everyone always needs a vase at the ready for when they get that unexpected bouquet and these mason jar vases can be personalised to match the colours your choose for the walls. Or if you just want something small to show off those wild flowers you are growing in your garden, then this balloon vase made me smile so much.

  

                       balloon vase - curbly                          jar vase - please note paper


Buying artwork for your walls can really empty your bank but the two ideas below are really inexpensive ways to fill up that empty wall space.

       

            wallpaper art - thrifty décor chic                           paper butterflies - kerry axley

and here is one for your floor...

stencilled rug - cutting edge stencils

So after all that walking around your house, your guests are going to need somewhere to sit. I can't believe how simple this bench is to make considering how expensive they can be in the shops! 

stripped bench - live lovely diy

but what you asked for was ideas with mirrors and boy have I found some. The first takes a simple mirror frame and turns it into a an upmarket classy lady!

upcycled mirror - lilikoi joy

or you can use beads or beans to add some texture to the wood.

bean frame - martha stewart

If you are happy with the actual mirror frame then why not stencil around it. You could do an Alice through the looking glass theme or make your mirror look like a vintage hand mirror.

     

stencil around mirror - crafty little gnome

Turn your mirrors into artwork with these tutorials. I love the touch of ribbon with the glass.

        

    love mirrors - HGTV                     text on mirrors - brassy apple

simple artwork - dabbling crafter

I love the idea of turning something old into something useful and this table is just gorgeous! Brilliant for when you have your friends round for a drink.

framed table - e living

And last but not least, here is an amazing focal point for Christmas. You can never have too much outdoors indoors!

Christmas mirror - anythingology

There are so many ideas out there to help you transform your home and hopefully these will help to get you on your way! 

I'll be back xx

Upcycling - Start with something simple

About to through out that old piece of furniture or sick of your old clothes, well STOP and think about all your upcycling possibilities before you do!!!

Upcycling is a great way to vamp up those unwanted items and you feel extra proud of not only your creative skills but also doing your part to help the environment by recycling. Some people fine this quite a daunting term but it doesn't need to be complicated. Today we are going to start of with something really easy but can totally change a room...Picture Frame Artwork

For a while we have thought our livingroom wall was quite plain and we were looking for a large piece of artwork to fill in all that blank space but everything we loved was quite expensive. I loveeee photographs so we decided to come up with something using all the photo frames we had lying around as they had started to make the house look a bit cluttered (not going to lie - we had to by a few extras as well) and the end result looks like this:

We started buy painting all the photo frames black so they matched (I found for the more detailed vintage style frames it was easier to spray paint to get in all the nooks and crannies) and then filled them with a mixture of black and white photos and our favourite home made pieces of artworks our friends have made us.

Using the mounted television as a central point we started putting the frames on the wall, taking turns at stepping back to make sure it fitted well with all the others we had already put up. I love the finish effect as it's a piece of art that is personalised to us and our loved ones - which is priceless!

REMEMBER to check the walls for cables etc before hammering so many nails

Or if photos aren't your thing - you could pick up wall paper samples from your local DIY store and place them in frames to make your own piece of art

Here are a range of tutorials other people have made with their own take on this idea

Bedroom Wall Gallery - Doodlecraft

Chalkboard Seating Chart - "I Do" it yourself

Artwork Peg Board - Make it & Love it

Earring Stand - House to Home

I've also made my own blackboard photo frame which I'll be putting up a tutorial for later in the week

Well I hope this has inspired you to look around your house and see what you could transform into something new. Please comment on this page or send me and email at craftalavista@gmail.com if you would like ideas on transforming a specific item and we will see what we can come up with!

Happy Crafting xxxx