Homemade Silver Jewelry Cleaner...❥

Well you know I have seen this cleaner diy on zillions of blogs and on Pinterest....

And I have for years thought...must try it.

Then the day came that I had a lot of silver that was tarnished and unwearable,

so I thought - well here's a good time to see if this raved about homemade cleaner actually works.

And guess what?

It sure does!

I have saved myself quite a few dollars by not taking the jewelry to the jewelers.

And the homemade cleaner has basic pantry ingredients in it too.

So here's how it rolled.....

 

Take one lot of tarnished black silver earrings and brooches...

Place them in a metal baking pan that has been lined with foil  (shiny side UP)

Pre mix - 1 cup of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of salt and  1 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Soda

Stir until dissolved and pour over the jewelry in the pan.

Pour over this 1/2 cup white vinegar.

It will froth up!
Next move the jewelry around a bit and the leave it sitting for 15 minutes.

A couple of pieces were really black, so I used a little brush to brush the black off.

Rinse under warm water and pat dry with a paper towel.

You now will have super shiny silver with no tarnishing.

Here's a before and a after photo of these leaf earrings.
I really could not believe how good this worked.

I'll definitely be using this homemade cleaner again!
It even cleaned up the fucshia earrings which are silver on copper.
I am so happy that I will now be able to wear these pieces again.

#homemade #tips # jewelry #cleaning

You might like to also visit:

My store at Fine Art America & Redbubble   :)

LOLA The Rescue Kitty... Her Story❥

Lola is a rescued kitty...
late January on one of our summers hottest days George the dog alerted me to this almost lifeless teeny tiny kitten on my driveway.
Some cruel person had dumped her on the roadside,
 and she had crawled into my gateway.
She was so little.
A mere 300 grams in weight and about 4 weeks old.

This is a pic from the moment I found her.
And Arabella inspecting the new arrival.
 I syringe feed her diluted milk,
it was touch and go but she made it through the night.
I managed to get some baby animal formula the next day, 
and the four hourly feeding began.

Within four days she had grown to 351 grams.
(And I was in love.)

She learnt to play.

 

And slept a lot!
After losing my little white dog in October last year I thought I would not or could not love another...
But how wrong was I.

 Little Lola became known as 'Lola Lollipop'.

The most adorable, loving wee cat.

Who learnt from a young age that technology is FUN!

And here she is now 6 months old -  beautiful, healthy, and very loved.



You might like to also visit:
My Fine Art America store at Webshop  :)

❥ Update that pot with a PLAIT!

I have added a little cosy fashion hip to this old planter with a plaited wool design...

For those who are wondering what a plait is, it's also called a braid.

Why don't you DIY one too?

You will need:

 a pot

Chunky weight acrylic wool in your choice of colour

(I used Craft wise wool from The Warehouse)

A glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

The first step was to measure six three-and-a-half metres (about 11.5 feet) lengths of wool.

The wool lengths will vary on pot size, 

but this amount was ample for the pot I used which was 13 x 15cm  (about 5 by 11 inches) round.

The plait was made with 6 lengths of wool to give added thickness.

Knot one end and proceed to make a flat plait.

As you can see from the first photo, I initially thought to use a terracotta-style pot, but as I was plaiting thought - I would have to seal it to stop moisture from leaching into the wool.  So I changed it to a white plastic pot of a similar size, where this won't be an issue.  

This pot has no drainage hole and the plant sits inside it in another pot.

Once you have a decent length of plait, begin at the top of the pot with the tassel end from the start (tassel facing down) and glue it in place and around the rim of the pot.

Once you get to the tassel, drop the plait down and under it leaving a space to add another tassel later.

Continue to glue and plait more if required.

Once at the bottom cut the plait and quickly using a glue gun glue the end into position.

Now make another tassel which is a looped knot using the 6 strands of wool.

Glue the second tassel into place at the top of the pot.

Place your plant of choice inside.
I popped a miniature white flowering cyclamen in mine.

Grab a cuppa, and visit

 my Fine Art America gift store

#diyplanter #potplants #woolcraft

DIY Jar Of Fairy Wishes...❥

A 'Jar Of Fairy Wishes'...

Isn't this the most special idea.

And what a wonderful gift for a fairy lover!

You can make the jar of fairy wishes any size you like...

but I opted for a cute mini hexagonal style jar.

These wee jars come in a range of sizes and you'll find them at Briscoes.

I chose it because of the blue gingham print lid, 

knowing that this jar of fairy wishes would be on a shelf with my blue and white pieces.

To make your own 'Jar Of Fairy Wishes' you'll need:

*Dried dandelion seed heads

(whole and in pieces - I just picked them whenever I saw them and popped them into a large glass in my china cabinet and left the for about three weeks to dry out.)

*A jar with a lid or cork top.

(remember the bigger the jar the more dried dandelion you will need)

*Cord, ribbon or string to tie a bow at neck of jar.

*Scrapbook embellishments to decorate the lid or cork of the jar.

To Make:

Carefully fill your jar with whole and pieces of dandelion seed-heads.

Embellish the lid to pretty it up and to hide the writing on it.

I used a pre cut flower shape

I glued this in place.

Then I topped that shape with another sequined flower shape that was a little smaller.

Using blue and white twisted cord I tied a bow at the neck of the jar,

 and knotted the cut ends.

Then I added a couple of pretty paper flowers to each side of the bow.

I love fairies and I'm loving this Jar Of Fairy Wishes...

And I think I will be making more of these to gift!

#dandelion #crafts #fairy 

You might like to also visit:

My store at Fine Art America & Redbubble 

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DIY Stamped Lampshade...❥

This post is about my DIY Stamped Lightshade, 

 

So read on...

I found this little light shade in the bargain bin at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Only $18!

I've always wanted a lamp for my built in shelving in the Red Lounge,

but have never found one that fitted the width of the shelf.

But this little lamp was the perfect fit!

Plain white base with a cream linen type shade, I decided to add some stamped images to it.

This is how I did it...

For the first row of stamps I taped one inch spaces using a 2 inch wide sellotape.

The stamp I used was a simple poppy design by Stampin' Up.

The first ink colour was a red by Dewdrop Inks.

Press the ink over the stamp...

test on a similar type fabric as the shade first if you like as you want just the right amount of ink to avoid bleed.  

Carefully press stamps onto the fabric spaces between the sellotape.

Leave to dry 10 minutes.

Remove the tape and the stamp the design again in a different colour ink. This time I used a dark grey.  The pattern was red - upside down - Grey - right way up.

Leave 10 minutes to dry.

Then I used a cream white ink to colour in the internal parts of the poppy stamp.

Place the light shade onto the base, connect a light bulb, and put in place on the shelf.

So this is how it turned out...  

in traditional Japanese aesthetics, 

wabi sabi is a view that is centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.

The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is imperfect, flawed impermanent or incomplete'.

I'm telling you this story because the lampshade is not perfect - I was a little heavy handed with the red dye. So there is some imperfection with bleeding into the fabric on a couple of the stamp impressions.  

Regardless -  I think it is still beautiful.

And when I decide to change the shade...

I already have a vision of another DIY project!

#homedecor #diy #lightshades #stamping

You might like to also visit:

My store at Fine Art America & Redbubble