Boat Lamp Revamp

It’s amazing what people throw away. This beauty was down and out in the gutter outside my house last month. I looked around for a ripped bin bag or evidence of a discarded declutter box, but the lamp was the only thing on the kerb.

Naturally I took it in.

I’m guessing this piece of junk (see what I did there? Junk being a flat bottomed boat with sails) was thrown away not simply lost. After all there was no plug, a chunk of the wood had split, bits were missing and it looks there may have been a long 'prow' or figure head of some sort.

I wonder if the thing was lobbed out of a window in the middle of a domestic, with a yell of ... and I’m sick of your trashy kitsch boat-lamp! I’ll never know, although I suspect it probably belonged to my next door neighbour – they leave a lot of stuff on the kerb.

I glued the boat bottom splinter, then found a couple of wooden beads and toggles that could reasonably replace the missing bits – one looked a little like a barrel.

The whole thing has the feel of a ‘kit’ about it, it’s not beautifully manufactured – I wonder if it was a hobbyist’s project at one time?

Amazingly the lamp is also ... a music box!  I dug around for a spare key and managed to get a little tinkle out of it, but the music mechanism is quite bust. Ah ... I really should have replaced it before gluing her back together.

But with a new bulb and a new plug, I think she looks quite majestic. 

For those old enough to remember 'Bagpuss',  I should really place the boat in my window for the owner to reclaim it, then go back to sleep on the Mouse-organ.

I’m amassing quite a few kitsch lamps and don’t have enough surface space or electric sockets (to the relief of my family frankly). The Junk now sits on a bookcase next to my parrot, but will have to remain un-illuminated unless I rig up a complicated extension lead.

It would be great to hear about any similar lamp sightings – I reckon it’s probably circa 70’s?

Bloggers Out There - Introducing Betty Crafter

There are some people’s blogs I love to dip into – often because they have the knack of finding the most wonderful things in yard sales and thrift stores (we don’t do yard sales in the UK alas) and because their blogging always brings on a smile.

Betty Crafter is one such blogger (she’s there look, on my blogroll side bar). Betty collects fun things for herself, her Mister and Little Betty and she’s hosting her first giveaway! Just ripe for spring planting – a kitschy adorable squirrel planter.

This planter could be yours if you leave Betty a comment, press her Twitter button or do as I’m doing and blog about her giveaway. 

I’d love the planter in my workspace sprouting mini daffs, but I’m just happy to share her retro blogginess with you all. Do check out her Enid Collins purses and Cowichan collection – they rock.

Tiki Sofa Cushions

So what exactly to do with my recent fabulous eBay win? Barkcloth Tiki Curtains. 

I knew all along that these curtains would end up on the sofa, I just needed to make sure they were actually too small for the window or I would have put them straight up there.

I love my red leather sofa but that's quite a lot of *red* in a small room so I like to ring the changes with throws and fabric. However there is nothing worse than a sofa throw that silently works its way into a pile on the floor - a crumpled mess that needs straightening and tucking in every five minutes. Aaarrrgh.

It drives the family mad too. 

I was determined to make my Tiki dancers into cushion covers that stayed put, trouble being there wasn't much fabric in each curtain and there was quite a bit of damage to along the edges. These might not last the summer, but what the heck..

The pattern of disintegration is interesting, it appears that only the red dye is unstable and holes appear where there is red in the design - mostly along the selvedge edges, so I surmise that it's probably sun damage with the curtains open and the sun catching the edges ... or colour selective moths.

Sunshine + this red dye = rotting? 

Any chemists out there able to throw some light on this? I'd be very interested. I reckon the fabric is probably 60yrs old at the most.

For the cushions I had a couple of choices: 

a: I could take the fabric to an upholsterer and ask for it to be used on the top surface only of a piped and zipped cushion cover in a complemetary fabric. 

b: I could try to do this myself. 

c: I could make a loose cover secured with elastic - like those in catalogues that fall out of colour supplement magazines.  

I chose the easier, cheaper option and chopped the old header tape off.

Squared each curtain up by adding a 7inch strip of canvas from the stash along one edge, then clipped the corners into curves in order to make hemming a pocket for the fat elastic easier.

I threaded elastic, slipped the cover over the sofa cushion and tied it off tight. 

Just fits!

There used to be a lovely small upholsterers just up the road from where I live, the guys there have covered a few things for me in the past - but sadly the shop has closed. Another small independent craft business goes under in the face of chicken shacks and phone shops on the High Street. 

Sad, he would have done a far more professional job.

Upcycled Domino Jazz Brooch

All finished - my Domino Jazz brooches, Louis and Ella part of the Bakelite Jazz series. Upcycled from wooden beads, thrifted buttons, bakelite beads, brass fixings and plastic dominos.

I had hoped the dominoes were Bakelite, there were listed as such when I bought them - but you just *know* by the feel. Bakelite clunks, these dominoes didn't clunk. 

The ultimate test was drill into the domino and sniff ... the drilling and heat would release the tell tale formaldehyde type smell if it was bakelite.

It wasn't. These dominoes are an early plastic.

Still - I don't love these two any less because of it.

I have fond memories of the warm bakelite smell from when I was a kid - there were enough bakelite electrical plugs and and fixtures around the house. We played a fair amount of dominoes too and still do once a year at the annual family gathering in the log cabin in Derbyshire (I won the tournament this year)!

If I can gather more old dominoes I'd love to create a whole jazz orchestra, my earlier brooch here had a vintage silver trumpet charm which I really love. One of the nicest things about this project is sourcing all the bits and pieces.

My daughter is wearing Louis on her lapel in this last shot and you can see the Guinness necklace she made in honour of St Patrick's Day today. Slainte!

Prizes Prizes!!

I am a winner!

Remember my entry for the No Pattern Required Annual Retro Christmas Card Competition – the vintage birds’ snack bar. 

Well ... it was deemed kitsch enough to earn a ‘runner up prize’ which is no mean feat!

Look what landed on the doormat earlier this week from across the pond.

A whole boxful of Christmas cards from What’s Buzzin’ the retro Christmas Card Company. 

Some are fab enough to have up all year round I reckon – I have a fondness for flamingos. Most of the others will be packed away until next year .. one job done taken care of for Xmas 2012.

Thank you so much for all who voted!