Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Wallpaper Whimsies...

Thought I'd revisit an idea I had a few years ago for pretty gift sets.
I bought several bars of Pears soap this week; the traditional transparent one that they've been producing for over 200 years, which comes in a lovely sturdy box... 
I wrapped each one in a section of vintage floral wallpaper from my collection. This was held in place with a soft green ribbon tied in a bow, which I decorated with a coordinating vintage millinery flower.  
I then teamed each wrapped soap with a pretty vintage china saucer, which make sweet informal soap dishes. To finish, they will be individually wrapped in clear cellophane when I get to my shop tomorrow...
A charming little gift that's just a bit different.

***
Another craft project for this week involved this tiny cabinet...Not sure what this once was, but suspect it may have been a clock case? It had lost much of its wood veneer from the front and was generally quite scruffy...which I liked! I didn't want to lose its signs of age under a coat of paint or other such makeover, so I decided to revamp it with an antique hand blocked wallpaper. I only had this small scrappy piece in my supplies...
Anyone who has used antique wallpaper in crafts will know, that the brittleness of the paper can make them very difficult to work with. I decided that this fragile nature of the paper would hopefully work to my advantage in giving the cabinet a genuine antique look.
I used PVA glue and carefully stuck sections of the paper down, not worrying about small tears or wrinkles, and actually ripping the paper now and then to scruffy-it-up even more.  

I decided to line the inside of the cabinet with antique ledger pages. I've had these squirrelled away for a few years now - They were part of a swap gift I received from Heather of Pretty Petals blog. They were just the thing to continue the theme of the little cupboard.


I must confess I am quite pleased with the way that its turned out and I may just have to keep this project! I'm usually pretty good at offering my handmade (or hand-tweaked!) items for sale...in fact I don't very often have the time to make things for myself...But it does look pretty nestled on the old writing desk with my collection of Water Babies books...
And then there's the fun of adding little treasures to the inside...

Time will tell if it stays with me...Rather appropriate for an old clock case! ;-))
Hope you've enjoyed the beautiful sunshine today,
Niki x