Home Decor - Wall art

Next year my closest friends and I are moving to a house of four, but unlike other student accommodations, this one is more home-like. But still I wanted to add some more decor, that is going to make it OUR home.

This wall art does not require a lot of things:

• foam board or canvas
• paint and brushes
• scissors
• pvc sticky tape
• tape (transparent)

First I taped the word HOME on the board, this way the letters stay white under the tape. Then I added some random, thinner lines, all over the surface. I cut the tape in smaller pieces.Then I repeated it with other design....

As for the next step I got my paint and used a lot of water so the colours are pale and merge to each other. It does not matter if you go on the top of the tape, because if you pressed it down firmly, the paint cannot go under. After I finished, I let it dry for an hour (at least).

With the third, small piece I followed a bit different technique: I cut out a heart shape of paper, and taped it down, so the shape is showing on the board. Then I cut thin tape pieces and placed them across the heart. After that I just painted on the shape.

Now comes the hard but exciting part: I carefully removed all tapes from the board, ensuring that the paint stays in place. The tape comes off easier if you used canvas. With the heart, I finished it up silver paint for background and added some personal design (I am madly in love with the game Ibb&Obb atm).

The last step is just for safety, I taped down the 2 bigger boards all the way, so it got a shiny effect and protects the surface.

It is a lovely and quick project, easy way of spicing up your home. I know it will look fabulous on the mantelpiece!

Moo:)

Charity Shop!

So here comes the first fashion-style-haul post. I am not an expert, I am not a model and unfortunately not a photographer. The main reason why I want to add these posts to the blog is that I feel like I start to find my own style and sometimes I find very good deals!

I happen to love vintage clothing and charity shops, because the whole shopping turns out to be a treasure hunt, and the dress you are wearing, will less likely cross your way on the street.

So the other day I went in to my favourite charity shop, which is on our street, St Luke's Hospice. It is a small store, but as most of the charity shops, you can find all kind of goods there.

The first thing I do is looking through the tops, because in many cases you just discover an awesome design, and this is how I ended up buying these pieces.

The mystical deer

It is a simple black T-shirt, with a very nice design that is printed on. I am personally not a huge fan of printed tees, but it is a very light layer on the material, so it doesn't bother me much. 

The painted crop top

As you may know, crop tops are showing the belly if not worn with high waisted bottoms. Therefore they are not my favourite, but since even in England the weather is so warm, I did not have other choice but buying it! The paint-like picture caught my eye and I fell in love with it more, when I looked at the back: it is a nice, split back showing the arch of the back, which I think is very summery!

As for dresses, I can't help myself but absolutely adore the collar-shirtlike summer dresses:

The pink

This dress caught my eye in a second, and even though I already had a similar one, the pink was just the right shade, the collar and the style was perfect. I still find these dresses a bit too short, so I wear shorts or thicker tights with them. The outfit actually has an under dress, so the seethrough layer is not really showing everything. The texture is just lush!

The shirt
This item is more like a top, than a dress, I would never wear it without bottom clothing, but given the length, leggings are really suitable for this job. This one also came with an under layer, just a simple grey vest, but since the shirt itself is a bit baggy style, the vest's job really is to hide what needs to be hidden! The lower back part makes it dress-like, and the long sleeves look great either done up or just down.

And for the last, I treated myself with a new pair of earrings, the really long, hanging style, and I was looking for these kinds for a very long time. The golden colour reflects the sunshine and it is really pretty, absolutely must have!

I can't really give an accurate price for them, but I do know, that none of the clothes was more than £ 3-4, and the earrings were just a pound!

So I ended up buying these 5 items for around £ 15, which I find to be a very good deal!

Moo:)

The Cow Bank

A very dear friend of mine surprised me and my partner with a small gift: it was a ready kit, arriving in a small package, I made it, and gave it to my partner. Perfect gift for us, thank you!

I received a Paint your own Cow Bank pack, which provided me with the cow, plain white, a small paint brush, and paint: blue, yellow, pink, purple, white and black. In the instructions I could also find help how to create other colours such as green, brown, etc.

Although my plan was to give it to my boyfriend, it turned out to be blue, pink and purple. :D

First, I draw some drafts on the surface with a pencil.

When I started painting the base (blue) I realised that using a bit more water gives a nice watery, patchy effect, which I fancied, therefore I continued with it. The pattern on the blue became vibrant pink, pale pink, dark purple and pale purple. The nose strong, vibrant pink, and the horns became silver (I had some silver paint from earlier). Using a black sharpie, I added the eyes. Unfortunately I don't have more pictures of the completed product, but hopefully this one gives you an idea of the finished look!

Moo:)

Sweets jar: farmer style

(Almost) Everyone loves sweets and confectionery. It is a very common gift, just like wine and flowers. But it can be personal as well, nicely packaged candy is even more sweet!

You will need:

• a jar
• acrylic paint
• paper, pen and pencil
• scissors
• paintbrushes
• hot glue gun
• a ribbon, but I used an old shoelace
• sharpies

This time I decorated a big jar which originally contained pickled cucumbers, so it required intensive cleaning. Make sure you rinse off all the glue from outside. Take a sheet of paper and measure the approximate inner surface placing it around the glass from the outside.

Using the green paint, create a base on the bottom of the jar. To achieve a grass-like effect, with a smaller brush, draw lines from the edges of the paint. Let it dry completely.

Meanwhile, take the paper sheet, and plan your design. This step is not necessary but helps to feel more confident with the paint. On my farmer style jar there is a cow, a pig, a sheep, a rooster and a small chicken, from the biggest to the smallest. Place the paper with the design inside the dry jar, so you can use it as a draft from the outside. Secure it down with tape!

Here comes the messy but fun part, when you paint the glass! Since it is a round surface, it is recommended to use less water mixed with the paint to avoid dripping, and always leave time to dry before you move along to the next figure. I completed the animals with sharpies, and also added their sounds (just in case my art work is not recognisable :) ). Since I gave this present to a real farmer, I named the jar: Sweet Crops, but any funny title works well!

As for the lid, take a card and measure the lid by placing it and cutting it around, decorate with a wavy effect, and write a message on it. Glue it on the lid. Then with starting at one point, slowly, step by step glue the shoelace or ribbon (or whatever you fancy!) around the lid on the side, ensuring that the lines are tightly placed next to each other. When it is all complete, make sure, that the end of the shoelace is glued down well! My shoelace gave the lid a very nice grip and its dark colour a bit of manly touch.

Fill the jar with sweets and candy, close the lid on top and your gift is ready to be presented!

                                  

Moo:)

Gift wrapping

In many cases the wrapping of a gift is just as important as the present itself. Although the main function is to conceal what's hidden inside to cause surprise, sometimes just a little touch is enough.

This time I decided to rather give it a nice appearance than wrap it as much as I can. The present is a nice vintage styled clutch, but since it also contains the rest of the gift, I wasn't keen on hiding it.

Therefore I used a tissue paper to wrap it around just in the middle. The piece I cut is around 10-15cm wide, and its one side is decorated with wavy scissors.✂

The next step was to find a ribbon which I placed along the paper, but more to the straight edged side. The colour is the same but the lighter blue ribbon nicely stands out on the paper.

As a final touch I glued a paper flower on the ribbon, which was in harmony with the colour of the clutch and also helps the ribbon to stay in place. I made sure that all other taping are on the bottom of the gift. And there you have it, a stylish and lovely way of presenting your surprise!

Moo:)

Cross-stitched pincushion

The magic of cross-stitching is that it looks hard, very precise and quality (of course, if you are doing it right) but in the meantime, it is fairly easy. A lot of different techniques exist.
On the internet many-many cross-stitch patters can be found, different difficulties. I have found mine searching for roses that does not have that many different colours. At the end, I decided with this pattern.

I used a kind of thread when the shades are going from one to the other, therefore it was more natural. The finished image was approximately 5cmx5cm big or even smaller. I cut it in a circular shape, making sure there is enough material left on the edge to sew it down. I placed it down on a piece of textile and measured 2, slightly bigger pieces. After cutting them out, sew them together along the edge, but leaving out 1 cm hole. With the help of that gap, turn it inside out, then fill it with cotton balls or cushion filling so it is approximately 1 cm thick.Then place the cross-stitch on top and sew it on the cushion.

The finished product looks something like this. Now it is time, to get some pins and the look is complete!

Moo:)

Letter Bracelet

Big jewellery is always a nice plus for a solid outfit.
I purchased standard bracelets from Etsy, which included the real glass marbles as well. The bracelet itself is plastic, therefore light weight, and elastic, so easy to fit to any wrist size.

In this project I used:

• the bracelet
• glass marbles
• nail polish
• mod podge dimensional magic glue
• old magazine
• scissors
• super glue
• craft knife

I started out with painting the bracelet with nail polish. The advantages of using nail polish are that it is easy to find the perfect colour shade, it has a nice shiny effect and most importantly, in case of errors, it is easy to get it off with some acetone. With certain polishes it doesn't even take long to dry, but make sure, it is completely dry, when you apply the next layer. It is easier to do one side at a time, and while one is drying you can go on the next step.

Don't panic if the paint gets on the sides, just get some nail polish remover and carefully wipe it off.

Next, I fished out an old magazine and looked for some simple pages where the text is neither vulgar or has negative content. It is advisable to look for the same letter type as well. Measure the right circle size, so it fits in the bracelet perfectly.

Now we have the little text dots. I was making this bracelet to a friend, so I was using her name. With the help of the craft knife, cut out the letters, so after placing them on the bracelet, the chosen colour will show underneath. If you decide not to make a name out of it, any kind of cut outs look good!

I had 2 pieces left, since her name only consists of 6 letters and the bracelet has 8 pieces, I decided to leave it just to show the colour, although I chose a lighter shade to make it more intensive. To protect the surface I used the magic glue. It is very easy to apply, creates a glass-like coat, just make sure you let it dry for at least 5 hours.

To finish I glued the marbles on the top of the nail polish + paper. There is no need to glue the paper down separately, just be careful when placing the marbles so it stays and it fits. Also, it is important, to push the marbles in place immediately and hard, to avoid any air bubbles.

The finished product looks something like this, and makes a really cute gift.

I find it very easy, also takes a lot of time to wait out all the drying...

Moo:)

What is Blue Cow?

This blog is going to be my third, however, very different from its two sisters. First of all, because this time I dare to risk writing it in English. The main reason is to make it available world wide. Secondly, this blog is going to be less personal, even when I post my own opinion on something, I will try to remain official. And the last difference: I hope this blog will live longer and will have a bigger, more mixed audience.

So what is Blue Cow?

I focus on crafting and DIY projects, as a hobby and since I also get ideas and inspiration from the internet, I figured that my creations could be useful for someone else. In addition, in many cases I design my gifts and craftings based on someone's personality, therefore I can only make something for order, I get my inspiration from the receiver. So if you like some of my ideas, don't hesitate to write to me and order your own piece!

I also fell in love with fashion recently, especially since I live in England, I put more thoughts into my shopping, and I plan to share them with you. Here I feel like my taste, my style is accepted, I feel more like myself, and I usually get complimented, not stared at. I think it has a bit more to do with the fact that I dare to show who I am, than they actually agree with my choice of outfit! :)

So here it is, the Blue Cow's first post, although it was not really a kind of post you will see here often.
I hope you will find something that you like!

Moo:)