Feb 28, 2019 | How To DIY
Take inspiration from your garden and make Christmas a TrenDIY outside affair. With these elegant yet simple ideas, your festive gathering will be one to remember for a long, long time.
INSPIRATION: Crimson bottle brushes (Botanic name: Callistemon spp. The name is derived from the Greek words kallos, meaning beauty, and stemon, meaning stamen, describing the coloured stamens, the showy part of the flowers. Source http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au) will add a pop of perfect pink to your setting and natural elements like wood, stone, cement and glass pairs beautifully with the colour.
Easy DIY ideas for your festive arrangement
- Perk up ordinary glass bottles by covering the bottom quarter with twine.
- Use a large cement planter for Christmas decorations and crackers on the table.
- Hang bunting (triangle cut pieces of fabric sewed to a ribbon) from the trees
- Make a memory book and write happy notes and wishes inside and collect and print pictures of the day and paste them inside the book – your own DIY album, Voila!
- Make you your own nature inspired votives. Collect twigs and arrange them around a glass jar. Glue them in position with a glue gun. Paint hot pink dashes or stripes on the twigs, Dala craft paint R16.95 at TrenDIY.
Photographer Antonia Heil, DNA Photographers
Model Jane Kotze
Feb 28, 2019 | How To DIY
It is said that coffee is simply a mug filled with love, but it’s even better when you’re drinking from a pretty one. So I’ve decided to indulge in February fever and try my hand at a {new} DIY project this weekend and pretty up some boring mugs myself. And I must say I loved it. See for yourself, I promise it is simple, easy and totally rewarding!
I was darn bored with the white mugs in my kitchen, and not sorry to offer them up as guinea pigs for the project. After all, I can pop out and get the same ones in a wink. I’ve decided to decorate them in a quirky, yet simple design inspired by hearts (ala Valentine’s) and yes, it is totally possible to “write” safely on porcelain using Nerchau PorcelanArt pens (they are odourless) that I got at TrenDIY for R55 each.
Nerchau PorcelanArt pens (they are odourless) from TrenDIY
This isn’t a bank breaking project, but really a cute idea for gifts to make yourself (adults and kids can have equal amounts of fun) for someone special.
I kept the designs simple, just to get a feel for it, but totally amped to do something more intricate on a flat surface like a cake stand or platter next time. Simple designs are easier on the rounded mug surface. I used a black pen to draw the basic pattern, and added a dash of red and gold, perfect for Valentine’s Day inspiration, but in the long run, it also has a timeless appeal.
Drawing with the pens are very simple, they hold well, and the tips aren’t slippery on the porcelain, if you do mess, you have a minute or so to still wipe it off, and do it over.
Once you’re done, leave your makes to air dry for four hours.
After four hours place the mugs/or your makes in a cold oven and heat to 160°C and bake for additional 90 minutes. When the time is up, switch the oven off and open the door and leave to cool.
PS I call the mug on the left “Die-hartsnaar-bekertjie” (Afrikaans for heart-string mug), and the one on the right is the “Tree of Love”-mug.
Happy Valentines week Lovelies x
