Thursday 28 March 2019

From Shabby to Shabby Chic


Our attic is full of old treasures. Mum is a bit of a slight hoarder so there is stuff there from any stage of her life from various countries. And some of those we have been selling in the vintage category in our StarHomeStudio shop. From time to time I go up in the attic to find something to fix and then add in the shop. Last week I found this wooden chest. Super shabby and not very useful the way it was. But after a thorough cleaning and adding some cool steel hairpin feet....


In the meantime I have 11 pieces of furniture in various stages of making/ fixing/ finishing!! Kind of drives me crazy.


It now is a super cool coffee table, nightstand or whatever else you might find a use for it.


Besides washing the chest I did not do anything else to the wood to keep the rough rustic look of the old wood. Sanding and varnishing it would just give me a boring and still not perfect wooden box, the imperfections give it character. My mint colored globe matches perfectly :)


It has a top lit and drawer, I think it would be perfect to put remote controls in it, in the living room


I changed the pull of the drawer with a cool vintage bead that has the same mint color as the legs.
One piece down, still 10 pieces of furniture in our atelier waiting to be finished, and many more in the attic and shed :D


This cool piece is available in the shop with plenty of other one of a kind furniture pieces.

Monday 25 March 2019

Newly Listed: Gray Forest Dress


Gray Forest Dress, Mori Girl, Plus Size Dress, Cottage, Trees, lake, Vintage Gobelin Tapestry Fabric Clothing by StarsWear
Rustic Farmhouse Decor, Fence Picture, Country Landscape, Rustic Home Decor, Country Art Farm by firstlightphoto
Composure Accented - photo - Metallic finish by feliciano
botanical print, green art print, naturalist, grey wall art, rustic home decor, floral decor by dullbluelight

Friday 22 March 2019

Get the Look Vol.14


I've listed these cool antique hand made wood clamps yesterday, these are cool pieces for collectors but I thought it would be fun to show actual fun decor ideas that can be done with them.


These are numbered and signed by the maker, these days they are usually metal with plastic, made in the thousands.


They are super cool as a shelf to display small items.


They make a unique picture frame display, easy to change as well.


Great as bookshelves/ display. Maybe not very space efficient but they are super cool.


They look extra good with old books of course.


I would have liked this with a thicker shelf but I like the idea.
Did you think 'why on earth would someone want old wood clamps?' and do you now think 'I want some of those too!' ? :)


And while we're busy with old carpenter tools, how about this super cool steampunk lamp made out of a carpenter plane.


And we have two of those in the shop, can easily be rebuilt in a cool lamp :)

Tuesday 19 March 2019

Tile Patterns


I love the artistry of Morrocan tiles, their shapes and patterns are amazing.



You'll be even more amazed by them when you see how much work they put into creating these tiles, please check the video, you'll never look at these tiles the same way.


Inspired by those tiles I wanted to create a mosaic of some of my Ebru (marbled papers) for our end of year exhibition, if you missed it I've been attending a course these past few months. I spray painted an IKEA box cardboard in gold and then glued my hand cute 'tiles' with Mod Podge. I love how it turned out! I did it in the size to fit an old frame that I found in our attic :)



I made another one which is more inspired by the grandmother's garden quilt pattern but looks a bit like tiles too. I do love the Morrocan tile inspired better but I'm happy with both. I used Ebru pieces of those that had mistakes so I cut from the imperfect ones.


It took way longer than anticipated, like always :) I'll be listing them at the shop after the exhibition.


And continuing the tile vibe, we made this smashing ottoman as well, love the outcome and it actually took less time than the paper mosaics :)


Some cool hair pin legs, MDF wood and a tile patterned fabric with fabric buttons to bring it all together.


It is soft, comfortable and colorful and pretty big with a width of 27 1/2'' (70 cm)! Available at StarHomeStudio.

Thursday 14 March 2019

Newly Listed: Bohemian Agate Necklace


Bohemian Agate Necklace, Coral Statement Necklace, Beaded Necklace, Bohemian Dreams by StaroftheEast
Nature Photography, Surreal Haunting Woodlands, Fantasy Fairy Lights Stars Birds by KathyFornal
food photography, star anise, spice, kitchen decor, earth tones, star anise by shannonpix
Sparrow Bird Photography Chipping, nature, woodland, striped, reflection, rustic home decor by VanillaExtinction

Monday 11 March 2019

Colorful Ottoman and more Roundness


This ottoman project was fun. Didn't take ages and I love the result.


The feet needed cleaning, a very thick layer of some strong oil paint was not easy but for a good paint result, it needs to be done. The base is a pre-cut round MDF, which we ordered when we ordered a smaller one for the side table I blogged about a few days ago.


I wanted the feet to match the colorful embroideries we picked out for it.



After painting I varnished them and they got felt to protect both floors and the feet. Each foot got fixed firmly into place with 4 long screws each. I painted the wood black for a smooth finishing.


The embroidery was actually a bit too big for the wood but they just had to be together.


I sewed the sides to the round pieces with a slight rimple to make the top smaller, and the foam filling got a special top with soft filling to give it a soft round belly and to fill up the too large embroidery.


I hand sew a colorful vintage cord for a fun finishing touch.
The side embroideries were originally done on wool but the wool had some moth damage so we cut the flowers out and Mum appliqued them to some new strong upholstery fabric.


The entire ottoman is full of colorful handmade details and it makes me all cheerful, I'm sure it will brighten up any room you put it in.


It is available at StarHomeStudio among many other one of a kind furniture and decor piece.


 And one of the side projects sprouting out of the coffee table was this, I used the too small glass to frame a marble painting.


I put the marbled paper between the glass and a metal sheet covered cardboard and soldered it all together. I also soldered loops for hanging and metal leaves for some extra dimension.


You can find this also at StarHomeStudio.

Thursday 7 March 2019

Newly Listed: Outlander Capelet


Outlander Capelet, Fluffy Cowl, Letitia MacKenzie, Outlander Scarf Warm Wrap Cowl, Warm Gray Capelet with Vintage Pin by StarsWear
All photographs were taken by me during our last USA trip, from top to bottom they were taken at Sanibel Island, New Orleans and Pensacola Beach.

Monday 4 March 2019

Big Little Project


We got these cool brass feet during our last trip to the USA. And I thought a cute little side table with a vintage embroidered top would be fun to use it.


This little plan/ project took more than a month! Things did not go as planned. The first problem was how to make the top, the embroidery would need protection (glass) and this would all need to be kept together neatly.


We first ordered a nicely cut round MDF but we were not able to find nice clamps to keep the wood, embroidery, and glass together. We then ordered an MDF with a frame, so that the embroidery and glass would fall into the frame, however, the seller seemed to have disappeared as it never got send (no worries we go our money back as it was a very trustworthy site).


Finally, we found a beautiful brass tray, we would just need to put the embroidery and glass in it and we would be done.


However, the embroidery I initially had picked out for the project did not fit in the tray (I did not add a picture of it here) so I had to choose another embroidery. This one needed some repair and then be fixed to some cardboard to keep it neat.


I had a piece of round glass cut but it was too small as I had only brought the tray and not the embroidery which added height and the tray's diameter was not straight! Finally, with a second piece of glass everything fell in place.


What should have been a quick and easy project turned in to quite the project, with all kind of side projects spurting out of it as I have an extra piece of glass which is now in progress for something else, and the round MDF will turn in to an ottoman :) But I got there in the end, you can find it among many other one of a kind furniture pieces.


Pffeeww and then people wonder why handmade is 'so expensive' :)

Friday 1 March 2019

Newly Listed: Sterling Silver Coral Branch Necklace


Sterling Silver Coral Branch Necklace with Red Coral and Silver Branch by StaroftheEast
Ship Photography, Red Boat Fine Art Print, Hopeful Seaside Art, Dreamy Rowing Boat by JudithKimberPhoto
No. 3 Sea Coral, Red Coral, Beach Art, beach decor, Watercolor by willowlief
Lighthouse Photograph, Coastal Decor, Beach, Minimalist Coastal Art, Nautical Wall Print by EyePoetryPhotography