Trying my hand at pottery at West Dean College

I love ceramics and always enjoy having a go at new crafts, so when my friend Amy suggested we try our hand at pottery, I agreed straight away. We decided to make a weekend of it and signed up for the throwing pots taster day at the beautiful West Dean College near Chichester. After a sneak peek of the house itself (former home of surrealist art collector Edward James) we headed to the pottery studio.

There’s always something so lovely about craft studios and now I’m getting used to my camera, I couldn’t stop taking photos of all the little details around the place. To begin with we were shown ram’s head kneading, which gets rid of any air pockets in the clay and can lead to wobbly pots. Once we were ready our tutor Alison Sandeman demonstrated our first task: a simple cylinder.

Simple as that!

There were eight of us in the class and pottery was new to nearly everyone, but after seeing how effortless Alison made it look we were all confident about our chances as we started the wheels.

It soon became obvious that it’s most definitely not as simple as that! Thankfully, Alison was really encouraging and always on hand to share her 25 years of experience. Even though I was far from a natural, I fell in love with the challenge and it was hard to tear myself away from the wheel at lunchtime. The little bowl above right was my first attempt… unfortunately it kind of went downhill from there. Here’s a couple that didn’t make it!

By the end of the day we all had five or six pots of varying size and shape to show for our efforts. They’ll be glazed for us in the next few weeks and hopefully some will survive so I can show you the finished articles.

{all Decorator’s Notebook}

I definitely want to go look into doing a longer course and have to admit I’ve been searching for secondhand potters’ wheels on fleabay. I’m hooked!

Print any photo as a polaroid: free template!

When my brother Joe came up with this simple method for turning some favourite digital snaps into perfect Polaroids for the backdrop of our Showcase stand, I knew you’d love to get your hands on the template. So, I’ve invited him to do his first guest post here and share the DIY – over to you bro!

Hi, Joe here!

If you love Polaroid format pictures as much as I do, you’ve generally got two options: buy a bargain Polaroid camera then shed tears over the cost of the film, or shell out almost as much on send-away Instagram printing.

Now, I print my DSLR photographs for the princely sum of 10p each at my local Asda, so the above options just didn’t add up for me. So instead, I decided to have a go at designing a Photoshop template that meant I could print any digital photo I liked as a Polaroid – and it worked!

Turn any digital photo into a Polaroid print

Your photos as jpegs

Photoshop (or if you want almost the same thing for free, I recommend GNU GIMP)

 

1. Download my free Polaroid template PNG image and open in Photoshop or GIMP

2. Drag in your photograph as a layer* and re-order the layers so your photo is behind the Polaroid template

3. Select your photograph layer and use the re-size and move tools so that the desired section of the image appears in the square portion of the Polaroid template. It’s likely that your photo will be huge compared to the template, but just shrink it down to size**

4. Save or export image as a JPEG

5. Put the pictures on a memory stick and take to your local photo processing place or use your home printer

6. Use a guillotine or craft knife to trim the bottom white portion from the photo, leaving a thicker border at the base than the sides

*Need help with layers? Watch this YouTube video for Photoshop or this one for GIMP.

**The template size is 12×8 inches which will automatically be scaled down to 6×4″ by the photo processor but allows the file to be a higher resolution to start with. If you chose to print it in a different ratio, the Polaroid image will no longer be square.

I really hope you like it – I’ll be on hand in the comments section to answer any questions!

- Joe

{Photographs, tutorial and template © Decorator’s Notebook}

15-minute make: magnetic storage tins

I’ve posted before about my tendency to buy foods just because I like the packaging. My kitchen cupboards are full of decanted jam, biscuits and spices – some labelled, others not. Sometimes fun / disastrous at mealtimes!

This (slightly belated) 15-minute make will require you to shop around for pretty tins and find another home for the contents… that’s the hardest part over and done with. The rest of this DIY couldn’t be easier! My local Turkish supermarket is a goldmine of nice packaging, or scout car boot sales for vintage alternatives.

Magnetic Storage Tins

Selection of square or rectangular tins

Magnets

Super glue / glue gun

1) Empty, rinse and dry the tins.

2) Glue a magnet onto the back of each tin. Use two magnets if you plan to store something heavy. Leave to dry.

3) That’s it!

{A Pretty Cool Life}

These tins are really handy on the fridge or invest a mere £11 in a magnetic knife strip from IKEA and you can stick them anywhere. I like the idea of a whole row above my desk for pens and paperclips or inside the door of my DIY cupboard for nails and screws.

52 Forms of Funghi (aka: a year of knitted mushrooms)

There’s only one thing I like more than a good photo project. And that’s a knitted photo project! Fibre artist Leigh Martin from Oklahoma is on a mission to yarn bomb trees with knitted mushrooms. One species every week for a year. Brilliant right!?

{Bromeleighad via The Jealous Curator}

I’m definitely going to be following the progress of this mycological adventure …and if you’re wondering (as I was) how on earth such an idea comes about, read Leigh’s mission statement for a full explanation.

15-minute make: nail polish marbled Easter eggs

How fun do these look?! There are loads of Easter egg decorating ideas about but I picked this one from Camille Styles to share because it doesn’t involve anything you won’t already have around the house. Can’t wait to try it this weekend!

Marbled Easter Eggs

Blown eggs (instructions here)

Nail polish (2-3 in a pleasing colour combo)

Plastic tub half-filled with water

Stirring stick

Kitchen towel

Simple drying stand made from card or foam board with drawing pins stuck through

1) Pour a few drops of nail polish into the water.

2) Swirl around with your stirring stick to combine the colours a little – take care not to over-mix.

2) Working carefully but quickly, dip the eggs into the water, twirling them around until they’re covered all over with colour. Set aside on your drying rack.

3) If the nail polish left in the water has become too blended, scoop it off the surface with a plastic spoon and repeat step 1. Carry on until all your eggs are looking pretty.

{all Camille Styles}

Have a fabulous Easter weekend and thank you soooo much to those of you who came to visit Joe and I at Somerset House last weekend to preview our new venture. I was really touched and we loved meeting you all in person!

15-minute make: porcelain pen plates

Here’s a simple DIY using just two ingredients… a porcelain pen and a plain white plate. You could try out any design you want, but I really love the simplicity of this graphic pattern. It looks great and there’s no particular drawing skill needed to recreate it – just the kind of crafting I like!

Porcelain Pen Decorated Plates

Fire at home porcelain pen

Basic white plates

1) Read the instructions on your porcelain pen – follow those if they differ from mine!

2) Give the pen a good shake and press the nib of the pen down several times on a sheet of scrap paper to get the ink flowing.

3) Start drawing your design on the plate, starting in the centre and turning the plate as you work to avoid smudging.

4) Leave to air dry for 24 hours then bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 150ºC / Gas Mark 2. Once fired the pen should be dishwasher safe but I’d recommend hand washing your masterpiece to be on the safe side.

{Project and Photography Mormorsglamour}

Have a great weekend everyone. I’m getting behind the wheel for the first time in over 5 years… wish me luck!

15-minute make: heart shaped paperclips

Whether you’re planning to send a love letter to a secret admirer, give a little bag of homemade chocolates to your best friend or pop a bookmark in a page of the Kama Sutra, these adorable heart-shaped paperclips will make your message that little bit more loving.

{How About Orange}

This must be one of the quickest DIYs ever, so I reckon you could easily heart-ify a whole pack of 25 pink paperclips inside 15 minutes.

Happy crafting my sweethearts… click for more quick craft ideas.

15-minute make: twiggy plant markers

Here’s a lemon squeezy little craft project for you to try out over the weekend. Spring is just around the corner so I’ll be adding a few green-fingered ideas over the coming months in celebration (anticipation).

Twig Plant Markers

Twigs about 20cm long and a little thicker than a pencil

Sharp craft knife and cutting mat

Alphabet stamps

Coloured ink pads or acrylic paint

1) Whittle one end of each stick into a point. At the other end, slice away the bark on one side of each twig, exposing about 6cm of the wood beneath.

2) Dab your alphabet stamps into the ink or paint being careful not to load the stamp too heavily. Stamp your chosen plant names onto the bare wood.

3) Leave to dry the pop into the pots. Standard craft ink isn’t waterproof so remove the markers before watering!

{both via Etsy}

15-minute make: pebble photo holder

{Danny Seo / Miki Duisterhof via Country Living}

When I was a child I was a bit of a magpie and my coat pockets were permanently filled with treasures I’d picked up and squirreled away… a grey feather, a scrap of ribbon, a patterned pebble or a shard of sea-smoothed glass. This simple craft idea takes moments and is one way to get part of your collection out on display.

Pebble Photo Holder

Nice smooth pebbles

Paper covered floristry wire

Pliers

1) Take a 20cm length of wire and wrap one end around the pebble. Twist to secure it tightly at the base.

2) Stand the remaining wire upright then twist the other end into a flattened spiral – the easiest way to do this is grip the end of the wire with pliers then wrap the next 3-4cm of wire tightly around them. Press with your fingers to flatten.

3) Pop a postcard, photo or polaroid into the top and voila! Experiment with different sized pebbles and lengths of wire to make a pleasing group.

Have a lovely weekend – wrap up warm!

Free printable! 16 illustrated Christmas gift tags

It’s been brilliant having you all read my blog over the past year – it feels like last Christmas was only moments ago but so much has happened over the past year and 2013 is going to be the most exciting yet for Decorator’s Notebook. So to say thank you for reading I’ve been hard at work drawing a little present just for you!

{© Decorator’s Notebook / Photographs Joe John}

There are 16 different hand-drawn Christmas gift tag designs to print on any card you like. The PDF is free to download by clicking the link below… in return, please share an image and link via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest by hitting one of the buttons at the bottom of the post. If you have your own blog please feel free to share it there too, but please post a link to Decorator’s Notebook rather than the PDF itself.

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