I had a set of 6 wooden coasters that were nearly 5 years old. Dull, faded, and ready to be discarded. But the coasters/place mats are the sturdy kind that I didn’t have the heart to just junk it. So over the weekend I transformed a pair (to begin with) into these bright, colorful coasters.

Colorful Coasters

How to paint:

The steps are similar to how we painted the cane furniture: sanding, priming, painting followed by a coat of varnish. The only difference is I used acrylic paint for this project.

Coaster Painting Steps

Terra Cotta planters are common along the road side in most cities across India. They come in various shapes, sizes, and forms including animals and gods.

I bought a pair of planters for Rs. 80 a few months ago, filled them with potting soil, and planted ivy (money) plants. A few weeks ago, itching to do something, I turned one of the planters into a decorative vase.

Terra Cotta Planter

What you’ll need:

1. Brush

2. Acrylic Paint - black and white

3. Palette or a cup.

4.  Fevicol

5. Water

6. Varnish

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Do you have a set of cane chairs that has lost its sheen and natural color? Wondering if you should give it a new lease of life or just give it away to somebody?

I had a cane furniture set comprising 4 chairs + 1 table + 2 side tables that were over 5 years old. One look at them and you’ll know they had seen better days. During a recent moving exercise from a BIG house to a smaller apartment, I gave away 2 chairs, the center table and the side tables. However, I retained 2 chairs for use as balcony furniture in the new place. One day while scouting the net, I was inspired to give these chairs a new look.

Before Painting : Cane Chair

You have two choices while restoring old cane furniture: giving it a polished look while retaining the natural color or painting it in a different color to complement the surroundings.

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The first shelf of the wooden cabinet in my dining room is stuffed with old newspapers.  Every night, after the  entire family has read,  I deposit the paper in its designated place.  Once the shelf has no room for any more paper, which is usually once a month, or sometimes a little longer, I bundle it and sell the pile at the neighboring old-paper-wala.

Last week, I stumbled upon a project in CraftStylish on how to make a basket from a newspaper. I couldn’t wait to get started on a project that required no fancy stuff and made use of a simple thing as a newspaper. It was more of an evening project and I worked on it while the rest of the family watched TV. It took me about 30 minutes to make the basket from scratch to finish. ..

Base of the newspaper basket

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