Wednesday, April 20, 2016

recycle week day 3: the unloved vase

Hello crafty people!

Just a short post for today!

Joost went on a small business trip and took my laptop, leaving me alone with his incomprehesible computer.  So now I'm sitting behind his desk, and the computer and me are staring at each other with intense hate.

Tami asked me if I couldn't use this week to turn an incredibly ugly thrift find into something beautiful. I think that today's vase is a pretty serious contestant in the run for ugliest thrift shop haul...
I haunt your nightmares!
( too bad the thing quite matches my interior here. But rest assured; it's ugly!)

Only thing is that I didn't actually find it at a thrift shop, but in our basement ( I hope you forgive me for that Tami, there might be more thrift shop on its way!)  It probably came from a thirft shop though, but it wasn't bought by me. I'm guessing it was once bought by Joost's ex. Extra reason to change that whole lotta ooglay into something new, don't you think? (Don't worry, I only get hateful towards exes after at least 5 glasses of alcohol!)

Raffia may be making a comeback in interiors, but I absolutely don't care for this vase at all. This is the kind of thing that you only find with faded, fake flower in it, on a plastic table cloth. or worse: filled with dusty marbles that noone ever uses. So: it had to change!


I actually thought about throwing the whole thing away, since I found it so ugly and I didn't want it in my house ( there may or may not have have been 5 glasses of alcohol involved that day) But I could see that the inside was made of glass, and I quite liked how big the thing was. Big glass vases and jars are quite expensive, so I thought it would be worth a try. So instead, I took a big knife, and started attacking the raffia.


A simple cut was all it took! The raffia bit came off really easy and revealed a big, beautiful ( although dusty) vase (jar? whatever you like best)

A quick bath made it shiny again and look how pretty it is now!

shine!!

I love that blueish hue of the glass, and the shape that reminds me of storage jars (although this one is much bigger) I'm very fond of simple shapes, so I really like this one.

I'm not entirely sure how to use it, but I'm thinking about planting a baby chestnut tree in it (my parent's garden is always full of baby-trees),or fill it with water an add a little water plant. Or maybe just add a lot of blossoming branches and use it as a vase?

What you do think? Good save or not? And how should I use it?
 
Did you do any recycling/ upcycling lately? Or do you have any cool ideas for my recycle week? I'm eager to hear it! 

The score:
recycled: 
- an unloved raffia vase

costs/resources: 
-none!

5 comments:

  1. Oh yeah! Good save - the jar is def worth utilizing. I would put all of my thread in that one. I use glass vases now to store my thread - course, if I see I color I want or need, I have to dump all the thread out to get to it, but hey, it works!

    Do you ever do any furniture upcycles? recycles? I know there are some blogs devoted entirely to just that.

    www.thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. thanks! and putting thread in it is quite a good idea! loving the combo is being pretty and useful at the same time!

      Yep, I actually have done quite a lot of furniture-upycling/ furniture making! Although I haven't really posted about them, since I made most of them quite a while ago. But in my peek inside-post I photographed my saved cinema-chairs.

      Should I do more? I have a handmade couch, a dinner table made from some sort of pallety-things and a bed made from floor-wood if you'd like to read about them ;)Any favorites in that list?

      cheers!

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  2. Yay! I love these posts, they are very fun! :-) You are brightening up my week!

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  3. So glad another blog suggested yours. As far the jar keep it. I have a serious love for jars. Some suggestions are you can either use it or u as an usual a gift box. Fill with cookies, cover the top with pretty material or celafane add a bow and poof your done.

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  4. I would fill it with dried pussy willow stems, like this:
    http://www.familyholiday.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Amazing-Willow-D%C3%A9cor-Ideas-For-This-Spring_141.jpg

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