Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Miscellaneous Items in Kitchen Room Box

Just going to talk about a few items in the kitchen.

The round "tins" on the bottom shelf and canister set on the counter. These were made from card stock.
I use a wood dowel for the forms, choose the diameter you want for the size of "tin" you want. I find 3/4" dowels make a nice size tin. They come in all sizes, you choose the size of dowel you need.

Take a length of sewing thread, grey if you have it, and run it through your fingers full of silver paint. Get the thread covered, hang the thread to dry. Do enough to go around the tin twice. I do this the night before to be sure that the thread is dry.

The tin I'm copying is 2 1/2" tall. I'm going to cut a strip of card stock 7/32" wide and 2 5/8" long. Wrap it around the dowel, overlap the ends and glue with Elmer's white glue. Be careful not to glue it to the dowel. Let dry. When dry, sand the seam a bit to soften the joint.

Do you want to have a tin that opens? You can fill with cookies, candies or like mine, a button box. For the lid I like a pattern. There are lots of Dover Books that have copyright free designs and patterns. There are catalogs full of pictures that can be used. You can make your own on the computer. Or you can paint the lid. Small print calico is a good source, you can copy it on to card stock.

Cut a strip of card stock or your patterned paper that's been glued (with glue stick) onto card stock, 1/16" wide and 2 5/8" long. Wrap this narrow piece around the already glued strip that is still on the dowel. Carefully glue the lid strip to itself. Don't let glue go onto the bottom strip or you won't be able to open your tin. Let dry, testing occasionally to see that it is not glued to the bottom strip.

Push the lid strip slightly off the dowel, not all the way. Leave the bottom strip where it is. Cut a circle, a little larger in diameter than the dowel, from your patterned paper/card stock. Apply Elmer's white glue to the edge of the lid strip and set the circle (top) onto the glued edge. Let dry. When dry, carefully trim around, cutting close to the edge. I use curved scissors for this.

Take the completed lid off the dowel. Cut another piece of card stock a little larger than the diameter of the dowel. Push the the bottom strip slightly off the dowel, not all the way. Apply Elmer's to the edge and set the bottom circle onto the bottom strip. Let dry. When dry carefully trim off the extra card stock.

You can paint the bottom tin, I use Delta's PermEnamel, to coordinate with your patterned top. Let dry.

To make the rolled edges apply tacky glue in a very narrow line along the bottom edge of tin and apply the thread along this glue line. Let dry. Do the same thing with the bottom edge of the lid.

The canister set is made the same way using graduated sized of dowels.

To make the floor I first made a pattern and then cut a floor from poster board. I found something I liked from a "Better Homes and Gardens" 1940's magazine. I painted the whole surface dark blue, I used a little roller I found at Home Depot. You can use a foam brush, too. This time I used Delta's Ceramcoat. I let this dry. I marked off the border, it's about 5/8" and left an 1/8" space and masked another line about 1/8" wide. I used painter's blue tape. Then I sponged, I'm a great sponger, that's my answer to everything, "Sponge it". I used 2 shades a little lighter that the orignal blue plus white. Let this dry. Then according to the picture from the magazine I painted a little blue square, a yellow circle and 2 red lines. It's not much, but it gave the kitchen a 1940's feel. Take the blue tape off. I finished the floor with Delta's PermEnamel Clear Gloss Glaze.

I made the clock radio from polymer clay. The metal ring around the dial is a rim from a "Gripper" snap from the notions department in a sewing store. I use these for sink drain rims, too. The dial is a barometer face from a clock catalog.

The cabinets do not open. They are all boxes with doors glued on the faces. They are made from basswoood. The handles are drinking straws I painted silver. I snipped off small rings, trying to keep them all the same width, then I cut the rings in half, there's your handle. I glue them on with super glue. I painted the counter tops dark red. The old counter tops were covered with linoleum, some didn't have back splashes. I finished them with Delta's PermEnamel Clear Gloss Glaze. The edge of the counter tops is made from silver foil from a stained glass store or supplier. It's narrow, just the right size for the counter top, you can fold it over the top and bottom. This comes on a roll and is sticky. It looks just like the aluminum edge that used to make the front of our shirts black!

Going to make the sink top next.