Sunday 1 April 2012

Pretty Crafty Home - Kitchen shelves


Now I know that a lot of people in the Pretty Crafty Home challenge have deep cleaned and decluttered their entire houses, but for me the challenge is moving a little more slowly.  I have deep cleaned and decluttered these small (22" long) shelves in my gross kitchen. 


Panic-yee not people.  The picture above is the BEFORE!  First things first, they came off the wall and went out side to be spray painted.  I thought spray painting would be easy.  It's not.  The result is very shabby chic, though that's not what I was aiming for!


Back on the wall they went and I did some serious decluttering before replacing some of the stuff.  It didn't look right, it needed something else.  I completely neglected to take a photo so you'll just have to take my word for it.  I know!  Shelf edging...

I dug out a teapot applique pattern from one of my old Crafts Beautiful magazines and got to work Bondawebbing and cutting.  My plan was to applique them onto a strip of scalloped linen.  I thought a test piece on an old piece of shirt was in order...


Yes, this does look alarmingly like a bum.  That's not the problem though as I was planning on 5 scallops.  Look at the middle bit, the bum crack if you like.  How do you stop that happening?  I went downstairs to make a cuppa and looked at the shelves.  Then it hit me.  Measuring might have been in order, if I carried on with my plan, the edging would basically obscure the entire shelf!  A new plan was hatched.


Mini bunting!  I've bought some fabric for curtains and it features red, blue, green and yellow so I dug out some scraps in those colours and made these little 2" tall flags then sewed them onto the tiny pom pom trim.


Love it!  I took it down stairs and pinned it into place with drawing pins. Perhaps not the best solution but the only one I have for now.


It makes me smile every time I see it.  The strange thing was that Mr CA was at work yesterday when I made this.  He came home and doesn't seem to have noticed... He'd already seen that I'd painted the shelves, but seriously, how could he not have noticed the bunting?  Unless he has and hates it!  That's tough though, it's staying.

14 comments:

Celtic Thistle said...

Your mini bunting is lovely, really finishes off your shelves. If your husband is anything like mine, you will need to point out the bunting to him!

The Dotty One said...

I love the bunting! So cute...I'm a sucker for anything in minature!

I think you should wait until he notices and then tell us how long it takes! If it takes too long he clearly isn't spending enough time in the kitchen!

Sandra :) said...

Your bunting looks adorable!! There's a way to get smooth scallops - instead of stitching in a "V" at the scallop crotch (LOL) you take a single stitch across the crotch (again, LOL) - that doesn't affect the scallop shape but it gives the fabric a bit of wiggle room to press smoothly. I'm trying to find a webpage that shows what I'm not explaining very well :D

Sandra (Cherry Heart) said...

Well done on your new, decluttered shelves. Love the mini bunting - they really make it for me!

S x

emilysnan said...

omg that bunting is adorable and to be honest it wasnt looking good before the bunting ? refering to the bum ...lol ps to stop that bum crack what you need to do is when you have ssewn aroung your shape and before you turn it right side out you have to go along the shpe an dmake cuts very close to your sewing line about an inch apart and when you turn it out the cuts help top the bunching in the cracks ? hopw this makes sense oh and dont ge tdisheartend about hubby not noticing your bunting , unless it has car parts or tools attached mine wouldnt notice either lol tfs and happy decluttering xmaggiex

Marilyn said...

The mini bunting was a good idea. Looks good.

Nancy Lee said...

Love it. Ah, husbands.
Mine just assumes I am nutty and carries on.

Allie said...

Oh my gosh Wendy that is absolutely adorable - I need a shelf so I can do that too!!!! I love it!

Lisa said...

Only a guy would not notice that! And how could he? It's so cute!

Gwen @ Gwenny Penny said...

The mini buntings are too cute! I love the pom pom trim. Great idea for your shelves, Wendy :) And I always have difficulties with spray paint. I don't seem to get the coverage that everyone else raves about.

L. said...

Adorable! I'm definitely going to try my hand at some mini-bunting for my craft/guest room!

Tresa said...

The bunting is so cute. It would make me happy too! I had been thinking about making bunting from oil cloth for my pantry. After seeing yours, I'm going to do it! Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

Very cute!

dittery dot said...

wow there are totally cute, i will have to persuade my boyfriend to let me have mini bunting:D