Wednesday 9 July 2014

DIY projects for under £10...

If you want to do a little DIY on a budget, then here are some suggestions for cheap projects that each cost under £10. Improving your house can be a great way to lower the cost of your insurance. You should also inform your insurer of any changes you make to your house that could impact the cost of your insurance.
 

Sort out your bookshelves


The first of our projects won’t cost you anything at all apart from time. If you have a good number of books, the chances are that they sit on your bookshelves in random order and it always takes a time to find the book that you are looking for. Sort out your books in a logical manner, either by subject or author. Alternatively sort them out so that they look nice, either in terms of size or colour.



Make a pair of cushions


Visit your local department store and buy a meter of fabric for around £6. Cut two oblongs out of the fabric, one for each cushion. Get out the sewing machine and make the cushions following one of the many videos on YouTube. For the stuffing use fire resistant polyester stuffing which you can buy for £3.99 from eBay; total project cost = £9.99.



Renovate an old kitchen chair


Do you have an old painted wooden kitchen chair? If so then stripping it down to the original wood and applying a semi-transparent wood stain can transform it into a beautiful item of furniture. You will need to buy a can of cheap paint stripper (£6.89). Stipple it on, wait until the paint starts to bubble, then remove the paint with a stripping tool if you have one or an old knife if you don’t. Wash the surface down and when dry sand it down with sandpaper (£0.99). Next make your own wood stain by mixing some left-over coffee with a little balsamic vinegar in which a piece of steel wool has been soaking overnight, and applying it just like a conventional wood stain. Brush it on and let it dry for a great semi-transparent finish. If you prefer other colours then you can use food colourings rather than the coffee.




Make a picture for your wall using dried flowers


For this you will need some glue, some tissue paper, and some thick coloured or white  card, a pair of tweezers and  a spray can of art sealant, all of  which you can buy online or from your local stationers for a little under £10. 
The first stage is to press some flowers. Find a thick book that is smaller than the tissue paper, open it and place a sheet of tissue on the page. Select some blooms along with some leaves and stems and lay them out the tissue paper sheet in a similar way you want them to look on the card. Place another piece of tissue over them and carefully close the book.
Place several heavy books on top of the first one and leave for a week, then check to see how the flowers are drying; give them a little longer if necessary. When they are ready pick each out in turn with the tweezers, add a little glue to the back and place on the card. Allow the glue to dry and protect by spraying with art sealant.

I'd love to read your budget DIY tips, please share them below!

Posted in Collaboration with MoreThan.

2 comments:

  1. Some great ideas. I have just bought a sewing machine and will definitely be making some cushion covers when we move home!

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  2. Lucy's mad houseThursday, July 10, 2014

    some brilliant ideas, I love the different ways you can use to stain the chair, I would never have thought of that and would have gone to the diy shop to buy one. I love your flower too, I love finding different ways to make flowers.

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