Sunday December 11th, 2016

An old kitchen cabinet becomes a cat house

 

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Or in my case, for 2 cats: Pritsini and Loukia. Do you remember the kitchen renovation I did back in August? Well, I had removed 2 kitchen cabinets and I did not throw them away, like any normal person would do. I kept them at the balcony for some time, definitely spoiling it for my neighbours since they had to see it. But the time for the project “DIY cat house” has come!

Here you can see how the cabinet was. A mess.

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The first thought was to make an impressive entrance at the shape of a cat and oddly I succeeded! OK, maybe it’s not the best cat figure ever, but in my defence it’s easier to draw a cat than to cut the shape with a jig saw.

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First I drilled a hole so that the blade of the jig saw would fit and then I started to cut.

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For the inside, they can both go in, but I kept the shelf so if they want their privacy they can have it. For the inside surfaces I used pieces of carpet to make it softer for them and also to use as a scratch post. Also I drilled to holes on the upper side, put a rope on which I tied some knots to use as a toy. I am not sure if they will play with it, however I did want that extra something.

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Decoration wise, and always keeping in mind my neighbours, since this house will be on the balcony, I decided to make it a “city color”. One side is black and all the rest is grey.

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On the top surface I glued round pieces of carpet (I didn’t want to glue the whole surface, I thought it would be boring).

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On the doors I glued some round pieces of wood, just to make it a little happier and colorful. 🙂

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And just like that, 5 hours later and without having cooked/eaten/done any real house chores, the project is done and I have the first visitors!

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They got out relatively fast though because the paint and glue still smell, so I guess I have to give it time. So that’s it! See what you can do with an old cabinet? Hope I gave you some ideas!

Thursday December 8th, 2016

Just DIY this Saturday on TV!

apo_agkathi_rodo_introDIY as well as the decision to create this blog, has brought me a lot of joy, smiles, contact with amazing people and a lot of knowledge. I could never imagine though that among others I can now say that this blog got me on national TV ! Ha!

So, ET2 channel (greek national TV station) has a show  called “From thorn, to rose”. The host of the TV show is Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, a famous greek actor and the theme of it is “Up-cycling”. The theme is analysed in many unexpected aspects with sensitivity and great taste. You can see the previous episodes online here.

The subject of the next episode which will be on air this Saturday 10/12 at 17:00, is up-cycling and DIY. I had the pleasure of being invited and to tell you the truth, the experience was just fantastic. 

I woke up in the morning and suddenly the house started to fill with people from the production crew, bringing along cameras, microphones, especially the funny one that looks like a mop (apologies to sound engineers worldwide) .

“Can I take a picture guys? This whole thing is so surreal!”

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We had an interview, but I am really sorry, I can’t tell you anything about it! You’re going to have to see the show on TV! We saw all the things I’ve made, had coffee, chatted and also DIYed a christmas tree together with Yorgos. (who I must say is a brilliant guy, funny, nice to to talk to!)

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This is Vasso and me. Vasso is the producer of the show, a really amazing and joyful person.

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And the make up artist, Manto!

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And this is the Christmas tree we made!

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And with a twist in the lights.

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And of course we have a trailer! That’s it! Saturday can’t come soon enough! I am so nervous! 😀

Monday December 5th, 2016

For the love of pottery!

Well, just dropping by to say that I continue pottery classes and while time passes I am seriously considering of throwing away all my kitchen stuff and making new ones! This post is an update with favorite things I made. Must tell you that everything is actually usable; they are not just pretty. For example I eat my cereal in the blue bowl and on the plate with the dots I just served some greens (greek horta) nom nom.

So, pictures follow! I am waiting for your honest opinion! 🙂

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I wish I could make the following one, but lot of time must pass for me to reach this level. This amazing thing was made by my fantastic teacher Despina 

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That’s about it!

Sunday December 4th, 2016

DIY shelf from an old bed slate

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The best thing about being a DIYer is that you can find solutions for the house at any given moment. For instance this shelf. Let me be more precise.. I bought a microwave oven and the only place I could put it was at the kitchen at the place where I kept all the spices. But where would the spices go? Where? At the….drum roll….Bed slate shelf!

You will need an old slate, or a piece of wood that fits your needs (not too wide though), iron corners, screws and a drill. For extra charm you can decorate it with washi tape.

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Mark the wall and the wood at the places where the holes will be made. Screw the screws on the wood and then drill the holes on the wall.

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Then place the shelf on the wall (this will take 2 persons: one to do the job and one to hold the shelf) make sure the holes of the corners are on the correct spot, and screw. You’re done!

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It’s worth noticing that the whole thing took me about 15 minutes. Not bad huh?

Wednesday November 30th, 2016

Molivothikes at Chania!

Whatever I say will be and understatement for the people, the project, the creativity and the joy of Molivothikes at Chania. If nothing sound familiar, I suggest you read the previous post to get an idea 🙂

So, I arrived at Chania on Friday, the lovely Katerina picked me up from the airport and we went straight at the TEDx venue where I got to meet everyone. First of all Michali Fotinaki  that would do the project together, and the rest of the group, Elli, Ioanna and Manolis.

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At around 9 in the morning the next day we did some preparations.

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And couldn’t keep ourselves from making some pencil cases, just so we could try everything out 🙂

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Michalis had arranged to have many colorful pencils. At around 12 the attendees started arriving and a short while after, we began. We played with tools and color sprays and had a creative time.  molyvothikes-chania4 molyvothikes-chania5 molyvothikes-chania6 molyvothikes-chania7

The project “premiere” went really well. It’s amazing how someone’s mood changes when they know that what they make is for someone else, for a child. I hope I can manage to continue with the project,  I hope it evolves in something good, I hope it leads us to something better.

Molivothikes project ended in Chania, but really it has just begun!  

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Still waiting for ideas at [email protected] or at the FB page of the blog.  🙂