Don’t panic! I won’t make myself snub-nosed, with clown eyebrows or with mellon breasts... Instead I decided to change the face of several objects, which I got hold of recently.
I will start with these ugly, but useful key-holders. About a dozen of these sweeties were abandoned in a little basket for more than half a year in the recycle shop near us :D The price is about 65 cents for a piece.
It occurred to me, that they could be turned into something more elegant and original. Believe it or not, the whole thing started from this button, which I dug up as a child from my grandmother’s boxes with buttons (by the way, the digging in these boxes and bags, the sorting and arranging of the buttons according to their color, size and so on, were one of the favorite pastimes of small Margarita during the weekend :Р). That’s why I wanted to give it the due honor by recreating the center pattern on the back of the case.
It took a little time to plan the design, and how to apply it to the leather, in order to sow the beads... In the end I decided to use paper template with the pattern, glued to the back of the leather, to lead me as a map. It was tricky and slow work, but very satisfying in the end!
Oh, I forgot to mention, that the removal of the button’s “ear” and it’s carving to fit on the original button of the key-holder case took several hours and the life of one of the filing heads of my small machine :D The button appears to be made of bakelite!?!
The next salvaging operation, caused by my creative impulse, was with the skeleton of an iPhone case, which actually became my new phone case :) I forgot to take pictures before redecorating it from the outside, but it used to look just as ugly as it does on the inside.
Its looks were just barely saved by some purikura pictures. We bought the leather (which I ended up using) in Tokyo this fall. It has a very nice texture of wood bark and the colors are in the nuances of brown, with a little bit of violet. Unfortunately they faded a little after the coating work, but I don’t believe it will ever wear and tear after the treatment it went through :D
This “plastic surgery” is a result of a necessity, combined with passion for recycling :D
If you are living in Japan, or intend to live here, this is an extremely tasty ice-cream! It is sold everywhere, it is cheap and it has unbelievably real vanilla flavor :)
I needed a box for the earrings, for which I had an order (for Christmas present). I had the idea in my head for a long time, so at last the time came for it’s realization.
And, to put it modestly, it came out great! Several layers of acrylic paint, several different techniques for it’s laying, several layers of coating and... voilà!
And the box painting technology gave me the idea how to dress up this “ugly duckling”.
We met with this small coin-purse in the local Recycle Shop as well. It was almost grotesquely jacketed with beads - the design was’t bad, but the colors were far too bold and the size of the beads was disproportionate. That is why I relieved the “donkey” from it’s burden and started making a new “saddle” for it. Frankly, I actually bought it namely for the miniature multicolored glass donuts, but it was only right for it to receive a chance for a second life :)
I hope that it will have a happier existence from now on!
