DIY at The Painted Hive

Plastic lace and a brake fluid drum. Now what do those unrelated things have to do with one another? Sounds pretty random, doesn’t it?  Maybe not to a DIY girl!  Meet:  Kristine from 




Kristine recently visited her parents and spied this…


…beside their garage.

Hmmm, a cruddy old brake fluid drum, how fascinating, right? Well, yes, I mean, it is cruddy and old. She had probably looked at it a hundred times before but for some reason, that day – she really saw it for the first time.  
A DIY light bulb went off. 
The lamp in her nursery currently sits on wicker baskets.

It’s too tall for a regular side table but too short to stand on the floor. She took some quick measurements and sure enough, the proportions were perfect.  Appearance wasn’t pretty. 


Kristine took inspiration from the drum and decided on a pressed tin look. Here is what she did:


One meter of plastic table runner lace.

A can of gloss enamel spraypaint. She chose ivory for a creamy vintage look.


Strong craft glue.

Something to use as feet (Kristine chose vintage casters).

Make sure the drum is empty and give it a thorough all-over clean. Next, turn it upside down so the bottom becomes the top and play around with the positioning of the plastic lace. Because the lace in its original form and too wide for the drum, create a new decorative edge by trimming around the pattern in the existing design with scissors.


Next, wrap it around the drum to work out where it will meet and trim it so it neatly overlaps just a little. To adhere it to the drum, use a generous amount of glue all over the drum’s sides (using a paint brush) then roll lace into position. Applyd some additional glue to the ends to ensure it is well bonded to the drum.


Add lace to the top of the drum to hide stamping or imperfections. 

Once the glue is thoroughly dry, give the entire drum three coats of gloss enamel spray paint.

Once the paint dried she flipped it over and simply liquid-nailed on the castor wheels.

This project was purely experimental but it’s gorgeous, isn’t it?  LOVE IT!


Thank you so much for sharing your tutorial, Kristine!  I think it’s adorable and so pretty! Great job!


See more at
 

Her creativity and DIY and design skills do not end there.  I love Kristine’s simple, beautiful, vintage style. Here are a few of my faves from her beautiful home (what an inspiration!):
And amazing furniture makeovers…
Check it out!
The Painted Hive

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