Chez Larsson

Scratched Plates

The other day I decided to try to remove the scratches from my plates. These are cheapo no brand plates and they tend to get scratched more easily that more expensive ones I’ve noticed. The reason for the scratches are basically cutting on them and placing smaller bowls on them that have unglazed bottoms.

 

First I tried my go-to remedy for all other stains in my house, Jif cream (Cif elsewhere). That worked so so. As you may be able to see there are still some scratches although they’re less visible than before.

I also tried a magic eraser but that didn't work at all.

 

Then I grabbed my Bar Keepers Friend (which I stock up on when I go to the US, it’s not available over here as far as I know) to try on another plate. 

 

Wowza! Scratches gone. Completely! Amazing. Not quite sure if using BKF on the plates will make them more prone to new scratches now since I might have polished off a bit of the glazing in the process but I love how clean and fresh they look. I guess time will tell.

Please excuse the graininess of these photos btw, I was conducting my experiment in the evening in low light conditions. That’s me, no time to wait for better light when wanting to try something.

Laundry Room Set

So, as I explained yesterday I received a bunch of craft goodies from Martha Stewart Living. Here’s the first craft I made using some of the materials.

 

I decided it would be fun to update the setup I have in the laundry room, you know detergent, softener, that kind of stuff.

 

I figured it would give me an opportunity to try some of those paints and glass paints I got on different surfaces.

 

First I tried my hand at making my own stencil for the soap holder Wille got me for christmas. I got this really great stencil film. It’s adhesive so it won’t shift while you’re working on your project which is great.

 

I used some old hole punches for a bubble effect. Soap, bubbles - get it?

 

 

Then it was just a matter of sticking the stencil to the container, pouncing on the paint (I used the metallic for this project) and peel off.

 

This is another gift from Wille, a glass water bottle. I love it but I left water in there for too long this summer and got a lime scale ring in there that won’t come off so I decided that I’d use the bottle in the laundry room with fabric softener and get a new one for water. I used frog tape to mask some stripes, making sure I’d cover the lime scale ring under the wider stripe.

 

Again I pounced on the paint and this time I used the frosted one. You can brush on or flood the paints on to your project with the nozzle depending on what kind of effect you’re after.

 

For my jar of Vanish (stain remover) I made a template with a V on it. I laid the adhesive stencil film over and traced the V with a marker and then I proceeded by cutting the V out with the craft knife.

 

Again sticking down the stencil film and pouncing on the paint. For the aluminum can I used the multi surface paint in satin.

 

Here are the end results for those first three items; a V for Vanish, some frosted stripes on my bottle of softener and soapy bubbles.

 

For the jars of detergent I wanted some letters telling me which one’s for white and which one’s for colored clothing so I looked up some fonts online and printed them out in the proper sizes for my jars.

 

W for while and C for color. Again cutting my own stencils using the tracing method further up and sticking them to my jars.

 

I used the metallic paint for these and this time I went over the stencils twice for a more even coverage before peeling of the stencils.

When your glass projects are done you need to either heat cure them (instructions included with the paints) in an oven. OR you can wait 21 days before handling your projects and they will air dry and cure that way. I chose that option and am now being very careful using my laundry room making sure I don’t scratch any surfaces for another week or so.

That was so much fun!

So, tomorrow I’m off to see my mom, help her tuck in her garden, do a bit of sanding an painting and go on a shopping trip to nearby Helsingborg. I’ll see you back on Monday!

Ps. The art's from Isa Form.

Learning from the Pros

Staying in the bathroom for one more post.

I believe strongly in learning from the professionals. I’m not saying I take classes from them but rather that I observe how they do things. I’ve learned a lot of my painting tricks (such as not using a tray when painting walls but dipping the roller straight into the paint can) from painters I’ve come across via previous work places or painters I’ve seen working in my current office building.

 

Here’s a thing I’ve learned from the ladies that clean at the office. Btw, I can’t believe I’m showing you our bathroom trash but it’s for educational purposes, people, so please forgive me.

What they do, our lovely helpers, is to keep a fresh roll of trash bags in the rolls at the bottom of the trash can.

That way they always have one on hand and can simply lift out the old one and hang a new one. And so now can I! Mind you I only do this in the bathroom and laundry room and then take those bags around the house and fill up from the other trash cans.

And for those off you who are wondering if I’m not recycling and dividing plastics, papers etc I must admit I don’t. In fact I don’t even compost organic material anymore except from the garden because I don’t have a warm composting bin or a good space for one. My plan is to start sorting more and composting more but I also know I need to keep it on a manageable level. Not having a car makes it difficult to take stuff to the recycling center and schlepping giant cardboard pieces flapping in the wind by bike isn't a favorite thing of mine. Believe me I've tried. My ambition is to better myself in the recycling area though. They don't make it very easy for us non-car users though.

Airing Out

For Wille’s birthday I got him a couple of total surprise gifts, a denim jacket and a pair of jeans. The jeans are raw dry selvage and for them to age the best and get that cool molded after your body look without being a pair of ladies stretch pants is to wait A LONG time (at least six months of regular wear) until you launder them.

If you’re like me you launder your clothes all the time and probably more often than necessary and the concept of not washing the jeans at least every week or so after wearing them feels a bit off. I realized I needed some sort of airing facility at least so I went around to hunt for a hook of some sort.

 

It was a lucky hunt (pun intended) when I found this rhino hippo hook for a song in a local shop. There were other species available but the rhino hippo was white so…

 

I mounted him on the balcony off the den next to Wille’s rooms where the Thin Finns can hang while being aired out.

 

From the inside we can see that they’re there so we don’t forget.

 

We air them inside out so they won’t fade in the event of sunshine and also because it lets the inside breathe.

I realize that Mr. Rhino Hippo was probably intended for a kid’s room but I think he looks pretty good and happy there. At least’ I’ve given him a view.

Deck Chair Clean-up

As I was lounging on the deck chairs at the beginning of summer I realized they didn’t look really fresh anymore. Especially not the under side.

 

I mean, yuck! I’ve had these for a few years and have hosed them off in the past but haven’t ever deep cleaned them.

 

I figured I’d try throwing the plastic mesh seats in the laundry machine but when they came out almost no different (left side) I decided elbow grease was needed. Turned out it was easy. Soapy sudsy warm water with dish washing detergent and a brush easily removed the dirt. Check out the right side!

 

Still need to get new elastics for the backs as they’re sagging a bit but at least they’re super clean. As good as new!