Tag Archives: crafts

Slovakia, weekly photo challenge

Twigift

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Twigift is a cute little shop located  in the heart of old town Bratislava, with handmade creations and unique art pieces. You can find anything your heart desires from an array of  interesting things that are made out of wood, yarn, metal, clay, textile, glass etc. The warm ambiance and the  friendly personnel makes you feel welcome and cozy.

Twigift shop, Klariska 7, Bratislava
Twigift shop in Bratislava, Slovakia | by karafc

I loved spending time in this shop during my stay there. It was, undoubtedly,  one of my favorite shops.

Twigift shop | photo by karafc
My collection from Twigift | by karafc
Twigift shop in Bratislava | photo by karafc
My collection from Twigift | by karafc
Twigift art | photo by karafc

If you ever visit Bratislava make sure to stop by. I’m sure you will be as captivated by it as I was.

This post is part of the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows

Photo challenges, weekly photo challenge

My grandpa’s gift

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My grandpa is a retired fisherman and one of the many things he liked to do was to collect sea conch shells that were caught in his fishing nets. He would then proceed to dry them under the sun, then he would clean them thoroughly and display them on shelves. He is very proud of his big collection and he happily gives conch shells to family and friends as a gift.

grandpa

At first, we didn’t know what to do with the numerous conch shells that he gave us but in the end we realized that we could repurpose them  instead of keeping them as decorative pieces only. And therefore we transformed them into pots for small cactuses and other succulent plants.

Needless to say that my grandpa is very pleased that we found a creative way to use his gifts instead of  keeping his conch shells hidden in a drawer.

This post is part of the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Repurpose

art, Art&Craft

Photo frame decoupage

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Decoupage is a well known technique that everyone can use and create beautiful decoration for their homes. You can use old things you have at home.  For  this craft project,  I used an old photo frame.

photo frame decoupage

Is good to know that…

Decoupage derives from the French word découper (= to cut out ). It is the art of decorating surfaces of an object by gluing colored paper cut-outs onto it. Each layer is sealed with several coats of varnishes until  the result looks like painting or inlay work. The traditional technique used 30 to 40 layers of varnish which were then sanded to a polished finish.

Decoupage may seem like a new trend, but the technique actually dates back in 12th century. Actually the first origin of decoupage is supposed to be East Siberian tomb art. From Siberia, the practice came  to China,  where by the 12th century, cut out paper was being used to decorate lanterns, windows, boxes and other objects. The history of modern decoupage,  starts from  the 18th in Europe. This art form  was also known as  arte povera – poor man’s art,  because in the olden days those who couldn’t afford to hire an artist to decorate their furniture could obtain quite elegant effects with cut-outs pasted on and covered with multiple coats of varnish.

 Materials for decoupage

  1. Objects to decoupage onto like furniture, trays, boxes, photograph albums, plates, ceramics, shelving, frames, mirrors e.t.c.
  2. Pictures such as newspapers, magazines, old books, printed clip art or photos, wrapping paper, fabric, tissue paper,  paper napkins and so on.

Materials that I used:

  • raw_photo_frame_decoupage_2aold wooden photo frame
  • tissue napkins
  • white glue
  • varnish(optional)
  • paint brush
  • scissors

Additional materials for the flower:

  • orange color fabric -petals
  • green felt – leaves
  • needle
  • thread

With a  pair of scissors you cut out long pieces of colorful paper napkins. Apply the glue  on the wooden surface  with a brush and paste the cut out paper napkins. Then cover the object and pasted paper napkin with a few coats of glue to protect it.  At the end you can apply a layer of varnish.

art, Art&Craft

Yarn wrapped bottles

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glass bottle yarn - love Another hobby of mine is crafting. And this project is one of my favourites.  I decorated my living room with these yarn wrapped bottles of ‘LOVE’.  We  had learned this technique   at elementary school in art&craft. It’s probably a kid’s craft so if you have children, this is a another way to spend some creative and quality time with them and have a good time yourself.  Plus, It is very easy.

Materials you will need:

  • glass bottle yarnglass bottles or jam jars
  • yarn or thick thread
  • white adhesive (mod podge)
  • paint brush
  • scissors
  • for the details – leather cord, ribbons, buttons, zips, piece of cloth, flowers, wire e.t.c

Apply the adhesive  with the paint brush on the bottle. Start wrapping firmly the thread/yarn around it, until the bottle is completely  wrapped. At the end you can decorate your bottle with flowers,  letters, butterflies and other things you like.

Be creative and have fun!

Art&Craft, Slovakia

Corn husk dolls

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Every time I am visiting Slovakia or Czech Republic, I always buy these handmade traditional corn husk dolls. Not just for me, but I give them as small gifts to friends and family. I like them very much. They are cute, interesting, small and very light-weighted, so its easy to carry them with you home. You can use them as a home decoration and a small souvenir to remember the country you had visited.

A little bit of the background

I didn’t find much information. Just that during the second half of 20th century, the production of corn husk dolls had developed and turned into a traditional industry in former Czechoslovakia. As the name implies corn dolls, are made of dried corn husks which are joined together with thread – all made by hand. Some of them  even carry small objects like flowers, basket, bread – made with real dough e.t.c. Slovak rural life  was a big  inspiration when creating the dolls, so it became the main theme. They are sold in souvenirs and folklore shops.

corn_husk_dolls_slovakiaMy mum has a lot of corn husk dolls. She created a small miniature village with corn people on a shelf in her living room! These photos are from her collection.

I don’t have space in my apartment to place them – as small as they might be – so I keep them in a drawer. I know, not a good place to keep them. They should be in plain view. Some day I will find them a place! But I have a corn lady bookmark that I use  when I am reading a book.

A small memory of Slovakia!