Style Challenge With The VITA Copenhagen Silvia Mini Create

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A little while ago my lovely friend Jenny from the award-winning Seasons In Colour blog got in touch and said "You're crafty, fancy a styling challenge in collaboration with the VITA copenhagen Silvia Mini Create?"

Now the VITA copenhagen Silvia is quite iconic. The fanned 'leaves' create that globe artichoke effect that is unmistakably Danish in design. VITA copenhagen have manifested this design from it's original white form to also be available in a choice of metallics and a 'mini' version for table/floor lamps. The latest version is a DIY project, whereby the leaves are made from watercolour paper that can be drawn or painted on to create your very own lighting design.

So, how could I resist Jenny's offer? Apart from being convinced she will wipe the floor with me in the styling challenge (the woman just oozes style and creativity), this was right up my street. You can find a link to Jenny's creation at the bottom of this post!

All the parts of the kit to get started - the shade, table stand and VITA lightbulb

VITA delivered to my door everything I needed for my Mini Create - the table lamp base (which just clicks into place easily in seconds), a VITA bulb, and the Mini Create itself, which was packaged as an adorable flat carry pack. Inside the pack was the shades structural elements, along with the leaves that you popped out of the watercolour paper. You get extra leaves in the pack in case some leaves go wrong or you decide to start again. You can also buy a new complete pack of the leaves for £39 if you decide to change your lamp later further down the line.

As I had recently decorated my living room blue with elements of pink, I decided that I was going to create an ombre pink effect on my Silvia Mini Create. This would mean my lamp would fit in with the scheme of the room, while the ombre effect was a bit modern (I've been wanting to ombre my hair for ages but chicken out as I think I'm too old now to pull it off!)

I purchased a rose pink watercolor from my local craft store, then set about testing how I would ombre each leaf.

Using a small brush, I added a tiny amount of the pink paint to the tip of a leaf, then gradually added water, working the paint upwards so that it got lighter and lighter and the top was a very pale pink. I repeated this for all the leaves, which I was actually relaxing and enjoyable to do. Perfect for a lazy, crafty Sunday.

While my leaves were drying I put together the structure of the shade, which was a simple slot-in process.

I then slotted in my ombre leaves as per the instructions. This was also simple and they held perfectly.

So this is my pink ombre DIY VITA Copenhagen Silvia Mini Create! It is quite effective in front of the blue walls, and is totally bespoke as it has been created by me!

If you like the sound of the Silvia Mini Create, but don't feel completely 'crafty-confident', you can download ready-made templates from the VITA copenhagen website which you can then print directly onto the watercolour paper and then colour as you wish. There are a number of patterns available from geometric triangles to doodle designs.

So that's mine, come on Jenny show me yours!

* I was gifted all the items to make up the Silvia Mini Create by VITA copenhagen in order to write this post, to which I am super grateful! Massive huge thank you to Jenny from the continuously brilliant Seasons In Colour for letting me be a part of this challenge with her, and for always supporting me and this blog.

How To Reupholster A HeadBoard & Create A Tufted Effect With Buttons

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My mother-in-law recently asked me to cover an old headboard in her guest bedroom and add in tufted buttons (that trick which creates the plush diamond pattern effect). I'd never upholstered a headboard before, but spurned on by how well my pink velvet bedroom bench came out, I watched a few YouTube videos made by an American upholstery company, made notes, then went about sourcing the items required to do the job.

This wallpaper is called Azul by Harlequin.

To upholster a headboard you need the following:

• Upholstery fabric big enough to cover the front of the headboard and be wrapped around the back (around 10 cm from the headboard edge.)

• A staple gun and staples

• Self-cover buttons. I brought mine from Hobbycraft.

• Scissors

• Tape measure and ruler

• pencil

• Really strong thread (not cotton thread).

• Large needle

• A drill

The headboard it in it's original form. The colour was nice but the fabric was old and stained.

How the headboard looks now.

First off I laid my fabric face down on the floor, placed the headboard upside down on top, then made sure that I had enough fabric to pull round the edges to the back of the headboard.

Pulling fabric over onto the headboard so that it's taught, I used the staple gun to staple it in place:

Once the fabric was stapled in position, I checked for any loose areas of fabric and pulled and stapled them down so the headboard looked tidy. Double check there are no loose or lumpy areas, then cut away any excess fabric:

Turning the headboard face-forward, I used a tape measure and a ruler to mark where I would like the buttons to be positioned to create the diamond tufted effect. I measured the headboard length-ways from the top of the headboard where I wanted the buttons to start, then divided the area in half. I then marked where the 2 buttons would need to sit and worked down the headboard. The key here is to get your measurements right. Each button should be the exact distance apart, both side to side and up and down from each other. The best way to imagine this is as if to place a grid over the headboard:

Work in a grid pattern when measuring where to place your buttons. Each button should be the exact same distance apart. Please note that this image is an example of how to think about spacing your buttons rather than pattern choice (you can choose lines or a diamond pattern).

I then carefully used a drill to drill a hole through the headboard where each button should be. You have to take great care here to apply pressure right away so your fabric does not get caught in the drill and tear.

Take a snap button, remove the top and then cut a circle of your headboard fabric a few millimetres bigger than your button head. Fold and tuck the fabric around the button head, then snap on the base. Push any loose pieces of fabric into the snap button using the tip of scissors. You can find detailed instructions on doing this here.

Thread your needle, then push your needle through the drill hole you have created on the headboard. Put your finger on the button and slightly push it down, pull your thread tight with your other hand, then staple the thread in place at least 3 or 4 times with the staple gun. I zig-zagged the thread as I stapled it to secure it better. Repeat this for all your buttons!

Ta-da! One reupholstered headboard with tufted buttons.

Upholstering this headboard was actually quite easy. Next I'm thinking of trying a chair. Have you re-upholstered with success? If so let me know in the comments section below....

How To Make This Succulent Christmas Table Centrepiece

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This brass mist sprayer is by Haws

I was recently asked by the lovely ladies at MK Design and Occipinti if I wanted to attend their Christmas Table Setting Workshop held at the Republic of Fritz Hansen. The answer was of course a resounding 'hell yes!' The chance to get all Christmassy and crafty, drinking mulled wine and creating a floral table centrepiece with boutique florists Agent F was something that sounded VERY appealing (booze and floral displays - two of my favourite things!)

I ended up making and bringing home this festive spruce, succulent and gold leaf centrepiece; and I'm going to reveal how it can be made so you too can create a boutique floral table display in your home this Christmas.

First up, you need one block of oasis and an oasis tray (of which you can buy both in craft stores for less than a couple of pounds). Here Agent F have also used some floral tape to secure the oasis in the tray. You need to soak your oasis in water before you start making your display. Tom from Agent F gave me his top tip of filling a sink with water, then just leaving the oasis on the surface of the water until it sinks. Once it's submerged, then it's ready to be used. If you dunk the oasis you get water bubbles inside the oasis and it never fully absorbs all the water. I never actually knew that and always dunked my oasis, so thanks Tom!

Chop your spruce into small, three shoot pieces.

You then need some spruce. You can buy bags of this at flower markets, garden centres, or you can forage it if you know where some grows wild locally.

Use secateurs or sharp scissors to cut the stalk at a diagonal angle - this will make the spruce easier to insert into the oasis, as well as making sure the stalk is more exposed to absorb water. Strip the bottom of each stalk of needles so you just have bare twig to push into the oasis.

Tom from florists Agent F showing us how to get started.

You then need to insert your spruce around the base of the oasis block. You want to hide the oasis tray, while also creating a layer to build your floral display on. Make sure the two ends of the oasis block have quite long bits of spruce, then the side shoots should be shorter. The aim is to create a rectangular shape at this point.

This point was key - use your spruce around the base to cover the tray, and then add just a few sprigs in the centre at the top of the oasis.

Once your base was covered, add a couple of pieces of spruce in the top-centre of the oasis block.

I find any Christmas craft is more enjoyable with multiple glasses of mulled wine!

Starting at the top where your couple of spruces exist, add in cut pieces of herbs and foliage like rosemary, lavender and eucalyptus until about 70% of the oasis is covered.

This is my centrepiece being built. I tried to keep length at either end, and not create too much height on top.

The next part was adding in some glamorous gold to break up the green, by adding in dipped-dyed magnolia leaves and eucalyptus to our displays. Tom told us you can buy this metallic foliage from florists and flower markets, but I couldn't see any reason to why you couldn't just spray-paint some foliage yourself at home.

These are magnolia leaves dip-dyed in gold paint.

For me, the key to adding the gold was only using it sparingly (too much and your display will look a bit tacky and fake). Use only a few, well spaced out pieces and it instead gives it a festive, glam touch.

Add metallic foliage sparingly.

The next part for me was the most interesting, as I would never have thought to add in succulents to a Xmas display, but it worked so well. Using floral wire (again, this costs less than a pound for a pack at craft stores), thread your wire through the base of a succulent head (you may want to trim the wire diagonally to make it more sharp), bend the wire over, then this will create a 'floral bobby pin' for you to attach your succulent into your oasis.

Use florist wire threaded through the base of a succulent head to keep it attached in the oasis.

Then it was time for the finishing touches! Any gaps were filled with beautiful thistles and eucalyptus pods.

For ideas on festive plants and foliage to use in your display, check out this great blog post by Rona Wheeldon.

I'd like to thank MK Design for inviting me to their fantastic workshop. You can find out about any future interior workshops they are holding here.