Monday 20 January 2014

Thrifty Snippets .. Wallpaper On A Shoestring...


Hello there ....
I wasn't going to post tonight ... I thought I had little to share with you ... we've just been working .. a bit 'same old'.

But I had a comment on the last post from Rosieposie asking to see more of my quirky wallpaper/wall covering/decoration.

So I grabbed the camera ... whilst the sausages were cooking ...
 not the best pic's but you too may want a peek at the weird and wacky walls... 


The story goes ... when I was very young I was brought up in a family who thought it was just fine to be yourself .. express yourself .. and of course all the Make Do and Mend ... Thrifty Living .. etc was par for the course.

As I grew older I began to find other people had similar interests and were living lifestyles similar to those of my parents.. 



In those days all information was in print...books and magazines .. my father never lived to see the advent of the World Wide Web .. he would have loved it .. always a man before his time .. a man with an enquiring mind.
So I have a collection of books .. Seymour ... Patrick Rivers ..On Next To Nothing ... many of you will have similar.

In amongst one of these books I read about someone decorating their study with old maps and newspapers ... because its all they had.

We too had very little when we first had the house .. the walls were rough and uneven .. 
What I did have .. from years of thriftiness was a collection of bits of old newspapers (I just loved their aged colour and texture)... vintage wallpaper (the odd roll might come in for present wrapping .. or something) .. old music ... wartime magazines ...and sundry bits and bobs ... I had rather a lot.




Its just the hallway and kitchen I have papered like this ... as you can see ... the hall leads into the sitting room ...who's that then ... having a peek at us? ... he doesn't miss a trick does he!


The ceiling was the most difficult ... the whole process took a long time .. I did it over months really .. as and when the inspiration flowed.



I would search through my stash of materials and rough tear 'patches' .. using watered down pva glue I would paste them onto the wall ... overlapping ... and give a good paste over the whole thing. A bit like the process of papier mache really.

Its nice to take a moment now and then and read some of the little quotes I have amongst the papers ... just a little something to muse over..
The whole thing has an old .. vintagey .. faded look ... its well sealed with the pva .. so its wipe-able ... and its lasted years. Maybe one day I will get tired of it and I will just paint over it .. the walls are so uneven it would be difficult to paper with a modern print...
and anyway ... 
this is more me ...



And back to tea ... what are we having ...
well .. nice fat sausages .. black pudding ... potato cake-y things (yesterdays leftover mash mixed with a little bit of stuffing and a handful of flour .. mixed and patted into cakes)...


 And a couple of our very own eggs ... 
we are getting one egg a day ... the Girls are looking good .. and Rocky is as perky as ever.

Hope wall paper is not too mundane a topic for you ...
hope you have had a good day ..

Has anyone any thrifty decorating tips ... it can be such an expensive thing.

xxx