Tyre-ing but Fun!

Now this one is my prized possession and I love it dearly!

We had shifted into a rental apartment and as many of you would agree... it is not very easy to set up a rental home. My apartment was brand new, huge, airy and even Vastu approved! And oh the highlight - it was on the tenth floor overlooking the beautiful landscaped city of Pune.

BUT it was rented and that means a lot of compromises!

People who move often will know better that a rented apartment, no matter how new and spacious will have shortcomings like not being able to break down a wall or not having anything permanent made for decorating purposes.

So I knew I had to make peace with reality and give up some great ideas for home decor (at least I thought they were great :p)

 And as if thinking about workable and movable ideas were not enough, hubby darling adds 'budget' and 'low maintenance' to the list! I agreed to the 'low maintenance' part but ahem ahem, budget definitely was a touchy topic. I know all the wives reading this are nodding in agreement suppressing their smiles :)

With all the constraints, I was taking a whole lot longer to set up the house and it was driving my husband crazy. He even gave me an ultimatum that he will go out and buy stuff on his own. WHAT??!! Let a guy decorate the place!!! NOOOO!! 

But I wouldn't blame him for the urgency. Poor guy didn't have a coffee table to put down his coffee mug and it was very inconvenient when the guests came over as we had nothing in the living room to place the snack bowls. ''Think fast darling'', I said to myself at that point trying to avoid eye contact with my angry husband. 

The next day I happened to drive past a couple of garages or tyre shops on my way home from office. I always wanted to do something with a tyre, something creative, something workable but had never given it a serious thought. I really like the form, the rugged feel and thought it had huge potential for up-cycling.

I am a total re-cycler/ up-cycler whatever you want to call it! Hope you have seen my previous posts on this topic.

Anyways, so the next day I went to one of the tyre shops and asked if I could get one of the shabby, useless tyres that were thrown in the corner, all piled up. I actually don't know why these shops keep the useless ones but it worked to my benefit :)

So I bargained and finally got one! How I convinced those boys to help me carry it all the way to my house is a funny story but I'll share that some other time.

Oh by the way, I missed telling you one thing... it wasn't just any tyre... it was a TRUCK tyre! :) Weighing more than a 100 pounds!

I knew that was it! It was going to be my centre table! 

My husband gasped as he entered the house and stared at the dirty, black, round heavy thing sitting in the living room and then looked at me. His expressions read - You better have a plan to make it work!

Of course I had a plan :) I had it all conceptualised. Now it was time for action!

I cleaned up the tyre thoroughly before applying paint on it. I wanted a smooth finish. After almost 4 layers of base paint that took about 15 days to dry, I finally had it ready for the design. 

I used a bold, colourful palette to compliment my living space. Bright pink, green and blue were primary. My living room had a lot of ethnic dominance so I went the semi-traditional yet contemporary way rather than the geometric and modern.

Had my glass cut to place as the table top and now I had to finish the piece with the placement. 

The challenging part was to make it movable. A huge tyre weighing almost 100 pounds was not easy to push around when mopping the floors or pulling closer when sitting on the couch.

So I designed a frame that was made of wrought iron. I placed strong wheels for ease of mobility and got it all put together with the tyre.

Here is how it looks -

Its my very own, one-of-a kind coffee table that I designed from scrap (also scratch :)) 

It has worked beautifully as a prop to display my products -

It has beautified many lively parties, strolling happily from person to person, gracefully serving sumptuous food. And today even though I am miles away from it, it sits proudly in my sister's house who uses it in her own unique way!

You can call me crazy for thinking of putting a rugged piece of scrap from a garage in the middle of my living room but hey... it worked! :)

Do check out my other posts to see my re-cycled, re-used, up-cycled products here and here!

Fabric Care - It's easy!

When you like a garment or any fabric product, the first thing that comes to your mind is its care.

Will it be tedious to maintain, will it need extra care, will it be expensive to preserve? and such are the questions that sometimes make you keep the perfectly good looking fabric back on the shelf. Isn't it?

It's not really your fault... Sometimes products do not carry care instructions making it even more difficult for us to decide. And sometimes the instructions despite of being attached, add to the confusion because we do not understand it.

Care instructions are standardized and not very difficult to understand. In this post I will simplify the symbols for you. 

But before I start, I would like to highlight an important fact. Something that we usually very conveniently forget - Fabrics are perishable. 

Yes, they are. We often get attached to our favorite dress, linen etc. and hope that they will remain as is cos we are following the care instructions. And when it looks old, loses it's shine, we blame the manufacturing or the seller. Please bear in mind that the instructions are a guide to help us understand what suits the fabric best and help keep it intact. It does not prolong its life till eternity.  

Each fabric possesses a unique quality, has a different life span and reacts differently to weather, water, heat and soap. 

Below are some care instructions that are most commonly found on care labels and come handy while purchasing.

There are many more symbols but I will update you with that information in my next post. Learn these by heart till then :)

Along with care symbols, I thought of sharing some tips on washing, drying and ironing.

Tips on washing

• Always be sure to check the pockets of all garments before washing and drying. The stains and damage which can result from one hidden lipstick, lip balm, stick of gum or crayon goes beyond words!
• Wash all of your clothes inside out to protect the fibers against damage from the
  washing machine drum or from e.g. zippers in other clothes.
• Sort articles by color, keeping whites, darks, and medium colors together. Lighter garments can pick up dyes from darker colors. 
• Wash heavily soiled, dirty, items separately from slightly soiled items. This will help prevent fading and keep colors brighter.
• Garments which generate lint, such as fleece sweat shirts and towels, should be washed separately.
• It is recommended to save energy and water by washing at low temperatures.
• Most modern washing machines produce effective results even when they are completely full. Therefore, you should fill the machine completely instead of running it half full.

Tips on drying

• Follow label instructions for drying your clothes. Some fabrics require that you tumble dry them in low heat, or that you don't tumble dry them at all.
• Do not dry colored fabrics in direct sunlight. This can cause the color to fade.
• Dry the fabrics flat to avoid wrinkles.

Tips on ironing

• Be sure you read the care label for the proper ironing procedure and temperature setting to use.
• Do not iron items which are dirty or stained. Heat from the iron will set stains.
• Keep the iron and the ironing board cover clean to avoid soiling the clean garments/fabric being ironed.
• Garments which are drip-dry should be pressed while damp on the wrong side, using a cool iron. If finishing the right side, use a pressing cloth.

Tips on stain removal - for treating specific stains on washable fabrics.

• Deal with the stain as soon as possible. The longer you wait the more time the stain has to soak in and/or dry, making it more difficult to remove.
• Lift or gently scrap off any excess material from the fabric. Use a cloth or a towel to gently blot and soak up any liquid. Don't rub! Rubbing can spread the stain and cause it to penetrate deeper into the fabric.
• Identify what caused the stain. In order to know what to do for the stain, you need to know what caused it.
• Follow the instructions on any presoak, prewash or stain removers. It's best to test a small out of the way area of the fabric first.
• If stains aren't entirely removed after washing, try rewashing the item. Allowing the item to dry, or putting it in the dryer, can set the stain for good.

So...from now on you wont feel bad for yourself for losing out on a stunning dress or a great decor fabric. Now you can make an informed decision.

Happy shopping :)