Let’s Fly Away!

There are many things in this life that are in short supply. Top of the list is Sleep, followed closely by More time. Nipping at his heels are the fishes in the deep blue sea, the little birds that sing at dawn, and honeybees.

Well now we can add Helium to that list too. Earth’s supply of helium is predicted to be exhausted within the next 30 years. Although we can bio-engineer an ear to grow on a mouse, we cannot make more helium. This gas took 4.7 billion years of solar fusion and radioactive decay from terrestrial rock to accumulate, and about 100 years for us to use!

So make haste as your days of sucking back a lung full of helium and singing like a Bee Gee are numbered!

Stayin’ alive, Stayin’ alive, a,a,a, ahhhh my goodness really?

No more blimps, no more party balloons! Although our parties may never look (or sound) the same again, spare a thought for hospitals who use liquid helium to cool their MRI scanners!

At a recent playgroup we did a very simple and fun craft with acrylic paints and fingerprints. I drew a picture of a bike with lots of string tied to it and the kids fingerprinted the helium balloons. My demo bike loaded with helium balloons ready to fly away…

The kids having finger dabbing fun…

The kids efforts…

For more kids fingerprints craft ideas click here: https://speckledsydney.wordpress.com/category/fingerprint-kids-craft/

Sebel Stak-A-Bye Chairs

When was the last time you saw a Two Tonne Welsh woman advertising outdoor furniture?

In 1947 Tessie O’Shea, a Welsh entertainer and actress was at the height of her fame and the spokeswoman for Sebel Stak-A-Bye chairs. These pressed metal chairs with sweeping tubular legs were Sebel’s first chair. Having freshly disposed of their war time ration cards, the British were ready to come out of their bunkers and into their gardens. Their “cheerful colour contrasts” and “almost indestructible plastic finish” made them an instant success.

To this day Sebel still operates from its original site at Bankstown, NSW, Australia. Established in 1947 by Harry Sebel who emigrated to Australia from post WWII Britain, he started Sebel with his father David, a metalworker Russian emigree. The production of these chairs ceased in 1958, however with the recent revival of vintage mid-century furniture, they’ve made a comeback. You can’t pass a cafe strip from Newtown to Newington that doesn’t have a Stak-A-Bye out front!

These are mine. They stack nicely and serve well as extra outdoor chairs. The blue ones are a bit flaky and as am very pregnant it will be a while before they see a fresh lick of paint. However, with a cushion or two they do just lovely.

Pre-pregnancy I did manage to refurbish a set of Sebel Hobnob Junior chairs from the early 70’s. I bought these second hand. They were a sickly looking crayon pocked, toddler sticky set of peach chairs. After a thorough soap scrub and hose down I set to transforming these chairs to accompany the kids outdoor table. Getting the chairs to a shiny new Plastic Fantastic look was no small feat.

HOW TO REFURBISH OLD WORN CHILDREN’S PLASTIC CHAIRS

Step 1: With paint brush coat down every square inch of plastic chairs with Grip Lock Primer. I used the White Knight brand.

Step 2: Once dry I tried a variety of spray paints however found that Killrust in a can works best. Spray even strokes starting at the top and work your way across left to right on your way down. For more intense colour and better coverage of primer, spray paint evenly one coat at a time. Wear a face mask as this stuff really stinks and can render one devoid of smell for a full day. Despite all this it was worth the effort as gone was putrid peach and in came a combination of bright yellow seats with silver legs, silver seats with canary yellow legs, blue and deep Indian red plastic chairs.

This is what they look like around the kids outdoor table.

 

I want Candy!

I want Candy…..bow, wow, wow

I want Candy….

Have you seen ‘Marie Antoinette’ by Sofia Coppola? My favourite scene in the film is filled with shoes and candy.

Marie and her ladies are trying on shoes as they gorge on an array of sweets… macaroons, petit fours, candied fruit peel, strawberries and rose petals swim across the screen in a pastel palette of sugar laden dreaminess!

Next week my niece is turning seven. I found her a very sweet birthday card and made matching gift wrap.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SWEET GIFT WRAP:

With a lead pencil I sketched out sweet treats on butcher’s paper. I started with aqua shades of water colour paints and continued through a pastel palette of colours.

Personalized a Birthday greeting with stamps…

The sweet treat gift wrapped…

Happy Birthday Jemima!!

 

Marie Antoinette, I want candy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn93ABppvXE