How to make a feature from an old ladder.

Our Dining area is narrow and long. It's open plan, sharing space with the kitchen. It also opens out onto our deck and garden. It's a light space with white walls and black flooring. I like the space, it's the hub of our home, but I felt it was missing some kind of focal point. When you have a large white and light filled space, you need something to anchor the eye.

Outside in the garden is an old wooden ladder that's beyond weathered! Think old, moss-laden, and perfect for hanging over the table.

"What", said The Bloke. "Hang it where?"

Yep, that's right over the table. He took a little convincing this really was a good idea, but we are both so happy with the finished effect.

Although I admit it did have an inauspicious start.

 

This is the process we used to hang it. First, if like mine, your ladder is too long, decide how long you want it to be and cut it down to size. As metal ran through our ladder, we used a hacksaw to cut it.

                                                  

To hand it from the ceiling, we used small link chain from Mitre 10. They had a good range of chains in different size, colours, and finishes. You can view some of their range here . 

                                                   

After a rough estimate of how low the ladder would hang, we make a loop of chain for each end and sat the ladder into the loops. Be conservative with your estimate it's much harder to try and add links back in, than to remove excess.

                                                      

To centre it over the table, you could either, hang it and move the table to suit. Or move the table to where it needs to be and then measure and centre the ladder over the table. We went with option two, as we needed our table to stay were it was. 

We used a plump bob to mark the spot on the roof through which to place our hook. This is the process we used.

The plumb bob is a piece of heavy metal with a pointed end, attached to a string.

        

We decided how far in from either end of the table we thought the chain should hang. Then we measured the centre of the table at that point, using painters tape to avoid marking the surface. 

       

The Bloke held the string at the roof above the painter's tape, letting the bob hang and slowly moved the string until the bob point touched the centre mark on the table. He was then able to mark that spot on the roof and insert the hook.

     

The plump bob suspended from the ceiling and right over the pencil mark

    

With the plump bob over the correct point mark the ceiling 

We used a plaster board toggle hook to hang the chain from the ceiling. This type of hook is used when you need to hang from the plasterboard rather then screw into the wooden supports in the ceiling. You might do this if the wooden supports are not in the right place for where you wish the ladder to hang.

The toggle hook works like this:

It has three parts, the washer, the toggle, and the hook.

Drill a hole in the ceiling where you marked using the plump bob

put washer over the hook and screw into the toggle. Hold the wings down like this and push into the hole

When it is up inside the ceiling the wings will pop out (like this) and you hear a click. 

Then simply tighten it. The washer camouflages the hole.

We lifted the ladder (already sitting inside the chain loops) and hung the loop over the hooks. I decided to leave some excess so the ladder could be lowered if required. The excess we attached across to the opposite side of the loop.

There you have it. It looks a little bare like this, but as it is Halloween tomorrow, I decided to set the table a day early. The ladder was wound with some cheap vines and a pair of jar lanterns that I received as a gift last Christmas. It would also look great with fairy lights (battery operated). 

If you follow me on Instagram @lifeloveandrenovation, you will have seen a few of my Halloween-scapes already. 

I wanted more of a Day of the Dead feel this year. I would love to hear what you think in the comments section below. 

Have a great week.

    Grace

How to make a super easy Ghosts and Bats Halloween tree.

I'll take any excuse to celebrate. Birthdays, Easter, Christmas, Graduations, any reason will do. The month of October is one celebration after another with barely a breath between. Five family members have birthdays, including Miss A and Miss B, and of course its Halloween baby!

I love Halloween. I know it can be a controversial holiday for some. But I have no problem decorating and celebrating. See my take on it here.

In New Zealand trick or treating wasn't something we grew up with, but it has grown in popularity over the last few years. In our neighbourhood, much to the disgust of Miss A and Miss B, it still hasn't caught on. So this year instead of going out, we are going all out to decorate our home and get people to us instead.

Having a limited budget for decorating I have been contemplating various ways to get the best bang for my buck and to re-purpose as much as I can from around the house. We already have a remarkably disturbing number of skulls in various materials, old worn books, wooden boxes, and the occasional decorative (not sure that's really the right word here) dagger. But I felt like we needed something more.

After all the stormy weather in the last few weeks, I have collected an assortment of branches blown down around the streets and beach. These inspired me to create a Halloween tree with two quintessential Halloween elements, ghosts and bats. I have seen examples of ghost bunting on Pinterest and decided that something similar hung on the tree would be just the thing. The best part of this project is that it cost a mere $2.00 in materials. Most of the items I already had or was able to find for free. It requires a ridiculously low level of crafting skill (am I the only one whose projects never turn out like the photo?), and it's easy for the kids to do too.

Ghost and Bat Halloween tree

If you'd like to create something similar in time for Halloween, you'll need the following materials:

• White material (I found a large scrape left over from another project)
• Scissors
• Black marker pen (felt tip)
• Ruler or tape measure
• Cotton or string (I used a neutral string because that's what I had to hand, but you could use white as well)
• Stuffing or batting (I had a bag already and it's super handy for crafts and is cheap.)
• Needle and thread (white and black)
• Tree (I used a broken branch found on the beach) the gnarlier the better
• Black card stock (I bought mine from the $2 shop)
• Bat shape pattern (I downloaded mine free from www.firstpalette.com here)
• Something to hold your tree up (I used a pot and some pebbles from the garden path) 

White material

Scissors, string, sharpie felt pen

Stuffing or batting (the inside from an old cushion would do)

Black card stock. I used one piece, the other two are for a different project

Fallen branch with lots of twig off-shoots to hand your ghosts and bats.

Bat shapes for the pattern

Steps:

Cut white fabric into squares. I made mine 20 cm by 20 cm. I also tried a rectangle shape but the bottom of the ghost "feet" sits better with a square shape.

Take a piece of stuffing and scrunch it to the size you'd like your ghost head to be. This might take a bit of trial and error to decide how big you want the head to be. I made two sizes and hung them on the branch together to see which one looked best. Place the stuffing in the middle of the white fabric square and fold the fabric down around it.

Using your third hand (or if like me, you only have two hands, a spare child) tie the cotton around the 'neck' of your ghost.  Don't make this too tight as the shape looks best if the neck is not too defined. You should end up with something like this.

Now comes the best part. Draw on the ghost's face with black marker or felt tip. You may need to manipulate the fabric to ensure a flattish space for the face. Get the kids to draw on the faces. You can guest which one below is the face I drew and which one is Miss B's, hers if far more interesting.

Fluff the ends of the fabric until they look suitably ghostly. Then using the needle and thread, make a handing loop from the top of the ghost's head to hang onto the tree.

Lay the bat shape pattern onto the black card stock and cut around the shape. 

Using black thread and needle, make a hanging loop from the tail so the bat is handing head down.

Repeat until your tree is covered with as many ghosts and bats as you like.

And there you have it. A fantastic Ghosts and Bats Halloween tree made by your family. Enjoy!

Do you have any special Halloween traditions? I'd love to hear about them, please comment below.


Have a great week.

Grace