Monday, April 23, 2012

A Cloche Encounter . . .

For the last couple of years I have been crushing on cloches, which are bell shaped glass covers (and also hats!) like this . . .
that are usually used for either covering food or growing plants. 
But  I have seen lots of great re-purposed ones used in decorating .  Check out these beauties . . . 
Lots of clever folks have made their own from various combinations of items like stemmed glasses, cheese domes, candlesticks, old lantern parts, hurricane lamps etc , and I knew I could too. So each thrifting expedition over the past year or so has seen me searching for great second-hand goodies to make my own. I set myself a goal of making one for $10 or less . . .
and now I have!
Mine is made from a $4 cheese dome . . .
and a $3 timber stand . I'm not sure of it's intended use, but I reckon some lovely old bloke learning wood turning was very proud of it years ago.

I gave the pieces a good clean with metholated spirits to get rid of the grease and dust, then used E6000 to glue the cheese board to the stand. ('Liquid nails' would also be great if you have it.)
Once the glue had dried overnight, I gave the whole thing a light sand to get rid of any varnish and give the paint a good key.
Then I started the spray painting, using a 'booth' (read cardboard box ) in the backyard. The trick to a nice even job is lots of light coats, with drying time in between.
I used White Knight 'Squirts' quick dry gloss enamel paint in Medium Grey and gave it four or five thin coats all over. (I did toss up lots of colours - I think it would have looked lovely in a pale aqua or dusty red, but went with a neutral so it can be used with any kind of 'filling'.)
Then after a good clean and polish of the glass dome and leaving the paint to dry overnight, I put it together.
Voila! With a few dollars and a lot of patience, a decorator cloche of my very own.
P.S. “Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character."   Calvin Coolidge 



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