Dainty Dress Diaries: 50 Beautiful Home-Crafting Projects to Awaken Your Creativity

On her award-winning blog, Dainty Dress Diaries, Catherine Carton welcomes us into her ‘floral, chalk-painted, tea-dress-wearing corner of the internet’. Here, in her first book, she shares over fifty of her favourite creative projects – upcycling, crafting, sewing, painting and gardening – many of which take unloved items and make them shine again. Getting crafty is fun, but it also gives us a few moments of peace in our hectic, plugged-in lives. Spend an afternoon making rose-scented soaps or sewing a memory cushion; reuse old crockery and learn to strip paint and upcycle furniture; or get your garden blooming with simple raised beds or a buzzin’ bee hotel. The projects within these pages are for everyone, so take a break from the world, reignite your creative spark, and make your home a little bit more beautiful! Table of Contents Introduction page 9 Chapter One: Crafternoons and the Power of Pause Rose-Scented Melt-and-Pour Soaps 14 Clay Leaf Trinket Bowl 17 Sweet Night s Pillow Spray 20 Mercury Glass Effect Vases 22 Teacup Candles 24 Flower Letters 26 Pumpkin Spice Wax Melts 28 Decoupaged Clothes Hanger 30 Bouquet Boxes 32 DIY Bath Shelf 35 Chapter Two: A Stitch in Time Sewing Essentials 40 Sewing Machine Guide 42 Envelope Cushion 44 Super-Quick Scrunchie 48 Reusable Makeup Pads 50 Reusable Dish Scrubbers 52 Pompom Cushion 54 Fabric Clothes Hangers 57 Beautiful Bunting 60 Memory Cushion 64 Sparkly Christmas Stockings 68 Easter Bunnies 72 Easy-Sew Kids Apron 75 Pencil Case 78 Chapter Three: Reuse and Refresh, Small Milk Carton Baskets 84 TP Treasure Boxes 88 Tin Can Candles 90 Bicycle Wheel Wall Art 93 Fabric Zip Pouches 96 Vintage Plate Clock 99 Glass Bottle Vase 102 Chapter Four: Reuse and Refresh, Big Second-Hand Treasure Hunt 108 Upcycling Essentials 112 Planning and Mood Boards 115 Painting Furniture 118 Painting Flat-Pack Furniture 120 How to Strip Paint 123 Fireplace Upcycle 126 Kitchen Cabinets Makeover 130 Skirting and Architraves 133 Dreamy Dollhouse 135 Chapter Five: Let Yourself Bloom Gardening Essentials 140 No-Dig Raised Bed 146 Raised Bed with Legs 150 Painting Outdoors 153 Tyre Planter 156 Teacup Bird Feeders 158 Garden Chair Shelf 162 Gorgeous Garden Pillows 166 DIY Garden Apron 170 Herbal Tea Garden 174 Buzzin’ Bee Hotel 178 Sewing Terminology 184 All about Paint 187 Index 189