My Resene Upcycling Award entry
My up-cycling used some old furniture on my deck. It also required a new deck which was rotten and dangerous. I was looking at new furniture for the deck but decided to posh up the old pieces which have more interesting stories. The brown bench seat was a throw out on the side of the road from one of the Brook St, Nelson neighbours. It was barely holding together so I used some screws and bolts and filler to get it stable and tidy. A sand and coat of stain helped bring it back to life. My kind deck builder (who I found on Neighbourly) suggested he use some of the mesh (used for a corner of the deck to support my pot plants) to infill the ends. The church pew came years ago from the Church of Christ in Rutherford St in Nelson and was falling apart after sitting on my deck for so many years. Again my kind builder repaired it voluntarily so I diligently sanded, filled and undercoated with Resene undercoat and top coated with Resene Paradise. The table was old untreated wood, grey with age and with no protective coating so another sanding job and some more filling. Undercoating and a number of test pots of Resene Bullion saw a golden top, and legs in sparkling deep blue Resene Sputnik. The framework of the deck roof I sanded, undercoated and top coated in Resene paint, this time in Sunflower. A coat of the same Resene paint I used to paint the bamboo screen. I finished off with a recycled duvet cover in mustard and white fabric to line the roof. Last weekend a lovely woman was selling a bench seat squab on Neighbourly in the exact colour I needed and perfect size! The finishing touch was a Smashing (Resene match) hibiscus in a Hot August (Resene match) pot from my daughter for Mother's Day. This project was completed over a number of months. Had I realised I would be entering this competition I would have been more careful with my photography and the odd unintended props!
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️