Hello,

Thank you for landing on this blog. Please note that I now use Wordpress now and all the content here has been imported to Wordpress. You can check all the posts here and new ones at www.Thea Caldwell.com

Once again, Thank You for your interest. Hope to see you at my Wordpress blog.


Thea

The Kelpies.

A little nice trip to The Kelpies today. I did expected them to be grandiose, but I do need to say I was left speechless by the scale and the beauty of this art installation. The scale is enormous yet the softness and the flow of the shapes were astonishing. While I was very close to the them I could hear this really strong and changing whistling sound for the wind flowing though the gaps of the metal plates. Very clever, the way the sculputes were positioned. The view from every side was so very different and maked you go round to capture the next...

The Kelpies were designed by Andy Scott - Graduate of the Glasgow School of Art. Watch a video of the building process here.

The Kelpies. 

Kelpies appear in various Scottish myths and legends, and are variously described as black (occasionally white) with smooth skin like a seal, but deathly cold to the touch.  Frequently they are said to be dripping wet, or they have sea weed in their manes.  The name Kelpie is thought to derive from the Gaelic cailpeach or colpach which means colt or heifer.

The Kelpies. Thea Caldwell.com

The Kelpies. Thea Caldwell.com

The Kelpies by numbers:

• 300 tonnes each
• 30 metres high
• 1200 tonnes of steel-reinforced concrete foundations per head
• 990 unique stainless steel skin-plates
• Built on site in 90 days

The Kelpies Maquettes (tall 3 m, exact replica, scale 1:10) were a big tourist attraction during the Commonwealth Games. The Kelpies Maquettes were located in the University's East Quadrangle, at the heart of the iconic Gilbert Scott Building, directly facing the main delegate hub. The maquettes were on display in New York for the Scotland Week.They keep travel around the world.

Great ideas of how to hang almost anything

My brag post for today. Have a look at this one - Great ideas for hanging almost anything. Pictures, heavy mirrors, ornaments and shelves. Amazing images as well.

Finding home

My natural remedy for upset tummies.

This is something that has been in my family for as long as I remember myself. The smell of this herbal tea brings me back and fills me with this sensation of everything being OK. This simple herbal tea made from Lemon Balm and Spearmint/Mint (Mentha Spicata) is my miracle remedy for upset tummies and great help when fighting any sort of cold. I make sure I grow these two plants wherever  I move. Very easy to grow, these two plants are easily mistaken for just being weeds. Siply cut the plant down before winter (still leave about 2-3 inch stems above ground). The herbs start grow back again in spring. These herbs unlike many others are not suitable for drying or freezing as the essential oils are very unstable and disappear quickly. 
Simply boil water, let it cool for 5 min and poor over the washed herbs. Cover with lid and leave for 5-10 min for best result. Drink as it is or add honey and some fresh lemon juice.

Herbal Tea. Thea Caldwell

Paper Crocodile. How to recycle toilet rolls for your children's craft projects.

So my daughter had this topic about the Ancient Egypt. We had to make amongst other things a Crocodile out of recycled materials (paper, fabric, anything) 

And as the news for this project was delivered the night before the teacher needed it we had to quickly come up with something. Here I share the step by step of how we made it.

You will need 3 spare toilet rolls, PVA glue, scissors, pen and paint.

How to make a Crocodile from toilet rolls.

1. Draw The outline for teeth and jaw on both sides of the roll.

Draw the jaw and teeth outline on both sides.

2. Cut out.

Cut out following the lines.

3. Draw the eyes on both sides.

Head ready

4. Outline the spine scales.

5. Cut out the outlined shapes.

6. Outline and cut the feet shapes.

7. Apply PVA glue on the inside of the head end. Join two parts of the body.

8. The body of the Crocodile is finished. Needs tail!

9. Draw and cut out the tail shape using the third roll.

10. Glue in place.

11. Leave to dry for an hour and paint in several shades of green, brown, terracota and yellow. We added some dark green glitter glue.

Torquay and Plymouth. Memories from a nice journey.

Torquay Marina

Torquay

Torquay 

Torquay Marina

Marina

Torquay

Plymouth. 

Plymouth

Tinside Pool. Plymouth.

Plymouth

Best ways to use the space under the staircase.

My brag post for today. Great if your home is relatively small and you need to utilize every inch. My next project is going to tackle exactly this. Will post the final result hopefully very soon. But meanwhile have a look at these great ideas. 

Marine Coral Fish tank in my living room

Here's a little sneak into my living room. My husband has this big Marine Coral Fish tank. Despite the hard work and maintenance it's all worth it. It looks amazing. Everyone who visits is drawn to it like a magnet. And my young daughter is turning into an expert Marine biologist at the age of 9.
My cotribution to this is the making of the rock structure. It was made from live rock, glued with the milliput, this structure works brilliantly. Gives fish caves to hide, creates space for placing corals and lets the water flow better so the oxigen and the bacteria spreads evenly and no pockets of stale water are left. Also I seem to get all the disasters in the tank and loose half of the fish while my husbands travels away.
Here's a list of some of the fish and corals we have:
Banana Wrasse, Sohal Tang, Lined Puffer, Chocolate Starfish, Blue Berry Gorgonia Coral, Torch Coral, Hammer Coral, Bubble Coral, Ellegance Coral, Acropora Colony, Zoas, Gold striped clove polyp Coral, Orange Silk Coral

Working with concrete.

I always had a thing for decorative concrete objects as I really like the feel of it and the modern look. I had experimented with couple of ideas of mine, however not very succesful for now. I found this amazing article about making concrete decorative objects and yes indeed - I failed because I wasn't patient. Concrete is a  temperamental  thing as it turned out.  

Hair bows

How to make hair bows

Hair bows

Few inspirational Interior ideas from my visit to Revolution Bar and Food in Bath

Here are few great inspirational Interior ideas I came accross while having lunch in the Revolution Bar in Bath few weeks ago.

1. One of my favourite finds. Featured wall made from reclaimed wood. Very clever and so eclectic. I could see nail holes, scratches and marks made over time. It had history. Love it.

Featured wall made from reclaimed wood.

2. Table made from old parquet flooring, polished and conditioned. Left all natural, it look so welcoming and homely. 

Table made from old parquet flooring.

3.  Old copper pipe suspended from the ceiling and used as a pole to carry some of the lights.

Lights suspended on old copper pipe pole.

4. Table top made with different tiles. Nice and charming. Lovely skinny Pizza as well.

Table top made with different tiles. Very charming.

5. Bold black and white floor, both retro and very trendy for the modern pattern. 

Floor pattern.

How to instantly chill and flavour your white wine.

Use frozen berries to instantly chill and flavour your white wine. After finish drinking simply eat the berries left on the bottom of your glass. Perfect finish for a nice drink.
All big supermarkets sell frozen mixed berries if you don't have a garden or don't grow berries. Here's a link for some from Sainsbury's.

Frozen berries to chill white wine.

Doll House bed - Handmade by Thea Caldwell on the base of IKEA Mydal bunk bed.

So here it is. My Daughter's "Doll House" bunk bed.

IKEA MYDAL bunk bed used as a base on which I built the "Doll House" bunk bed. Painted with VALSPAR Water Based Interior paint for wood and metal -"Sugar Coat It" colour. IKEA TROFAST used as staircase. Wood from B&Q. It took me two weeks from start to finish.

Doll House. Thea Caldwell

Doll House Bunk Bed. Thea Caldwell

Doll House Bunk Bed. Thea Caldwell