Ikea Lekman Repair - Helmar Creative Team

I found myself needing a 2x4 Kallax instead of the 2x2 that I had for my scrapping stash, so I browsed Facebook Marketplace regularly in the hope of finding a bargain nearby, finally I scored a white 2x4 that came with 5 Lekman inserts (4 white which I gave to my daughter and 2 smokey), 1 of the smokey ones was broken at the back (the lady had felt pads on the side that faced the walls, which saved me doing that myself).  I contacted Ikea to see if you could get a replacement part and unfortunately you can't so Helmar came to the rescue as I really didn't want to send this to the tip if I could save it.

I grabbed out my Helmar Silicone Adhesive and Sealant and applied it to the break on the parts poking out and the inside. 
Note - I would later realise with the way this had to be forced back in place that I should have worn gloves and had some turpentine at the ready to clean up the excess when done.

 
I don't have photos for the next part as my photography assistant was off in Uni class.
Basically I pulled and pushed at the 2 sections that needed to go back together until I had them together, this is why I overdid it with the Helmar Silicone Adhesive and Sealant, I wanted to ensure some wound up in the break once I had it together.  This is also why I should have worn gloves, if you get it on your skin wash immediately.
This is when you need the Turpentine, so you can wipe off the mess you made when trying to get the 2 sections to click back together.



As it's at the back you can't tell it was repaired when it's on the shelf, it is now a perfectly functional Lekman to stash away goodies in.

Garden Junk Journal - Helmar Creative Team

Since starting my potted veggie garden I have found myself frequently looking up the same information for my plants and I felt I needed a notebook with quick references to this information.  I downloaded various printable Garden Planners but couldn't find one that was just right.  After Jeanette's Easy DIY Two Hour Planting Journal post I found myself really inspired to create a Junk Journal style notebook/garden planner for myself.  So I started collecting various free printables, sorting through my stash to create a Garden kit to play with.

I printed out the printables I liked, some I printed on nice thick paper and other's I printed on standard 80gsm copy paper.  The tags and library cards that I printed on 80gsm paper I decided to back onto a manilla file folder.  I simply ran some Helmar Acid Free Glue onto the back of each tag and Library card, adhered them to the file folder, cut them out once dry and then touched up any gaps in corners or edges with a drop of Helmar Acid Free Glue.

Once they were dry I distress the edges of the printables and the back with a variety of Distress Inks.  While I had the inks out I distress the edges of all the printable pages and the papers I had cut and distressed the backs to if they were blank.

Some printables I didn't want as pages but rather I wanted to glue them onto pages that I had given a Tea Dye look using Distress Inks.  I simply glued them where I needed them with Helmar Acid Free Glue.













I have been really concerned in the Junk Journal groups about the safety of the methods some are using to adhere napkins to paper so I wanted to share how safe and easy it is to use Helmar Acid Free Glue to do this.  Great minds think alike and Jeanne recently did a post Decoupaging Napkins with Helmar Acid Free Glue, our method was very similar but I will share mine too.
I simply squirted some Helmar Acid Free Glue onto my work surface, spritzed some water onto the glue and mixed it with a old brush.  I then brush it on evenly to where I was decoupaging my napkin, placed the napkin down and then gave it a coat over the top with my watered down Helmar Acid Free Glue, set it aside to dry while I worked on something else.  It was very quick and easy to do and much safer than melting cling wrap or ironing plastic backed paper.  Please, please don't melt plastic in your craft room, Helmar Glues are much safer.

When cutting my cover I cut it a fraction too short, so I cut a strip from the left overs and ran some Helmar Acid Free Glue along the strip and used the strip to hold 2 pieces together.  Bonus it gave me a little bit of contrast on the busy paper I had chosen for my cover.   Sorry I didn't get a pic of the process but here is the finished repair.

I decided to use the left over paper from my cover to make a pocket inside the cover.  I ran a bead of Helmar Acid Free Glue around the bottom and 2 sides and adhered it inside the cover, once dry I had a great pocket for my tags, library cards and embellishments I want to have on hand to use when needed.

As I add information into my Garden Junk Journal I will give finished pages a coat of Helmar Crystal Kote Matt to ensure if it gets wet no ink will run.

I want to try protecting my cover using Jeanette's method of upcycling cereal packaging and using Helmar Silicone Sealant to seal it, it is a brilliant idea, check it out.

I am really happy with how my Garden Junk Journal has turned out and I have been using the information I have added regularly to remind myself of when to water which plant, what plants I want to use in companion planting and what fertiliser needs each plant has.  It has been so handy. 
I am looking forward to printing out some photos of my garden and adding them in as a way to document how the garden is progressing and the things I am learning.

Bee Bath - Helmar Creative Team

Today I have a cute project for the Garden to share with you.

With this move I am now able to garden (the old house had stairs so any gardening I tried died as I couldn't tend to it as needed), so I decided to try Container Gardening, this was planned for a late March to early April start but with isolation I brought it forward a couple of weeks so we would be harvesting sooner as we have food intolerances and in early March it was very hard to get the foods we can eat.

I have been reading up on all sorts of stuff about container gardening and veggie gardening when I came across a Bee Bath and it seemed like a really cute idea and a great way to use this broken chair I rescued from being sent to the tip as I felt it would work in my garden to rest my Bee Bath on :)






I grabbed a shallow pot and a pot saucer, blue glass pebbles (according to the internet putting these in the bath prevents bees from drowning and attracts them), Helmar Silicone Adhesive Sealant and selected some flowers that according to the internet Bees love and set to work.

At first I tried putting the Helmar Silicone Adhesive Sealant on the edge of the pot and holding the saucer in place until it dried but that didn't work, I kept wobbling.

So after lots of wibbly wobbly mess was created I flipped things and put some more  Helmar Silicone Adhesive Sealant on the bottom of the saucer and place the pot on top and left it to dry.

Once it was dry I added some good quality potting mix to the pot and planted my flowers with the tallest at what would be the back.  I have over-planted the violas but as they grow I will transplant the excess, I wanted plenty of flowers from the start in the hope of attracting bees to my Veggies.














I have 2 ways of using my Bee Bath.  I can just add a shallow bowl into the saucer and place the pebbles and water in this to make cleaning easier as you need to provide fresh water daily and clean the bath once a week for the bee's health.  Or you can just put the pebbles directly into the saucer and just hose it when you water the pot.

I think this has turned out super cute and I am going do add smaller pots around the edge at the front to fill out the chair more and attract more good insects to my veggies.