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3.1.11

A Nice Cuppa.....

Breathe a sigh, Christmas and New Year are over.  Time to take stock and make plans with a nice cup of tea.

Can't do the cuppa without the kettle, matching our toasters of course. 
We wanted our kettles to be real so we took our measurements from my
RL Sunbeam Kettle.
Brushed stainless steel for grandson,
green for my modern kitchen.


What we made them from.




I'm so sorry I forgot to take photos for a tutorial as I went along with these kettles, they've been a work in progress for over a month as I worked out how to achieve each step, in between christmas shopping, christmas baking, christmas decorating, christmas parcel wrapping..........you get the picture!!  I wasn't altogether sure my idea would work till after I got the wire ring to stay stuck round the bottom of the main body to represent the ridge where the top part is joined to the element part of the lift off kettle.  After that hurdle the rest went easily.  Look at your own kettle or a photo of one that you like the shape of and you'll see it is just a sandwich of pieces stuck together.

I cut part of the bead off for the main body then cut two circles from the tongue depressor the same size as the cut off base of the bead.  Then sanded a slight bevel on the cut edge of the bead and the same on the edge of one of the wood circles and glued the two pieces together so the bevel edges made a slight depression for wire to sit in.  I used 5 minute epoxy glue for the wire and there's no way to get it to stay except to hold it in position till that glue sets!  Next I drilled a hole in the piece of dowel down the shaft for the spout of the kettle and cut that tiny piece away from the dowel on an angle so it would tilt upward when glued on to the bead.  The hole in the top of the bead was filled with a plaster type filler and a tiny hole drilled to insert the pin for the knob of the lid.  The 'lid' position was marked by placing the bead upright on the table and placing a pencil on a book or something horizontally positioned so the bead can be turned round against the pencil and make an even mark all round the top where the edge of the lid would show, then a slight depression was filed using the pencil mark as a guide.  Two holes were drilled into the bead and a wire handle was bent and glued in, once again using epoxy glue. 

For the electric base, drill a hole in the centre of the other wood circle and use that as a guide to drill a matching hole in the bottom wood circle of the kettle so when the top is put on the base the two circles will match one another.  Glue a short length of toothpick into the hole in the base for the 'electric plug' bit that goes into the kettle.  Next, round off the top edge of the base and the bottom edge of the kettle.  Turn the base over and add 3 tiny slices of toothpick for feet, sand so it will sit firmly.  Black thread and card make the electric cord.  Then paint in your chosen colour scheme.


25 comments:

  1. Perfect!
    Concratulations!
    Kikka

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  2. Susan these are beautiful and look so real. Your talents never cease to amaze.

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  3. They look fantastic! Love the fact that you've made electric ones with a heating element and plugs etc.

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  4. Wow, how did you do that? It looks great!

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  5. Die sind aber schön geworden!

    Liebe Grüße PuNo/Monika

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  6. Oh, this is great! They really don't look like made of wood and wire. Wonderful job!

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  7. WOW I love the work,I would love to see the tuto,miniregards and best wishes!

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  8. simply amazing Susan- they look so real! Happy New Year to you ♥

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  9. Wonderful job. They are perfect! Can't even tell how you used everything!

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  10. Wow, so many comments! I can't wait till I show my grandson the nice things you've said :)

    I didn't take progress photos but I will add some 'how-to' information to the posting.

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  11. Susan, it's wonderful !!! I loved your toaster but this one is even better! Brilliant! best wishes, Rosanna

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  12. Absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing the post.

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  13. This is just so brilliant! What a clever girl you are, Susan. :-D

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  14. Susan, these are simply terrific! So realistic. Love the toaster too. How did you get a brushed aluminium look on the second one? You are so talented.
    Mini hugs
    Sandra (Snippets from my Studio)

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  15. They're wonderful and I love the green color!

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  16. Sus, these are just wonderful - soooo realistic - if I didn't know better I would have thought I was looking at a pic of the real thing! Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial - I am in awe of your inventiveness using ordinary materials to make something extraordinary! Next time you have to glue wire or metal, try using E600 glue - it is one tube not two and sets quicker than 5 minute epoxy. Hard to find though - I can only find it online. Tell your Grandson I can't wait to see what else you make together!

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  17. Que bonito, que osito más precioso,que cosas más bonitas ,te invito a visitarme.Besos.

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  18. Susan
    Has hecho un trabajo brillante, enhorabuena.
    Muchas gracias por las instrucciones.
    besitos ascension

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  19. They are GORGEOUS Susan!! Love that green colour too.

    Thanks for your welcome home note on my blog - but not lovin' this heat!! How we lived with it day after day for 2 1/2 yrs in Darwin I don't know!!

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  20. You're all very welcome to the instructions for this kettle and thankyou so much for such lovely comments - you've made me smile!
    The green is for my modern kitchen roombox and the brushed stainless for grandsons kitchen. The paint for that is Tamiya-'Titanium Silver', brushed on thickly and very quickly so brush strokes don't show.

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  21. Hi Susan, I think that your electric kettle is FANTASTIC!!! I have made teapots similar to this but never a kettle. I love the detail of the cord with plug; that kicks it up a notch, even more. Such a beautiful result and such a pretty color too. Thank you; I enjoyed this very much!

    elizabeth

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    Replies
    1. Hi Elizabeth, thanks so much for visiting and for your much appreciated comment!!

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  22. Hermoso lastima q no tengas fotos y medidas xq yo soy bastante torpe con medidas pero te quedo espetacular gracias

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