Tiki-On-A-Budget

Big Lots has great sea grass mats (roughly 2 1/2 feet x 6 feet) for $1.00. They are great for covering walls, fences, plastic tool sheds, etc.

I think I may have to go spend $20 at big lots to decorate the ceiling at Halé Frostiki.

Ooh, I hope our Big Lots has the mats!

I'm also really glad to see this thread revived. I'm in the midst of making a papier mache "rock wall" to go behind our tiki room's water feature and am planning to hit a colored plastic tiki with Krylon Fusion paint very soon.

BTW, I love the phone and shadow box! I have zero drawing skill, but I'm sorely tempted to try that phone...

Nothing says "budget" like shopping at that New England icon, Building 19 (sorry everybody from far-away).

They've got these bamboo doorway divider thingies for THREE BUCKS! (36"x72") Get 'em while they last.

Woo Hoo! I'll be there tomorrow!!!!

I found these bamboo coasters in a thrift store - 50c each :D :D They only had 2, would have bought more if they had more.

Top

Bottom

5 minutes and a bit of tape later, and I have a perfect frame for my Finkdaddy Pendant (L) and my Alientiki pendant (r). The best part is that I can easily take off either pendant and wear it, and put it back quite easy. The bamboo ends are thick enough that they will self stand upright, but the eventual plan is to hang them, but in a rental so no hanging new hooks :(

Now that's awesome!

Nice "frame job" Hewey! I've done something similar with those bamboo pieces. Oh and sweet bike!
ST

Thrift stores are such a bonanza of treasures masquerading as trash. (The Dollar Tree chain also has loads and loads of stuff that can be used as a part of tiki creation...but that's a different topic). My wife and I go to one thrift store where you kind of need to bathe after the fact (though that can be fun if my wife is into conserving water that day, but I digress), but there are treasures there that we have fumigated, cleansed, and have put in our midcentury home. What is especially wonderful about thrift stores is that what you are likely to find vis a vis tiki stuff is probably also pretty period correct in many cases.

MZOLTARP
http://TelstarLounge.blogspot.com

Here is a $4.00 dollar project. Basket lamps. I am sure that I am not the first to do this but I get to use up a lot of colored Christmas light that I have been storing ever since we went to white light about five years ago.

First you need one string of light, two baskets, a glue gun, wire ties and swag lamp chain.

I remove all blue and green lights and replace them with yellow pink or red lights if you don't have white

Now stuff the lights around the inside of the basket bottom and put some hot glue
on the wires that touch the basket between the lights.Continue this going around in a circle on the inside of the basket. Place a piece of electricians tape over the end plug if your strand has one

When you get some of the lights done, let the glue cool and attach the chain to the basket lid by punching a hole in the lid. Separate the chain with pliers, poke through the hole and reattach

Finish gluing the lights around until the reach the rim of the basket. Stuff the rest of the strand of lights into the center

Now cut the plug and slip the wire through the lid.

Now Place basket on lid and trace outline for reference while attaching basket to lid with wire ties. I use the old paper ones, stripping off the paper and just leaving the bare wire.

Extend and reattach plug with extra wire and wire butt connectors.

Now plug it in and pray for no smoke ,sparks or fire.

Total cost.....Four dollars

The lights are a strand of fifty, the basket had a plastic lining in it for use with a plant but I removed it. The other one is a lid from some other basket. The fun about this is you can mix and match baskets and lids and make very interesting combinations

Hang Loose and Stay Cool

[ Edited by: T1K1 LEE 2007-06-06 21:31 ]

Cool! There are great baskets like that at the Dollar Tree Store! I think I have everything else lying around the house.

Here are a couple of budget projects I just completed. The first is the "rock wall" behind the fountain:

I started by grouting some rocks from our backyard onto a piece of MDF, but it looked too much like a mosaic, so I wadded up some newspapers and papier mached them over them, sprayed it all with black spray paint (on sale this week for $2.50 a can at A.C. Moore), then Fleck Stone, then sealer.

I also hit this party store tiki with the Fleck Stone:

The lightweight plastic, which I would normally despise, is a great thing in this case, because I could just wire it to the screen on our door. I'd like to find a way to add some red light behind it that doesn't require a cord. Do they make solar lights in red, I wonder? I could probably just add some sheer red fabric over a solar bulb.

Hey Pappy! Thanks for the Building 19 tip!!!

For 9 Bucks I got a cool effect behind my outdoor Granite Tiki Bar!

Looks beautiful, Granite. Problem with shopping at Building 19 is you start believing appliances should be ten bucks, pants should be five bucks, books should be a dollar EVERYWHERE! Then you feel guilty if you buy something at full price somewhere.

Many brilliant ideas. I love the rock wall and I may have to replicate it!!

Aloha fellow budgeteers!

A little while ago, I sent a note to Tiki Magazine sugesting that they create a section for this subject. If any of you feel similar, dropping them a note might help to make that happen.

Just a thought.

Mahalo!

-Eleio

Our backyard tiki fusion project is coming along. This is the first layer: reclaiming an ugly slab of concrete and hiding an ugly fence for built-in RV parking that we never used.

Polyamnesia is a play on Polynesia and amnesia

Ugly shed gets a make over

Our daughter's tiki hut playhouse gets relocated

Seating areas in place

A lengthwise view

Next? We need a pergola, water mist system, and plants (major project)

For now the insane sun and heat can pound this during the say and we can now enjoy it in the evening.

PS we have tons of tiki masks etc. that would age quickly in the sun, but they are in line to be diisplayed.

Tikified is beautified! That's awesome what you did!

That's tough on the masks, that you have to be careful about them being in the sun--will you be displaying them under leafy plants once that part of the project is off and running? I might suggest a UV blocking varnish, but I don't know if you'd want to put that on art!

Take care,

I.

In Bakersfield we will need a pergola to provide shade, because plants burn in the sun. With the UV screen netting over the top of the pergola, planting in large pots is possible. Onward and upward...

Ikea mirror: $2
Target bamboo placemat: $1
Dollar Store tiki guy: $1
Plastic flower found in the house: $0
Tiki pencil toppers: $0 (gift)
Only tiki mirror that looks exactly like this: priceless

Dollar Store tiki guy: $1

I've been on the lookout for tiki statuary at dollar stores ever since I found some at my local dollar tree about a year ago. Has anyone found them there recently? If so, which stores?
Thanks!

Nice mirror!!! I just know I'm gonna rip that idea off!!!

I've been checking all season, and Dollar Tree just didn't have those Tikis this year!

Bummed me out!

The Dollar Tree also had some great plastic tki mugs that are ideal for larger parties. Who wants to use his actual tiki mugs when the people you invite are not all tiki nuts but are willing to pretend for an afternoon at a tiki lite party? We had 2 dozen plastic mugs for just such ocasions and lost all but one four years ago Christmas Day. Bakersfield got hit with torrential rain and what seemed like gale-force winds. My tiki bar that was free standing on the side of the house went end over end through the back yard. My wife and I cleaned up the debris and dragged the very damaged tiki bar under the covered patio and picked up all the plastic mugs that were not picked up by the wind and careening through the neighborhood. Fifteen minutes later the tiki bar somehow moved out from under the overhang of the house went end over end through the back yard yet again. More plastic tiki mugs were sucked into the vortex of doom known as my cul de sac, but the tiki bar was now total trash and not worth repairing. Suppose the tiki gods were outraged at the notion of plastic mugs?

Well, did a little shopping today and have a few ideas for budget tiki items. Here's my first...

I found these at Michael's for 25 cents each. There are 4x7" wooden plank about 1/8" think. I bought 50 of them with ideas swirling in my head. Hopefully I don't sound like Martha Stewart when I'm done listing my ideas.. Plus, anyone who has any others, just shout.

First, I'm thinking of turning some into wooden drink coasters similar to the Don the Beachcomber coasters.

Now, here comes Martha Stewart....

I also thought they'd make great invitations to a Luau or Tiki party. For both ideas, have to stain the wood, seal it, then create a stencil for lettering, and seal again.

Any thoughts?

Rick

Ok, second item...

I found these wooden arrows with the mounting hardware on the back for 50 cents each at the Christmas Tree Shops. (A New England bargain outlet) I bought 6 of them with the idea of re-painting them with lettering to the tropics (ex. Maui 2500 miles) then hanging them on my wall in a MAS*H post sign fashion. Maybe a piece of split bamboo to make a post, not sure if it's necessary

OK, last item...

At the Christmas Tree Shoppe, I also found a few really nice lamps with a wicker-rattan shade. They're a white lamp base, but I was thinking shellac to bring the color of bamboo. The other idea was to see if I could find some hollowed out 2" bamboo and just place it over the lamp. Either way, a steal for $12 each including the shade.

I'll keep ya posted with project progress, but I wanted to throw my ideas out there for anyone wanting to do the same, while the stuff my still be out there.

Cheers!

Rick

Cool ideas, make sure you post some pics :D

Random budget Tiki-tip:

An earlier post mentioned painting light bulbs. Indeed, colored bulbs are expensive with limited wattage options, and are fairly hard to find. As most tikiphiles know, colored lighting is everything when it comes to creating a mood.

My solution was to buy standard low-watt bulbs and spray them with a special glass paint I found at the hardware store. Normal spray paint is too opaque and just absorbs most of the light, but the glass paint is designed to stay transparent. If you're eco-minded, you could also use this method to make colored compact fluorescents.

On 2007-10-19 19:43, Bogielocks wrote:
Ok, second item...

I found these wooden arrows with the mounting hardware on the back for 50 cents each at the Christmas Tree Shops. (A New England bargain outlet) I bought 6 of them with the idea of re-painting them with lettering to the tropics (ex. Maui 2500 miles) then hanging them on my wall in a MAS*H post sign fashion. Maybe a piece of split bamboo to make a post, not sure if it's necessary

OK, this is just a sample of how they came out, and how I may display them. Maybe, put some bamboo pole in-between.

Cheers!

Rick
Let me know whatcha think...

The Hawaii sign is a little hard to read (because of the color) but otherwise they look great :D

Love the arrow signs. I was thinking of doing a post for my deck with a shower head and famous surf spots on it.

I needed a simple tiki light for a dark spot on my patio. I looked around to see what materials
I had, and made this...

I used three slightly different lengths of bamboo as the center spine.
I wound a 50-light set around the bamboo.
Then I mounted a cheap (99 cent store) lampshade wireframe onto the bamboos.
I hot-melt glued a split bamboo placemat onto the wire lampshade frame.
Then to finish it off, I hot-melt glued a palm weave trim strip around the placemat.

At night the lights "twinkle" through the shade as you walk past.

Kelly

I guess we've all looked at these vacuformed tikis

and wondered if they could be used as a mold to make
something more permanent.

I got a similar plastic Tiki and made a simple wood frame
around it, and just filled it with mortar mix.

After a day of drying out, I popped out a beautiful "CemenTiki"!

I plan to make more and mount them to my cement block wall as
part of an overall design.

Kelly

Kewlava, love the lamp and the tikis. I'm kind of slow--how did that mold thingie work again? Any more pics of the process for us dopes?

Oh, wait. I get it! Does that wreck the mold or can you keep using it?

Best use of those plastic pieces of poop ever!!!!

I can't wait to try that!

whoa..... thats cool

now that's cool!!!!!!!!! Did you coat the inside of the form. ? Can you reuse the form or is it a one time form? Thanks for the tips

[ Edited by: Kewlava 2007-11-03 11:54 ]

Okay, I admit my instructions were a bit sketchy!

Here's a better description of how I made the "mold"...

I then mixed up a batch of mortar mix, to a consistancy of oatmeal. (Just
thin enough to pour).I slowly poured into the "mold" and used a disposable
bristle brush to chase out any bubbles.

I brushed vaseline onto the inside of the plastic mold, (as a separator)
before I poured the first one, but It's not really necessary, I skipped the
next three.

This is how the inside of the "mold" looks
after four pieces have been made from it.

To remove the CemenTiki (as I've named them)
Just turn the cured piece (mold and all) cement side down, and
then gently lift the mold from the piece. It will pop off, one
section at a time. There will be surface bubbles, but I think
that adds character!
I let them sit unmolested for several hours to finish curing out.

Have fun and good luck!

Kelly

Gotchya, don't molest the cementiki until fully cured. :wink:

Thanks so much for the instructions!

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2007-11-03 14:51 ]

Looks cool! Great budget tiki idea :D I would love to see some of these painted up with a real weathered stone effect, and some moss on them.

Dag-nabbit Kewlava, you beat me to the punch!

You can also pour it in the mold too, if you "grease" it up for reuse.
Say did you put a little bit or rebarb in there? I would to be safe. You can also take trick-or-treat buckets (shaped like a skull and what not), cut them along the mold line and tape them back together with plumbers tape, mix up you cement and pour in. Then you got some skulls or pumpkins (for a Halloween project)

Texas Tikiphiles Unite!

[ Edited by: Unkle John 2007-11-03 17:48 ]

Hey Unkle John, the rebar is a good idea. Since I'm gonna stick mine onto a cement block wall with more mortar mix, I didn't feel the re-inforcement was needed.

I like your Halloween skull idea too!
Yea, a little vaseline inside the "mold" isn't a bad insurance policy either.
I'll post some pix, when I get this project a bit farther along.

Kelly

My cousin made a bunch of tikis molded in cement from a party store decoration few years ago. I have one with the rebar and it's made it outside winter after winter without a problem. My sister has a couple without the rebar and all it took was a little nudge forward and they broke in half. Rebar is the way to go but the broken ones look cool coming out of the flower bed too.

Didn't want to start a new thread so I'm sticking this here:

Staples (yes, Staples) has framed art on clearance for $14.90. Including this beauty.

Hurry and get yers.

Really enjoyed seeing that other people think the tikis make great molds.I have been making the concrete Tikis for a few years. I use a box of wet sand instead of making a wood box to hold the mold. I also use a cooking spray as a release for the mold. My mix of portland or riverside cement, peat moss and vermulite makes the tikis a lot lighter. It can also give the tikis a more rock type finish. I use rebar drilled into the bottoms to make them stand up in the garden. Here is a pic of my tiki guys.