A creative mum has transformed her blinds into rainbows to celebrate NHS workers - and she did it using nothing but the contents of her baking cupboard.
Like many families, Sarah Smith, 36, and her children Rose, eight, and Charlie, five, had drawn pictures of rainbows and plastered them in the windows of their home in Cambridge as part of the Chase The Rainbow project to celebrate health workers and give everyone a much-needed lift.
Advert
But when Sarah noticed her brood's drawings kept falling down and their colours were fading, she decided to create something more permanent.
Crafty Sarah used tubs of food colouring found in her kitchen cupboard to transform her plain white blinds in her children's bedroom and living room into magical, bright rainbows.
The DIY hack didn't cost Sarah a penny as she already had the food colouring, but you can find your own in most shops (when you visit during your one shop a day) or online for relatively cheap.
Advert
Posting her creation on popular Facebook DIY page, Sarah's post has since wracked up over 16,000 likes.
"I saw on Facebook that people were letting their children draw pictures of rainbows to put in their windows, so we did the same," says the MOT centre director. "But after three or four days the pictures had fallen down and the colours had faded.
"I took the drawings down and my children really wanted them back up, so I thought of another idea.
Advert
"At the back of my house the blinds are quite old so I was thinking of how I could colour them in - I only had food colouring in my cupboards so I thought I'd give that a go.
"I had lots of colours in my cupboards so I mixed the paste with water and painted the blinds in the kids rooms and the living room.
"Rose and Charlie love it - they helped me paint some of them but were mainly egging me on.
Advert
"They're currently off school so it was something to take away their boredom in between school work.
"We've seen a few people stop by to look at the blinds on their daily walk and one of my neighbours messaged me saying that they look great.
"We feel that it's really nice to do something that cheers other people up and it also gives us the enthusiasm to keep going."
To create it, Sarah took her material blinds down and hung each individual strand out on her washing line.
Advert
The mum-of-two then painted each strand with a food colouring and water mix, before hanging them to dry.
Overall, it took Sarah roughly four hours to create, including drying time.
"People on Facebook are saying it's a fab idea and it's got so many likes - I didn't think it would get that reaction," she says.
"Some have commented saying it's the best idea they've seen yet and others have said 'It's people like you who make other people smile', which is really nice.
"I'll probably top up the colour of the blinds if the sun ends up bleaching them but we're currently in the process of writing a sign thanking the NHS to add to the windows.
"My husband Andy, 54, and I own and run an MOT centre, and while my kids and I were home creating community happiness, Andy was working hard keeping the doctors, nurses and key workers' cars in good repair and on the road.
"Key workers are our main priority at this time and we need to support those who are combatting this virus - they're doing an amazing job saving lives."
We're definitely stealing this idea.
Featured Image Credit: CatersTopics: Life News, DIY, Real, Coronavirus