Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fall Floral

I was at Hobby Lobby last weekend and found this gorgeous pot. Then I quickly realized that I had nothing to put in it. I thought about a house plant, but I think I might kill it. I have 2 in my office and with as much time as I spend there you would think I could water them... well I forget and someone without fail asks if they can water it for me. Oh well, I think the fake ones are just fine! Of course I got everything for 50% off. One of the stems that is kind of blue berries out the left side was only $1.36. I made this entire arrangement with the pot and filling for $25. Oh, here's a tip: don't buy floral green blocks (I don't know the correct name because I never buy them). I use left over styrofoam from packaging. I just love having a pretty arrangement to look at as I lay on the couch!

Fall Entrance

This fall I'm going to finish the kitchen so I'm trying to be as thrifty as possible with my projects. I had this plant stand from a 75% off sale at Hobby Lobby for $5.00. I painted it brown to blend in with the brick. I decided to put the mum in something and all I could find for a few dollars was a silver bucket. I decided to keep it silver, but I wanted to put something fall themed on it. Believe it or not this is a logo from a picture frame I bought. I changed the words inside the logo to make it fit for fall, but I just loved the logo and knew I would find a way to use it someday. I free handed the logo on the bucket with a black paint pen. Who knows what color this bucket could be next? I just found some pumpkins to put around the bottom. Happy fall!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Coffee Table to Upholstered Ottoman

This is another GREAT find at the local thrift store. I found this table around the fourth of July. The special at the thrift store was to pick a star and on the back there was a discount for your entire order. Well I just so happened to pick a 30% off coupon. This table was a whopping $25, so I got it for just over $18 with tax. It had been loved. When I was sanding I found some crayon marks. I'm sure my mom's tables were loved the same way. I sanded the top and legs. My original thought was just paint it black and leave it as a coffee table. Then one night when we were watching a movie in the family room I got the idea that I should make it a big ottoman. Yes, an idea during a movie. I watch movies with him sometimes and sometimes I pretend to watch them just to spend time together. Now I had to figure out how to do it. This is what I came up with and the questions I asked myself:
  • What color: people are going to put their feet on this, it can't be cream or white... I found the same fabric I made my pillows out of for $6.99/ yard at Hobby Lobby. It was 3 years later and I didn't think I would be lucky and find the same fabric again.
  • How padded should it be? The upholstering padding is super expensive-- $39/ yard. No way!! I'm using mattress pads from Walmart and my MIL's basement.
  • How was I going to attach it? Luckily the coffee table has a small lip on the edges and I was able to staple underneath and hid the staples.
  • I didn't want it to look like a big pillow, so how can I make it tufted? This was a great time... my husband got frustrated and thank goodness my BIL was over. He helped me find just the right length of screw and attach it to the table through the fabric. It was a sight. I was holding the fabric and padding down so it wouldn't tear while he was drilling.
  • What type of buttons should I use for tufting? I found the type you can customize with your own fabric. I think this was the only full price item I purchased at $4/ pack of three.
You can see here where I stapled around the bottom... The biggest question after I tufted the ottoman was how to attach the buttons.. this picture doesn't show the tufting yet. You'll never guess what I used to attach the button to the screw. BREAD TIES!! I can't believe I make fun of my husband for keeping them, but one Sunday afternoon they came to the rescue when I was desperate to finish this project.