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Tufted Zebra Ottoman

June 6, 2012 by beth 9 Comments

***WARNING!! This post is a little long!***

Hey friends! Thank you so much…SOO much…for all of your votes in the One Crafty Contest! I know I kept asking you to vote, week after week, and I really appreciated your encouragement and cheering me on.

I’m sad to say I did not make it to Round Four. I had some tough competition! But I am so grateful to have had the chance to participate. I got a few fun projects checked off my To Do list (check them out HERE and HERE), including Round Three’s submission: The Tufted Zebra Ottoman.

We’ve had the ottoman that’s in our family room for about 10 years now. I rescued it from the curb on abnormal trash day, took off the dog-chewed and fugly old fabric, and revived it with a soft velvety/suede, taupe-colored remnant.

Here’s a picture I found on Craigslist that looks the most similar to the fabric that was on the ottoman when I rescued it from the curb:

And once I reupholstered it:

This ottoman is so squishy and bouncy. My boys absolutely love bouncing their brains out on it, and I’m totally fine with it since it was free to begin with. But it was seriously starting to look sad. There were a few holes, one too many spills, and it was just plain tired looking.

Round Three’s theme was fabric, and I knew immediately that I would be recovering the ottoman. I’d done it once, doing it again would be cake, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

Recovering this piece was a beast. I’ll give you a play by play, and don’t you worry…I’ll make sure you don’t make the eleventy billion mistakes I made. Sheesh.

I began with ripping all the old fabric off and pulling out a crap load of staples. This was my view for one entire afternoon:

Green Lantern couldn’t handle it.

Some of the foam was not salvageable. It disintegrated all over my family room rug, but I just added it to the list of things that needed to be vacuumed up later.

I wanted to see the legs again…I couldn’t remember why I had covered them before. Yeah, this is why:

Hmmm. Fixing it was a bit of a head scratcher for sure. My ideas ranged from wood filler and paint to just sawing them off completely. But pretty soon I came up with a better plan! Wait and see…

Here is the ottoman in all it’s naked glory. This shot was taken late at night after the staple removal massacre of 2012.

And, I’m happy to report, I only got one splinter!

When it came to buying fabric, I knew exactly what I wanted. I came across this blue cheetah print recently and fell in love:

Except when I went to go buy it, I was informed that it had to be ordered and wouldn’t come in until the day of the contest. Me no likey. I was pretty frustrated to say the least. Cuz I had no Plan B. (And grabbing the bolt of fabric off the wall and running out the door would have only gotten me so far. But don’t think I didn’t consider it.)

Eventually I snagged two yards of some super cute zebra fabric at Hobby Lobby for less than I would have paid for one yard at the other place. Hooray for happy accidents.

Tufting was totally on my list of things to do to the ottoman this time around. I’ve never tufted before, and, to put it nicely (keeping my post free of strong curse words), I had a lot of learning to do. :/ Tufting’s not hard, especially if you don’t try to skip steps to save time and money. Cuz you won’t. So don’t be like me. The following instructions are here for your benefit. (FYI, I found these two posts very helpful: HERE and HERE)

1. Make sure you have the correct size staples for your staple gun. Check again. Are you sure they’re right? Because, at least in my case, stores didn’t have the correct size I was looking for. Grrr. Luckily it only took one frantic call to Allison who let me borrow her awesome staple gun. What better staple gun to use than House of Hepworth’s? For reals. I am SO grateful!!

2. While you’re at the hardware store for staples, buy a pegboard. Don’t be cheap. Buy one. Buy one now, not later. Cuz later you will have to anyway, and you’ll be annoyed with yourself for not getting one before. Have the nice Home Depot guy cut it for you. Know your measurements before you go. (I actually did know my measurements, which was a miracle!) Mark your pegboard where you want the tuft holes.

3. Using the peg marks as a guide, cut holes in your foam where the tufts will go.

4. Stack the board like this tufting sandwich: pegboard, foam, fabric.

5.Decide if you want premade button covers or if you want to cover your buttons yourself. Either is fine. I decided to cover my own. Find buttons all the same size and shape. I used some vintage buttons from my grandma’s collection.

6. Thread your button holes with thick twine. Not flimsy little string. Can you hear me shout that loud enough?!? NOT flimsy little string. I made that frustrating mistake. Leave a long piece of the twine on your button so you have enough plus extra to go through the thick foam. And invest in the knitting needle it takes to tuft. Do it. Just do it. I think I paid $1.50 for the needle.

7. Follow THIS easy tutorial on how to create covers for your buttons. Even this part was easy for me, the non-sew-er.

Notice the thin, flimsy string? Yeah, NO. Don’t do it. Use twine.

8. Thread your needle through the thick twine of one covered button and knot one end. Shove the needle into the fabric, down the foam, and through the peg board.

9. Staple that thread’s brains out. Zigzagging the staples will help keep the threat taut.

10. Admire your work. Make adjustments as needed. (Yes, I needed.)

Once all the tufting’s over, it’s all smooth sailing from here. I added more batting to the sides for extra comfort.

The rest of the fabric was then stapled around the ottoman. I pulled tight, and stapled the fabric in the middle before moving out to the sides.

As for the feet, I decided to wrap the feet in black leather to make them stand out a little better. I just folded the leather over, creating the look of separation.

And, that’s it. Oh my gosh I’m actually done.

Although this project took me a little longer than I thought, I realize that I learned so much. I can avoid a lot of mistakes next time around. But, that’s how it goes, right?

Remember our ottoman before?

SO much better.

And you better believe there will be no jumping on the ottoman anymore!

Did you make it through this mammoth post? If so, bravo! Thank you!! I promise to give you a high five next time I see you.

Make sure to check back on Friday for a SUPER CUTE giveaway!!!

**By the way, do you follow me on Pinterest? It seems they just did an upgrade or something, and I ended up loosing half my Pinterest followers. Do you mind checking to make sure you’re still getting my pins? Click HERE and push Follow All. Thanks!!**

I’m linking up!

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia , A Bowl Full of Lemons, The Thrifty Home, Someday Crafts, Seven Thirty Three, Beyond the Picket Fence, House of Hepworths, Tales From Bloggeritaville, Made in a Day, Sassy Sites, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, The Shabby Nest, Remodelaholic, Beneath My Heart, Lolly Jane Boutique, Be Different Act Normal, C.R.A.F.T., Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, Under the Table and Dreaming, House of Grace, Primitive and Proper, Sugar Bee Crafts, Home Stories A 2 Z, Domestically Speaking, Southern Lovely, Somewhat Simple, One Artsy Mama, It’s Overflowing, Six Sister’s Stuff

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Filed Under: Before and After, DIY, Family Room, Furniture, Ottoman, Pinterest

Folding Chairs and the Power of Spray Paint

May 7, 2012 by beth 21 Comments

K, so I came across this picture recently on Pinterest, and I knew I was staring at my next project:

Source

I loved the fun, happy colors. And to make things even better, I had just received TWO free metal chairs from a friend. She found them free on Craigslist but ended up not wanting them. I thought it would be fun to spray paint the chairs bright colors for the boys to use in the family room and play room. Woohoo! Party time at the Free Stylin’ household!!

Here are my chairs before their makeover:

I wanted to make this project as FREE as possible, so I rummaged through the spray paint cans and pulled out the pretty turquoise from the front porch updates. (It’s Krylon’s Blue Ocean Breeze.) I originally wanted the second chair to be a fun lime green, but Pickle picked bright red…Krylon’s Banner Red. Although we had to purchase the red paint, I paid with the rest of a Hobby Lobby gift card, so it was “technically” free, right?

Each chair got three good coats of the paint.

While I waited for the paint to dry, I came up with a monogram for the backs of the chairs using white paper and some letters the boys have in their room as my stencil. The letters were just a hint too tall, so I improvised a bit and erased a little here and there.

I cut out the monogram and used a few coats of Mod Podge to seal it to the back of the chairs.

The arm rests got a little makeover, too, with the help of some the maps from my big stack. I cut out a map for each arm rest and used Mod Podge to seal it as well.

And that’s it! The completed chairs:

The boys absolutely love them. The new chairs seem to have a permanent spot in front of the TV.

(Yes, they are sitting in each other’s chair.)

(And, yes, the monogram letters are new toys, apparently.)

This project was fun to make and only took a couple of hours. Using only items I already had (including a gift card!) made this project FREE!!

chairs: free from a friend (free to her from Craigslist)

spray paint: already owned, purchased with a gift card

white paper: already owned

Mod Podge: already owned (you could also use clear varnish if you had it)

maps: already owned (wrapping paper, wall paper, or scrapbook paper would work, too)

Isn’t it amazing what a little spray paint can do?!

I’m linking up!

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Filed Under: Before and After, Chairs, Family Room, Free, Paint, Pinterest

Pinterest is Like Crack

March 28, 2012 by beth 4 Comments

K, so if you haven’t heard of Pinterest by now, you must be living under a rock. (No offense.) It is seriously one of my favorite places to hang out and get ideas and dream and feel completely productive even though I just wasted a good hour or two with absolutely nothing to show for it. I love that I can look up something and find a million pictures, quotes, recipes, and fashion ideas surrounding the topic.

And I just. can’t. stay. away.

+ = LOVE

But I’m not a total scrounge. I actually DO use some of the pins I pin. Here’s a little round up of some pins that I’ve been digging on and actually used:

This picture has been the wallpaper on my phone for a few months. When I saw it, I just loved the thought of going for a long walk with someone and having one of those beautiful, therapeutic conversations interspersed with completely comfortable silence.

source

When I came across this picture of Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad, I immediately knew what to make with the leftover turkey in my freezer. I just substituted it for the chicken. The cranberries are the perfect hint of sweet and tangy, and I love the idea of using plain yogurt to lighten up the mayo. This sandwich was seriously good enough to order in a pricey sandwich shop, but I made it at home. (I’m talkin’ to you, Panera Bread!)

Plum Pie

I recently made Dijon Ham and Asparagus Roll Ups for dinner. They were super easy to assemble, and most of the ingredients were staples from the fridge. The Roll Ups were a hit in this house, but if I were to make them again, I think I’d cook them just a little longer. The insides of the rolls didn’t get as cooked as I would have liked. It’s not the bread’s fault, though. It has to share a lot of space with a bunch of other stuff, which it isn’t used to. So…note to self: cook a few minutes more next time.

the fresh fridge

Yeah, so three cheers for the chick who invented this next dish. Seriously. Crock Pot Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken has THREE ingredients peeps. And it’s really yummy. And so freakin’ easy. The secret to it’s awesome taste is Hawaiian-Style Barbecue Sauce from Target, and because the meal is so simple to make, it must be popular. I had to check Target a couple of times before the sauce was in stock. Although rice is the suggested side dish, I made mine with Ramen Noodles (yeah, I said it!) because the boys LOVE them, and I hate rice. (I know. I’m a weirdo.)

Six Sisters’ Stuff

K, enough with the food. (Can you tell it’s getting close to dinner time?) I pinned some helpful hints that have been…helpful. (I’m a freakin’ thesaurus, I know.)

Piggy-backing on my White Board in the Shower tip, bringing the markers down to the kidlets’ level keeps them occupied while being creative, too. Using washable markers in the tub is all the rage in the Free Stylin’ house right now. Pickle refuses to get in without at least one marker. J is quickly catching on. Best parts: it cleans right up when I turn on the bath water, and the boys get to spend some time hanging out together.

Thoughts from the Courage Zone

Robin at keep home simple shared an inexpensive and smart way to clean your blinds using vinegar, water, and a sock. The ingredients are home healthy, and the sock idea is genius because you actually get all of the blinds clean using your whole hand. We have a gajillion blinds in this house, so yeah…I’ve found this tip both cost effective and helpful. Now all I need is an Oompa Loompa to do the actual cleaning for me.

keep home simple

I’m such a beach faa-reeeek!! that I should have known this tip for years…especially while living in The Florida Keys, but (thanks to Pinterest) I just recently stumbled across using baby powder to get sand off of skin quickly and painlessly. I was able to try it out on our most recent trip to the beach, and it was so much easier to remove that annoying sand. (You know, the sand that sticks when you want it off…not to be confused with the warm, tropical sand that’s perfect for relaxing your feet in.)

I Heart Naptime

My newest favorite thing that I have DEFINITELY been using, thanks to Pinterest, is this home fragrance recipe that you make on the stove. One More Moore used to work at Williams Sonoma and says this is the stuff they would simmer on a stove to make the whole store smell good. I’ve had this simmering on my stove a lot recently, and it makes my house smell awesome (in my humble opinion). Another THREE ingredient recipe, using stuff you probably already have in your fridge and pantry.

My two cents tips: 1.) zest the lemon with a grater/microplane first, then add the zest and sliced lemon to the water. 2.) scrape the rosemary with the back of a knife before roughly chopping it. In both cases, zesting and scraping releases the oils inside the lemon and rosemary, making the potpourri more intense.

One More Moore

K, so this has nothing to do with helpful hints or recipes or whatever, but when I came across a pin of the You Tube video of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling receiving MTV’s Best Kiss Award, holy cow. I could not wipe the big, fat, teenage-girl grin off my face. I just kept pushing repeat. Put a smile on your own face: check out the video HERE.

Here’s a sneak peek at my next project for the boys’ room, using ideas I found via Pinterest:

A little of this:

The Organized Mom

combined with some of this:

Southern Lovely

CAN’T Wait!!

I’ll leave you with a little more Pinterest eye candy (thanks to The Rusted Chain)…my boy Matthew McConaughey. He is on My List. The Hubs knows it, and we have discussed at length that I will kiss Matthew on the mouth if we ever run into him in person.

Cuz he totally gets me:

The Rusted Chain

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, please go Here. And if you would like an invitation to join Pinterest, send me an e-mail at freestylinbeth (at) gmail (dot) com, and I’ll give you one!