A Little Catch Up!

Thanks to my husband who had endless school work, I never get the computer anymore! I started a new job a month ago so that cuts into my project time as well, but here is a little of what I have been up to over the past few weeks...

I ended up adding more to the flower on the pillow and love it soo much more!

For over our headboard, I had an idea. These frames were actually at the dollar store, and somehow they rang up at only $.25 each! Talk about Creative Cents.. . ;) I just had to paint the wood frames white to go with our scheme. 

The tape was a way to know how wide I wanted the arrangement, and how to make it level. (I also had much help from Rachel Steinmetz on this one). :)

Once taped, we did some math to try to hang them evenly. This part takes a little time, but it's worth it to do it right!

When we were in NYC a few months ago, I took photos of random letters I found that were in our last name. Then, turned them to black and white and placed them in the small frames. I think that I will change the 2 on the sides to more abstract photos (cobblestones, etc.) Love it.

I had white curtains, but then just added the teal to the bottom to make it more interesting.

Last of all, I have a cork board on the wall, and wanted to make more interesting thumb tacks. SIMPLE. Just take white flathead thumbtacks, and hot-glue buttons (or whatever you would like) to the top. Easy, but so interesting. :) 



Pillow Projects

I only have the photo of the finished project of this pillow. I had purchased a single window panel from Goodwill (brand new in target package- for only $2!) I cut out 2 retangle shapes. Because this was thinner fabric, I also cut out the same shapes of quilters batting to give it a smoother look. For the decoration, I just used leftover pieces of the pillowcase that I used to make a chair cusion with, and ruched it then sewed it on to the top. I love this pillow :)

This is the second pillow I made... which is also made of the same pillow case fabric.

I used strips of the window panel, folded it in half and folded the edges in again and ironed it. 

'Tacking' it into place with thread every inch or so, I wound it around to give it a rose-type look. I love this one too, although I think I will be making the rose a bit larger. 

Headboard Finished!

How to make an uphostered headboard continued..

Once the whole board is covered in the fabric you want, and you have your holes drilled out, I used buttons (thanks Rachel Anderson for the idea!) to hold the covered buttons in place.  I used very thick embroidery thread and double threaded the needle. Feed you embroidery needle (the longer the better) through the back to the front, put your covered button on, then thread the needle back though (this can be the hardest part!). Once you have both sides of the thread though the hole in the back, thread both through the button and tie a few knots. Then it's secure!

Close view. Since there were really 4 threads I was using, I tied 2 knots regularly, then split the threads up and tied each individually.

View from the front. In order to get depth, I would push on the button from the front while securing it in the back. 

Once all the buttons are on, it should look something like this. You could stop here (and skip to the end) if the tufted look is all you wanted. However, I wanted to also add sides to the headboard. :)

So, with my leftover plywood, I measured out the look I wanted, then cut 2 of the same shape with a circular saw. You can use a hand saw, but that would be much harder! :) 

I partially covered them with batting (because of the way I am attaching these, you can't cover them completely at first...)

I then ironed and layed out my lining fabric and linen (or whatever fabric you used for the main piece), and wrapped the end cap in it. I stapled only the inner side secure. Covering the top was probably the most tricky. I opted to make folds in the fabric instead of trying to sew a perfectly measure 'slipcover'. I didn't take a photo of this part, but I secure the top piece of fabric first- stright back. Then I just held the side fabric out, tucked (pushed) down the fabric at the top, and kept playing with it until the fold was perfectly straight across the top of the side piece. I hope that makes sense! 

I then used 'L' brackets on the uncovered half of the end cap and secured  it to the main headboard. I liked this way because I wouldn't be making holes in the side of the main piece in case I ever wanted to take the sides off. The 'L' feature also secures the side pieces from spreading outward.

I put 4 of them on each side 

I then finished wrapping the lining and linen pieces and secured them to the back of the main board with staples, making sure to keep the side smooth.

After all the stapling, you can't even see the L brackets which I love! 

The view from the front 

Do the same thing with the other side and you are almost done!  (If you don't want the side pieces, you can skip straight to this part.)  I used 2 layers of the same sheet I used for the lining earlier. I ironed it smooth and tucked in the sides of the unfinished edges and ironed those as well to fit the size of the back of the board. 

Then staple the entire fabric over the back, covering all your unfinished enges, staples, ets. 

All that's left is attaching it to the headboard. At Lowes, I just bought one 8' 1 by 4 (they are like 3-4 bucks) and had them cut it in half. Here, I have primed and painted it white (so it will blend in with my wainscotting that will eventually be behind it)... 

I used flat ended screws (not sure of the technical term?) and nuts and bolts to secure the 1 by 4 to the end of the metal frame of the bed. 

TIP:  Definately used wood screws to secure the 1 by 4's to the plywood. A first I tried other screws we had and didn't realize how big of a differece wood screws make!  This photo didn't come out to well, but after making sure the headboard was level, I used 4 wood screws on each side to secure it to the back of the headboard.

And there you have it! 

I absolutely love it! Definately take your time to do this project right, and it will come out SO wonderful! 



Cheap Art, Padded Chairs and the Start of Something Big

NEW ART

I got this picture/frame at the "Attic" (thrift store) for $1 for the frame. I had found a poster in the same store for $3 and needed something to frame it to make it look more like art, so this was the perfect fit. You have to be able to look past a scratched up metal frame and 'different' art that's already inside it. :)

I sanded the metal frame, painted it white, and trimmed the art to fit inside (which also trimmed the 'poster' border off). I think it's a good deal for $4! 

NEW CHAIR CUSHION

For my new desk, I purchased a very cool aged wooden chair (for $4 at Impact- amazing deal which took some searching because chairs can be expensive, even at some thrift stores!)  The chair is smaller in order to fit under the desk without hitting the sides, so the top of the seat is naturally smaller than a regular cushion would fit. Plus I wanted to make one anyway that would coordinate with our slowly-coming-together-room. :) I had remnants of 1" foam that I stacked on top of eachother and pieced together to make 2" foam then covered it with batting. Next to it is the fabric I cut out to make the cushion. (From a $.50 pillow case at the Impact).

Here is my new chair with my completed cushion :)

 NEW HEADBOARD

(How to Make an Upholstered Headboard)

In the almost 6 years we have been married, we have never had a need for a boxspring. BUT, because we just sold our platform bed (and all our other matchy-matchy walmart furniture...) we are currently sleeping on the floor. (although I just got a heck of a deal on a boxspring and frame at the Impact... $43 for both! We just have to find a way to pick it up...).

Anyway, also in this picture is our new favorite bed lamps mounted to the wall. These are great because I can use the light at my desk AND the bed and it takes up no space. We sprung for these from Home Depot because you can not find lamps like this at a thrift store :). SO, all we need now is a headboard, which I decided to make...

 The following are a list of supplies you will need if you ever decide to do this yourself. (Which I would recommend- it's really not too hard!) This is a kit to make covered buttons out of the same fabric that you are making the headboard out of. I am planning to tuft mine, so these were great. Walmart has them for $1.50 for 5 buttons! (Way cheaper than I thought!)

You will need a piece of plywood. I got mine at Lowe's for about $17, and they cut it there for me at the store. A queen bed is 60" wide, so I asked for it cut 61" (a little wider than the bed) by 24" (24" is the widest that foam comes in. For a clean look, I didn't want to deal with piecing together foam). You can actually get 2 headboard pieces out of one piece of plywood because they are 4 feet wide.

Foam is probably the most expensive part. I debated between using 1 or 2 inch (because of the price difference), but went with 2" because I think it will give it a fuller look- and after doing all this work, I want it to look great!. 2 inch foam is about $30/yd, but you need less than 2 yards, and if you use one of their coupons, it's about $32 for the foam.

Batting. There is nothing too special about this particular kind. It was $5/yd. I got 2 yards (You need your 61" plus about 4 inches to wrap the sides with), but had a $5 coupon, so I got one yard free, which is great! :)

Fabric. You can really use anything you have or like. An old curtain panel, fabric shower curtain, left over fabric (given it's long enough) or new fabric. I did go with new fabric- 100% linen- in a beige color because it will give a lot of texture to the room. It was a mini splurge at $15/yd. (But again, use a coupon and it was about $18 for 2 yards). With this fabric being thinner, I also bought a white sheet (for $3 at 2nd Ave on Main street) to wrap the headboard in first to keep the linen color pure...

Here are the buttons after they were done. It was a pretty straight forward process, however I did have to use pliers to help squeeze the backings into place.

The first thing you want to do is to actually measure and drill holes on the plywood for your buttons (if you are having them)... I forgot to do that part (probably because I was so excited to get started!) so I had to improvise later :). Then, as pictured below, use spray adhesive to attach the foam to the board. This was real easy since both pieces were already cut to the same size for me. Spray both surfaces, let sit for about 30 seconds or so to get tacky, then stick together.

Spread the batting out smooth on the floor and trim to the size that you need (leaving about 4 inches or so around the edges).

Starting with the middle of one of the long edges, start stapling about a foot in either direction. Then go to the opposite long edge and do the same. Proceed to each of the smaller sides, the rest of the longer sides, and then tackle the corners (which don't have to look exactly perfect at this point). My staple gun is not too strong so I also had to hammer each staple afterwards to secure it. That still works.

Do the same thing with the white fabric (or sheet if you choose to). I think it's nice because it's an extra layer of protection and it helps smooth everything out. It wasn't until after this step that I realized I forgot to drill holes. The best option is to measure, make x's where to drill, drill the pilot holes then use a 1/2" drill bit to cut them out slightly larger, however I didn't have a 1/2" bit, so I just went with the biggest regular drill bit I had and will figure it out later. I also taped the drill bit at the depth of the plywood so I would know where to stop in order not to drill through any of the foam...

One you have the holes cut and the batting and lining sheet stapled on, staple the final fabric on in the same fashion as the batting and the lining. For nice looking corners, start by folding the corner of the fabric in diagonally then fold one side over that as shown here.

Fold the other side over and staple. See? A nice corner! :)

Here is how the headboard looks as of right now after all those steps...

I could end here and use it as it is, but I still have several steps to go to make it how I want it, and am even thinking about adding mini-sides to it, so I am definately not done. I just wanted to share my progress so far. I believe that this project will come in at about $75, but for a customized headboard, I think that is great!! Anyone think they will tackle this project???