My furry bench :). Converted from a rolled arm piece.

Or how to convert an ugly, stained rolled-arm bench to a funky, furry wow piece.

So this is another Pinterest inspiration. If you look at my boards you'll see where I pinned a furry bench and posted how it inspired me to finally update my gross, old, stained rolled-arm bench from my attic. I showed it to my daughter because I thought it would look awesome in her room and she was sold. Both funky and fun.

First stop was the attic to get the old bench down.  You can't see the gross stains in this pic, but trust me they are there.

Then to the fabric store to get the fur. Luckily my first stop was Joann's, and they had what I needed. With my 40% off coupon, it was a whopping $7.20 to do this whole project.

Now we both agreed that the rolled arms had to go, so that is the only reason this project took very long. Normally you just staple the fabric on and done. But I had to figure out how to get the rolled arms off.

I started by pulling off the fabric on the arms.

Low and behold the rolled-arm form was simply stapled onto the main frame of the bench.

So after removing the six staples on each side they simply came off.

There was a lot of fabric and foam removal as well, because I needed to use it for patch work. When the rolled arms came off, they left a hole at each end that needed to be stabilized and covered to match the rest of the bench.

Luckily a piece of wood from the arm fit in the hole to support a piece of seat-cover wood. Using a few nails on each side I was able to stabilize the piece of wood to use as support. For the seat cover portion I had a couple of pieces of flat plastic I cut to fit and nailed in from the top on each end. Simple enough.

Now I had to pad the two ends to blend with the rest of the bench. Using the foam from the arms, I folded them over twice and stapled it on.

I then used the scrap fabric to cover the foam so the whole piece felt the same end to end. The white fur is slightly transparent, so I didn't want the color behind the fabric to be different anywhere and potentially show through.

And then the easy part. Cover the bench in the fabric. Staple underneath side to side to keep it tight as you move to the end and corners. Then trim the excess fabric and done. Step back and be wowed by your ridiculously cute bench!

Ok well vaccum first because when you cut this fur it sheds like a cat :)

Happy reinventing your old piece!

Fixing broken or cracked makeup

I pinned this idea the other day, and I tried it with a broken powder compact I had. It worked, and I realized I never posted the results.

First I took the broken powder and poured all the contents onto a piece of paper so I could clean up the case. This thing was a mess and making a mess in my makeup basket.

After cleaning it up with my powder brush...

I used the paper to help pour the broken powder back into the compact.

Next I poured in a little rubbing alcohol (just enough to make it a paste).

 I stirred and pounced the mixture with the bottom of a makeup brush to make it an even consistency.

I let it sit overnight and voila, fixed powder. I was shocked at how well it worked! And so simple.

So glad it turned out. Thank you Pinterest!

Stop your mattress and bed skirt from sliding

I recently moved my daughters from their twin loft beds to full size beds with regular frames and headboards. We've never owned smaller beds that weren't against the wall, so we found out the hard way that they shift and slide if you lean on the sides. It was driving me CRAZY. Lean across the bed to grab a pillow and it slides. Walk around the side to push it back and the bed skirt slides up with the mattress. Then you have to pull the bedskirt down. After the second or third time, it gets old. I knew it was a problem I would have to fix.

Did a little searching on the Internet and found that it is a real problem, and people have lots of solutions for it. Safety pin the bed skirt to the box spring, loosely strap the mattress to the box spring (that one was just odd), use spray adhesive to create tackiness, etc. etc.

One suggestion I actually tried, and it worked so well (easy and cheap) I had to share. Buy the no slip shelf liner at Dollar Tree. I found you need four rolls per bed if you have a bed skirt.

First you take off the mattress and bed skirt, then you lay two of the liners down on top of box springs. They are long so they go almost top to bottom on a full bed. We sort of centered them in each half.

Next put the bed skirt back on, then you lay two more shelf liners in exactly the same spot as the original two (right on top with the bedskirt in between.

Lastly you place the mattress back on top. For this job it's best if you have two people, since you have one shot to get it on there perfectly centered. Remember it's not going to slide anymore :).

And that's it. Just try to bump it with your knee. It won't budge. I'm so thrilled I just had to share my tip of the day :)

I did this with all three full beds we now have, and it worked on all of them. Two are single sided mattresses and one is double-sided (all three slid slightly if you bumped them). So it works on both kinds of beds. I understand some beds now come with gripper fabric on top of the box spring and on bottom of the single-sided mattress, and thats where they got the idea. None of mine did unfortunately, but this is the solution.

I'm going to post photos of the actual bed and steps some day. For now just a photo of the actual product so I can pin it :)

Use nail polish to create a custom iphone case

I've created a monster :). My oldest daughter has inherited my "project" gene :). I came home yesterday from running an errand with my younger daughter, and my older daughter greets me at the door with this:  a custom iphone case she painted with nail polish. I was actually impressed.

It started with a clear case we bought at the dollar store a long time ago. She said she painted it with black nail polish first, then painted a top coat of silver crackle paint. Last was a top coat of clear polish.

I was shocked it looked so good. And now she can touch it up if it chips. My husband just shakes his head and says, great...there's going to be three of you running around here "creating" things :). I never would have thought of it, but to a thirteen year old, this is the best project ever :)

How to repair frayed corners on a Vera Bradley bag

My daughters just inherited a Vera Bradley backpack from their cousin. Do they need another VB bag of any kind? No. Do they want it? Yes. : ) I noticed the corners were frayed and the plastic inside the edge binding was showing. Of course, being the project fanatic that I am, it was time for me to figure out how to fix it : )

It was actually very simple and I am by no means a seamstress. Do I know how to use a sewing machine? Yes. Do I have anything more than one needle and one presser foot? No. So this is beginner stuff.

I decided I would simply re-round the corners to get the frayed edges inside of a seam. First I decided to cut off the plastic edging. It wouldn't be necessary once the corners were inside the corner seam, and they would just get in the way when I was sewing.  Here is what it looked like after I cut the plastic off

 

Second, I turned the bag inside out (as I would be sewing from the inside). I then took pins and marked where the fraying started and stopped on each corner.

 

 I transferred those points onto the inside fabric with pencil (this is hard to see from the pic, but its on the white part).  This helped me remember what points needed to be included in the seam.

 

 

I then sewed each corner in. I started and stopped sewing about a 1/2" outside of each pencil mark. For those of you who don't know how to sew at all, you start your seam off the fabric, go in and them come back off the fabric at the end. In this case I didn't go all the way off over the edge binding.  I just went off the brown fabric onto the edging and stopped. I went in about 1/2" from the original seam by the time I was in the middle (remember your seam is progressive from edge to edge, starting off the fabric...building to 1/2" in from the original seam by the time you get to the middle...then gradually going back off the fabric). These notes are for beginning sewers obviously. Hopefully the picture shows what I am referring to. Its really hard to see eventhough I used white thread. 

 

Once I sewed all four corners, it was like a new bag. These two pics show two corners after they were sewn.  In the second one you can see where the edge binding is showing on each side, but sewn in at the middle.

 

There was some fraying on the bottom of the backpack straps as well, but I decided to leave that alone.  I wasn't about to cut the straps off and resew them back on further down. I also didn't was to tear open the bag to accomplish a reattachment properly  More experienced sewers might be willing to, but I'm more inclinded to wrap them with a solid fabric to hide them.  That's for another day : )  Just wanted to fix the obvious beaten corners. 

 

Hope this gives you the courage to try this quick fix : )

The best way to revive wood cabinets and furniture!

As I was completing one of my projects today, I realized there may be people with wood cabinets or furniture who have never heard of Old English Scratch Cover. This is hands down the best way to breathe new life into your wood cabinets or furniture once they start to show the signs of everyday life (scratches and dings from vacuuming, silverware, accidental bumps, etc.)

I thought I would show the inside if my pots and pans cabinet doors as an example (since its quite banged up).

Before:

 

After:

 

And all it takes is a rag and a little wiping.

Here is what the bottle looks like (with the lid off and my rag sitting on it :). I use the one for Dark Wood because that's what I need. There might be one for light wood, too.

 

I'm currently wiping every cabinet and piece of furniture in my house with this. It's going to take a while, but it will be well worth the before and after. Definitely something I would do if I was about to put my house on the market, too. Makes everything look shiny and new :)

 

You can find Old English Scratch Cover for dark wood at most local stores (target, walmart, etc.)  Here is a link to Amazon if you want it shipped to.  It looks like because it is small and inexpensive you have to buy $25 worth of stuff from amazon to get it shipped to you for free (FYI).

 

 

 

Old English Scratch Cover for Dark Wood

 

This is a must purchase for homeowners with wood furniture :)

Breath new life into your old sofa...add more stuffing!

So I've been out and about lately looking to replace my sofa and loveseat in my living room. I've had them over 12 years and they've served me well.

Now as everyone knows, I'm a bargain hunter. I hit all my local haunts looking for a good deal on something I actually liked, but I was striking out. Either I didn't like the fabric, the size, the style or the price. I also ran the risk of getting something that I might end up hating, didn't look good in my room, didn't fit or doesn't wear well. I keep furniture a LONG time, so that initial purchase always scares me. I lucked out last time and got a steal of a deal on a style I loved then and still adore, and the frame and fabric has held up. It was just the back cushions that were lacking.

After a few days of hitting stores close by while I was running other errands, I realized I wasn't going to find a good deal on what I wanted right now.

So, back home to my sagging cushions. Later that night I sat on my loveseat, and began watching HGTV. On one of the shows they said "most couch cushions have zippers so you can remove the covers to wash them". I thought, yeah if your cushions come off...my back cushions are attached. I placed my hand under the back cushion and voila there is a zipper! Oh my goodness, I can add stuffing to my back cushions even though they are permanently attached! I had no idea!

 

So the next day began the transformation of my sofa!

I am a self proclaimed hoarder of materials and supplies. Before I throw anything away I will rip it apart for parts for future possible uses. Ever since I have lived on my own I have removed the stuffing from old pillows I am replacing and kept it. I've used it to make European pillows, pillows for pillow shams, decorative pillows for my girls rooms, etc. Because of that I had tons of stuffing to use to help fill my cushions.

It was quite easy actually. First, remove any cushions you can and vacuum :). Mine was in desperate need of that :)

Second, unzip the cushion you want to revive and remove the form inside (mine was a covered pillow filled with poly fill and not completely re-sewn shut...you'll have to split your pillow cover open a little it yours isn't).

Third, remove any extra stuffing that might be up in the cushion (yours may not have this, but mine did...I guess it was added after the cushion form was put in to fill any loose spots).

Fourth, re-fluff the current poly fill (if you don't have a solid foam form, you can refluff the compressed poly fill by pulling it apart handful by handful).

Fifth, add additional poly fill to fill the cushion until it is plump.

Sixth, reinsert the form into you cushion cover and attempt to rezip it :) This is a fun task on your own...i managed, but get a helper if you can :)  Here is the left pillow refilled and the right pillow not.

 

Last but not least, enjoy your new sofa that looks and feels brand new!!!! I am so happy I don't have to go furniture shopping anymore, and now I can add stuffing as it starts to look even slightly compressed (vs. waiting until it is dead like before :)

Here is the side by side before and after. So happy!

 

Have fun restuffing your sofa! It's the best arm workout you can ask for :)