How to Make an Ottoman

The Girls over at LollyJane came over the other day and next thing I knew 

their camera was out and they were taking pictures of my house!  

Good thing it was clean. (eeek)

It's OK because I have known then since they were teenagers.

 (gasp! Does that make me old?)

Thanks Kelli & Kristi & Sandee for the fun day. 

Because of you and all the requests on your blog here is my Ottoman Tutorial for you to share.

To see their post click HERE

Ottoman Tutorial

 I needed an ottoman in my sitting room to go with my room re-do. 

 I wanted an updated "Cottage" look that wasn't shabby chic.  

I was soooo over shabby chic.  

Originally I bough a beautiful solid pink and a floral to do the pillows and ottoman. 

 I promise it wasn't shabby chic more cottage chic.  The picture below was my inspiration page.

 I brought the plain pink and floral fabric home and showed the Hubs. 

 Bad. Idea.  

He was not thrilled with having a PINK room especially right when you walk in the front door.  

I can understand.  He is the only guy in this house filled with girls. 

 I don't blame him.  I went back to Pinterest to find new inspiration.  

This is what I found on Boxwood Terrace .

After deciding on yellow I saw it everywhere.  

It was really easy to come up with ideas.

Then I found this ottoman on Dear Lilly

which was perfect!

I'm a really good copier that puts my own style on things.

Anyhoo, that is how I came up with my ottoman idea. 

 Now to implement. 

 I couldn't find an ottoman that I liked so I got creative. 

I measured the area I needed the ottoman to be.

I went to Home Depot and had them cut a piece of plywood for me.

Did you know they can do that?  

Love it and have used them many, many times.

Then I had the Hubs put feet onto the piece of plywood.

He used wood glue and some nails.

 Daughter #1 wasn't helping her Dad any by being obnoxious.

 Do you love that the Hubs is in his suit?

  That's normal around here.

 After the feet were on and the wood glue was dry (about 24 hours) I used spray adhesive to attach a thick piece of foam that I had cut to the exact measurements at a local fabric/flooring store.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the foam.  I covered it up too quick before snapping a shot of it.

I then used a white piece of sturdy fabric ($.99 a yard at the $5 fabric store) to cover and attach the foam to the board.  A few staples later and the ottoman was almost done.

There is no right or wrong way to attach the fabric.  i wasn't worried about making it look nice because I knew I was going to be covering it up with my slipcover.

It's functional - not perfect.  That's how I roll over here.

The slipcover was made by my friends mom Michelle.  

She was here visiting her daughter and took pity on us after seeing that we were in no way 

going to be able to figure out how to make the slipcover work.  

She put her mad sewing skills to work and whipped up this little beauty for me. 

 Believe me when I say I am so thankful for her.  

If I would have finished making this slipcover it would not have turned out this good. 

 I mean, I can sew but...........not that good!

The best part about the ottoman, it's soft when you sit or rest your feet on it 

and the slipcover comes off easily to wash it.  

Same with the couch. 

 It may be a white couch but it's so easy to throw in the washer to keep it clean. 

So there you have it.  Kelli & Kristi - Hope you liked the little how to. ♥

Click HERE - Living Room Re-Do and 

HERE Finishing Touches 

to see more pictures of the before and after of this room.

And to visit LollyJane and see a Home tour of my home click:
 HERE - Turning a Standard House into a Custom Home

More info from their post:
How to Make a Dutch Door

Christmas Over Here

Here's a few pictures of the house for Christmas:

Just by adding a few simple Christmas things like pillows and books 

you can transform your regular space into cozy holiday retreat.

 I usually only decorate the mantle for holidays.  Christmas is different.  

The whole house gets transformed.

I love having a mantle, it makes such a large impact with very little effort.

 My darling daughter thought adding gumballs instead of candles would but cute.  

Umm I'm not sure about that but we went with it.  

This display is sitting on my kitchen table and will hopefully encourage people to eat those goodies 

so I don't have too.

I ♥ Christmas!

Mantle Decor

I'm a creature of comfort.  Once I get a room decorated the way I like I don't change it very often.  I do however love to decorate for each holiday so the mantle in our family room has become the spot of choice.  It's small yet can be seen from three rooms in our home and when you are standing at the front door you can get a peek of it as well.  Here are some of the past holidays I have done all in one post.  Enjoy!

August/September 2011- Back to School

July 2011- God Bless America

 

June 2011- Fathers Day

 

March 2011- St Patrick's Day

February 2011 - Valentine's Day

(I also have a BIG magnet board over my couch in my family room.  I decorate that each month with a printable download and some cute pictures of my kids.  I guess I didn't take a V-Day picture of my mantle so here's a picture of the board)

December 2010 - Christmas

November 2010- Thanksgiving

October - Halloween

 

I guess that's it for past mantle pictures.  I thought I had a lot more but I scrolled through everything I had and this is it.  I will post more as the seasons come.  I noticed that the newer mantle decorations are fuller and brighter and not only is the decorating better but the picture is as well.  Hmmmm....I guess I will have to make sure I stay on top of this project! 

Back to School Mantle

I like to keep things simple around here but I also like to decorate for the seasons & Holidays.  So my mantle is where I accessorize.  I usually use things I have around the house and maybe make a few things each time.  This month I made the Flash Card Banner using flash cards from the dollar store and my sewing machine.  I got the idea from Heidi Swapp. 

I have had these candle sticks for a few years and have never known what to do with them.  Candles for the holidays but then what?  I went to this new boutique in town and wha-la!  Garden balls have now transformed those plain ol' candlesticks.  I ♥ them so much better!

5 on Friday

 My 5 favorite finds this week:

Gluten-free Toasted Coconut Waffles - YUM! I am trying these abd you can too HERE

How in the world did they do this? Amazing right?  Glorious Treats shows us how HERE

Since I'm turning 40 this is perfect...except I am kind of excited about and don't think it "sucks" but what a funny present for all my friends who are also turning 40!  Go here to see more.

I think I will paint my shutters bluehttp://brabournefarm.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-because.html that my Aunt gave me...after Ashley uses them for the wedding.

If it wasn't so blasted HOT I would wear this darling outfit!  

But a sweater in 115 degree heat?  No thank you!

Favorite How To's

Thought I would share some of my favorite how to's I've found lately.

 

Scrabble Letters as Fridge Magnets. 

Think- menu, love notes, spelling quizes.

(image: oh crafts)

Um....Hello Fun Mom! 

Give the kids some bottles of bubbles and let them go crazy!  When they have used all their bubble juice (or spilled all their bubble juice) you can re-fill easy peasy!

(image via come together kids)

Organize your spray bottles and free up some space under your sink!

(image via jangrantmorris)

Have a little side table that's a bit boring?  

Make it into a score board for family game nite!  

Wish I had room for this.........

image via less-than-perfect bliss

Enjoy!

Finnishing Touches

 I love old books.  I have an old book obsession.  These two pictures have some of my books but not the "old" ones.  When my Dad's Aunt Deedee passed away he was able to inherit some of her amazing things.  My favorites are the 110 year old wicker furniture set (that now sits on my back porch) and her book collection.  I love these old books and have tried to use as many as I can throughout the house.  Sadly I don't have room for them all and half of the collection is up in the attic. 

Yes, I know "the work and the glory" isn't old but it's colorful and I love color.

 Tom got me this clock for my birthday this year.  

I have several throughout the house (most don't work) but this one is perfect for over the piano.♥

 These are some of my favorite pictures in the whole house.  

The frames I got at Kirkland Home for $11., took the art out that they had in them, spray painted them and added our family pictures. 

 My Dad had an apple collection that my brother got.  So I started my own apple collection.  I haven't added to it because I think more than three would be a little much. (wink) The red apple was my Great Grandma's and has a hidden surprise inside.  I'll do a post on that later.

 I remember my Mom making these frames when I was in Jr. High.  She searched for just the right picture of my brothers and I for each frame.  When she passed away I just has to have them.  Whenever I see these it reminds me of her and how much she loved each one of us.

 Here's a great idea!  Bronze a child's shoe with.....bronze spray paint!  This is Cassidy's 3 yr old shoe that her pre-school teacher "bronzed" for a Mother's Day gift.  She then had the kids plant a flower in a plastic cup and stick in the shoe.  So Cute!  I have this on the little white desk as a memento.

I have to have a "spot" for the "stuff".  Backpacks, shoes, jackets, random toys I find on the floor.  I fully believe in corralling the "stuff" in one spot so it can be easily picked up and put away by the small ones (kids).
Plus, it's a lot easier to say to the small ones "GO LOOK ON THE HOOK!"when they say "where is my backpack/jacket/shoes/purse?"

Questions:
Do you have a "spot" for all the STUFF?
What's your favorite heirloom thing to collect?
Have you ever really bronzed a child's shoe?

Living Room Re-Do

 

I don't know if I ever posted my before pictures of my living room.  This is actually the "after the grand piano moved to my brothers" before.  The before "when I had the grand piano" looked a lot better, not perfect but at least it flowed.  These before pictures are beyond hideous!

 After my brother took my Dad's grand piano to his house I was in a panic.  Miss Amberly had started taking piano lessons and was in love with playing the piano and practicing.  We needed a piano and fast.  Craig's list to the rescue and I now have my dream piano.  An old upright in perfect condition that has dreamy detail and sounds like my Dad's grand piano.

 The couch......well, that is another story.  My SIL sold me this down sectional when we moved in for a steal.  It had a shabby chic floral slipcover on it and I was a happy camper.  It fit the room with the grand piano and all was right in the world.  Until.........the beginning of the year when I started to hate that floral grandma slipcover.  It was by then 10 years old and had seen better days and lets face it...pink and green floral is out!  So I took the slipcover off and WHA_LA!  a white couch....for free!  I had every intention of just ordering a new slipcover because this couch was in great condition, it just needed a makeover.  What I didn't know was that a new slipcover would cost.....$1000.  Ummmmm I don't think so.  So back to Craig's List where I sold that couch to two young collage girls who adored it and gave it a new home.  

 I then took my earnings and headed over to IKEA and bought that white slip-covered couch for next to nothing and haven't missed the old couch one BIT!  

 I needed a ottoman and the IKEA one wasn't doing it for me so I made one.  Plywood, foam, staple gun and
some fabulous fabric from the $5 fabric store.  My friend Chelsa helped me sew the slipcover and when my sewing machine broke she took it home and had her sweet Mom finish it.  My friends Brooke and Paige helped me hang curtains, rearrange the furniture and hang pictures.  They were just what I needed to help get this room exactly how I imagined it.  Thanks girls!  I owe you BIG♥

 The framed art I got at a garage sale for a total of $10.  I tried to go lower but the guy wasn't having it so I gave him a $10 and never looked back.  That pediment is one of my all time favorite things.

 The chair was $20 from another garage sale that Chelsa bought for her house but stored at my house and when we re-did the living room I told her she couldn't have it back (wink).  Good thing she loves me.  The desk was my Dad's that has been in my house since before I was born.  He knew I wanted to paint it (it had seen better days) but told me "you have to wait until I'm gone before you can paint that.  When we were painting it last year Tom reminded me of Dad's statement and I couldn't help but grin.  He knew me so well.

The piano sits front an center and is Miss Amberly's place of refuge.  She seems to spend more time at that piano than anywhere else.  In fact she spends more time in this room than anyone else.  I think she has claimed it for her own and I hope she makes special memories here.  

 I love this room now and the bright yellow makes me smile every time I walk in the room. I love the peace and calm feeling I get when we walk in the front door and I'm not embarrassed anymore when people come over.  Oh what a little update can do to lift your spirits!

** tomorrow I'll post more pictures of the room**