DIY Bench Cushion

It's been a few week's since I've posted anything, but I've been super busy with all kinds of DIY projects and other shenanigans that I'll tell you about.

Originally, this blog was created for my amusement. Something to keep me busy and something that didn't involve breaking up sibling fights, wiping butts, and listening to the incessant replays of Disney Movies. I love Disney, don't get me wrong...but it's nice to have something for yourself from time to time. Anyway, my blog was going to be that something....and then I forgot about it, and then I remembered it again but didn't know what to talk about. After some thinking, I've decided to give my blog a new direction.

Welcome to "Design with Pennies!".

 

My Dad is probably the best haggler on this side of the Mississippi. I grew up at flea markets learning how to haggle and to spot profitable junk . I've always had a fine appreciation for restoring life into someone else's junk and creating a treasure, It's sort of always been a hobby of mine....and although I'm not the best designer in the world (this is indeed a fact), I do have a knack of being creatively resourceful! So, despite the fact that there are 1 BILLION blogs branching from Pinterest, I'm going to do my own thang and share my "how-to's" and how I've decorated my entire house for nearly NOTHING. I've never paid full price for any piece of furniture and the majority of my knick-knacks and decorative pieces are from garage sales and flea markets. I'll recap some of the things I've done in the past and will showcase some of the current projects I'm working on.

Even if no one ever reads my blog, it'll be fun for me and I'm excited. Hopefully if you're reading this, it'll be something you can enjoy and perhaps even attempt for yourself!


DIY BENCH CUSHION:

I have this really old bench that we've always had. It's not in the greatest condition, but it was painted white and my sister-in-law (who is super talented) painted a mural on the front of it for my daughter. I HAD a picture of the before and cannot find it anywhere....sigh.....  We've always kept it in my daughter's room, but she no longer has room for it and I wanted to put the bench to good use! So, I painted the bench black and distressed it. Now, I wanted a cool cushion for it. However, I don't sew. Ever. Under any circumstances. I don't even own a needle. Fabric glue is basically my best friend. Seriously.

So, here's how to make a cushion for your bench without a needle!!

I started with three 12x12 foam squares. I glued them together. You'll find that I use glue for everything. I should probably call my blog "how to decorate your house using absurd amounts of glue and never doing things the conventional way!". That's not a very catchy title though.

 



I wrapped the squares in quilting batting...forgot to snap a picture of that part. I do that a lot. Then I wrapped it all in my fabric of choice. Simple enough so far? :)

 

 

Time to glue. I applied fabric glue to the end of the fabric and folded over to adhere. This seriously could not be anymore redneck. The corners are a bit tricky. You have to wrap it tight like a present. It took me a few minutes to figure out the best way to fold in the corners, and I came to the conclusion that a lesser amount of fabric on the ends is best. It's less to fold and work with. I made sure that the batting underneath was cut the same length as the fabric ends...this way I just folded everything at once and there was no bunching.

 

 And there you have it. A bench cushion made with glue.

The breakdown of costs for the cushion is:

-3 foam squares (on sale at Hobby Lobby) $1.59/each

-Batting (on sale at Hobby Lobby) $5.50

-Fabric (on sale at Hobby Lobby....I told you I don't pay full price for ANYTHING...ever.....) $6.95 for 2 yards

-Glue $4.99

=$22

 

Not too bad.

 

The bench breakdown is simple. I already owned the bench (which I got for free several years ago). I went to Home Depot and got two paint samples for $2.96/each.

The grand total for the bench restoration is $5.92

 

I'll post about the picture above the bench soon!! It's a new one and was ridiculously inexpensive!!!

 

 



I heart Spray Paint

So, I've been "out of work" for a couple months now and am basically bored to death. I've never been one to deal well with boredom. My Mother always told me to be weary of an idle mind. In her words, "an idle mind is the devil's playground". However, in this case.....an "idle mind is Pinterest's playground". When I'm not spending hours upon hours applying for jobs online (a tedious and torturous process mind you), I can most certainly be found on Pinterest. Of course, this is after my wifely duties have been completed around the house. Cough cough.

Now, I've always been pretty resourceful. Even before the magical world of Pinterest existed, I loved refurbishing furniture, making bows, garage saling, etc. As you can imagine, Pinterest has opened up a whole new world for me. A world of magical possibilities. I believe I can fly.

Without a job to put my millions of little brain cells to work each day, and to keep my idle mind safe the devil (lol), I have been quite busy with projects around the house. I've painted a couple rooms, refurbished a few pieces of furniture, switched some rooms around, decorated to my heart's content, and last but not least......I've been busy spray painting!! You simply have no idea how much you can spray paint until you start rummaging. My son says he loves the smell of it so we all win here....

I went to the feed store up the road and purchased myself a few cans of paint, then came home and literally walked around my house looking for stuff I could paint. Imagine me walking through my house holding half a dozen vases and jars making my way to the basement. That's precisely what happened.

This is what I came up with.

Here you have a standard mason jar.

 

Now, you have a cool flat black mason jar with a festive bow and some greenery and cattails. I have a thing for cattails....

 

Lovely.

 

Here we have a standard old milk jar. Cute, but could be cuter.

 

Now it's a cute pen/pencil holder on my desk. I also painted this flat black.

 

Another once ordinary mason jar.

Looks swell on the bookshelf doesn't it?

 

I forgot to take a before picture of this one. I was so excited. I thought I was done painting for the day, until this caught the corner of my eye in my living room. It was metal. Just plain ol' metal.

Now it's a satin ivory. Beautiful.

 

 

I am also quite into refurbishing ugly furniture. I do that when I'm spray painting jars and vases.

 

Here's a few furniture pieces I've done recently.

 

I got this desk in the trash. True story. Someone was throwing this gem away. After I politely knocked on their door (it was sitting at their curb) to verify that it was indeed free (seemed hard to believe I guess). They responded with a sarcastic "if you can load it, you can have it". I merrily skipped back to the truck to tell my husband of the great news! We quickly found out why they spoke with such a tone. It's a beast. I still to this day don't know how the two of us successfully loaded it in the back of the pickup. I'm certain they watched us from behind their blinds, their ribs just splitting with laughter.

 

But who's laughing now?! Muahahahaha. Me. I am. That was me laughing. Look at this beauty. It took me FOREVER to refurbish this puppy, but the hard work was worth it. She's glorious.

 

I had a before picture of this dresser, just don't where it went. I picked this dresser up at a barn sale for $30 a couple months ago. We got er painted and spray painted (naturally) the hardware. It's in my daughter's room now. What a beaut.

 

Sadly, I don't have any other pictures to bore....I mean share with you today.

 

I hope you enjoyed yet another blog post about Pinterest. If there's anything I know for certain in this world.....it's that there aren't enough blogs about Pinterest.

 

The end.

 

Be on your way.