Reupholstering is F-U-N

A week or so ago I saw some really lovely upholstered headboards on Pinterest. There are some DIYs for them out there but the voice of reason (my boyfriend) steered me away from starting such a huge and ambitious project in our tiny apartment.

I was still obsessing over the idea of upholstering something pretty, so I went thrifting on my way home from work one day. I found myself driving home with this pretty blah 6-dollar chair. Pretty scratched up, not a nice color, and it looks like it was originally upholstered with a piece of plastic table cloth or something.

Even Lars was disapproving at first. The one important criteria chair is that the seat is screwed on --not nailed or glued-- which allows you to remove the seat and reupholster. If you have everything together you can knock one chair out in less than 15 minutes.

All you need for this project is:
-upholstery fabric cut to size
-needle nose pliers
-screwdriver (probably a Phillips head, depends on the screws)
-staple gun
-foam if you need to replace the seat foam

The reupholstering part only took a few short steps:
*Unscrew seat from chair
*Use pliers to remove stapes and take off original upholstery
*Replace foam if desired (I did this because the foam under there looked really old and needed replacing)
*Lay the fabric wrong side up on the floor and then place foam and seat on top of them
*Wrap and staple in place
*Screw seat back onto chair

One thing I was unsure about was how to tuck the corners on my squarish seat. This awesome photo tutorial from craftaholics anonymous really helped

I kept my seat off to slap on a few coats of black semi gloss paint before putting it back together. Here's the final product.

I'm pretty pleased with it and now I want to reupholster some more furniture. It's a little bit of work for a huge pay off-- instantly prettier furniture!

I heart repurposing!

I just finished making this shaggy pillow for my mom. It's made out of shirts I had to wear as part of my uniform for a sales job I had my Senior year of college.

It was super easy and quick to make.  I found the tutorial on craftgawker a couple of weeks ago -- here is a link to the tutorial below. You don't have to use old t-shirts to make it but it's much cheaper and more green that way :) I even stuffed the left over snippings from the shirts inside my pillow along with polyfil I had lying around.

**Check out the Pillow Tutorial from V and Co

The repurposing project that I am most excited about is my teacup planter idea! I picked up some teacups (and one gravy boat) at my local thrift and repotted some houseplants into them. I thought it would add a cheery bit of color and fun to my classroom's windowsill.

Here is a pic of me and Lars (my wiener dog) hanging out on the patio after repotting. (BTW, this patio furniture is repurposed too-- it used to be a dingy white abomination in my mom's back yard until I spruced it up with some spray paint and took it home with me).

Here are some close up shots in my classroom

 I found a great tutorial for labels for my planters-- these sweet spoon plant makers. I ordered some metal stamps and I should get around to these next week.

From Shrimp Salad Circus

I'm loving my teacups--  and what will I use to water them with? A teapot of course (also from the thrift)

The total cost of this project has been about $12 including the plants. Lots of plants will be on sale this time of year due to the lateness in the season but despite that these house plants can thrive year round with proper sunlight and water.

What are you doing to save money and resources these days? Share your projects :)