Faux Furry Stool DIY

  Welcome to the March Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop hosted by Erlene @ My Pinterventures.  If you aren't familiar with the Pinterest Challenge, it's a monthly event that challenges us to not just be pin hoarders, but to make it happen!


This month, I wanted to make a faux furry stool - you know the type you see in so many home decor scenes! The stools are quite popular these days and there are lots of different styles to be found on Pinterest.

My idea to make a furry stool came about when I found this small table at the Goodwill for $6.00! 

Do you remember years ago when these tables were so popular as an accent piece in the bedroom? They were usually made of fiberboard and packaged in a flat box located in the tabletop section at stores like Linens-n-Things or Bed, Bath and Beyond. You could also get a round tablecloth covering to match your comforter and then add a glass top for under twenty dollars or so? Those were the days! 

And combine the table with some faux furry fabric like I had already from a sewing project that never materialized.

I found two packs of 16" round chair replacement foam at Walmart that fit perfectly on the table. I just glued all the foam pieces together for a 9" height and then glued it to the table and placed a heavy object on top until dry. I didn't need to use any batting because of the fluffiness of the fabric.

With the table and foam upside down on top of the fabric (furry side down) pull one side of the fabric up and over the wood top. Measure and mark how much is needed to cover sides and a bit of overhang on the wood. Smooth out the fabric and using a ruler, measure around foam and top forming a circle.

Cut out fabric following the drawn circle.

Next, pull up the fabric, smoothing out along sides and over the wood.  Staple fabric about an inch and a half away from the edge. Then go to the opposite side, pulling up tight, smoothing out and staple in place.

Do the same with the other sides as you move around the wood. Continue pulling up and smoothing out the fabric over the wood and stapling in place, creating a smooth edge. 

Once the fabric is secured, cut off the excess around where stapled.

What a quick and easy way to make a popular statement piece!

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.This post contain affiliate links.  I may receive a very small commission.  It does NOT result in additional charges to you or cost you anything extra.  The affiliate money I earn per month helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

To join next month's #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ April Pinterest Challenge 

Let's meet this month's Pinterest Challenge hosts!

Erlene - My Pinterventures  •  Jenny - Cookies Coffee and Crafts 
Debbee - Debbee's Buzz  •  Lynne - My Family Thyme 
 Pili - My Sweet Things  •   Bri - Halfpint Design 
  Julie - Sum of their Stories   •  Erin - The DIY Nuts  
  T'onna - Sew Crafty Crochet   •  Beverly - Across the Boulevard 
  Kristie - Love My Little Cottage  •  Roseann - This Autoimmune Life 
  Terri - Our Good Life    • Ali - Home Crafts by Ali  
 Cherryl - Farm Girl Reformed  •   Leslie - Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
  Kelli - K's Olympic Nest  • Lauren - Mom Home Guide  
 Joanne - Our Unschooling Journey  •  Shirley - Intelligent Domestications 
  Gail - Purple Hues and Me •   Audra -  Renewed Projects 
  Habiba - Craftify My Love   • Kristie - Teadoddles   
Marie - The Inspiration Vault  •  Susan - Suzerspace
Lydia - Lydia's Flexitarian Kitchen •  Maria - Simple Nature Decor 
Sam - Raggedy Bits  •  Emily - Domestic Deadline 
  Marci - Stone Cottage Adeventures     
  Alayna - Alayna's Creations   • Terrie - Decorate and More with Tip

Find the hosts' Pinterest Challenge Inspired Projects below ⇓⇓

An InLinkz Link-up

Decoupage Eggs with Colorful Napkins

It's that time again for our monthly Craft Room De-Stash Challenge!
Every month a group of bloggers are challenged by C'mon Get Crafty to create a new craft or project from their own stash of goodies! 

Spring is almost here and Easter is just around the corner, so for this challenge I'm once again using paper napkins (like I did here last month) but this time I decoupage napkins to eggs for a beautiful decorative look for Easter! 

It's a fun and easy DIY craft to make and it's quite a popular Easter project this time of year!  It's so much prettier than dyed eggs! But the best part, I had everything I needed to make these in my stash!

Materials

• Faux eggs (white)
• Printed paper napkins
• Small scissors
• Mod Podge decoupage glue
• Soft bristles paint brush
• Cardboard tube/craft knife  

Here's how:

1. Cut out designs from printed napkins using small scissors. Separate the printed layer from the white layers.
   
2. Paint a thin layer of decoupage glue on a white or painted white egg, and then lay the cut-out design on top, smoothing out from the center of the design out to the edges with a paint brush. You can also use your finger dipped in decoupage glue to remove any wrinkles. Let dry.
   
3. Add additional napkin designs as desired following the same previous steps.
   
4. Seal with additional decoupage glue to the entire egg and let dry.
5. Make egg stands by cutting small pieces from a empty cardboard roll.
   
6. Have fun cutting out additional decorative napkin designs to decoupage on eggs!
   

What crafty creations could you make today from YOUR craft stash? #CraftRoomDestashChallenge

  
   

Check out some awesome creations you might be able to make from your own stash! Everyone is allowed a $10 max to create a new craft utilizing mostly their own stash of craft supplies! 

If you'd like to join in the Craft Room De-Stash Challenge, you can request to join our Facebook group here!

Let's Meet the Hosts!

C'mon Get Crafty | Purple Hues and Me 

Craftify My Love | EyeLoveKnots  

Stone Cottage Adventures | Across the Blvd

Domestic Deadline | Shoppe No 5 

Modern on Monticello | Love Jaime

Salvage Sister and Mister | Love My Little Cottage 

Sew Crafty Crochet | This Autoimmune Life 

The Inspiration Vault | Mom Home Guide

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Make a Colorful Bows Centerpiece

Whether you're decorating for Mardi Gras, St Patrick's Day, or any holiday for that matter, let me show you how to make a one of a kind colorful bows centerpiece!

I'm over on Bowdabrablog today sharing a brand new, easy to follow tutorial on how to make this lovely centerpiece using my Bowdabra!  

Click on over and be inspired by a simple and unique way to decorate with bows! You won't be disappointed!

Happy Crafting and Bow Making!

Mod Podge Paper Napkins into Flowers

It's the first Friday of the month and today's the day I bring you a fun themed craft to share at Bring On the Crafts Blog Hop!

The theme for this month is Mod Podge!

 Have you ever had one of those moments in crafting where you think, "I wonder what would happen if I did this? Well I had one the other day!  We all know what happens when we decoupage a napkin using Mod Podge to something,  but .  .  .

what happens if we decoupage just the napkin - on its' own - and make something pretty from it? We know it has to be done on a surface that could be easily separated. Like parchment paper!

So let's try it out by placing an open napkin on top of parchment paper and then spreading Mod Podge all over it and let dry!

Hmm, I'm liking this feel, so I'll add a couple of more layers of mod podge between drying .  .  .

until it feels like faux leather or what's call pleather! How cool is this! 

And the fun part about this is that I actually ironed it by placing parchment paper on top and just ironed all the wrinkles away!

Can you imagine making pretty decoupage paper napkin flowers from this?

I can!

I found flower petal templates in graduated sizes .  .  .

perfect for flowers, but first .  .  .

we need a vessel - like a pringles' can to enhance and alter by dabbing on some white paint .  .  .

and letting it dry!

and then smoothing out the printed side of another napkin with mod podge onto the can  .  .  . 

including the top!

Next, layer the petals on top, curving the petal ends into a flower. Then glue the flower on.

And for a decorative effect, braid a bit of cording to add around the top's edge.

Then attach a matching knob to complete the look!

And for the coolest look, add more napkin flowers .  .  .

along the container side!

Isn't it amazing what you can do with Mod Podge?

Bring on the Crafts — A Craft & DIY Blog Hop

On the first Friday of each month, a group of DIY and crafty bloggers join forces. Together with hosts Marie from The Inspiration Vault and Habiba from Craftify My Love, they bring you the #BringontheCrafts blog hop. Each blogger creates a fun craft or DIY project to share that follows a monthly materials theme. March's theme is Mod Podge! Each blogger chooses their own craft to make as long as they love it and it uses Mod Podge in the project.

Our March Co-hosts:

Jenny at Cookies, Coffee and Crafts • Gail at Purple Hues and Me 

Heather at Glitter on a Dime • Marie at DIY Adulation • Janet at Try It - Like It

Join in on the fun! If you'd like to participate next month, you can request to join our Bring on the Crafts Facebook Group. 

Next month's theme is Flowers!

Not a blogger, but a creative mind none the less!? Don't worry, Share your awesome creations in our Craft Cult Facebook Group. This is also a great place to ask craft & DIY related questions and find inspiration for your next project.

Now let's see all of those amazing Craft and DIY Projects!

Inlinkz Link Party

Wire Beaded Flower Basket

Welcome to the February Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by Erlene @ My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and you too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! 

This month, I chose to create a wire beaded floral basket that you can wear as a necklace or pin.  I was looking on Pinterest for ideas to use some of the beads I've  accumulated over the years and came across this pin/video.  I thought it would make a lovely gift - especially for a special friend!

I love how the wire beaded flower basket looks - it's adorable! But the video is in Vietnamese and the measurements were in centimeters translated into inches. The sizing on my first attempt didn't seem right. It was too tiny!  My basket looked so much smaller and not like what was pictured, so I ended up increasing all the wire gauges, lengths of wires, and size of the beads to make a lovely piece of jewelry!  

Here is my version of how I made the pendant and interpretation of the video:

Materials used:

• 18 gauge gold wire 
• 24 gauge gold wire
• Bicone beads - 6mm
• Needle nose jewelry pliers
• Nylon jaw flat nose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Yard stick/ruler 

Let's begin by cutting 10 inches of 18 gauge wire.  Next, criss-cross the wire to make a loop at the top .  .  .  .

pulling the wires to make the loop smaller.  Using jewelry pliers,

squeeze the wire loop closer together after straightening the entire length of wire. I used a nylon jaw flat nose pliers to straighten the wires.

Next, measure from the wire loop 1 inches and fold wire up making another loop on each side .  .  . 

 for a total of  three loops on one side and two loops in the center of two extended wires. Turn the piece upside down with the wires extending up. Make sure to squeeze each loop closer together and to try and keep the wires as straight as possible. 

Next, make circle rings on each extended end using needle nose pliers.

Flair out the bottom ends a little with fingers.

Next, cut a 6 inch piece of 18 gauge wire for the basket handle. Make a oval loop - I used a craft glue bottle to help form the round shape.

Curl the ends of the basket wire out.

Then smooth out the wire shape using a small round object like a craft paint bottle.

Next, place the handle behind the basket and curve the wire matching on the left side of the basket wire. Repeat for right side.

Next, cut 40 inches of 24 gauge wire. Fold together and straighten wires. Then open the wire by the loop and place between the handle and basket on left side with wire across (horizontal) basket. Begin weaving wire over and under the wires of the loops .  .  .

and back. Keep going over and under through the loops, across to the end and back over - keeping the wires straight, side by side and not twisted. 

 Make sure to keep pushing the end circle loops of the handle and basket down together, curving out because they will ride up. 

Also, push the wires close together as you weave each row. Continue weaving the wires over and under, through the loops until reaching the bottom.

Once reaching the bottom and there's no more room to weave, separate the wires and begin wrapping each one around the loop closest to the wires at least three or four times.

Make sure all three loops are wrapped neatly, cutting off excess wire when finish.

Next, fold the center top loops over with pliers and adjust the wire handle to a round or oval shape.

To make the beaded stems, cut off 60" of 24 gauge wire and fold in half.  Thread on a bead to the center loop and twist wire several times to secure bead and form a stem.  Check the height by placing it behind the basket.

Continue adding beads and twisting each one on at various lengths along the wire.

You will need to twist on 20-25 beads. Make sure you make short bead stems for the lower portion, too.

 Once satisfied with the fullness of the bead stems, squeeze them close  together to fit within the basket frame and place on the backside of the basket. 

Begin wrapping the end wires (left and right) through openings around the top of the basket to secure in place. Leave enough wire ends on each side to wrap loosely around the basket handle. 

If you don't have enough wire left to wrap around the handle after making the bead stems, make sure the beads are secure enough to the basket and cut off the excess wire. Then cut off enough new wire to wrap around the handle, securing the ends on the basket.   And finally, adjust the flower stems.

I love how this turned out! Looks really beautiful and it's so versatile to make just by using different types and color of beads and wire for almost any occasion!

To join next month's #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ March Pinterest Challenge

Now let's see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!

Erlene - My Pinterventures • Jenny - Cookies Coffee and Crafts 
Debbee - Debbee's Buzz • Bri - Halfpint Design 
 Julie - Sum of their Stories •  T'onna - Sew Crafty Crochet
 Beverly - Across the Boulevard • Debra - Shoppe No. 5 
Roseann - This Autoimmune Life • Cherryl - Farm Girl Reformed 
Leslie - Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After • Kelley - Simply Inspired Meals 
Lydia - Lydia's Flexitarian Kitchen •Joanne - Our Unschooling Journey 
Kristie - Teadoddles • Gail - Purple Hues and Me 
Ashley - Emory Farm Kristie - Love My Little Cottage  
 Crissy - First Day of Home Habiba - Craftify My Love 
 Marie - The Inspiration Vault • Emily - Domestic Deadline 
Lauren - Mom Home Guide • Maria - Simple Nature Decor 
Alexandra - Eye Love Knots • Lynne - My Family Thyme 
Marci - Stone Cottage Adventures 
Susan - SuzerSpace • Kim - Kimspired DIY 
 Pili - My Sweet Things Kelli - K's Olympic Nest  
 Erin - The DIY Nuts • Shirley - Intelligent Domestications  
Terri - Our Good Life

Pinterest Inspired Projects

An InLinkz Link-up