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Month: September 2011

Fall Wreath with Fabric Flowers

Written by Jenna on . Posted in DIY, Flowers, Seasonal. 16 Comments on Fall Wreath with Fabric Flowers

Fall is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate a new season than to don a new wreath on the front door.  The front door is often thought of as the “mouth” of a home, the entry point of comfort, happiness, and where great opportunities begin. For me the front door, signifies the “entrance of”, so let’s enter this new season with my new Autumn Wreath.

I loved last year’s wreath because it was different and unique, but for a long time, I’ve wanted to jump on the bandwagon and make a burlap round wreath with fabric flowers.  I was going to make this style wreath in the Spring, but made another wreath instead. So finally the time came, when that wreath came down and this new colorful one went in it’s place.

1. To start off, I purchased a round straw wreath from AC Moore which cost just under $3.  (FYI: I left the plastic cover on)

2. I dismantled my Valentine Burlap Wreath and used the burlap from it, to create this wreath.  I was a little tired of that wreath and plan on making something new and different for next V-day.  But I still have the felt flowers and plan on using them again somewhere on something!

If you are starting with new burlap, cut 3″ wide strips (the length doesn’t matter).  Dab alittle hot glue on the back side of the wreath and wrap the burlap around, creating an overlapping pattern (see picture) .  Then again,  dab alittle hot glue on the back of the wreath to complete and hold the burlap strip in place.

3. Continue wrapping the burlap around and around and around (don’t get dizzy…), until the entire wreath is covered!

DONE! Onto creating the fabric flowers…

How-To Make Fabric Flowers

4. Cut 1/2 – 3/4″  strips of fabric. The length of the fabric will depend on how large you want the flower to be.  I created varying sized flowers to give an overlap effect – keep on reading to find out what I’m chattin’ about…

(fuzzy picture sorry 🙂 – I was working on this project kind of late into the evening)

5. Starting from the end of the fabric (which will be the center of your flower), twist and bunch it together, while wrapping it around and around. After about 2 turns, dab alittle hot glue to hold it together.

6. Continue twisting and bunching around and around, and occasionally dab on some hot glue to hold the flower in place.

Continue until you have the perfect sized flower that you want!

7. Once your flower is complete, flip it over and add a backing.  You can use any heavy fabric material or felt is good too.  I had this heavy twill fabric left over from my Chair Makeover

And you’re done! Make as many fabric flowers as your little heart desires!  Use solid colors. Use patterned fabric. Make them different sizes.  I’ll warn you, it’s quite addicting!  I’ve got a few other thoughts on what I want to make more fabric flowers for (headbands, pins, necklaces, etc. – so many ideas, so little time).

Here’s a little grouping ~ so PUR-TAY!

Onto making the wreath with these pretty little additions!

Ta-Da

Layering the Flowers – I first placed the larger flowers on as a base, and layered the smaller flowers on top.  To give a 3-dimensional look, I raised some of the smaller flowers by hot gluing burlap underneath to give them more height.

Here’s a closeup~

And this is how it looks on my apple green colored door~

Any time I show pictures of my front door, I always get the burning question ~ What color is that?

So here’s the info: Valspar Olive Tree WV34010

Welcome, please come and stay awhile.  Want to Tour the rest of my home? Visit HERE

Have you created a beautiful Autumn wreath?  Share it with me and I’ll include it in my Wreath Inspiration Roundup!

DIY: Coffee Sack Ottoman

Written by Jenna on . Posted in DIY. 43 Comments on DIY: Coffee Sack Ottoman

I’m always looking for something to update and I love finding ordinary things and changing their use to be a little more unusual.  Guess that’s what a DIYer is all about.  Yesterday, I shared some very creative ways to recycle and repurpose burlap coffee sacks.  A while ago, I scored some old coffee sacks from a local coffee shop and once my creative juices started to flow, I had just the idea – an ottoman for my living room.  It was a perfect way to show the coffee sack stamping and detailing!  After scoring an ottoman (which was in desperate need of a makeover) at a garage sale for $5, I gathered the rest of my supplies, and set off to begin the project.

Thankfully the ottoman was sturdy and overall, in good condition, so I knew with a little TLC, this little guy could look pretty again!

These are the burlap coffee sacks (or you can buy coffee sacks) that I picked up on my random Saturday morning excursion in downtown Saratoga Springs (and they were free!  The mister just asked for them, and all of a sudden we were the owner of 4 coffee sacks).

The legs of the ottoman screwed into the bottom frame, so I was able to easily remove them, along with the fabric.  The original ottoman legs were an orange-stained oak – not my cup of tea and a little different than the rest of the woods in my home.  I prefer a darker look, so I chose to use a Jacobean finish.

I first gave the legs a good standing ~

Then, it was time to apply the Jacobean stain.  I wanted to achieve a dark finish, so I did not wipe the stain off – I waited (a long time) for it to completely dry.  If you prefer the tone of the Jacobean stain, but desire a lighter, more transparent look, then you can rub the stain off with a soft cloth.  I applied 3 coats to get the look I wanted and it took about 3-4 days for the legs to completely dry.

Like my makeshift drying rack? I used the wire basket from our old refrigerator during the Kitchen Makeover.

In the meantime, I moved on to cutting the burlap coffee sacks to reupholster the ottoman top ~

Then reupholstered the top using a staple gun ~

Almost done…

After the legs dried (which took a loooong time), they were ready to reattach.  At that point, I was happy with the ottoman, but it still needed something.  Hmmm…  how about nail heads?  Yes, that would be the finishing touch that it needed!

It took me quite a long time to find upholstery nails.  Then this kind blogger helped me out and mentioned that Ace Hardware and Home Depot carry them.   Really?  AH and HD…never would have thought it, but she was right.  Thess upholstery nails were just what I needed to complete this makeover.  They were $1.37/pack and I used 3 packs.

To attach the upholstery nailheads, I started off at one corner and then gently nailed in each one into the wood base.  It’s important to keep them evenly separated and in-line, as much as possible.

Then I continued around the entire base~

One important part of this reupholstery project is how I finished the corners.  Especially because the burlap is very heavy, the corners were quite tricky.  I actually had finished the ottoman top, was unhappy with the result, and reworked them.

Here is my first attempt that I wasn’t happy with~

And here is the final, reworked look.  Instead of wrapping the fabric to the side (as seen above), I pulled it underneath, so the finished corner had a clean look. Like this~

And it’s complete!

One more picture of the before~

And here it is now… a comfy place to put my feet up!

Do you think it could be a Ballard Designs Knock-off?

Have you used burlap coffee sacks for any of your DIY projects?  Do you have any projects in mind using these found treasures?  If you want to check out more creative projects using coffee sacks, check out this post ~ Coffee Sack Creations and check out my pins on Pinterest.