Upcycled Window Seat Cushions

In our kitchen, we have these two window seat cushions that came with the house. They are these awful dark red brick pattern, with a floral piping edge. There were curtains and valances all through the house that matched these, too. But that is another story.

This is to give you an idea of what it looked like. I ripped the covers off (they had velcro closures) with great disgust and decided they were not going to stay a moment longer in the kitchen. Matter of fact, we had naked foam cushions for about a week or so. Yep, I'm perfect that way!
What you see above is now our dog's bed in front of our fireplace. I stuffed it with old pillows and poly-fill I had in the shed. Now we don't have to pay $20 or more to get a bed for our great, big, lovely hound.

So what did I decide to use to recover the cushions? Well, here I had a delima because I didn't exactly have the right amount of material on hand to cover both cushions. I contemplated covering one side in one fabric and the other side in another fabric but I decided this would be waaaaayyyyyy too much effort and take way too much time! Keeping upcycling in mind (this where you take something you already have and turn it into something new vs. recycling, which is reusing something you already have to do the same job again), I pulled out some curtains I had bought at the thrift store for like $5 to hang in my son's room eons ago. They worked for about four years. Not bad for $5.

My husband cut to size some mdf we had from when we took our son's old captain bed apart (because it was falling apart and his cousin gave him his solid oak captain's bed) for me to use as a base, since the curtains weren't quite big enough for me to cover both sides of the cushions.

Using my hand-dandy electric staple gun that can shoot tacks or staples, I stapled all around the edges, then the corners, folding the fabric edges over and stapling them down, too, to provide more stability. That last part was my husband's suggestion. Don't you just love it when God blesses you with a sexy AND smart husband? I might keep him around...

And Voila! Ta-da! And all of those other words!

I ended up with two new to me cushions for the kitchen. Ignore my toe in the bottom of the picture and revel with me in the joy of upcycled things and the fact my left shoulder and right thumb ache from my ministrations upon the above cushion! I am still in the process of redoing the area of the window seat, so you will have to wait (patiently!) for pictures to come soon (by soon, I mean in the next year or so!). Hope you enjoyed this picture demonstration of upcycling brought to you by the company of me, myself, and my husband. Tune in next time for more unbelievable stunts and spectacular wording! 

Picture Tutorial-Upcycling Your Wardrobe

I don't know about you, but I need a new summer wardrobe and the budget so ain't gonna make that happen. I'm not one for spending lots of money on clothes anyway. I don't shop department stores. I might shop at Wal-mart and Target on occasion for clothes, but the place I have frequented since I was a child at the side of my mother, is the thrift store. It is like a huge treasure trove to me. But I still want clothes that are unique, fit my style, and don't make me look like a dork. I really don't like looking like a dork. You can if you want. I won't say a thing...I'll just think it really, really loud! Haha

So where to start in making clothes unique and beautiful: the nooks and crannies of your drawers and closets. You might have something perfect. Like this little beauty.

Picked up at a yard sale. Paid like a buck or two for it, maybe. I love the color and the unique design.

But what to put it on?

This question presented itself over and over for a year, but I found the perfect specimen waiting in the bottom of another drawer (an abandoned project, yep, I do those)

It has a zipper closure on the back. I love the retro feel to it and turns out it is an authentic retro piece, not to mention my favorite color: olive green.

 How much did this authentic retro shirt cost me?

Read it and gasp!

Yes, that does say 79 cents. 

But it had been in my project drawer for so long, I consider it to be free.

To get started on my project, I took a sharp pair of scissors and cut the center flower out, snipping only the threads on it, not on the other flowers.

 I found some embroidery thread that matched almost exactly. When in doubt use a shade or two lighter. I separated the threads (there are 6 strands) to where I was working with only 2 at a time.

I pinned the flower chain around the neckline and used a running stitch to tack down all of the edges

 This is what it looked like from the wrong side of the shirt.

This is when I still had pins in it. But you get the idea.

 I had to cut the last flower off at the end, to allow for the zipper opening, but I turned the loose threads under and made sure they were fastened down securely for when it is washed. This will only be hand washed though. I certainly don't want to ruin all of my hard work!

When I was done, I was left with two extra flowers (one is pictured in my hand, above) so I used one of them to tack down with the matching thread onto a yellow headband I already had.

Crocheted flower chain: $1?

Shirt: $0.79

Headband: $0.25?

Total cost: $2.04.

I know, I know!

I don't have a pic of me wearing it yet. I totally forgot the camera the day I did!