DIY Fabric Table Top

Having completed the "new" {coffee table}, I posted the old one on craigslist for a measly $5.  After almost a month of no takers, I figured I had might as well do something interesting with it and see if an interest would be sparked if it looked a little fancier.
After a mere hour of work, the transformation is complete:

This is actually a really, really easy project to do. I might even do this with the side table in our living room!

Supplies:

• Sandpaper
• Primer
• Paint
• Fabric (home decor weight fabric works best)
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• Plastic card (ex: old credit card) to spread out glue

First, just give the table legs a sand with a medium grit sandpaper. Wipe off the dust.

Give the legs a primer coat (I love using Kilz primer spray) or two.  It's best to do multiple, thin coats rather than trying to get a thick layer on in one go. 

Paint the legs!

(**Note: if your table surface is a strong colour or pattern or your fabric is thin, I would recommend painting your table surface white or black as well)

Once everything is dry, cut out your fabric to extend about an inch past the end of the table top. Don't cut it the exact size yet!

Slather a medium-thick layer of Mod Podge onto the table surface.  Carefully place your fabric on top and smooth it out really well.  Using the edge of an old credit card/membership card really helps.

Now spread the MP over the top of the fabric. Don't be scared- just cover it well, flatten it out evenly, and it will dry clear.

Let the fabric dry.  You will likely notice that your fabric will constrict/shrink a bit at this point. This is why you left a little extra fabric on there!

Once everything it dry, grab a ruler and a rotary cutter (or exacto knife) and very carefully trim off the excess fabric. You may need to put a little extra MP on the edges if they are a little loose.

If you are going to use the surface a lot, I would also recommend spraying a clear gloss sealant on there as well to improve durability. 

And there you have it!

Yes, I need to vacuum. It's from the quilt I was working on today!

Coffee table: $10 (already had, but that's what it cost originally)

Primer: $2.50 (half of a $5 can)

Paint: $2 (half a $4 can)

Fabric: $8 (already had!)

Mod Podge: $1 (barely any of my jar)

Approximate cost: $23.50 (but only $4.50 if you don't count what I already had :)

Patchwork Chevron Quilt

For my sister in law Kiersten's birthday I did this patchwork chevron quilt. I loved this pattern.  For one thing, you have barely any scraps, so you get a good bang for your buck.  You also have a heck of a lot less cutting and piecing because all of the print pieces are just 5" pieces from charm packs.  The white setting material are just big ol' triangles.
While making the front is very quick, the finishing is not so fast. This was the first finishing job I've done on anything bigger than a crib, and this baby was almost 80" square.  That's a lot of top stitching, and a lot of fabric to try to cram through a home machine.  I just did straight lines going from both directions of various distances apart, but I'd love to try this pattern again with some free motion finishing. I think it turned out pretty well, though, and hopefully Kiersten will enjoy it :)

Sam's contribution to the gift was holding it up for a picture (and loading new netflix videos for me while I sewed)

The pattern is by {Jeni} from the Moda Bakeshop blog, and the fabric is Vintage Modern by {Bonnie and Camille}. I was super excited when Kiersten said she liked that fabric line-- I've been dying to use it for something, and this was my chance!

Entry Art

A month and a half after moving in, I finally have the wall art in the entryway set up!

The mirror is from Ikea, the tree canvas is from Hobby Lobby, and all of the picture frames are from DI (a goodwill store in Utah).  Each frame cost between $0.50-1.50! They also used to be weird bronze or brown, but a coat of spray primer and some paint sure made them look nice.

I've kept a copy of keys from our apartments each time we've moved to make this little display:

This clock used to be a black, plain, $3 clock from Walmart.  I just pulled off the clear plastic front and glued a piece of scrapbook paper over the numbers and painted the edge. Not bad, eh?

Chevron Shoe Bench

The {shoe bench} is done!

I love how it turned out! The top is split into two hinged tops, and you can fit a lot of shoes in that thing! It's a step up from the big cardboard box that our pots and pans came in.

I got my inspiration from {this plan}.  We kind of just "winged it" and didn't really follow those instructions, though.

Wood: free scraps!

Paint: $12

Fabric: $15
Batting: $10

Total cost: $37!

Lovely Ruffled Lamp

Tutorial coming soon!

I will say this: It cost me $12 :)

Coming Along

The Zebra Chair

Let me tell you, this chair was a pain in the butt!  It took a lot of work and cost more than I thought it would (and would normally spend) but I love the end result.

I found the chair on craigslist, where a lady was selling it for $10.  I spent at least two weeks pulling out the many staples and cutting myself on the evil nails (and just letting it sit there in my living room being ugly and torn apart).

THE WORST!

The fluff made me SO itchy!

When I finally got it dismantled, I laid out all of the fabric pieces as a pattern to determine how much new fabric I would need to buy to cover the chair.  There are also plenty of {online guides} for how much fabric you need to upholster different common items.

I found the fabric at {Hancock Fabrics}.  They have a pretty great selection of discount upholstery fabrics!  I was deciding between this brown/white zebra print and a solid sage green.  I figured that a solid would be a lot easier for my first upholstery fabric, but I got brave and decided to try something with a lot more "wow" factor.  If I'm going to spend all this time working on this awful chair, it had might as well be awesome!  I was surprised with myself for even considering the zebra.  If you know me at all you'll know that I'm not really an animal print person, but this just seemed right! I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but it's a dark brown and white print (not black :)

First I spray painted the legs, using Kilz primer and Rustoleum white spray paint.

Using the old fabric piece as a template, I cut out rough sizes of the fabric I would need.  I put in all new cushioning (the fact that the old stuff made me so itchy seemed sketchy), and just went to work putting stuff on.

Not going to lie-- it's really, really, not perfect.  I got impatient and stopped following the way it was put together originally and just start putting things on where I thought it would work.  It you don't shove your hands in the cracks or look at it too closely I think it looks pretty good. It definitely looks better than it did before!

So will I do another upholstery project? Probably.  I'm going to wait until I forget about what a pain in the butt this one was, though, and can only remember how awesome the result was.