DIY Ottoman

UPDATED 9/4/14

My husband has been complaining since we bought a new couch how he hates using the coffee table because it's not the right height to put up his feet while watching TV. Boo hoo, right? Well, because I'm such a wonderful wife, I thought I'd help him out by providing him with an ottoman.

NEW AND IMPROVED sturdy ottoman legs that cost nothing but some leftover 2x6's and some brown paint:

Old wimpy and expensive ottoman legs that caused much stress (husband may have yelled at the kids every time they walked by the thing because he was afraid it would collapse, and it may have)

I looked up tutorials and found a style I liked, but her tutorial was ridiculous. It had one drawing of how to attach the 2x4's and ended with her saying she took it to an upholstery shop. So it was only slightly more DIY than going to the furniture store. So I'm here to give you an actual tutorial. Lucky you and nice me.

Step 1. Decide your dimensions. I decided on 24x60" but you could make it whatever size you want. I'm starting to wonder if I should have made 3 individual 18" squares, but for now, this is what we have.

Step 2. Go to your favorite home improvement store with your supply list. I chose Home Depot. For blogging purposes, we'll assume your dimensions are 24" by 48" for your ottoman.

Home Depot List:

2 - 2x6, cut to 48" long

3 - 2x6, cut to 21" long (4 if your ottoman is longer)

1/2 plywood or MDF, cut to 24x48"

4 bun feet or legs

2 dozen 2.5" wood screws

1 dozen 1.5" wood screws

4 dowel screws (the feet will likely have screws in them, but you'll want wood screw edges on both sides, so just get something in a similar width and a little longer than what comes in it)

3/8" staples for your staple gun that you either own or borrowed or plan to purchase.

Pick up enough length of 2x6's or 2x8's that will work for your dimensions and have them cut to length, the shorter edge dimensions should be cut 3" shorter than the finished edge because, as you may notice, 2x4's are actually 1.5x3.5's and you'll need to take the width off of each end so you end up with the right finished dimensions.  You'll notice I used 2x4's.  I would suggest, that unless you want a rather short ottoman, you will want to use at least a 2x6 so you can purchase substantial enough legs to hold the weight of it. I had to special order mine and I'm still not very happy with them, so I plan to redo the footing somehow, some day.

Get MDF or plywood in at least 1/2" thickness or as I did, some pressed wood particle board which was the cheapest for my 5' long project. Home Depot sells 2'x4' in both MDF and plywood and if your finished dimensions fit within them, I suggest using that.

Make sure you have plenty of wood screws.

Step 3. Go to your favorite fabric store with your dimensions and supply list.  I chose JoAnn with a 50% off coupon for the foam, batting and thread. I got my fabric at a discount warehouse that had a better selection.

Fabric Store:

4" foam (comes 24" wide and cut to length) - 48" long

Low loft batting for a queen size bed or equivilent

1.5 yards fabric, more if there is a grain or needs to match print

Upholstery thread

 - if tufting - 

Button thread

Buttons

When you're shopping for foam, go to a store that will cut it for you with an electric knife, unless you have an electric knife. I had to re-cut some of mine since they cut it a couple inches longer than I wanted, so I used a cheap serrated knife which worked OK, but not as smooth as I'd have liked.

Step 4. Build it. It may be helpful to have a partner working with you. I did not have such a luxury at the time.

Here's a rough sketch of how to put the frame together. You will use the longer screws to do this and if you use 2x6's, use 3 screws where I have drawn 2. The shorter lengths go inside the ends of the longer.

You will need to pre-drill the holes before you screw the boards together so the wood doesn't split. There is such a thing as wood screws that have a drilling bit on the tip of them. Those might work and would be easier, but I didn't want to buy extra screws, so I pre-drilled the screw holes.

Measure for the center support to make sure it's evenly spaced or centered.

Because mine was so long, I needed 2 center supports.

For bun feet, which was my first try (before my husband thought the ottoman was too short, so I bought legs online for $11 each plus shipping which proved to be way too wimpy for such a heavy piece of furniture) use a drill bit slightly smaller than the dowel screw size, and flag the drill bit so the depth will match the length of the screw.  If you're confused as to what dowel screws are, they look the same on both sides.  You use pliers to screw it into the foot and then use your hand to twist it into the frame.

Pre-drill the placement for the dowel screw where the foot will go at each corner.

Make sure it will fit, but don't install it yet. 

Attach the top board by pre-drilling holes along the top (approx. every 8-10") and use the shorter screws to attach it. Make sure you don't hit the screws already in place at the corners.

Using some 3M spray glue, spray the foam and the board and attach the foam in place. (I don't have a picture of this step, but it's pretty self explanatory. Just glue the foam in place so it doesn't move when you're upholstering it.

It is at this point that you will want to decide if you are tufting it with buttons or leaving it without. If you decide to add buttons, you need to mark on the foam where you want your buttons. You will need an extra long drill bit and drill all the way through the foam and the plywood/mdf board. If you drill only through the board, be prepared to be frustrated while fishing your needle through the foam looking for the hole in the board. I didn't drill through the foam and it took me forever to find the hole with my needle when sending it back down through the top foam layer. Use at least a 5/16th drill bit.

 Cover with 3 layers of the batting, cutting the excess at the corners and stapling in place along the sides and bottom edge.

Leave out until the next day so your baby can use it as a jungle gym (this is a very important step). Replace any stapled edges of batting he/she may have pulled out

Cut your fabric to size. I used a drywall square because it was easier to get the right angles consistent, but you can use a quilter's square too.  For the top piece, you'll want to use the finished measurements of your wood frame with the foam and add 1" for seam allowances and adding length to the bottom for stapling. So, if you're frame is 48L x 24W x 10.5H, you will cut the following fabric pieces:

1 - 25x49" (top)

2 - 49x14" (long side edge)

2 - 25x14" (short side edge)

To sew the fabric, using 1/2" seam allowance, with right sides together, pin one long side edge to the long side of the top and sew together, leaving 1/2" on each end. Repeat using the short side edge and the short side of the top.

When you're done with the 4 sides, it will look something like this.

Sew up the side edges, right sides together, along the end of each so that it resembles a bag when done. At this point, you may opt to add a seam along where the foam ends, or not. It's easier to not, obviously, but if you do, make sure you measure carefully and make it straight (I didn't do this for the bedroom bench I made, but did for the ottoman). Now, turn it over and squeeze it on over your frame. It'll take some tugging and pulling.

Pull it tightly and staple in place along the bottom edge. This is fairly easy if you remember to pull it evenly and make sure you give it a tug before stapling in place. The corners are the toughest, but not rocket science. You need to cut a hole in the fabric where the leg will screw in, so try to make that part a single layer of fabric and then just pull the rest into place so that it looks nice from the sides. I cut around the hole altogether on the ottoman pictured below.

Screw the finished or painted bun feet into the frame holes. They are fairly self-leveling.  However, here is where I will show you the new installation of the super improved sturdy legs.  I cut a couple of premium 2x6" boards on a slight diagonal so they had a little shape to them. They were still squared on one side so I could just snug them up to the inside of the ottoman framework. I suppose you could just use a 2x4, but I wanted them to look a little more interesting than just a plain rectangle.  I painted them a dark brown and added a satin laquer to them, pre-drilled 3 holes, added wood glue, and then attached one to each corner of the underside of the ottoman framework with long 3" wood screws.

For tufting the buttons, you'll need your covered buttons. It is my strong suggestion that if you're wanting to used upholstery covered buttons that match your fabric, have an upholstery shop cover them. You will drive yourself mad trying to do it yourself with cover buttons from the fabric store. They'll likely cost you around $0.30-$0.50 each. You'll need another 2 holed button for the bottom and an extra long needle.

Thread 4 strands of button thread into needle and double (8 strands total). Press the needle through the drilled hole starting from the bottom.

Add your button and press needle back through the fabric and hole.

On the bottom, put one half of the thread through one hole of the holding button and half through the other hole.  Pull and tie off (several knots). If you have thread wax, use it on your thread as it helps to keep the knot from untying.

And there you have it. DIY Ottoman. (pictured here with wimpy legs)

and a bench I built for our bedroom.  This one i used a 2x6 frame.

all wrapped up

It's that time of year when I start to stress out about the last few gifts I need to buy for Christmas.  This year, in addition to my own 3 children and husband, I have 22 nieces and nephews and 6 adults to buy gifts for.  It seems overwhelming, and I'm not going to lie, it is.  It's expensive some years, but most years I shop clearance and sale racks all year long to find good deals. Most years I find great deals and spend an average of $5 per child on a gift that is actually worth closer to $15-20.  Some years I make gifts.  I find the girls very easy to shop for, but the boys are incredibly difficult and stressful to find something suitable that isn't going to insult them.

This year, I'm thrilled to report that as of today I've got only 2 more gifts to buy, both of which will be Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals on electronics.  Yes, I'm one of those horrible people that is taking full advantage of the deals instead of boycotting for the sake of making a statement that no one listens to anyway.  However, I will boycott Kohls all weekend.  The one by my house is a spawning ground for Satan's little Black Friday helpers.

I digress.  This post's subject is gift wrapping, not shopping.

I love wrapping gifts.  I love that my daughters want to wrap gifts.

For years I have taken pride in creating beautiful packages with the prettiest bows and colors.  I love wrapping gifts so much that several years ago I took a seasonal job at Marshall Fields to work in gift wrapping.  I loved it.  I loved learning new ways to wrap and I loved seeing a pair of mittens transformed into a beautiful holiday package that someone would put under the tree.  I loved serving people, even the rude people who were never quite happy enough.  I'm pretty sure that those were the unhappy women who pretended to have more money than they actually did.  I loved seeing what people were buying for their loved ones. I especially took note of what the men bought and I could quickly figure out what kind of relationship they had with the women for whom they were buying (wine glasses, jewelry, slippers).  It was most amusing. That year, I wrapped Lorie Line's packages.  She looked just like her photo album when she came in: big hair, meticulous makeup.   By the way, she was not one of the rude ones.

I still love wrapping.  I love buying a gift and then going home to wrap it right away.  I love listening to Christmas music and spending the evening making pretty packages that color coordinate.

My daughters are both so artistic and have inherited my love of working with my hands.  They love learning and creating beauty.  They love helping me with my artistic projects.  I love that about them.  They can't wait to help me wrap all the gifts.  They're just adorable when they help.

I hate it when they help. 

I hate it when a fragile box is damaged.

I hate puckered corners.

I hate when the tape is perpendicular to the seams.

Even more so, I hate scrunched up and wrinkled tape.

I hate it when the paper wrinkles or, heaven forbid, rips.

I hate crooked ribbons.  I hate imperfection.

Are you beginning to understand my internal struggle?  I want my children to help and yet I hate it when they do.  I want them to learn the fine art of gift wrapping, but I don't want them to ruin my packages with their fingerprints all over the tape.

Oh! It's bedtime!  I think I'll wrap some gifts now.  My tutorial on seamless gift wrapping might be coming soon (but I'll probably not have time, so don't hold me to it). It makes a very pretty package indeed.

we have really nice jeans in our family...

My sister Julie asked me several months ago if I would help her assemble a quilt that she was making for her son out of some old jeans.  She assured me that the squares were all cut and ready to sew together and that the only reason she wasn't doing it herself is because the fabric was so thick that her machine was constantly getting jammed.  Being my generous self, I agreed to share the joy of my industrial Juki machine to help her sew the old jeans together when she visited next.

My sister is one of the most highly efficient people I know. I'm pretty sure she gets more done in a day than Super Man could. I first noticed this when she and I used to work for my dad's shop rag business when our job was simply to stack and count rags. We got paid by the piece, and as she and I are both very competitive, it was my goal to make more money than her in an hour.  I never did.  I would pray that she needed a bathroom break so I could sneak ahead of her numbers, but she was and still is a speed demon.  She can clean a house (to perfection) in record time. I'd hire her to do so (because she has nothing better to do than my bidding) if she lived near me.

Not only is she fast, but she's good at everything.  At least I thought so for many years...until she brought her quilt project to me.

If any of you have quilted (I try to not because I'm not a big fan of sewing little straight lines for hours), you know how meticulous measuring and cutting can be.  My dear, well-intentioned sister had cut all jeans into 10" squares. I took a few of the denim pieces and started  pinning them together and realized rather quickly that the "squares" were were approximately 10-ish by 10-ish inches, give or take an inch.  I brought them to her and asked her how she came to measure these so-called squares.

"I laid a piece of square cardboard on top and cut around it."

It all started making sense.  If you're not one to sew regularly, this may not sound strange to you, but it's pretty pertinent that one measure each square perfectly and that they are consistent otherwise your quilt may start to lean and become a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.  I laughed at what might have been and put her to work with my rotary cutter and quilting mat.  We decided to cut them down by 1/2 inch so we could perfect the square and end up with the right dimensions for the finished quilt.  Through  the course of the cutting she mentioned that the aforementioned cardboard may have progressively become smaller as she'd accidentally take a small strip off one side of the pattern every few cuts.

After she was done cutting, we laid out the squares into the perfect looking quilt and I got to sewing.

It only took us 4 hours to cut and sew all the squares together and I have to admit, we, er, I...did a really nice job on the thing. About half way through the sewing process, my machine jammed up and would not run.  I did everything I could think of to fix it, including calling a servicing company and explaining my problem. Julie came over and asked me if I prayed about it.  Um, no, hadn't thought of that yet. She took a panel off the back and asked her daughter to push the pedal.  It sprayed oil all over Julie, but it worked! She didn't do anything to it, we just prayed that God would fix it. He's much better at fixing things than I am...obviously.  It saved us about 3 hours of taking it in for a diagnosis.

Julie had an old quilt from her son's room, so she decided to use that as the "guts" of the quilt.  It worked out quite nicely as we simply cut the sides of the existing quilt to match the new size of the denim.  This is when my mother joined the fun. The 3 of us pinned and basted the two layers together.

Then we sewed and sewed and sewed around the whole dang thing and let me tell you, it's not easy to sew an edging around a denim quilt.  It took two of us.  One to direct the fabric through the machine and one to hold the weight of the blanket.

We decided to "quilt" it by tacking in in the corners with the sewing machine.  Our lovely mother did the tacking and she said it took a couple hours.  I have to admit, I'm glad I didn't do that part.

Julie pretending to help

In the end, it turned out quite nicely and it was worth the effort, but she owes me (and our mom) BIG TIME.  Hear that, Julie?

Hydrangeas at the Hospital

My sweet and beautiful friend contacted me because she wanted to send her aunt who was in the hospital something special.  She asked for purple and green frosting and decided on lemon cupcakes with raspberry cream filling, which is one of my personal favorites.  I have made hydrangea cupcakes before and have always thought they were pretty, but there is something about this color combination that made me extra happy.  I've made them before in shades of pink, shades of blue and shades of purple, but adding the green to it gave it such a fresh look.  And I thought it was such an original and sweet idea to send a bouquet of cupcakes!

GET WELL SOON! 

a "glass" slipper

The practical side of me thinks that Cinderella's fairy godmother was more than just a little off when she decided to give Cinderella glass shoes.  Who does that?  But the visual side of me (which often takes over in matters of fairy tales) agrees that it makes a gorgeous completion of a great outfit.  It makes for a rather fun theme cake, too.  My mother gave me some new Wilton cake pans for my birthday a few years ago and I've been dying to try them out.  I finally convinced my daughter that she wanted a Cinderella theme cake for her 5th birthday.  She was a little disappointed that Cinderella herself was not actually on the cake, but she dealt with it.

I learned a lot about how to do it better next time and I only shed a few tears, but it turned out pretty decently.  The entire thing is covered in fondant. Top and bottom.  If you buy the pans, they give you very basic assembly directions, and you can find more online.  I would venture to add that you MUST have a perfectly flat bottom to each half before you put them together and don't use too much frosting between them, or you'll have a mess and have to take them apart and the cake starts crumbling and...oh crap, I've said too much.