Home Depot Drop Cloth Slip Cover For My Couch

This is my second (and probably not final) post about a project I finally
finished. I wanted to share it again in case anyone missed it. I've seen people make drop cloth curtains, which I really liked. It got me thinking about using a drop cloth as a frugal, beachy type of sofa cover.

I knew I might be a little over my head on this one but, I totally took my time and referred to several other blogs on the subject of making your own slip covers. I didn't use any one particular tutorial, they were all basically the same.

My couch is "L" shaped and 18' long! So there just aren't any pre-made covers available that would fit it, or I would have gladly invested in them. If you think that a few of these pictures are confusing, just picture me trying to figure out what I was doing without a pattern!

I pre-washed the canvas then, tuck, cut, pin, cross your fingers!

This is a close up of the old and new fabric.
We bought this couch before we had kids and four cats so,my household is now too busy to live with out a couch cover. I found it too challenging to keep my off white couch clean. But the couch has good "bones" so I didn't want to get rid of it.

By some miracle, the humongous slip cover turned out pretty well, I think. I'm really glad now that I didn't spend a lot of money on a new couch or expensive pre-made slip covers. Sometimes it pays off to try something new.

The fabric is surprisingly soft, yet durable. And I like the color a lot.

It now looks and feels more casual and cozy.

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Mini-Chalk/Message Board Tutorial

I found this plain, unpainted oval wooden plaque with an attached ribbon at The Dollar Tree.I applied chalkboard paint on one side and cork on the other.

I can't write on the chalkboard painted side for four days till it "cures", but I know I'm going to have fun with it, the wheels are already turning....

Here's how it looked when I bought it. I like the ribbon it came with, pretty neutral and delicate looking.

I just taped it down while I painted the other side to avoid ruining it.

Two coats later......

I've had these cork tiles which I acquired a while ago for free from Freecycle.

Trace and cut, so easy!

I used the adhesive squares that came with the cork board, again so easy. Except for the paint drying time, this project took at the most 10 minutes

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Blue Monday And Metamorphosis Monday

Huggy Bear is modeling my usual bed spread, which I really like, but is impractical for winter, without adding piles of other blankets.

Festus and Daisy are modeling my new "down alternative" comforter. It has no feathers, which I'm allergic to. It's 250 thread count and incredibly soft. The comforter is very light weight, yet very warm. I found it at T.J. Max for $ 39.99 for king size. Best of all it's machine washable.

It's also easier to make my bed in the morning before it's taken over by cats.

They think that this is their bed, (especially Coocoo) and that they allow us to use it at night.

All in all, they seem very pleased with the new bedding.

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Metamorphosis Monday

This is the before of the wall over my couch. I got the picture for free, from Freecycle, and I really like it. But I want something different and more neutral.

Here's the after, I already had the mirror and all four frames came from The 99 Cent Store. The pictures in the frames are the ones they came with. I'm planning on replacing them with my own black and white photography and tweaking or adding to the arrangement.

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A Fresh New look For The New Year

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The only new item that I added to this display, is the driftwood garland I found at the shell store. Other than that, everything else I went shopping for from around the house, to display in a new way. I was surprised how much I liked my cat painting in front of the fire place, which we never use anyway.

Homemade Disneyland Hat Tutorial

Last year after Christmas, I purchased some Santa hats for half off with the intent of turning them into homemade Mickey Mouse Santa hats to wear to Disneyland in the future.

I found this faux fur at Walmart. It was perfect for what I had in mind.

I used a glass with a very wide rim......

and traced the flat non-furry side with a white colored pencil.

I cut the circles out and settled in at my sewing machine. I set the mood with Christmas music and a nice hot mug of Ghirardelli hot chocolate and mug I received as a gift.

I pinned , right side in and sewed, I even used yellow thread and it didn't make any difference.

I left a few inches open at the bottom.

Next, I simply flipped them right side out. I was going to sew these on, but decided for now to just safety pin them and you can't even tell. Heehee.

Viola, Disney for less!
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Bottom-Of-The Christmas-Tree Decoration Tutorial

I found this white, pre-lit Christmas tree at Walmart for only $35.00!

I love the look of a Christmas tree skirt under the tree, it finishes the whole look off, and hides wires and plastic tree feet. The problem is, my four cats think that it's some type of invitation for them to sleep under the tree. Tree skirts don't look very attractive covered in cat hair.

So I came up with this frugal, simple solution:

Since it is way too early for us to have any presents under the tree, I decided to make a few "props", hehe.

I used some gift boxes, just the white, but you can use any color you desire. I simply traced out room for the feet, and then cut to fit, it doesn't need to be perfect.

I made two identical boxes for the base, and used the first one I cut out as the pattern for the second.

The top of the box only needs a slot cut on the side to match up with the bottom piece.

I stuffed the boxes with plastic grocery bags to help the boxes keep their shape.

After they were stuffed, I taped the tops and bottoms together.

This is what the finished product looks like, very simple.

I attached them just so, you can place yours closer together if you want. This gave me room to place a lot of faux presents on top and hide some wiring.

Here's the fun part. I found some empty boxes. And I bought some shiny silver paper and a roll of postal paper at the 99 Cent Store.

I went through my gift wrapping stash.

I LOVE the postal paper and it can be used for any occasion. I used very little tape and I can reuse everything later in the season if I want to.

I love the pearls.....

I love the hologram design in this silver paper. I used white raffia and a touch of glittery yarn.

There we go! And not a cat in sight!

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