Fast and Easy Pleated Ruffle Ottoman Slipcover {tutorial}!!

Fast and Easy Pleated Ottoman Slipcover!

I recently ordered this pretty blue chevron material fabric.com. 

I love the color because it can go in almost any room in my house.



I bought this ottoman at a discount store about 15 years ago and for the past 5 years it's been sitting in my basement, waiting for a makeover. So I decided to give it a little facelift with my new fabric.

This was my first slipcover project, and I kind of made it up as I went along. 

Here’s what I did:

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  The first thing I did was I measure the top of the ottoman and added 1 inch to the width and the height.
  
  
  
  


• Then I measured the width of the sides of the ottoman and left about 2 inches for the pleated ruffle.
  


• I drew the picture on a piece of paper with the measurements. I am a visual person and this is the best way I could figure this project out.
  


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  Then I cut out the top of the ottoman and all four sides.
  
  

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  I sewed the sides of the ottoman onto the top of the ottoman cover.
  
  

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  And then I sewed the sides up. I made the seam allowances as small as I could because I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough room to fit the cover over the ottoman.
  
  

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  Luckily the cover turned out to be the perfect size once it was sewn. 

 

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  Now I turned my attention to the pleated ruffle.
  
  
  

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  I measured the circumference of the ottoman and added 150% to the total. Then I measured 5 inches high and folded the material so that the ruffle was 2.5 inches high. I sewed the ruffle and then ironed it so it was flat.
  
  

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  Now the next step is how you get the ruffles to be even. Take your huge circle of ruffle fabric and pin one section to one end of the ottoman cover. Then take the opposite side of the ruffle material and pin it to the opposite side of the ottoman cover. Do this on all four corners. Then do it again in between each section -- so you have eight sections pinned.
  
   Now you have an even amount of material in between each section so when you make your pleats, all of the pleats and the number of pleats should be the same.  Now take the ruffle fabric and make 1 inch pleats every inch or so. And this part of the slipcover is tedious, but so worth it once you are done!
  
  

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  Once the ruffle was pinned, I sewed it onto the inside of the slipcover.
  
  

 And then I was done!!



I just love my new slipcover. It totally transforms the look of the ottoman – totally updating it!!

And, just for fun – I made a couple of matching pillow covers.

They look so good in my living room. And, they would also fit in perfectly in my bedroom too!!

xoxox



PS -- We made it home this morning. 22 hours on planes and in airports and we're home sweet home!!

Have a Happy Day!! 



 PS -- I am linking up to these fun parties - check them out!

zig zags in design

a fun way to add pattern to a room is to use a chevron print

diane bergeron

jonathan adler

anna spiro

christine murphy

lay baby lay

lee kleinhelter

diane bergeron

madeline weinrib

lonny 

lonny 

krista ewart

courtney giles design/emily followill photography

michelle adams

images via decor pad

Make a Washi Tape Clock {tutorial}!!

One of my favorite Washi Tape projects I have made so far is this fun and whimsical Washi Tape Clock that I made for my craft room. I used a bunch of different Washi Tapes for each of the clock numbers.

Washi Tape Clock Tutorial

 

Materials:

Cheap Clock {mine is from Target -- $4}

Wax paper

Scrapbook paper (I used Lifestyle Craft's Hello Goodbye paper for the face)

Maker and pencil

Glue dots or hot glue

Scrabble tiles (you can buy an old scrabble game from a thrift store or a "lot" of tiles on etsy)

Resin or Dimensional Magic

Washi Tape (you can also buy Washi Tape through etsy)



Here's what I did:

• I took the cover off the clock. 

• Then I was hoping I would be able to remove the paper face, but it was glued down. So I used a compass and made a template of the face. 

• Then I traced the template onto my scrapbook paper and cut it out.

• I laid the wax paper over the face and copied the numbers on the wax paper with marker and then poked holes in the wax paper and marked the paper underneath with pencil. This is how I knew where to put the tiles. 

• Take the scrabble tiles and trace the tile shape onto each Washi Tape pattern. Cut it out and stick it onto the tile. 

• Apply epoxy or Dimensional Magic over the top of the tile and let it dry.( I was in a rush, so I cheated and used these self-adhesive tops that I had left over from a different project. You can use these if you are in a rush or don't feel comfortable using resin.)

• Then apply the tiles to the clock face with hot glue.

• The hands on my clock were too long to get over the tiles, so I had to trim them. I used nail clippers to trim the hands (they were plastic - lol). 

 

 

 

I had such a fun time going on our local tv morning show -- Studio 5 on
Monday. I made about 15 Washi Tape projects. I just can't get enough of
the stuff. It's addicting!!

More Washi Tape projects coming up. 

Here's a little clip if you want to check it out:

xoxox

Have a wonderful day!!!

Candy Party: Part 1 -- The Cupcake Tower, Candy Bar and Invitations

It was Hannah's 12th birthday last week and she really wanted to have a "Candy Party" with a couple of her good friends.

Her favorite color is yellow, so we decided to go with a yellow and turquoise color scheme. 

So bright and happy!!

And what better way to anchor a "Sweet Candy Bar" than a pretty cupcake tower??

There are so many different ways to make a cupcake tower. But Canvas Corp makes a really fun Cupcake Tree cardboard kit that comes all ready to assemble. All you need to do is decorate the tower with whatever embellishments you want!

We used different scrapbook papers and fabrics to decorate ours. And I thought it would be fun to make a little mini-pennant that went around the bottom layer and matched a pennant that I would make to go over the top of the candy bar.

I cut out the pennant shapes with a banner die cut from LifeStyle Crafts.

It was the perfect size! And then I made the banner that went over the top of the candy bar with the same die cut set, only using the largest size die.

Basically, I took the round cardboard tops and traced their shapes on some pretty paper.

 The bottom later is bigger than a 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper, so I traced the shape on fabric and cut that out for the bottom layer.

I also used fabric to wrap around the cardboard supports in between each layer. I found that fabric was much easy to maneuver into those spaces. I attached the paper and fabric to the cardboard with my handy dandy glue gun.

To cover up the edges of the exposed cardboard I used ribbon to attach the pennants with my glue gun. Then the first and second tier I used different Washi Tapes and they worked great covering up those exposed edges. I also lined the bottom of the supports with Washi Tape to cover up the seams.



{my favorite place to buy Washi Tape is etsy, I have bought a bunch through this seller. }

We made party invitations with the Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress, using the Splendor Printing Plates. And then we poked a lollipop through the middle of the invitation. {we printed off a sheet with information about the party on the back of the invitation and taped it to the back, covering up the lollipop stick}.

And then we made Candy Bar labels using the Letterpress and the Bubbly Printing Plates.

The Candy Bar was a success with this bunch of candy-crazed 12 year olds!

Coming up next -- Candy Party: Part 2 --  Embellished Lanterns, Dimensional Magic Necklaces and Party Favors.

xoxo







 

PS -- Check out the SNAP Conference giveaway. Win a pass to something that is going to be absolutely amazing!!