Easy Gold Accent Pillows - Pinterest Challenge

Over the last couple of days I really ummed and ahhed over whether or not I would join in for this round of the Pinterest Challenge. I really didn't want to miss it because I haven't missed one yet, but time (and my budget) seemed to be working against me. In the end I decided to challenge myself to see what I could make without spending any money (just like I did for the first challenge).

I'm happy to say I did!!

My cushions on my couch have been looking less than impressive lately. The few I had left on there were stained and mismatched... New cushions were well overdue, so I raided my fabric and paint stashes and came up with two new pillows.

It's no secret that I love the combination of gold and white, so inspired by these pins I decided to whip up a couple of gorgeous gold accent pillows.

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Both pillows were super easy and I made them both in just over an hour(plus drying time for the paint).

To make the colour blocked pillow I cut out four pieces of fabric, a 40cm x 40cm piece for the front, two smaller pieces to make up the envelope closure on the back, and a piece of gold lame 1/3 the size of the front piece.

When it came time to make the gold striped pillow I tried out a few different gold paints that I had, the only one that gave me the metallic look I was after was a can of spray paint that I had left over from another project. I taped off the front piece of the cushion with painters tape (using extra bits of tape to make sure my lines were spaced evenly), then sprayed the entire thing with the gold paint. Once it was dry I hemmed the overlapping pieces of fabric for the back and sewed it all up. Easy :)

I'm totally in love with how they turned out and so thrilled that this little mini couch makeover cost me absolutely nothing!! Tonight once my boys fall asleep I'm planning on throwing together a few more pillows for my three seater :).

As always don't forget to go and check out the hosts of the Pinterest Challenge (so excited that one of my fave bloggers Emily from Sparkle Meets Pop is co-hosting this time!!) and see what everyone else has been up to.

Pinterest Challenge Hosts - Emily Katie Sherry and Renee

xo Tamsyn

Check out my previous Pinterest Challenge Projects here

Tufted Headboard - TeePee - Jumbo Ruler - Laundry Gallery Wall - Star Chandelier - Birdie Jar

DIY Headboard and Bed Make-Over

The bed in Max's room at the moment is uggg-lllly. It's functional and actually used to be Sean's bed when he was (a lot) younger, but there is absolutely nothing attractive about it... For ages now I've been planning on making it over, the Pinterest Challenge was just the kick in the butt I needed to get it done.

I ambitiously gave myself a day to do the make-over and even thought to myself 'I might whip up a new doona for the bed if I have time'. Ummm no... It took me two days to get the whole thing done, but now that's it's finished I'm so glad I finally tackled it!

Here's what I started with...

A king single ensemble. Like I said, functional but not exactly stylin'.

I split the project into two parts. First up I covered the base of the ensemble and added legs, then I made a headboard. I got my inspiration from these three pins below.

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Materials:

• linen
• cheap white poplin 
• batting
• 2inch thick foam
• mdf board
• button covering kit
• furniture legs

Tools

• screwdriver
• drill bit
• staple gun and staples
• embroidery needle
• embroidery thread
• nails
• plyers
• hammer

I started out by covering the base of the ensemble with my cheap poplin, which I used because I didn't want that bright pattern showing through the loose weave of my linen. I pinned each strip in place and then went around with my staple gun to secure it to the underside and top of the base.

I then did the same thing with with the linen, only I paid a bit more attention to the detail and made sure the corners looked neat and tidy.

As I was going around securing the linen I noticed the staples weren't holding the fabric to the top side of the base. Underneath was fine because the staples went straight into plywood, but on top they were only going into fabric which meant they came out really easily. I ended up using nails for the top because they went through the fabric and back down into the ply. In other words I made things up as I went and wished for the best!!

Once that was all done I attached the legs and moved on to the headboard.

I measured up Max's bed before hitting up Bunnings and decided that I wanted my mdf to be 1100 x 1100 and got them to cut it in store for me. Lucky I did, there is no way I would have fit anything bigger into the back of my car :).

To start off the headboard I measured out where I wanted my buttons and then drilled holes through the mdf (gorgeous hand model used as I was behind the camera, thanks J!!).

I though about using spray adhesive to stick the foam to the board, but ended up using fabric glue. It was raining outside and the house was full of people so I didn't want to fume up the place. No biggie though the fabric glue worked just fine.

Then it was just a matter of covering the board and foam with batting, then my el-cheapo lining and finally my linen (I used the poplin underneath the linen again because I didn't want the batting poking through the weave of the fabric).

Then came the most time consuming and difficult part. Covering the buttons and sewing them onto the headboard to get that tufted look that I love so much! Soooo much harder than I expected, but so definitely worth it!

Covering the buttons was just a matter of following the instructions on the packet, attaching them was a whole other ball game... After a fair bit of trial and error I worked out the best way to do it.

I threaded the needle with embroidery thread and then tied it into a loop. Then I tied it onto the button. I didn't take a photo, but if you can picture the needle with a decent amount of thick thread on it and then a button tied onto the very end of the thread.

To get the buttons in the right place I pushed a nail through the pre-drilled holes in the back of the board, felt where the point of the nail touched my fabric and then pushed my needle and thread (with the button attached) up through the the fabric, batting and foam etc until it came out the back of the board. With one hand pushing my needle through, and pliers in the other hand I grabbed onto the needle and pulled it right the way through. Then I would tie a big knot in the thread, pull it as tight as possible and secure it with staples.

That probably made no sense what-so-ever... If you want to give this a go and have no idea what I'm on about email me and I'll try and explain it better :)

I'm sooooooo happy with how it turned out and Max absolutely loves it! He knows it's the same bed, but he still likes to call it his 'new bed' and he's so excited to go to bed in it tonight. The real test will be whether or not he stays in there the whole night I guess!

Phew, now that I finally have it finished I'm linking up with Katie, Sherry, Megan and Michelle (and checking out all of the amazing projects that have been shared).

Thanks for reading!!











{If you would like to see any of my previous pinterest challenge projects you can see them below}

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Pinterest Challenge # 5

I have so many exciting projects on my pinboards that I should probably be working on right now. But with being 38 weeks pregnant I decided to tackle a nice and simple (and very sweet) project that I've wanted to do for just about ever.

A pretty little birdie jar.

I originally made it as a gift for Georgia's first birthday, but it accidentally got broken. Re-making it gave me the perfect opportunity to also use it as my pinterest challenge project :).

The inspiration came from this gorgeous Aussie blog and as you can see I really didn't vary mine much from the original at all. The main thing I did differently was use red and pink so that it would look good in Georgia's very gorgeous red and pink nursery.

Supplies:

•  mason jar (I used a large moccona coffee jar)
• fake moss 
• stick / branch
• fabric scraps
• needle and thread
• ribbon
• birdies (I found mine at spotlight)
• hot glue
• tacky glue (optional)
• iron on interfacing
• small plate or circle (for tracing)
• scissors
• rubber band

I started out by brushing a layer of tacky glue into the bottom of my jar, I then poured in a heap of the moss and pressed it down into the glue. I wasn't completely happy with the coverage though so I ended up pouring in a heap more moss and just leaving it loose in the bottom of the jar. In hindsight you could probably leave out the glue at the start and just go ahead and leave all of the moss loose in the bottom of the jar...

For my branch I used this fake Christmas branch that I got on sale at spotlight. I just chopped off the bit that I needed. It had wire through the centre of it which made it really hard to cut, so I pulled the wire out with pliers and then had another go at chopping it. Much easier without the wire!

Next up I used the interfacing to fuse my fabric scraps back to back, then cut out some teeny little triangles. I hand stitched them into a little bunting garland and then tied it onto the branch.

Using hot glue I stuck the branch into the inside of the jar. It took me a fair few goes to get it right. After each failed attempt I would scrape the dried hot glue off the inside of the glass before giving it another go. I got there eventually!

To get the birds perched nicely on the branch I just squeezed some hot glue onto the bottom of each and placed them onto the branch.

To finish the jar off I traced a circle onto the red fabric, cut it out and then secured it to the lid of the jar with a rubber band. I tied a pretty ribbon around the lid to hide the rubber band and voila - all done!

 

I'm seriously in love with this little jar. If I had little girls of my own I would definitely be making more of these for their rooms. They're perfectly equal parts pretty, girly and whimsical :)

I've linked this up with Katie, Sherry, Sarah and Carmel for the Fall Pinterest Challenge. Make sure you go and check out what these very talented girls have made for the challenge. There are already hundreds of projects linked up... so much pinspiration!!

If you'd like to see any of the projects I've made for previous pinterest challenge projects you can see them here:

TeePee - Height Chart Ruler - Laundry Gallery - Star Mobile