The easiest project ever! Ever!!!

Wow!  Has it really been a month since I last posted?!?

I might be ashamed of that fact,  if it weren't for the super important project I've been working on..."being mommy".  Ya, I pretty much bailed on you guys so that I could focus my total and complete attention on five of my very best creations...my kids!  

Things were a little crazy going into the holidays and I could tell my kids needed some attention, especially my daughter who has special needs.  She's been struggling a little and I just needed to take some time off to focus on her for bit.

Anyway, things appear to be on the up and up now and the blogging/crafting/projecting has officially resumed!  

I decided to ease myself back into things with The World's Quickest and Easiest Project Ever...Ever!!!

I am totally serious this project literally took me five minutes to make and cost only $3.  Intrigued?  Here's how it went down.

You need only TWO supplies...a glue gun and a floor mat.  You know how much I love the $3 floor mats from Ikea. 

I hopped on Ikea's website and here are some of the floor mats they have in stock currently...all for just $2.99!

 I've used these mats to make all sorts of things floor poufs, roman shades and now pillow covers.

To get started:

1- I plugged in my glue gun.

2.  I folded my floor mat creating a little pocket or envelope.

3- I hot glued both sides of the mat.

{note: you over achievers could sew up both sides instead of gluing.  My machine was having issues that day, so I made it easy on myself and just hot glued it.  I always have the option of going back and sewing it up later...if need be.}

4- I flipped the mat inside out.

5- I shoved an old accent pillow inside.

And VOILA.  Done!

Can you believe this pillow cover only cost $3 and took only 5 minutes to make?  

What I love most about these pillow covers, besides being super easy and cheap to make, is that they are removable.  If you need to wash it or just want to change it out, all you have to do is remove the insert and you're good to go.  And because they are made from something meant to be walked on, they are super durable.

And apparently fringe is the totally "in" thing right now.  I found this similarly styled pillow at Target recently

{Nate Berkus for Target- regularly $24.99, but currently on sale for $17.48}

So, today's tip of the day:  Ikea floor mats and glue guns are totally rad...especially when they are used to make these awesomely cheasy {cheap + easy} pillow covers.

Finally, I just thought I'd leave you with this anxiety provoking image:

Check back soon to see why my bedroom looks like a closet threw up in it!

Pouf!

A few posts ago I mentioned seeing some floor mats that I thought would make awesome floor poufs. 

 Well, when I stopped back in Target recently I noticed that said mats were on clearance so I grabbed a few.

I decided I would use the rugs to make a couple of poufs for the deck.  Ever since I found this little gem at Ikea for $60 

and since summer is only days away, I decided now would be a good time to spruce up the patio and create a welcoming outdoor living space.

The floor poufs will add some extra seating if needed, but will also serve as tables for placing unused magazines or resting drinks on.  They will also work well as foot rests.  

I actually referred to my original floor pouf post for making this pouf.  

I ended up purchasing runners instead of the 2x3 mats, which meant I only needed two rugs to complete this project.  If you were to use 2x3 mats, you would need to use four of them.

Since the Target rugs were not quite as wide as the Ikea rugs I used the first time, I had to readjust my measurements.  For the Target mats, I ended up cutting two 19 1/2 in. x 19 1/2 in. pieces and four 19 1/2 in. x 10 1/2 in. pieces.  After that I followed the step by step instructions I outlined in the post.  

Please note that if you use a floor mat/rug for this project {any durable upholstery fabric or canvas would work great too} you will have to address the fraying issue on the cut ends of the rug.  If you have access to a surger, I would recommend surging all of the ends.  If you don't have access to a surger you can do what I did, which was zig-zag stitch my pieces together right along the edge, then zig-zag stitch again leaving about a 1/4 in. seam allowance.  Then I straight stitched over the zig-zag stitch just to reinforct it.  I did this because the weave on these floor mats is so loose that if a child jumps on them {like mine did} or adults use them as seating, the seam can gets loose and will eventually fray to the point of separation.

Okay, on to the good part...the reveal!

I love these poufs!!!  I loved my first poufs too, but these I love, love because they are so bright and fun.  They are going to look great out on the deck.

I can't wait to get the spaced all spruced up and ready for summer entertaining.  I'm so ready for the sun...and some leisurely fun!!!

Are you all just as ready for summer as I am?  We still have a week left of school, but honestly, I checked out weeks ago.

I'm back, a cheap find and an update.

Hello!  

It seems like forever since I last posted.

Bora Bora was amazing and beautiful.  I got a massage, petted a puffer fish, grafted coral, lounged around, strolled the beach collecting seashells, took a bath (boy how I had missed soaking in tub), got a nasty lil sunburn, caught up on some Burn Notice {I know, kinda lame}, got stuck in a local political parade and actually finished a book.  

Here are Studs and I just getting to the resort.  Can you believe how beautiful it is?  They say French Polynesia is 50 shades of blue and judging by the this picture I can see why.  There was blue everywhere...above and below.

Here is where we stayed...yes, in a bungalow over the water.  It was crazy.  There were windows in the floor so that you could see down into the water.  We never saw any marine life, but it was still very cool.

Here I am lounging on the beach reading a book by the lagoon.  There was all sorts of marine life in the water...coral, anemone, sea cucumbers {so gross}, clown fish, puffer fish, farmer fish and these odd fish that were really long and skinny.  They kinda freaked me out because they reminded me of barracuda (even though they didn't really look like them).  There was also a porcupine/blowfish that hung out in one of the lagoons.  He was always in the exact same spot.  I became quite a accustomed to him greeting me everyday as I'd walk over the bridge to the main beach.

 

These are just a few of my finds whilst meandering down the beach one day.  I thought it was pretty cool to find a conch shell just laying on the beach.  Almost every seashell had a hermit crab living in it, so I thought myself lucky to have found one without a resident.

The vacay was absolutely amazing and I was very sad to leave.  We made some great friends and great memories, but I was anxious to get home and see my babies.

Twenty minutes after the plane landed in SLC, I was off to the orthodontist for my son's appointment.  A few hours later I was sitting at my daughter's violin recital.  And later that night I was cleaning up puke.  I've been cleaning up puke for the past week, but I think we are finally over it.  WELCOME HOME MOM!

Anywho, on to something DIY-ey.
I've had a lot of people contact me about my diy floor poufs.  The most commonly asked question I get is, "does Ikea still sell the rugs I used"...to which I have to respond, no.  I have not seen the $3 rugs I used at Ikea for awhile.  That doesn't mean they won't start carrying them again, but...
So, I made it my personal quest to find a proper replacement for anyone who still might wanna make some.  And what do you know, today while I was at Target I came across these awesome floor mats.  The first thought I had was how awesome they would look as floor poufs.

I love the bold, colorful striped pattern.  You could have so much fun accessorizing around them.

They are made from a sturdy, canvas-y type fabric, that would be perfect for a floor cushion.  And I figure since they are durable enough for feet to walk all over them, they should be durable enough for bums to sit all over them, right?  The fabric doesn't look like it will fray as bad as the Ikea rugs either {I would still definately recommend surging or using a short, zig zag stitch for all of the seams!}

The only complaint I have is that these rugs are $12 rather than $3, but  I figured they would still result in a significantly cheaper floor pouf than if you were to purchase one from West Elm for $200.  If my sewing machine quits acting like a pile of poo {or Studs lets me buy a new one} I am thinking of making a few for the outside deck.

In other news, we are back in business with the bathroom.  I feel a bit ashamed to share this, but because of all of the road blocks we've run into during the remodel we've decided to have a contractor friend come finish the job.  Studs was also recently promoted at work and has been swamped with work.  So, as sad as I am to hand my baby over to someone else, I think it's for the best.  The contractor said he could have it done in three weeks.  Yee haw!  I'll be sure to post pics as things progress.