The White House Girls

Friday, April 12, 2013

Knitted Yoga Ball {DIY}

Okay so we fell in love with these knitted yoga balls while surfing the net. The only problem is they come with a hefty price tag LARGE: $440 (AU) MEDIUM: $395 (AU)!

Source

But we had to have one and by golly thats just what we are going to do! We thought they would make such cute foot stools, even a chair to a desk or for a kids play room?! So we decided to do it ourselves. Here's what we did:

We got a yoga ball (about $5-$20) this one we found at a thrift store for $5
An knitted granny blanket (anywhere from $Free-$10 at thrift stores/in your mom's closet)
Needle and thread
Scissors
Seriously thats it!

We exchanged a couple looks like how the heck are we going to do this.....giggled a few times and then went to it! We are getting really good at winging things! We grabbed the knitted blanket and spread it out on the floor and wrapped it around the ball so that the blanket is covering the ball in all directions. We pinched both sides and my sister started on one side and I started on the other; and started sewing.

We made sure that when we made the "seam" that our first stitch would be our rough draft and we would be cutting off the access fabric/blanket so make sure that you are not sewing over the seam but under it because when you trim the fabric you want it to still be in tact {hope that makes sense}! We pulled the blanket as tight as possible around the ball and sewed all around the ball which ended up making two seams.

Next we cut the access blanket off with a scissors.

Then, we went back and sewed it once again to make sure that the blanket stayed together and made it durable on the ball. With this stitch we were able to go on top of the seam which made the seams stronger and also cleaned and tucked up the loose and rough edges from cutting the blanket {also hopes that makes sense...haha} The two of us completed it in less than an hour (while taking care of a 7 month old and 3 year old). It turned out even cooler than we imagined. So much fun, so different, and so VINTAGE! LOVe LoVe & LoVE!!

If that seems like too big of a project for you just use the adorable blankets to recover a thrift stool! They are cute no matter where you use them! Lov'in us some vintage! xoxo Have a great day!

Friday, April 5, 2013

25 cent chair turned Shabby Chic

So I got this chair for $.25! Yes the decimal is right on that! A QUARTER! They were going to throw it away at a thrift store because the fabric was torn is several places. So I took it because I don't like seeing such beautiful things going to the trash! :) I see potential! I loved the wood structure of this chair. So I took on this project.

I began to tear it apart! That's right EVERYTHING! I tore all the fabric off of it and got it down to the wood. This is fun (I have been told many times that I am weird due to thinking this is fun) but also takes a lot of muscle as well. While tearing the fabric off I found $.70! I already made money of this sucker!

So I have wanted to recover a chair with this flour sack I scored for $2! And this was the perfect project.

I had some white cotton fabric that I got for 50 cents a while back. It was to white so I did my moms old fashioned trick died it with coffee to match the ivory stained color of the flour sack. I made about 8 cups of coffee (real dark) and put it in a pan and let my fabric soak for about 2 hours. Then I washed it and it came out perfectly! Down below is a picture of the change in color from white to coffee stained look!

So I took my flour sack and stained fabric and I stapled the onto the structure of the chair. I used upholstery nails for around the flour sack to add some cuteness! It turned out so cute!

On the back I just added a layer of burlap, batting (for some cushion). I wanted to leave the springs exposed because it gives it a industrial look.

Before

After

Aint bad?

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Trash turned Fancy

Okay, who doesn't like a good mustache? When I was doing my usual stroll through Hobby Lobby I found this wonderful burlap! Not a bad price *$5.99 a yard (and don't forget the 40% coupon!) I love turning trash into mustache treasure!