My So-Called DIY Blog: July 2015

Thursday, July 23, 2015

DIY Harry Potter Map Canvas

I've been looking for something large to cover some wall space in my Bonus Room, preferably a map. Since most of our books are in this room, I thought a literary map might be fun, but those can get pricey. Then I discovered a site called Spoonflower. It's a company that prints fabric. You can create your own design, upload an image, or select a design from the marketplace. You even select what type of fabric it's printed on. In the marketplace, I found some Harry Potter Map fabric! I decided to make a wooden frame and wrap the fabric around it to look like a canvas.

One yard will give you two full maps, so I can either sell the second one or give it as a gift. I got basic cotton ultra and selected "yards (42" width)" under size and amount.

Here it is once I got it in the mail. As you can see, if I cut the two maps apart, there's not a whole lot of room left for wrapping it around a frame.

I decided to make my frame 16" x 39" so the image would be centered with enough room on the bottom to fold it over. This also allowed a tiny bit of room to stretch the fabric, so I could get a nice tight look. I used two 6' 1x2s and cut them together, so my sides would be exactly the same length.

I used 1/2" staples on the corners on the back of the frame.

I put the fabric through the dryer to help loosed the creases from being folded in the mail. Then I ironed it. Laying the image face down, I centered the frame as best as I could. I started with the bottom where I didn't have much extra fabric to wrap over. I did three staples on the bottom.

Then, pulling the fabric so it was pretty taut, I did three staples on the top.

Then I did the same thing with three staples on both sides. It was starting to look nice and tight in the middle!

I kept working my way out to the corners. Two staples on bottom, followed by two staples on the top, followed by two staples on the right, and then two on the left. It also helped to pull the fabric looking at the design on the sides to help keep it in a straight line.

Once I got to the corners, I tucked the bottom into the side and then folded the side under and over.

Then I trimmed some of the excess fabric along the wood.

And voila!

The detail on the map is really beautiful

It only took me about 20-30 minutes altogether to complete.

I love how it makes a large impact with the width, but it's not too tall, so it fits nicely on my short Bonus Room walls.

With shipping, the fabric ends up being $20.50. That's only $10.25 a map. Then with the cost of 1x2s and staples, it ends up being around $15 for one map!

Linking to: YTTS #41, Artsy Fartsy Link Party, Remodelaholic July Link Party, Link Party Palooza, That DIY Party, Show and Share 271, Merry Monday 64, Something to Talk About 27, Inspiration Monday 726, Inspire Me Monday 70, 278 Inspire Me Tuesday,The Scoop 181, Tutorials and Tips 219, Be Inspired 171, FDTR 178, Wow Us Wednesday, Wake Up Wednesday, Dream Create Inspire,

Thursday, July 9, 2015

How to Reimagine a Waiting Room Chair

I got two of these chairs from the Restore a few years ago.

I painted and recovered one of them.

I liked it better, but it was still giving off a "waiting room" vibe. It was also extremely difficult to strip down, so I didn't bother doing the other one right away and I just set them aside for a bit.

Fast forward a few years and I fell in love with this Meloni Armchair from Home Decorator's.

As I was looking at the structure of it, I wondered if I could add on some wood and upholstery and use my waiting room chairs as the bones for something similar.

I sanded, primed, and painted the bottom part of the legs. I also stripped off the fabric, mostly cutting it off since it would be covered with the new fabric.

Another problem with these chairs is there is no bottom support, just some stretchy material. They didn't feel sturdy at all. So, I took a scrap 1x12 and drilled it in the bottom. It feels nice and strong sitting on it now!

Next, I started beefing up the bottom. I had a bunch of scraps 1x4s left over from my Bonus Room beams, so I used those, but any width would have done the job.

For the front and back, I drilled the boards in using a Kreg Jig.

I drew a line of chalk to help me even up where my side boards would go.

Then I drilled boards into the sides all the way up. I used a jig saw to match the curve of the chair.

One side done.

Two sides done.

I also wanted to create an inner arm piece. So, I temporarily removed the two boards on each side

and marked where to cut the inside pieces.

Once they were cut, I drilled them into the chair from the front and back of the arms to make sure they fit. Then I took them out again to begin upholstering.

I used a layer of batting under my fabric. And started with the seat.

Then I moved up the back

and over the top.

Then I took the inside arm pieces and stapled my batting and fabric on the bottom and side (the part the touches the back of the chair), but left the top and other side open to staple to the arm once it's in place.

Put in place.

Then I pulled the fabric and stapled it in place.

I cut a little hole in the fabric where the screws needed to go.

Once I got both of the inside arms done, I could drill the side pieces of wood back into place.

Then I could upholster the sides.

Now I could add some leather strips with nail head to cover my staples. I know this is going to sound weird, but I got this pleather dress on clearance for a few bucks at Target and decided to cut it up and use it for the arms.

I decided to use a strip of nail head trim (affiliate link) from Amazon. There's a hole to nail a tack in every fourth one. It took one roll per side.

I cut some batting the width of the arm. Then I cut the pleather one inch wider, so I could have 1/2" to fold over on each side. I just pinned them in place.

I marked with chalk where to staple on front so the nail head trim would cover the staples.

Then I stapled them in place, removing the pins as I went.

The nail head went in easily on the wood that I added, but the original wood was extremely hard. I had to drill some pilot holes as I went along. Since the fabric was in place, I had to pulse the drill (much like a blender)--two short pulses counterclockwise, two short pulses clockwise as I pushed in a little. This kept the fabric from getting caught and ripped in the drill bit.