Storage benches

The rental place we live in is small we have no storage, making it hard to have a food storage let alone a Christmas tree which we have somehow stuffed in the top of a closet.

We have five large buckets that we have no where to put, we have been using them as chairs as well seeing that we only have two large chairs.
LIGHTBULB!

I could make them into benches by putting wood over them and there would be more places to sit.

:)

Great idea...

problem though I had no wood and we couldn't afford any...

I suddenly realized we had a box spring we had been trying to give away for two months with no takers...I measured it and it was the perfect size wahahahaha

so I painstakingly pulled it apart piece by piece.

 

 

the outside had padding which I decided I would cushion the benches with so I held on to it and I ripped out nails and staples without loosing any in a way it was comical as a staple flew across the room and I would dive searching for it.

 

yah wood lol

once apart I realized that even though I measured I had not accounted for the wood slats not going all the way across but that's okay I had more wood than I needed so I cut some of the pieces and attached them on the end to make things longer and attached everything.

luckily it doesn't have to look pretty right now and I am covering it so I was not worried about what it looked like right now.

I took the padding (both kinds) and cut them in half

and folded them in thirds.

I began to feel like things were getting done and together and took the next step.

(I am flipped the board over I just placed it wrong in the picture)

thank you to my Mom for giving the fabric to my sister who didn't use it and kindly gave it to me. So thank you to my sister too :)

back to fabric, I got it in place under everything ready to be cut...

ummm then I lost the blue handled scissors. I know I had blue handled scissors I have photographic evidence two pictures up. After 30 minuets of searching, I gave in and grabbed a child's pair and cut the fabric. Still wondering what my mommy brain did with the blue ones.

Getting excited I grabbed the stapler...

only to find we bought the wrong staples

*sniff*sob* sulks away defeated.

Finally with the right tools I stuck it together :)

 

 

after stapling the corners I trimmed the excess fabric

 

looking good :)

but not done yet I need to stick sides on so it doesn't fall off the buckets. I choose to attach them after because it was too difficult to add the fabric with them on.

so I will add them once I paint them or cover them in fabric.

but for now this is what I have

 

*Happy dance*

 

 

DIY Star

Miss Muffet decided we needed a star on the top of our tree and not an angel so we made one.

Materials needed

cardboard (a cereal box would work well)

scissors

hot glue gun/ glue sticks

white glue

glitter

 

I got the idea from here http://www.hellolidy.com/2012/12/18/diy-paper-tree-topper/

 it does not give sizes so I guessed my big pieces were 12' by 3.5

small 6' by 2.25'

since I wanted it 3D I cut 4 big and 8 little

I pressed the scissors gently down the center of the pieces (do not cut through) so I could bend them in the middle.

I also made a base that the tree could slip into and hold it up I made it like this

then hot glued it in a cylinder

 sorry I failed to measure this piece :(

I then hot glued a big diamond on each side and together

I realized I needed to modify the next two big pieces to work so I cut a triangle on each side in the middle of each. then hot glued them in the center of the ones on the base (one on each side).

 

after this I hot glued the little diamonds in the open spaces on both sides matching them up. (I had to trim a small amount off one side to make it fit right)

once the hot glue is cool it is ready for finishing touches...

spread white glue all over (I did one side at a time.)

then glitter

 

you might wish for the one side to dry before flipping to the next.

and ta-da!!!!!! 

 

 

a beautiful 3D star... now I have to set up the tree.

Merry Christmas!