Take a load off...

The other day I came across this build your own ottoman on Shanty to Chic's site here. The ottomans are so flippin cute that I knew I had to make them. So I pinned it to my "gonna make it myself" page on Pinterest, and set out to the good old Home Depot. OK I am getting ahead of myself here. First I have to tell you that the plans for these ottomans actually come from this site here by Ana White. The lady is a freak of nature. (That is why I am in no way shape or form going to give you the Angie J tutorial. Instead I will refrence you to her link here.)She shows you how to make anything your heart desires with step by step instructions. She even gives you a cut list for your lumber. Like this...

Neat huh? So then I took my little cut list into the HD and found the first guy who looked like he knew what he was talking about and I showed him my cut list and told him I wanted to make them cheap. Of course you know whats coming next, I told him we can use wood from the cull bin of course, if they had my dimensions. Guess what they did!... All of it. So I got my wood for around four bucks and he cut it ALL for me. I know this might be cheating but who cares. Here is my guy cutting my wood for me... Thanks nameless HD worker... And for those of you who have never witnessed the cull bin, that's it right there.

I was so excited to start this project that I jumped right into it. OK this is where things went wrong and I needed to humble myself. You see I never took woodworking and I don't know the first thing about power tools. My learning curve is super high and I am learning. This one project has taught me patience and how to work a drill like a bad ass. Below is a picture of my hand after I punctured it with a drill bit. I have more respect for power tools and for wood. You cannot just drill into it. The wood cracks without a pre drilled hole and you need to use wood glue. Oh yeah, take it from me and follow each direction and square up constantly or else you will pay and have to redo it over and over again. So needless to say I waited until Cole got off work and we had a little drilling 101 session.

So here is my drilling lesson from Cole on pre drilling and working the drill.

 Here I am working it. Notice all my pre cut lumber. Did I mention they didn't charge me extra to cut it. What!?

 My wood all pre drilled...

 My finished first cube... I am not attempting to tell you how to make this. Ana White as referred above does a much better job so please again follow her directions here.

 Next I cut my foam down for the cushion on top of the ottoman. I used a 3" thick piece instead of 2" thick like they call for. I just measured an extra inch for my fabric. Then I used spray adhesive to glue them to the top of the ottoman. (note: you should spray directly onto the foam then glue it to the wood.)

 OK so Ana White doesn't give you directions on how to make the slip cover. Shanty to Chic does here. Again as I have posted before my learning curve is through the roof with sewing. Lucky for me, Cole's Grandparents are in town from Montana for Spring Break and they were able to assist me and give me guidance over at Cole's Mom's house. Now for you newbies like myself, measuring fabric sucks booty big time, but you have to do it. I wanted two slip covers from two yards. It was like solving a puzzle and I am not good at puzzles. Patience is the name of the game. Which I am also not good at.

 Once the fabric was all cut Lucy Lou admired how nice it would look on her new piece of furniture. Upholstery fabric is spendy! Just save your coupons. I used my 40% off coupon to Joanns. I am pretty sure I purchased an outdoor fabric too. This will help with sticky fingers not to mention I can just throw them in the wash.

 Here I am sewing all the pieces together.

 I was not going to hem the bottom because I hate the pins but Grandma Judy insisted and she's a pro so she very graciously pinned it for me then I sewed the hem line. They look so much better and won't fray out now. Thanks Judy.

And wait for it ...... TaDaaaa.... My finished ottoman. How beautiful...

 Lucy says there is lots of business to be had on this ottoman. Like walking around it and stuff.

 Then I brought them home and look who else loves them. LOLA.... Actually Lola is really vain and probably just wanted her picture taken.

We had some good friends surprise us last night and they were a hit! What is it with my dogs always wanting to be in the picture? Hurley. (Notice we haven't added curtains to the sliding glass doors, which I have plans to make into french doors.) Another post a long time from now.

 They look great in my sitting room/Living room.... Not to mention the 3" of cushion is nice on a tushy...

 Once all is said and done, I would make these again. They were not simple because I did not have the skills to make them right away. Now that I am leaning I could make them again without as much difficulty. One lady said she made them during her kids nap time. Now, unless Lucy takes 8 hour naps I wouldn't agree with this lady. But I am sure I could make them a lot quicker this time. For the price too, you really can't beat it and they are adorable. I want to add some green Pom-poms to the bottom. What do you think?

One last little look...