Tuesday Tutorial: Customized Outdoor Bench Cushions

For a birthday present for my sister's boyfriend, we made him some bench cushions. He made the benches from scrap wood, a project that didn't cost him a dime (it did cost him some sweat, though). The wood was a bit splintered and was therefore not very comfortable to sit on. Splinters + bare legs = ouch!

We made a trip to Joann's, bought some indoor/outdoor fabric (50% off, holla!), sat down on foam in the middle of the aisle, bought the schtuff (40% off!) & went to work. This project may seem like a huge undertaking, but rest assured, this will only take a few hours!

*Photo heavy post!*

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$50 x 3 benches = $150

$29 x 3 benches = $87 at least

Here's how you can make your own customized cushions for less than buying them!

Sew the side just across from the fold and along one of the bottoms. Leave one short side entirely open.

To make the fabric take on a more boxed look, using the fabric from the long sides and the bottom sewn side, fold the fabric in a triangle against the seam. 

See below or here for a more detailed explanation on this technique.

Repeat for the other corner as well.

For finishing, I turned the fabric right side out and stuffed the foam inside. With the end edges, I folded the fabric like an envelope (see below) and pinned Velcro on the inside for an invisible finish.

Pinned Velcro, ready to sew. Notice how the Velcro spans the whole cushion.

 To make sewing the Velcro easier, I pushed the foam down and out of the way.

 I used a zig-zag stitch to secure the Velcro.

It looks something like this.

 To finish, fold in like an envelope, just like you did before pinning the Velcro.

This is what mine looked like finished.

Not even cute! So, we decided to sew some ourselves.

Linking up to:

IKEA Hack: Fabric Covered Cork Board Tutorial

Ever been to IKEA? Ever visited the IKEA Hackers site? Well, here's my hack. I bought three cork heat boards that I turned into fabric covered cork boards & you can too. Fully functional & pretty, not to mention super easy!

You'll need a hot glue gun, scissors, fabric, cork & a pen or fabric marker.

 Trace around the cork leaving about an inch of room all the way around.

Plug the hot glue gun in and allow it to warm up. Cut fabric. Turn upside down and place the cork on the fabric. Spread a strip of glue along the edge of the cork. Pull fabric up and smoosh onto the glue with your fingers.

This is what it will start to look like. Continue all the way around.

Here's the completed cork.

Repeat with the second one.

And the third.

I used my favorite secret weapon to hang these puppies: 3M Command Strips.

This whole craft cost me little over $3! They look great as wall art as well! Have a great day!