Garage Sale Fetish!

Garage sales, car boot sales, flea markets, antique markets, estate sales…… It doesn't matter what you call them, I am addicted to them all.
This past summer I spent almost every weekend touring my local area for garage sales and picked up these three projects (along with many other items!).
They were fast, easy and most of all fun!
This was my first project.  Found at an estate sale in the huge pile of junk he was sending to the dump.  When I asked if I could have it, he decided he was going to sell it to me…. go figure.  But I bought it anyway for $5.

I took it home, sanded it down to the original bare wood and painted it white.  I cut a cute crown out of vinyl  and added it to the seat.  And you can't have a crown without a little bling!

This second one was re-done for my daughter's living room.  I love the cute London black cab fabric that I used on this one.

This one was also very easy to do.  I unscrewed the legs and scuffed them up a little just so the paint would adhere to the wood.  I then painted them black to match the black on the fabric.  I removed the old fabric and cushion from the stool and replaced it with new padding before adding the new print.

I like the product to also be finished on the underside so I cut a piece of lining to cover the wood and open seams of the print fabric and tacked it down with my staple gun.

And finally the kitchen stool that I found at an antique store in Nanton, AB.  The original screws were the wrong size and screwed in with small wood blocks which looked messy (see photo).  I removed the faux leather and the original padding and added new cushion padding and covered it to match my daughter's kitchen chairs that I recovered a few months ago.

Sadly, garage sale season is over for this year, but I do have a few projects left to do (weather permitting).  I will be back on the hunt for more items come Spring.

Bench Cushion

My daughter received this adorable bench from a friend when she moved into her new home and she wanted a cushion for it so she could use it for extra seating.  In keeping with the British theme in her family room, she got some fabric from her MIL in the UK and I made her this cute bench cushion.

I purchased a large piece of 1.5" thick foam and using a very sharp knife cut it to size 24"x11".

Then I proceeded to cut the fabric to fit.  Two pieces 24.5"x11.5" for the top and bottom, two pieces each 26"x 2" and 13"x2" for the sides.  I then cut some red piping to fit the top layer of the cushion all around.

I sewed the piping to the top 24.5"x11.5" piece of fabric.

The proceeded to sew the sides onto the top piece of the bench cushion, leaving the corners open until the end.

Once all four sides were sewn together I went back and closed up each corner making sure to match the seams.

Here is the finished product.  And it looks adorable on the little bench in her family room.

I just love this fabric; very modern art deco way of showcasing the British flag.  The material was top quality and so easy to work with.