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Poof! There it is!
I made a poof! Seriously, I did. I am NOT a seamstress by any means. I do not sew regularly and my seams are horrible BUT I am good with my hands and I do own a sewing machine. Best purchase I ever made in my twenties by the way.
Payam was shredding old bills and papers from 2008 or something because we are doing a big garage remodel (post to come soon) and we were getting rid of old boxes and things. I walked in to see this bag of shredded paper and I started imagining that I could cover it and make it into a poof. Doesn’t it look like one already? I did re-upholster a couch once upon a time…how hard could it be?! The more I looked at that bag the more possible it seemed. A challenge reared its head!
Next I had to find fabric. Old curtains perhaps? I cut two circles out of one curtain and then sewed the other curtain to one circle. It was wonkey to be sure but poofs are wonkey by nature? If all else failed it could be a bean bag or even a dog bed if it listed to flatness…
Then I cut the newly sewed curtain that was now the side of the poof to the size I wanted the poof and sewed it to the other circle. I only had to rip out my seams three times because I sewed everything wrong the first time, like you do.
(Would it hurt me to smile? I never realize how much I have resting bitch face until I see pictures like this. Inside I am actually smiling and quite cheerful about my accomplishment but in real life I look like I’ve just found the stink everyone was looking for. Here it is!)
Then we stuffed the poof sack with shredded bills and papers! Stuff, stuff, stuff! Who knew shredded paper could make such great stuffing! It’s not waterproof or washable in any way (Please dogs, don’t pee on it!) but it holds it’s form! Who knew! It’s not a bean bag or a dog bed. It’s a poof!
It looks a little like a cylindrical garbage bag (the color choice could have been better but these were the curtains we had on hand that weren’t being needed anymore) but it works great. Even Lucy approves.
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Bug Gets a Chalkboard in her Room.
From time to time I like to rearrange things in my house and purge out all the unnecessary flotsam and jetsam that gets piled up without anyone really noticing it. This past weekend Bug got her turn. I’ve been nagging her to clean up her room but it always seemed to be impossible for her because she never has enough room to put everything.
You know what that means! Add on another room? Nope! It’s time to purge because there must be a place for everything and everything must be in it’s place. I am so much fun that way.
So we decided to rearrange! She’s really into gaming and she does her homework in her room now with her computer so she needed more desk space. We needed to make a little office in her room so we did what we always do: we flipped the expedit bookcase! It was vertical (see below).
Now it’s horizontal! And since space is tight we put her desk on top of the expedit bookcase, creating a tiny little nook with some slide-around work space to the side of her. It’s tight but super functional. Especially since we moved the rug over that was seriously hindering her chair-sliding mobility.
Then, since we were fixing things, we decided to take the old frame that used to be Bug’s faux headboard (That thing has nine lives.) and make it into a chalkboard, which is something she’s wanted since day one. It was really cool as a headboard but unfortunately it was never bolted in correctly and every time the bed got pushed up against it too hard, it would wedge out dangerously. It was just kind of a pain in the head.
We had bought the chalkboard paint way back when we first painted Bug’s room but we ended up not using it because we were worried about chalk dust and it just looked weird painting a square randomly on the wall. Now, however, we had this big picture frame just sitting around waiting for a new use so we decided to use it to frame in the chalkboard. We’re still worried about chalk dust but using this frame kind of keeps the dust contained a little. Bug can just wipe the bottom of the frame with a damp cloth instead of her floor and bed which is much easier.
Payam bolted the frame into studs in the wall so it really won’t budge and then Bug and Payam got busy with the black chalkboard paint. We waited a day for the paint to cure properly and then Bug primed it with a layer of chalk. It wasn’t as much work as I was worried it would be.
Now her room is much tidier (we got rid of a ton of out-grown clothes and books that she doesn’t read) and it looks a tiny bit better. She still has a ton of stuff but what can you do with a ten-year-old pack rat? Actually, she has gotten so much better at throwing stuff out. She used to be super attached to anything that had a face, no matter what it was. Now she at least can pass things on to people she knows will appreciate them as much as she did.
That’s that! Bug is happy as a clam with her new chalkboard! Now it’s time to make one for Joon.
