Trailer Renovations part 2

Well I finally did it! I changed out the flooring in the kitchen area of our fifth wheel! I've been wanting to tackle this project for a long time but I just never got around to it. We originally had planned to use laminate flooring because it was easy to install and looked really nice. Unfortunately after we brought a box of the laminate floor planks home, we realized our slide out probably wouldn't slide over the boards because they were too thick. So I went to our local Menard's and picked out the same style and color flooring that I originally wanted, but got the box of planks in vinyl instead of the laminate.

The first thing I did was find out how many square feet I needed to cover which was around 36sq feet. I ended up buying two boxes of vinyl planks and had maybe one or two pieces left when I was finished. Now a lot of vinyl planks are self-sticking so all you have to do is peel off the backing and then stick your floor down, but of course the one color and style I picked out is the only one that wasn't a self-stick. I bought the recommended 'Pressure-Sensitive Flooring Adhesive' and headed straight home to get started. 

The thing that made this project so easy, was that the vinyl planks I got said you could lay them down right over linoleum, no subfloor needed. I just cleaned the floor really well, making sure there was no dirt or grease stuck in any corners and then laid down a pattern. Now I'm not a professional so I'm sure there was a different way to do this, but the way I did it worked for me. No complaints over here!

My pattern is staggered by at least 6 inches for each main plank.

I measured and cut the end pieces and glued them down until the entire floor was covered! Now we just need to caulk the edges and our kitchen has once again transformed! 

DIY EasyThrow Pillow

I may be slightly obsessed with throw pillows. Unfortunately, they can be kind of expensive. I found this one on Wanelo and decided I could probably make it myself for a lot cheaper! The best part is you don't have to sew anything!

Supplies Needed:

3/4 yard Felt or 8 pre-cut squares

cheap pillow

hot glue gun

The first step is to cut out a whole bunch of felt in the shape of a house. I cut out about 20 pieces of one size and 20 of the same shape but a little smaller. I just eye-balled the size and shape. 

Then take a medium sized bowl and trace it to cut out a circle.

Place a large dot of hot glue in the bottom center of your house and then fold it in half. This will create a little dimension in each petal.

You will want your pinched part of the petal to be facing down, so get more hot glue and place it in the bottom corners of your petal. 

Start of by putting your petals in the 12 O'Clock, 3 O' Clock, 6 O'Clock, and 9 O'Clock, this will keep your petals a little more even. After you've done that, fill in the rest of your circle and start a new row. 

I only did two rows of the bigger sized petals and then started my third row off with the smaller sized petals. Keep making rows of the smaller petals until your circle is filled in. 

To make the center of the flower, take a piece of your leftover scraps from your petals and start to roll it up. Once you roll it up a couple times, fold the roll in half so you have two little centers and finish wrapping the rest of the felt around the two little flower centers.

Take some more scraps and cut little triangles and then glue them around your center piece. Cut out some small house shaped pieces and glue them around the center as well. This will help blend your center piece with the rest of the flower. 

Glue down your flower center to your petals and your flower is complete!

Take an extra square pillow that you have lying around and glue your flower to the center and that's it! you're done! All for about $6.

Now if you don't have any extra square pillow lying around you can easily make one. If you can sew a straight line you can make a pillow. Cut of the fabric to the size you want, place right sides together and sew all your edges except one corner. You'll want to leave about a 5 inch gap so you can stuff polyester filling into your pillow.

After your pillow is stuffed, fold the edges of the gap in so you can finish sewing it closed.

Hot glue your flower on and your pillow is done! 

You can always mess around with the petal shape to create different looking flowers. I made a second pillow and made a more rounded petal and it turned at way cute!

DIY Tufted Ottoman

My next project is a tufted ottoman. I searched and searched all over for the perfect ottoman for our fifth wheel trailer but I just couldn't seem to find one that would fit nicely in the living area. I wanted one with storage for all our extra throw blankets and our new couch is pretty tall, especially when it's sitting up on the slide out ledge. After I couldn't find one for a reasonable price that could meet my requirements I decided to make one myself! Here's the finished product.

                           

Supplies needed:

Storage chest 

Foam pad

Upholstery thread

1 1/2 yard fabric

Round decorative buttons

Regular buttons

Spray paint or wood Stain (optional)

Sand paper (optional)

Long needle 

Tools needed:

Power drill

1" paddle drill bit

Staple gun

First, remove all the hardware from your chest. I also took the lid completely off so I could cover it with the fabric easier. Then cut out your foam pad so it's almost the same size as your lid. I made mine just a tiny bit smaller. I used a 3" poly foam chair pad from hobby lobby which worked great. 

After your foam is cut to the right size you will need a ruler or something with a straight edge so you can make your tuft pattern. I just eye balled the pattern but if you want your tufts to be more precise you can figure out the exact measurements and go from there. After you draw your pattern on the foam you need to take a 1" paddle drill bit and make holes wherever your lines cross. Make sure you only use the paddle drill bit on the foam and not through the whole lid. This is what your pattern should look like. 

This is just a rough sketch, you'll want to complete your lines across your entire foam pad.

After your 1" holes are made, take a regular drill bit and make small holes in the same pattern as on your foam. You'll want to make sure they are lined up really good so your tufts are even. I didn't get a picture taken at this point so here is a picture from another blog post that I used as a guideline.

You can check out their blog post here.

After all the holes are drilled you're halfway there! Get your thread and needle and tie a regular button on the end of the thread. The regular button is going to be used like a washer. It will keep your decorative button tight and in place on the top of your ottoman. I wanted to be as thrifty as possible so instead of spending a lot of money on buttons I went to my local craft store and picked some out of the button basket.

Start on the top middle hole and thread your needle through the lid and the foam and lastly your decorative button. Thread it back down through the same hole and tie it off on the regular button underneath. You'll want to make sure your decorative button is pushed down all the way through your hole in the foam so it creates nice tufts. I couldn't get them down tight enough by myself so I recruited my husband to help with this part. After all your decorative buttons are in place your tufts should all be done! This is what it looks like from the inside of the lid, not very pretty but you can cover it up with another board or some fabric. I just left mine how it is because I'm the only one who will ever see underneath the lid. Staple the extra fabric under the lid so it's all tucked away.

The last part is optional, spray paint or stain the bottom half of your chest and let it dry for a few hours. After it's completely dry, lightly sand over some of the box so it looks distressed and not all a solid color. Replace your hardware and reattach the lid and you're done! It's that easy! Here's a before and after picture.