jayesel | one queen, two princesses & their jester

how to make a bench cushion without sewing! at all! and also a pillow!

Hey! Remember when I redid our office? And I promised to share details on how I made the cushion in the window seat? Yeah, so I completely forgot about it… sorry, man. LIFE. BUT HERE YOU GO!

Disclaimer: I do not sew, and I am really not all that crafty. I went into this Make A Cushion thing hoping for the best and fearing the worst. And the only reason I did it at all is because the window seat was a really weird size and to order a custom cushion would have probably cost me my marriage, so I opted to make one. I have no idea if I did it the best way possible (probably not!) and you may have a better method and are laughing at your computer screen at my ridiculous idea of Making A Cushion. But this is how I did it and it worked pretty well, at least for my purposes. It’s not a high-traffic room and nobody really sits on that cushion much anyway. If it were in our living room or something, my guess is it might not be holding up so well by now. But hey. It looks cute and it was easy and relatively cheap to make so I call it a WIN.

Okay! On to the tutorial!

The cushion is made of this fun, green foam stuff.

You can find it at the craft store and, as I found out, it comes in a dizzying array of shapes and thicknesses and it comes in different sized rolls and packages and ZOMG MY HEAD JUST EXPLODED. I had to do math in the foam aisle at the craft store and let’s just say it involved lots of sketching and scribbling on the teeny tiny post-it note I had with me. I finally settled on a few pre-cut/measured squares and decided I would just cut the extra squares to fit.

What did I cut them with, you ask? A bread knife! Worked great. I cut the pieces and fit them together like a puzzle, then glued them all with Gorilla Glue. Simple.

And underneath the foam you’ll see the batting. This is where I really wasn’t sure of the best thing to buy. I went with a roll of basic batting, middle of the road price and thickness from what I could see in the aisle of quilting stuff. I grabbed it and ran to the checkout. (I was still a little shaken up from my Math Incident in the green foam aisle.)

I dabbed some Gorilla Glue on the batting like so. Very precise and neat, as you can see (SNORT. I had this crap all over my hands by the end. DON’T BE LIKE ME. WEAR GLOVES OR SOMETHING.)

But really, it doesn’t have to be neat and clean. Just get some glue on the edge (you could use just about anything, I’d guess- fabric glue, etc. Or even double-sided craft tape? That would definitely be less messy!) and fold your batting up over the foam.

I did the same thing for the other side, then folded it up to meet the first side.

Obviously it doesn’t quite reach, but it doesn’t matter, really. This is the bottom! Once I added some glue to other two ends and folded them like I was wrapping a present, the top is just fine.

(You’ll see some rips in the batting there. I had a false start on my methods. Ignore those. Also, I ended up going back to the store and getting a second package of batting because one layer just wasn’t enough cushion-y softness. I just did the exact same thing with the second layer- glue, fold, voila!)

Now the fun part! Covering the whole thing in the pretty pretty fabric. Once the glue was dry, I laid out my (ironed!) fabric on the floor and placed the cushion on top, lining everything up so that the seam would be on the bottom.

The first thing I did was make a clean seam on the top edge of the fabric. I ran a bead of fabric glue along the underside, then folded it under. Then I put another bead of glue along the underside of THAT edge, then pressed that whole thing down onto the cushion.

See? Clean seam. Probably not necessary since it’ll be covered up, but all the ragged edges were driving me bananas.

I let the glue dry a bit on that first edge that was attached to the cushion. Then I flipped it over so I could make sure it would all wrap around okay when I did the next edge.

Starting to take shape! Yay!

Flipped it back over, and made another clean seam with the fabric glue- this one’s important because it will be on the outside.

Then I ran a bead of fabric glue all along that edge…

…and then folded it all over!

Okay. Now. This is like showing the internet a picture of me in my UNDERPANTS, because… well. It’s not very pretty. But it doesn’t matter. I folded and tucked the other edges over and under a few different ways, trying to avoid too much bulk and make it clean and neat. Then I glued the crap out of it.

Ugly. BUT LOOK.

Perfect.

One final secret: I stuck a few of these velcro-doo-dads on the bottom, just because immediately Maggie picked the cushion up and tried throwing it around the room and NO WAY MAN. And now it doesn’t move around when she climbs up there, either.

And just a fun add-on: I had extra fabric when I was done making the curtains for the room (using the No-Sew Method I found at Young House Love) and after I did this no-sew cushion I got a little crazy and decided to try covering a pillow with the fabric, using nothing but fabric glue and a prayer.

IT WORKED. I didn’t take any pictures along the way because I SERIOUSLY did not think it was going to work. But basically I just bought a pillow form at the craft store and followed instructions similar to these. Except instead of using a sewing machine, I used glue. And mine is permanent- I didn’t think ahead about making a nice flap so I can remove it and wash it. But since this particular pillow is just for show in the office, it’ll work. I love that little pillow.

scarf swap!

January 25th, 2012 in blog geek / photos

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Just a quick post today while I have some downtime at my office job (things have been CAH-RAY-ZEE in recent weeks but today I finally have some breathing room. To like, you know, do more then eat a 5 minute lunch and go pee a few times. heh.) I wanted to share with you the adorable and awesome scarves I got in the mail from Laura, my Scarf Swap buddy. (The Scarf Swap was organized by the lovely Raven, so thanks to her as well!)

Laura and I were randomly matched up for the swap, and here’s a fun fact: she lives like a mile from my grandfather. BLOGGING AND REAL LIFE COLLISION WHOA! Crazypants.

Anyway. The scarves! She sent two! And she MADE THEM herself! I am not crafty or sew-y so I bought mine. But I love love love having something handmade. And one of them is Steelers-themed, which I know pained her to do ;) so that makes it extra special.

(a quick cell phone pic I took before Maggie stole the gray scarf and pretty flowers from me. THAT GIRL, YOU GUYS.)

I feel so fancy. Are these too much to wear to Target or the grocery store?! :)

Maggie snippets

January 23rd, 2012 in Margaret Elise / motherhood

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This girl- even with her Drama and Whining Moments- is seriously a delight these days. She makes us laugh and she’s an amazing big sister and she’s just growing into such a neat kid. If I do say so myself :)

—

In the car: “Hey Mommy! Let’s play the Quiet Game! Whoever beeees the quietest wins!”

Audrey: “EEEE! BAAAAH! GARGHAGHAJAHGJMNAHGJAAALKJA&!&!^!”

Maggie: “…I think Audrey’s gonna lose.”

—

“Mommy, that guy [on the radio, with a deep, gravely voice] talks croaky.”

“Well everybody has a different voice… or maybe he has a cold like you do.”

“Yeah. It’s that time of year.”

—

I participated in the Scarf Swap that Raven organized (LOVE! I will have to post about that soon!) and when I got my package with two new scarves inside, Maggie was very intrigued. So I explained that I had some friends and we all decided to send each other a scarf as a surprise, just something fun to do.

Later, she saw some chips and snacks on the counter that we don’t normally have around. She asked, “Mommy, what are those? Are you having a Chip Swamp?”

—

A few weeks ago, we had… A Day. Everyone was tired and cranky and whiny and it was just not a good day. Eventually things got bad enough that I’D HAD IT WITH THE ATTITUDE FROM THE LITTLE PEOPLE, so I sent Maggie to her room. I won’t go into the details, but just trust me when I say it was for a very good reason. I filled Dan in on the details later that night.

The following evening, I was out and Dan was at home with the girls. Maggie brought up the incident and told Dan that I sent her to her room for “no reason”.

Dan, knowing the real story: “Oh, really? Well, that’s odd that Mommy would send you to your room for no reason. We’ll have to ask her about it when she gets home.”

Maggie: “No… I don’t think she’ll remember.”

Dan: “Oh, she’ll probably remember. We can ask her about it.”

Maggie: [silence] “… No. I… I don’t think we should ask her about it.”

Then the subject was never spoken of again.

—

Things have greatly improved on the Picky Eating Front in recent months, but we still have meals where it seems we’re begging her to eat every single bite. One night she claimed she was “full!” and then immediately asked for a treat. We of course pointed out that if she was too full to finish her dinner, then she was too full to have a treat.

“Well… actually my Food Stomach is full [puts her hand up by her neck] but my Treat Stomach is still empty [puts her hand down by her waist].”

We gave her an A for effort… but she did NOT get a treat.

recipe: greek yogurt dip

January 18th, 2012 in photos / recipes

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In my quest to eat a little better and lose this last fifteen pounds of baby weight before my baby ~~goes off to college~~ turns two, I’m on the hunt for healthy snacks. I like snacks. And I need them. I can’t go more than 2 hours or so without needing food of some kind. I’m like a newborn! Except for the sleep and needing diapers thing, of course.

Anyway. So I went back into my recipe folders and found this and realized it would be a perfect thing to keep on hand. Loaded with protein and veggies and FLAVOR, this stuff is so so good. Very refreshing to snack on, with veggies, preferably, but some whole wheat crackers or pita chips would work too.

(I love crackers.)

Basically just mix it all up and eat it. YUM.

Greek Yogurt Dip

Ingredients
1 cup plain non-fat Greek style yogurt
1 avocado, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup cucumber, finely chopped
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste

Preparation
Mix everything together in a small bowl. Chill and serve with crackers or veggies.

snow: burns like fire or fun family playtime? experiment number two

January 17th, 2012 in life / photos

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Maggie didn’t make it out into the snow until she was almost two. Between the timing of her birthday and sicknesses and when the snow came that following winter, it just never worked out before then. But it was completely worth it, because I got what is probably Top 5 Favorite Pictures Ever As A Parent.

I mean, really. DRAMA. QUEEN.

She wasn’t a fan of the snow… and to be honest, three years later, she’s still not a fanatic about sled riding or throwing snowballs or building a snowman. I mean, she’ll do it, but she lasts about 30 minutes and then she’s done. Ready to go inside. The end.

She’s kind of a girly girl.

Anyway, so this weekend we finally had enough snow to make it worthwhile bundling everybody up and heading outside. It was Audrey’s first time playing in the snow (I don’t count last year when we took her outside for 5 minutes in her adorable but not really practical snowsuit for babies.) so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. We already know that Audrey is More Insane And Crazy than Maggie was at this age, but still: snow is cold and wet and might be kind of overwhelming for a 16 month old.

Sadly, I did not get any screamy-baby pictures of Audrey. Because she was pretty much digging it.

(and yes, that’s the same hat Maggie wore. aw.)

She was a little bit unsure about walking in it, but she didn’t cry or act like we were burning her with fire or anything (I’M LOOKIN’ AT YOU, TODDLER-MAGGIE)

Although she was Zen Baby when it came to sled riding, which cracks me up. She looks so confused.

WHY ARE WE OUT HERE? THE SUN IS TOO BRIGHT. MY HAT IS ITCHY. WHY ARE YOU ‘WHEEEEEEING’ AT ME? GET ME A SNACK, WOMAN.

Maggie dumped Audrey into the snow face-first about a minute after I took this picture. She definitely wasn’t a fan of that.

But she sure looked cute in her little hat.

Maggie, I’m happy to report, no longer screams in the snow. There is whining (because when you’re four, there is ALWAYS WHINING.) but overall, much fun was had.

And this last picture made me wheeze-laugh because: REALLY MAGGIE? The hill is about 4 feet long and you could see the grass. That level of excitement is probably a little bit much.

So! We got our snow fix. We’re done. WHEN IS SPRING?

cousins

January 16th, 2012 in Margaret Elise / motherhood / photos

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Maggie, Wednesday night at dinner: “Mommy, do you have any plans on Saturday?”

(Um. When did she turn twelve? All proper and fancy with her speaking. Geez.)

When I told her no, we didn’t have any major plans, she immediately sprung her brilliant plan on us: a playdate with her cousin! Yes! Mom! Please!

A few texts and a phone call later, and Madison was coming over to play.

Madison is my cousin’s daughter, only eleven months older than Maggie. Maddy and Maggie been in daycare/preschool together since they were both babies. She’s in kindergarten now but still comes to daycare a few afternoons a week, so they still see each other quite a bit. And apparently cooked up this playdate idea all on their own last week. LOVE IT.

There was much giggling and squealing and about six outfit changes each and Audrey followed them around for about three hours. They sat, huddled together over a My Little Pony Nintendo DS game.

I gotta say- it was VERY NICE to have someone entertaining Maggie for the afternoon. SHE GETS BORED OF US AND EVERYTHING AND HER TOYS AND LIFE. Suddenly with Madison around, her old boring toys (that she got 3 weeks ago at Christmas) were Super Awesome Things again. And you know, it was nice to sit on the couch for a little while and do nothing while Audrey napped and the girls played. AAAAAAAHHH.

They colored in Maggie’s new Barbie fashion stencil book. Very Important Decisions about colors and patterns and outfits.

Some of my favorite memories growing up are with my own cousins- Madison’s mom included!- so I am thrilled that Maggie has such a close friend who is also family. As I watched them play and listened to them giggling and whispering over who-knows-what, I imagined what they might be like in another ten years. Still friends? Still whispering secrets and giggling? Still bugging my cousin and me for a playdate?

I kind of really hope so.

just a Thursday

January 12th, 2012 in Audrey Lynn / Margaret Elise / motherhood / photos

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My lovely friend Keli inspired me to get my camera out today. I have been less-than-motivated to take pictures lately, mostly because OMGTHEBUSY! and a lot of days I’m just lucky to snap a few shots on my cellphone. But she posted some gorgeous photos of her girls earlier this week so I decided to follow the girls around for a bit today with my camera. Thursdays are the only day through the week when we are HOME! ALL DAY! HOORAY! No work! No daycare! No preschool! No errands!

It was fun. And it felt really good to take pictures.