Tufting Lessons - Or What NOT To Do

Ok, FIRST OF ALL, I carried that one hundred ton headboard upstairs all by myself. That's the big deal here. Points.

But before I even covered it, I measured (gasp!) and marked the spots for the -- tufting buttons? -- what are they called? And I drilled holes in the MDF before covering. Behold.

Transported upstairs! ALL BY MYSELF!

And it sat there behind the bed sadly untufted for weeks.

I had already made the buttons, which was really fun and slightly mind-blowing. I went to the craft store last month with no clue what to buy for tufting buttons.  After staring at all the actual buttons I found this kit to make fabric covered buttons.  Seriously, guys, I had no idea this technology existed.  I brought it home to give it a try and just LOOK how fun and easy it is.

I finally found a long enough needle to do the tufting. Kind of. Mostly. The longest actual needles I could find in the stores were four inches long. This is something called a Ball Point Bodkin. (A quick Google taught me that bodkins are used for pulling ribbons or elastic or whatever you want I guess through fabric corridors. Fascinating.) I still had to really push it through and then pull out the other side because I clearly made the whole thing too thick.

LESSON ONE: You do not need heavy MDF. Use plywood.

LESSON TWO:  You do not need 4" padding. Use 2". It will be fine. No. It will be BETTER.


For the actual tufting, I turned to the internet. The internet actually had lots of ideas about how to secure the thread to the back of the headboard, because the internet is smart.  My favorite plan suggested I tie a washer to a piece of heavy duty thread, send it through the back with my needle (bodkin), grab the button, push the thread back through, pull taut for the tufting effect, and tie the loose end to the washer to keep it tight. Love it! And I had washers so didn't even need to go to the store.

When I finished with them all, there were buttons evenly spaced, but not really tufted. It was difficult to tie the string to the washer after threading the button while simultaneously keeping it pulled tight through that four inch upholstery foam. (Seriously. Don't use that. Use something else.) Still pretty.  But I wanted that bounce, y'all.

I figured out that I could pull the washers a bit and then duct tape them to the MDF board to get a little more tufting action. Voila.

RECAP: This the opposite of the correct way to tuft a headboard. It doesn't need to be so big. I bought this cool french hook clasp thing to hang it on the wall but it is so big that it just sits on the floor. It doesn't need to be so heavy. Regular plywood is much lighter. It might be a little bendy at first but once you staple the batting around the foam, and then add fabric, I'm sure it will steady itself. Don't use four inch think foam. This headboard is super padded, and that's nice and all, but I think it could be just as padded with half the foam, and I would have been able to use a regular upholstery needle. Learn from my mistakes.

Back From LA

Back on the East Coast, hoping Sheryl Crowe's 'All I Wanna Do' will finally get OUT OF MY HEAD. We were actually in West Hollywood (or WeHo, which I refuse to say). And we kept crossing Santa Monica Blvd, so OBVIOUSLY that song would get stuck in my head for days. That part was less than awesome (sorry, Ms. Crowe).

Had a blast regardless of my brain's attempted musical sabotage. We lucked into the cutest hotel, the Palihotel on Melrose. It had accordion lamps at the bedside, a cute desk with a fun metal chair and an Edison lightbulb lamp (that was impossible to capture on the iphone camera), and a patio full of succulents. It also had a fun blue velvet tufted couch that I apparently forgot to photograph, but it was like all of my favorite things in one room.

Aside from the LA toursity tapings we attended (Craig Ferguson and Wayne Brady's Let's Make a Deal), we got to know the neighborhood surrounding the hotel. My favorite surprise was a fun flea/antique/handmade market Sunday morning two blocks down Melrose.

There were so many things there that I loved, including this beauty that just wouldn't fit in the overhead bin for the plane trip home.

But I did pick up a few things to bring home, including five gorgeous terrariums. Succulents, of course, because that is clearly how LA rolls.  We packed them all nice in bubble wrap, as they are glass and we were scared. Husband and I had different flights, but he was checking bags, so we decided he would bring them on board as his carry on to keep them safe.

The terrariums were pretty much glass spheres with openings on the side, hung from twine, with succulents planted in a bit of soil covered with pretty rocks and moss. The two smallest just had air plants sitting on top of colored sand with some colorful moss. Husband didn't break a single one on the trip home, but he did turn the bag sideways to fit it under the seat in front of him. Remember I said they were spheres? Filled with dirt and sand and rocks? Know what happens to tiny things when you turn them sideways inside round things? Yep. I REALLY wish I had taken a picture of them when we bought them.

I am kind of surprised they weren't worse:

I found them on etsy and realized that these are usually sent through the mail as build-your-own terrariums so I tried my best to put them back together again.

I hung them in the kitchen, and they make me very happy in the mornings. They look best when the sun streams through the window at about 8:15 - 8:25am. I never can work buttons that early so you'll have to use your imagination.

And now I can't find them again on etsy so I hope they're ok....

AT Style Cure Day 21: Oh No, I'm Not Finished!

Apartment Thereapy Style Cure Day 21: Post Your 'After' Pics

I got a lazy at the end and also realized I needed to do things like pack and vacuum before the house sitters (brother and SIL, I'm not fancy) come this weekend, so the room isn't finished. I DID manage to upholster a giant peice of MDF for a headboard. It is currently in position but just leaning against the wall.

I fully intend to tuft it and hang it on the wall. I even made the buttons.

Unfortunately, the longest needle I have isn't long enough. (I think I made the headboard extra padded, which I am ok with.) And tonight I pack because tomorrow I leave so a trip to the fabric store is not near future.

HOWEVER. I still dig the whole Style Cure because it got all the crap out of the room, and it got me thinking about design and function in that space. One month just isn't long enough. Maybe by the end of September...

Way Behind on the Style Cure!!

What do they say about Good Intentions? Something about the headboard on your dining room table is there because you are a slacker, right?

I have been trying to follow the Apartment Therapy Style Cure all month, but I got lost somewhere. Also, there is a lot of sitting and thinking at the beginning of the month, which is easy. And a lot of hurrying to get everything in place at the end of the month, which is time consuming.

And now there is a headboard on my dining room table.

And it's reaaaaaaally heavy. And not even finished. Oops.

Amazing Broccoli Salad to Make for People You Like

(Apartment Therapy Day 15: Catch up. I'm as caught up as I have time or money to be so I'm hopping off of the Cure train for now.)

How about instead I make broccoli salad for the fantasy football draft I am attending tomorrow night? This broccoli salad tastes best after chilling for 24 hours, so I always try to make this the day before. Hre's how you do it, for a crowd. Make broccoli salad, I mean.

Ingredients:

First, like all good recipes, cook some bacon. Since this bacon is to be crumbled anyway, I chop it first.

That was a 16 ounce package of bacon for those of you keeping track at home.

Next, trim the trees. Or chop the broccoli, Dana Carvey-style. Your choice.

The wine glass is there for scale (and for my enjoyment). That's how much broccoli you need.*

Ok, next chop half of a giant red onion. Or a whole tiny red onion. Or 2/3 of a medium red onion. It looks like this.

Some people like measuring.  Beware -- it might be sad.

Onions are stupid. 

Now put this stuff together.

Almost a cup of Splenda. But only sprinkle some in at a time.

Half a cup of reduced fat mayo. But don't be cray and think that's all the mayo that's going in this concoction. It's two cups, a half at a time for mixing purposes. And put a bunch of the onions in. And about two capfuls of vinegar. I used apple cider but I don't really care what kind you use. Also, add fresh ground pepper each time you add the mayo. I took that picture before I added the pepper. Pretend there is pepper in there.

Add 8 oz of cheese because cheese. Add a bunch of the crumbled bacon. You crumbled that, right?

 Looking delish.

Rinse and repeat the mayo/splenda/pepper/capful of vinegar dance until you've done this four times total with a half cup mayo each time. And make sure the rest of the onions and bacon gets in there. (STOP EATING THE BACON. PUT IT IN THE BOWL.)

Then add another half package of cheddar because CHEESE. But just a half.

Stir, stir, stir. I usually need to separate it and stir in another bowl.

Then put it back together for that magic.

This yummy (not at all healthy) broccoli salad is my go-to 'please bring a side'-side. If I like the people I am visting, anyway. If I don't, I'm probably just going to buy some macaroni salad at Harris Teeter on the way to the loser's party. And then I'll leave early.

*I don't possess the skills to cook for less than ten people. Since my husband and I live alone most of the year, we usually have leftovers.

**My husband who reads cookbooks for fun and reads recipes ALL THE WAY THROUGH suggested I mix the Splenda and vinegar and mayo together first, in a seperate bowl. This sounds smart. I think you should try it.

AT Style Cure Day 14: Feng Shui ALL DAY

Apartment Therapy Style Cure Day 14: Go with the Flow

Apartment Therapy has a lovely lesson on 'room flow' here.

It's a nice read, but I didn't think it applied in a room as small as the guest bedroom. But then I thought about the other possible configurations. I didn't like the bed in the corner because it slightly blocked the window. However, while thinking of water running through the room, or 'chi', or energy, or the universal vibes, man....what was I saying? Oh yeah, I realized that if the bed was in the corner then any couple staying with me would have one person crawling over the other if said person needed to get up in the night. Now, they might be into that sort of thing. Or they might just have to pee. No one likes crawling over others on airplanes, so why would they like it in my fancy new guest room? I don't think they would. So I feel good about my flow, yo.

In the interest of doing something, I changed the almond colored outlets to white. Except for the spinny thing that controls the fan -- gotta find a white knob that fits.

I also learned that I only have four outlets in this room. And one is right by the doorway so only makes sense for the vacuum cleaner. Maybe I need a neon sign or something on that wall.

I ALSO accidentally did this while my DVR was meant to be recording 'So You Think You Can Dance'. Luckily that show is super padded with crabcake filler, but I did miss Fik-shun's dance. Which I was not happy about.  #teamjasmine