New Bench

I've been feeling pretty crafty lately and decided that I would make myself a small bench out of some speakers that my parents were going to get rid of.  In total, the whole project only cost me about $40 (I didn't really count the full price of the staple gun I bought since I'll use it again).  My wise, business-minded husband likes to say, Time is Money.  Well, when you don't have a lot of money, you make time.  I described to a friend that I like things.  I'm materialistic.  I admit it.  I just don't like to spend a lot of money on things.  You can say YOLO all you want, but at least I'm crafty about it.

I purchased 2.25 yd of fabric at $12/yd, originally $19.99/yd. I wanted to add some color to my room, but totally forgot when purchasing the fabric.  When I got back to my office, I realized that I had bought the same tan-beige color that EVERYTHING in our apartment seems to be.  Old habits die hard.  I'll have to get some colorful throw pillows.  I ended up only using about a yard of the fabric so I saved the rest to do another upholstering project that I had in mind.

I also purchased a staple gun for $19.99 at Home Depot, two foam pads for $6.00 (more about that later) and a pre-cut piece of MDF for $4.39.  I also got some brackets to attach the board to the speakers.  With a $5.99 can of spray paint and a hot glue gun in my hand, I was ready.

I also bought some notions to make matching buttons and wax thread to do the tufting. 

Let me tell you about this foam.  It comes in a 22x22x2 square form for $11.99 at Joann's.  You can also buy the foam by the yard for $19.99 (prices may vary).  I thought that this was pretty ridiculous.  The reason I craft is so that I don't have to pay a premium for the things I want.  YOLO be damned.  At $12 a square, the foam was going to throw me over the budget of what I could buy premade in a store.  I went back to my office and looked at Home Depot's website to see if they had any mattress padding since I had to go there after work anyway for the board.  When I got to Home Depot I asked an employee if she had any foam.  She showed me where it was stored, under a bunch of carpet rolls.  They were filthy, but I thanked her.  When she walked away I crawled under the carpet roll and pulled out a pack of new foam.  While I was at it, I saw that the foam  price was hidden under the carpet spool and was listed at $5.99/piece.  I just about jumped up and down for joy right there.  I couldn't believe it.  Half the price of Joann's and I was back on budget.  I called my Mom no less than two times to tell her about the amazing deal.   

I used my hot glue gun to hold down the fabric and then stapled it on.

I had read a tutorial on tufting and got myself wax thread so that it would prevent slipping and long needles to go through the board and foam.  Nick forgot his Makita at his office so I tried using a nail to poke a hole through the board.  That worked well to get the needle through the foam and string on the button, but on the way back down I couldn't find the tiny hole in the board to thread it through.  So while my intentions were good and I was trying to make a proper tuft, I resorted in taking the same nail and driving it into the MDF board from the top and then hot gluing the button on.  One day the buttons may pop off, but I'll deal with them when that day comes.  Tufting, smufting. 

The finished product.  I thought about keeping the speakers their original dark wood color, but the champagne paint really pulled the whole thing together.