Spring Break and a Staple Gun

One of the joys of working at a year round school is. . . well. . . the schedule!  We are in session for 9 weeks, with 3 week breaks in between!  This happens to be week 1 of my 3 week spring break!!!  A magical thing happens to my brain while on break.  I am no longer spending my creative energy on my class, so I have to find some way to channel all of my creativity!!!

I went to an estate sale a while back and bought a stepstool for $2.  I saw it.  I loved it.  It was hideous and I had to have it!  My then boyfriend (now husband) shook his head in shame as I loaded it into my car.  But I could see past the smelly, mothballed exterior.  I saw the potential for greatness.

Isn't it a beauty!?

I started by taking out all of the little nails that were holding the fabric on.  The padding underneath was fine, so rather than replace it, I decide to just cover over it.  If you decide to recover something like this footstool, it is a good idea to keep the original fabric to use as a template for your new fabric.  It's way easier than trying to eyeball it. 

I painted the legs white with gray tips to match the awesome pink and gray fabric I picked out.  I have way more fabric than projects, because I can never decide on which pattern to get!  I end up with one project and 3 different fabrics.  So I just store them away and wait for another project to come along.

Once the legs had dried and I had cut out my new fabric, I broke out the big guns.

I had never used a staple gun!!  If you haven't either, trust me. . . it's addictive.  I want to upholster everything!!  I flipped my stool upside down on the fabric and started stapling my way around it. The biggest trick here is to pull tight as you go, so it doesn't have any wrinkles in the fabric when you flip it right side up.

After a few staples and lots of love, this is the final product!

See. . . there's nothing a little paint, fabric, and a whole lotta love can't fix!