How To Recover an IKEA Poang Chair

Before our first baby was born, we purchased an IKEA Poang chair for the nursery. You've probably seen these chairs - definitely a little plain. At first glance I thought they were pretty strange looking, but they are surprisingly comfortable and come with a really great price tag!

The nursery is grey, so we opted for a black frame with the off-whiteish cushion.

Well, after 2 years and baby #2 was born, I decided that I was tired of the plain chair. Not to mention that it really didn't look that great in the nursery, especially with the monogrammed pillow given to Anna by some sweet friends! 

I found some pink & grey twill zigzag fabric on Fabric.com that I thought would work. The fabric was on sale at the time, so it was a really cheap way to update the nursery. 

Since the fabric is 56" wide, I only needed 2 yards to cover the chair. I loosely based my project on this tutorial found on Stickelberry, but since my fabric was a different width I modified it slightly.

First, I laid out the whole piece, marked the middle, and cut it in half. Then, I put one piece face up, laid the cushion on top, then put the other piece of fabric face down. I marked the top piece of fabric near the velcro on the cushion and cut that. 

So, I then had 3 pieces of fabric: one really long piece on the front, and two smaller pieces for the back. I folded the two back pieces down twice and hemmed. (I know this isn't very detailed, but really, the tutorial I referenced is very thorough on these steps.

Next, I pinned & sewed the longer of the back fabrics to the front fabric. Then, I laid it on the floor again, laid the cushion inside, and pinned the top of the back fabrics to the front fabric. I wanted the seams to be at the ends of the cushion. I also sewed the velcro strip at this time.

Once I had a big piece of fabric, I just needed to sew up the side seams. I like things to be pretty exact, so I measured the cushion width to be 24.5" wide. This would provide a snug fit for the cushion. I pinned, measured, and marked the fabric to be 24.5" wide on the bottom half of the cover. After sewing that, I stuffed the cushion inside just to verify the width. (It would have been much easier to rip it then if I had to - but I didn't - it was a great fit!) I then pinned, measured, and marked the top part.

I sewed diagonally across the corners since they're rounded, trimmed the edges down to a smaller seam allowance, flipped it, then stuffed the cushion inside. And - TA-DA! A brand new looking chair with a removable cover!

{Note: I'm not claiming this to be a tutorial since the one at Stickelberry is already excellent. I realize that pictures and my description are not as thorough as they could be. However, if you have any questions at all please contact me & I'll do my best to help!}

Linking up at C.R.A.F.T., Skip To My Lou, Sew Can Do, and i should be mopping the floor.

Homemade Hand Soap

Since sharing yesterday about homemade all-purpose cleaner, I thought I'd follow up with another way to use Dr. Bronner's castile soap. I'm a little skeptical of all the uses listed on the bottle (toothpaste, anyone?), but I'm willing to try using it for lots of other cleaning uses.

Hand soap is another area I wanted to experiment with. Paying $1-$2 per bottle wasn't that appealing to me, plus I loved the idea of a safer soap. This is even easier than yesterday's cleaner.

All you need for the hand soap:

• foaming soap dispenser. I bought some Method soap from Target just for this & am now reusing the bottle.
• castile soap in your favorite scent (I use Dr. Bronner's citrus scent.)
• water

Fill the dispenser about 2/3 to 3/4 full of water. Top with the castile soap. That's it! 

I've noticed this soap almost seems a little "sticky" when I'm using it, but my hands feel clean. 

Have you ever used castile soap? What's your favorite use? I'm always looking for more ideas!

Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner

Ever since the little guy's been around, I've been a lot more conscious of what kinds of things I'm using around the house. While vinegar is definitely a favorite cleaner & can do pretty much anything, I wanted to something a little different for our everyday all-purpose cleaner.

Enter Dr. Bronner's castile soap. A quick Google search gives you all kinds of amazing uses, but my first use of it was for regular, all-purpose cleaner. To make this cleaner, you need:

• an empty spray bottle. Mine came from The Dollar Tree.
• castile soap. Dr. Bronner's is reasonably priced & can be found just about anywhere.
• tea tree oil. A little pricey, but lasts forever.
• water

Fill your bottle about 3/4 the way up with water. Make sure you add the water first!! Otherwise there are too many suds. Top with soap & about 10-12 drops of tea tree oil. The soap & water are your cleaner & the tea tree oil adds antibacterial properties. Tada, you're done! 

If you use a scented soap, your cleaner even smells great. (The smell is a huge bonus if your husband, like mine, can't stand the smell of vinegar - one of the big reasons I was searching for a new cleaner.)

This is a frugal, simple, and effective cleaner! It definitely works for me! For more great ideas, be sure to visit Kristen's blog.