• Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. Henry L. Doherty

    You reach a point where you don’t work for money.Walt Disney

    A man has no more character than he can command in a time of crisis.Anonymous

    The greatest joy in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.Nelson Mandela

    A man who comes to his own conclusions must be ready to defend his sources. Robert Gallagher

    Love always creates. It never destroys. In this, lie’s man’s only promise.Leo Buscaglia

    There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. Willa Cather

    Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.Benjamin Franklin

    To choose time is to save time.Francis Bacon

    This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it.Ralph Waldo Emerson

    The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue. Antisthenes

    Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.Oscar Wilde

    It is no use saying we are doing our best. You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.Winston Churchill

    We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation-rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing. Ralph Waldo Emerson

    Eventually, in our quest for knowledge, there will be one thing left to understand, and when we come to understand it, it will change our understanding of everything else. Robert Brault

    The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.Thich Nhat Hanh

    Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing. Thomas Huxley

    Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.Gandhi

    You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something. H.G. Wells

    How often in life we complete a task that was beyond the capability of the person we were when we started it. Robert Brault

    The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Alvin Toffler

    Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.Louis L'Amour

    Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you.Henry Ward Beecher

    Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.Henry Ford

    Looking back, you realize that most all your questions would have answered themselves if you had only stopped interrupting. Robert Brault

    Meanwhile, in the ongoing quest to find myself, I have called off the search and begun a recovery operation. Robert Brault

    Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better. Florence Nightingale

    We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our childrenNative American Proverb

    In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled. Paul Eldridge

    Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. Vernon Howard

    It is not hard to learn more. What is hard is to unlearn when you discover yourself wrong. Martin H. Fischer

    An educated person is one who has learned that information almost always turns out to be at best incomplete and very often false, misleading, fictitious, mendacious - just dead wrong. R. Baker

    Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself. Vilfredo Pareto

  • My Personal Favorites

  • Share the joy!

    with_text_tall
    <a href="http://www.momessentials.net/"> <img src="http://www.momessentials.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/tall.png"> </a>
    Click here for more buttons
  • My Fun Videos

  • I Get Tons of Great Deals Here-Love It!

October 1, 2009

Kid Proof Cushion Covers

Old stool

Cheap Walmart Stool

My cheap Walmart stools haven’t been holding up to the wear and tear of a large family. I bought them a few years ago, and I was glad I bought extras. One by one, their screws wouldn’t stay in anymore, or they would break somehow.

When one bit the dust, we’d get out a new one. Twice, a leg fell off, and the stool fell, gouging a hole in our wood floor. I was ready for a new set, but just didn’t want more cheap stuff. Plus I knew that quality stools can be pricey.

Recently, we noticed our favorite furniture store was going out of business. It was the kind of place that sells real wood, and they stain it the color you want. It’s expensive stuff, but nothing else compares when you need it to endure the rough use from a bunch of kids.

IMG_0020

Sturdy Wood Stool

So I stopped at the store for a look. Not only did they have some handsome, sturdy stools, they also had a dining set that was perfect for our family. It was big enough to hold all our plates AND the food. And it came with 10 chairs and leaves so we could expand it for guests and special occasions. Not only that, everything was HALF OFF.

IMG_0522

Solid Wood Table & Chairs

I knew it was now or never. I picked the colors I wanted and asked them to do some distressing. I knew it wouldn’t be long before my kids had done some distressing of their own on it, but I wanted it all to blend in.

I was breathless when they delivered the furniture. It was gorgeous! Everything fit just right.

But there was a problem. The seat cushions were all light cream. They were beautiful, but I knew they wouldn’t last a day that way. I needed heavy duty protection against stains.

I immediately went to Walmart and bought some thick plastic vinyl to use for a kid-proof covering.

IMG_0495

I had my son, Nathan, unscrew the cushions from the chairs and stools (and reattach them when I finished).

IMG_0083

I vacuumed my workspace, because the plastic attracts hair like crazy (we have 2 dogs, and kids with thick hair, not to mention my husband).

IMG_0087

I cut plastic plenty big enough to cover the cushions,

IMG_0497

wrapped the plastic tight,

IMG_0508

and stapled it to the underneath of each cushion with a Bostitch staple gun.

IMG_0510

Many of the staples didn’t go in all the way, so I had to hammer them. I used a few tacks, also.

IMG_0505

I cut away excess plastic, so it wasn’t so bulky underneath the cushions.

IMG_0513IMG_0512

I am finishing the last 3 cushions this morning, and the covers have been working beautifully.

IMG_0516

Kid-proof, and they look great. Now to cover the table top . . .

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

4 Comments

  1. Paula says:

    I think this is a great idea! nice job! Hey it was fun to see you and your family at the puppet show.

  2. Rebecca says:

    Jenni, you did a great job. Next time, save yourself the hassle and elbow grease by using my product, the SmartSeat Chair Protector. The SmartSeat is a waterproof, stain resistant, and machine washable cover for upholstered dining room and kitchen chairs. It protects like the vinyl that you put on, but is easy to use, remove, and wash. It also is a lot nicer to sit on than plastic. Come check out our website for more information, http://www.smartseatdiningchaircovers.com/.

Leave a Comment

CommentLuv badge

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

Copyright © 2012 Mom Essentials. All rights reserved.

Wordpress Theme by Abe Fawson - www.goodfront.com