Foam Sword

Have a house full of boys or a little boys birthday coming up? Well here is a PERFECT party favor, or a perfect way to teach your kids how to PLAY nicely and instead of hit each other to take out their agression on sword fighting! (Dad's LOVE to play too!!!)

To make four swords, which is the most economical and cost friendly way, if you only need one, it will save you money to purchase them through me for $5.00. You will need:

2 pool noodles

1 pvc pipe 1/2 inch

4 1/2 inch pvc caps

1 piece of foam ( I use the thickest kind)

Take your foam sheet and cut it into 6 2 inch pieces along the long side. (Yea, you will have two extra...)

Take a pair of sharp scissors and poke into the middle on one of the ends of foam. Be careful not to poke your hand!

Start cutting a 1/2 inch circle. It doesn't need to be perfect. It's better if it's slightly smaller.

Keep cutting aorund the circle.

Take out the circle and do it to the other end. So the peice of foam will have a circle on each end.

Now take an electric bread knife and cut the pool noodle in half. Also take the pvc pipe and cut it into four equal lengths (24 inches) using pvc pipe cutters.

Take one pool noodle and carefully push the pvc pipe through the middle hole. If you go fast, the noodle may bend and come out through the side of the noodle, so take your time!

Push the noodle clear onto the pipe so it is about 1 inch away from the other end.

The other end will look like this.

Take your foam piece and slide one hole onto the pvc pipe so it looks like this.

Bend the foam up and slide the other hole onto the pvc pipe.

Take the end cap and firmly press it on the end so it is all the way down.

Slide the foam so it is touching the pool noodle and the end cap.

And there you have it. Your sons new favorite toy!!!

How to recover and protect your dining room table chair seats

Tired of your dining room chair cushions looking like this? Dirty and soiled?

Grab some new fabric and some vinyl, your staple gun and a screw driver and let's fix it!

Unsrew your cushion from your chair. There will be screws underneath (usually four).

Take your new fabric, and put it right over the old. Place it right side down on your working surface. Then place the cushion in the middle of it. The fabric square should be about four inches larger than the cushion on each side.

Fold over one side and staple in the middle.

Go to the opposite side and pull fabric tightly and staple in the middle. Start stapling from the center staple out on both sides of the cushion, pulling the fabric tightly as you go.

Staple around the third and fourth sides of the cushion. Leaving only the four corners left up.

Tuck the corner into a peak like this. (watch video below for help) Pull the corner tight before stapeling.

And here is the completed corner. You take the two sides that meet up and make them into a point and pull it down to form this tucked corner.

Here is the finished cushion, from the bottom.

And there you have it a recovered chair. Now continue on to add vinyl protective to your seat.

Cut the vinyl about four inches larger than the chair in a square shape like here.

Fold over one of the sides of vinyl and staple right in the middle like so.

Go to the opposite side and pull the vinyl tight and staple in the middle as well.

Staple the remainder of this side down going from the middle to the outer edge, pulling the vinyl tight as you go. You don't want a bubble of vinyl on the top, you want it tight. Do this to the opposite side, that you have already stapeled in the middle.

Then turn and do the remaining two sides, remember to keep pulling the vinyl tight as you go.

This is your seat cushion with all the sides staples tightly down and the corners left open.
Watch this video to see how to do the corners...(don't mind my husband yelling...)

If you have any questions please please please leave me a comment!

Here is what the corner looks like, when it's all tucked and stapeled.

Take the seat cushion and screw it back onto the chair. The same way you took it off!

And there you have it a recovered and protected dining room chair!