In our sweet little nursery there is this fireplace:
Eww. Definitely could stand to be cutified up a bid, don't ya think?? Not to mention also removing the inevitable head bumping hazard for little R when he starts toddling about! I really like that the brick is the original and hasn't been painted over. We contemplated painting it white, but decided against it. Anyway, something would still need to be done to make it safer (in my opinion!).
So, now to figure out a solution! I checked into fireplace padding/bumpers/safety ideas and there was not much out there that grabbed my attention. There are nifty fireplace guards you can get like these. But ummm... boring and so not cute! One interesting idea was to install shelves inside the fireplace, but this one in particular is very asymmetrical and so I knew that would be a total nightmare to attempt. Still, very cool idea. In the end I wanted something padded to make a cool little area to house some toys.
To the craft store I go, brainstorming along the way! (and don't forget to measure first and take the dimensions WITH YOU.... not that I forgot or anything... no of course not..)
Awesomely enough, Hobby Lobby had all their foam at 30% off so I stocked up on a bit of that. Some spray adhesive for fabric and I already had some Fray Check so... check! My plan for this project was to not involve sewing at any point! ....That almost came true, but that's for later! SO!
Getcha' some FOAM!
And size that foam UP! Interestingly enough, the foam tends to cling to the brick, so while adding a little extra work to get it in the right place it held it's form a lot better than I anticipated even without the help of anything sticky!
Once you've got the foam cut to the appropriate size it's time to adhere the fabric. You can use sheets of fabric adhesive if you prefer... I went for the spray so that it would be faster. I used it right in my kitchen, there was not a strong odor and any over-spray just wiped off the table no problem. Also, it was like 18 degrees outside so that played into things as well! Okay... moving along!
There was a lot of flipping back and forth of the cushions, turning them this way and that and all kinds of acrobatics to make sure that things got lined up properly. IN the END things turned out just swell! Ta-da! (The can of adhesive tells you all the directions for use and fun stuff like that.)
Next, it was on to the part that would wrap in and around the edges of the fireplace. I used yarn to attach the fabric to the foam and make a little dimple in the cushion. You can see the pattern of the dimples... row of 3, row of 4, row of 3... so that they would alternate nicely. I decided not to use adhesive on the main body of the foam 1) because that would be a lot of ironing (SO BORED) and 2) I would have to buy another can... and that would be 10 bucks... and this little baby isn't even going to know what this wrappy thing is all about SO... I'll buy him a cute toy instead, aw.
After the fabric was attached and the foam flipped over to the back I used the rest of the adhesive spray around the edges. When that ran out I used hot glue. And then since I was paranoid that the whole thing would fall apart I used the yarn once again to do a simple basting stitch along the two sides and the top. I didn't bother on the bottom edge, because that was the one that was hot glued (which ended up working amazingly, could have skipped the adhesive spray altogether and the ironing) Somehow it managed to come out looking neat and tidy though, so I was pumped!
A great picture of my 37 week self trying to plan out how I was going to adhere this thing to the brick. This part was really nice to have a second pair of hands (thanks, Honey!). Sorry, I don't have a picture of the products, but I ended up using a double sided foam-type tape, I found it at Target... I think it was made by the Command Strips company, but not for sure. ANYWAY... get something STICKY. Leave the backing on the tape until you are close to having it in place to avoid losing the stickiness.
After a good bit of squishing and pushing and mashing and all that good stuff this is how it turned out! So far, things are holding up well (as in it didn't fall onto the floor throughout the night!). I think we may be in the clear.
Here it is totally complete. I covered three buttons I had on hand and added them to the bottom cushion. And the toys are happily in their new little cubbyhole!
In the end, it turned out better that I thought it would! I think it really makes the room much more appealing. If any of you have recovered a fireplace or anything of the sort I'd love to see pictures or hear how you did it... hopefully you pulled it off a lot more graceful than myself! Ha!
Now need some window coverings...
