Approximately one hundred million years ago, I read this blog post and then hightailed it on over to K-Mart to buy these foot stools. On this same trip to K-Mart, I also bought a pregnancy test. And, we all know what happened with that. So, the boxes sat in my car for a few weeks and then in my living room for twice that long. At one point, I actually contemplated donating them to Goodwill because I didn’t have the energy to recover them and they were just there mocking me. All the time.

But, then a couple weeks ago, I found myself at my very favorite store Joann Fabrics with a 50% coupon and some time on my hands. Then, after that, I found myself home alone with Drop Dead Diva on Netflix Instant (I cannot explain my love for that program) and the motivation to be crafty.

Here’s what you need…

• The world’s ugliest foot stools from K-Mart (or Sears)
• A staple gun
• Extra staples (I ran out)
• Batting
• 1 yard of fabric per foot stool
• Patience
• Something good on tv
• A frosty beverage (Pellegrino in my case. You might want to look into something stronger)

I’d first like to note that with these stools, you do not receive an instruction manual. You instead receive an OWNER’S MANUAL. Naturally, I saved this and put it right next to the owner’s manual for our washer and dryer. It’s just as helpful, I’m sure.

One very important note before we really get started here. MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE. I had to remove many a-staple because I didn’t follow this rule.

Okay. So, remove the ugly stools from the box and marvel at the hideousness. Then, feel bad for all the people who bought these and are NOT recovering them.

Lay your batting on top, like so. Lay the fabric on top of the batting and smooth everything out. Then, flip the stool over so you’re looking at the bottom.

This is the part where it would be helpful to have two sets of hands, but no big deal if you don’t. Begin to staple on one end of the stool. I put my staples about a half-inch apart. Once you finish one side, pull VERY VERY TIGHT and staple the other side. The corners are a bit tricky. You might try trimming the fabric (like you would if you were wrapping a present) before stapling.

Eventually, you’ll have stapled all 4 sides and when you flip your stool over, it will look like this. Hopefully, you will not run out of staples like I did (you’ll notice that my stools look a little lumpy and need some fixing).

Then, you can refer to your OWNER’S MANUAL and learn how to assemble the legs.

And, voila! I still have a bit of finishing up to do on mine, but they look pretty good! (please ignore the fact that part of my rug pad is showing. yikes.) I think the total project time was about 1.5 hours (plus weeks and weeks of procrastinating). Pretty easy! Also: these are super easy to re-do if you one day decide that you’d prefer a different fabric.

These are not QUITE as fancy as the Jonathan Adler foot stools. But, they also aren’t $600 a pop.

First things, first…it seems that now, at 18 weeks gestation, that I officially have a belly.

Disclaimers: this was taken in a hotel room, with horrible lighting in Eastern Oregon, where I was on a work trip. There was not an abundance of healthy food on this trip, which is why I believe that I look so large. I look less giant today, I promise you. Also: I was wearing maternity pants with the demi panel and let me tell you, those are the WORST. I push the panel down underneath my belly because otherwise it creates a large dent on my stomach, which is not attractive.

Speaking of feeling huge, we are headed to Costa Rica in a few weeks for vacation and I just ordered approximately 44,000 swimsuits from J.Crew in hopes that one will fit. Not only am I allergic to most maternity clothing (um, Old Navy), I am also allergic to maternity swim wear. Note to designers: pregnant ladies do not want to wear bad fabrics and bows the second they become in the family way.

We’ve kind of started with nursery plans and I’m really excited to see how everything will come together. We have bedding, paint and one sweet little piece of art for the wall. If you’re interested in seeing some of my ideas, check out my Nursery Board on Pinterest.

In other news, we traveled to Boston for Memorial Day Weekend and had a lovely time. I love visiting cities and was excited to cross Boston off my list. I ate a giant lobster roll at Neptune Oyster (which was yummy, but I’ve decided that Oregon Dungeness Crab is my shellfish of choice), had an amazing meal at Mistral, shopped on Newbury Street and did the pregnant lady, abbreviated version of the Freedom Trail (which I mistakenly called the Liberty Trail the entire weekend, which really annoyed my husband).

Speaking of eating, I cannot stop eating this soup. I made it for dinner with Kerri Anne last week and then made it last night. It’s amazing, though it’s not a “boy soup.” Bill deemed it “too lemony.” Whatever, more for me. Also, my evil friend Regan made a post about no bake dessert and I’m now obsessed with those damn Reese’s bars. Hope you’re happy, Regan.

And, that is it for now…What have you been up to?