It's a footrest made from a little fabric and a few tin coffee cans. Tailor-made to match your dorm-room decor, no one has to know that this unique little footstool is made from items salvaged from the trash.
Tada!: Coffee Can Ottoman
What is it exactly?
Usefulness factor
If your feet are aching and you need a clever way to disguise a growing coffee addiction, why not try this out? With a little measuring and a few steadfast stitches, you can perk up those old coffee cans to create a fancy furnishing for your room.
Materials needed:
• 3 large coffee cans
• needle and thread
• section of cardboard
• 2 yards of fabric
• quilt batting or stuffing
• 1 pair of scissors
• tape
Get Started
READ MORE
- Measure the coffee cans by rolling them in the quilt batting or stuffing and fabric and cut pieces from both materials that fit the cans appropriately.
- Lay the fabric on top of the quilt batting and wrap both the fabric and the batting around each of the cans. Stitch up a seam at one side of each can (these seams should face inward when you attach the cans together.)
- Tie the three cans together with ribbon made from scraps of fabric.
- Gather all three cans together and trace around them onto the cardboard to make a shamrock-like pattern for the top of the stool.
- Trace the pattern you have just created onto the fabric and the quilt batting. Allow a half inch extra for seam.
- Using the scissors, cut the pattern from the fabric and batting.
- Sew the fabric and quilt batting onto the shamrock-shaped cardboard.
- Tape this to the top of the three coffee cans.
- Brew a fresh cup of Joe, kick back, and enjoy your new Folgers furnishing.
Total Cost
At $4 for the fabric and quilt filling, this craft is still cheaper than bargain-bin merchandise at IKEA.
Challenge Level
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the Martha Stewart challenge, this is a 7. All of the material cutting and sewing involved in this craft was a bit tedious, not to mention a bit messy. We enjoy delving into an elaborate craft project, but not when the room you are working becomes a disheveled mess of fabric scraps and coffee grinds.
Our Thoughts
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Not only is this footrest a perky compliment to your favorite lounge chair, it also is a creative way of recycling those old coffee cans. The best part of kicking back with the Coffee Can Ottoman is that it soothes your aching feet and makes those long evenings in front of the TV or with a book a little more comfortable.
