It's really easy to do. I hadn't done it before, but it was no problem to figure out.
1. take out any screws (most likely on the back of the post behind the chair back and under the seat.
2. remove old staples or tacks (dont bother saving the old tacks - the posts are probably bent now, seeing as you most likely had to use pliers to get them out and they won't go in straight anymore).
3. take off the old vinyl and replace the cotton stuffing (cheap) if you want.
4. cut a piece of vinyl slightly bigger than you think you need. This will give you something to pull on, and you can always cut off the excess.
5. start in the middle of each side and work your way to the corners, stapling the vinyl in place on the bottom of the seat or the back of the chair. This will all get covered up later.
6. STRETCH!!!!! the vinyl as you go. this will make it nice and smooth. Really give 'er. If you feel like the vinyl is going to be under too much strain, add a couple more staples to even out the pressure.
7. when you get to the corners stretch it even more. You can make pleats to take care of the excess fabric, but I actually pulled on mine enough that I didn't have to. I haven't tried it, but I bet if you aimed a hot blow dryer at the vinyl for a few (30?) seconds it would succumb even more easily (but it might make it weak).
8. now this part takes a bit of finesse. cut a piece of vinyl about the same size and shape as the back of the chair (we're going to cover up all the staples and stuff). fold over the edge, about 1/2", all the way around. tack the corners on with upholstery tacks. give it a bit of stretch. start by doing corners diagonal to each other (ie do the upper right hand corner first, then the bottom left, then the lower right and finally, the upper left)
9. put more tacks, about one every inch or so, around the rest of the perimeter of the backing piece.
10. to finish the bottom, use a similar method, but using a piece of heavyweight card stock (staples will be fine here, you wouldn't see the tacks anyway). no fold over is necessary either.
11. screw the newly upholstered peices back onto the chair frame (tighten just to finger tight plus quarter turn) and enjoy!
- green wire wreath form, 16" dia. - 6 bags of army guys (about 300 men?) - a ton of sparkley pipe cleaners - a string of 50 mini lights
First, I cut the pipe cleaners into 4" pieces and linked all the men together in a chain, twisting one piece of pipe cleaner around the legs of two men, and then adding a third, and a fourth and so on. I then wrapped the Christmas lights around the chain. Then, I attached the big ol' rope of men and lights to the wire wreath form using even more pipe cleaner pieces. It circumferenced the wreath form about three times, which made it nice and full.
After much poking of fingers with little bits of wire, I would recommend alternating the poses of army guys. They seem to mesh together better if there's an aiming one followed by a pointing one, then a running one.
- green wire wreath form, 16" dia. - 6 bags of army guys (about 300 men?) - a ton of sparkley pipe cleaners - a string of 50 mini lights
First, I cut the pipe cleaners into 4" pieces and linked all the men together in a chain, twisting one piece of pipe cleaner around the legs of two men, and then adding a third, and a fourth and so on. I then wrapped the Christmas lights around the chain. Then, I attached the big ol' rope of men and lights to the wire wreath form using even more pipe cleaner pieces. It circumferenced the wreath form about three times, which made it nice and full.
After much poking of fingers with little bits of wire, I would recommend alternating the poses of army guys. They seem to mesh together better if there's an aiming one followed by a pointing one, then a running one.
The one on the right is the before, the one on the left is the after. I only redid one of them but I forgot to take a before shot so I just put them both in one photo.
When I found the chairs they were covered in duct tape and very faded. What looks like orange was actually deep cherry red on the back! The seats had slits in them and the stuffing was coming out. I replaced the stuffing and recovered the one chair.
The green is a really pretty pearly finish to it, and the flowery orange vinyl has gold tones.
I found these two chairs on the side of the road and rescued them! The vinyl was in my stash, but the staples cost about $2.50. The one on the left is the redo, the one on the right hasn't be done yet (its the "before").
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