Sunday, August 19, 2012

summer project #4: instant diy stadium cushion

How many projects are borne from a combination of procrastination and cheapness? In my case, many, if not most.

The procrastination: while shifting in my rock hard seat at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival last year, I swore I would not return without a stadium cushion. And we are scheduled to leave...tomorrow.

The cheapness: I zipped out to the local sports store, only to find stadium cushions priced anywhere from $15-25. Multiplying that times 3 of us, I was simply unable to pull out my wallet. They've got to be cheaper somewhere, I thought, perhaps at Target.

The inspiration: at Target, the first thing I saw were these 99¢ polypropylene shopping bags:
Foam seat pads were $6 each (with coupon) at the fabric store:
They had to be trimmed; thus, the serrated knife in the picture. The secret to cutting foam is to pull the blade across in one direction—don't saw back and forth. I took 3" off the length, and 1" off the width for a finished size of 14"X14"X1". Wrapped back in its plastic wrapper, the foam slipped easily into the shopping bag:
That was it. $7, and 5 minutes: my favorite kind of project. By leaving the top open, we can add a light blanket or a program, and the pocket on the side is perfect for holding tickets, snacks or handwarmers.
Now to finish packing and then Ashland, here we come!



2 comments:

  1. You are so brilliant! I get an absolute thrill out of being frugal and figuring my own way around spending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can really relate to that--it's hard for me to spend sometimes when I think I can make it for less. I don't know if the frugality drives creativity or vice versa, but they seem to go hand in hand, don't they?

      Delete

Responses from cool people—please be sure to visit their blogs as well!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...