Copycat Land of Nod Floor Pouf Tutorial

The Land of Nod is one of those sites that I can just browse and drool over for hours. Lovely designs, amazing inspiration… but sometimes the prices make even the non-DIYers among us say, “I can make that myself!” And, by DIYing it, we can make a project we love that fits both our budget and our home’s unique style. Our guest today did just that as she took her own spin on one of Land of Nod’s ever-popular floor poufs (or floor cushions, or ottomans, or whatever you want to call them).

 

Isn’t it lovely?! DIYers all over the blogosphere have been likewise inspired by The Land of Nod. Here are some of my very favorite Land of Nod copycats and knock-offs:

Land of Nod Copycat Wall Book Bin | Scissors and Spatulas

Land of Nod Copycat Headboard and Nightstand | That’s My Letter

Land of Nod Copycat Kids Art Table | Revamp Home Goods

Land of Nod Copycat Bookshelf | The Friendly Home

And here is our lovely guest Charlotte to show us how she used some fabric and a drop cloth to create a beautiful floor pouf.

Copycat Land of Nod Floor Pouf Tutorial
by  Charlotte of Ciburbanity

I’m completely thrilled and verklempt and blushing to be featured here on Remodelaholic! I started Ciburbanity last June when we moved from the chaotic and noisy concrete streets of New York City for the quiet dust-free greenery of suburban Connecticut. I left my job and my favorite city, and CI (city) + BURB (suburb) + ANITY (sanity) was born as a way for me to document our new suburban life.

From thrifting to crafting to kids’ activities to the occasional musings of a newly suburban housewife… Ciburbanity is a little bit of everything. (That and it gives me an excuse to go to flea markets and craft stores pretty much once a week…) Thanks to the magic that is Google Analytics, I can tell you with bold confidence, that these are my most popular posts so feel free to check them out and tell me what you think!

Redo In Red & Chevron: DIY Upholstered Arm Chairs
The Everything-But-the-Kitchen-Sink Dresser
Joy and Pin, Sun(burst Mirror) and Rain

Enough about me… you wanna know about that killer copycat pouf, right?! Back in July, I was invited to participate in the Jo-Ann and Waverly 90th Anniversary Waverize It! contest… I’m always up for a little healthy competition especially if it involves fabric and crafting. So I unpacked my sweat bands, downed a carbo filled meal, and loaded up my electrolytes… afterall, this challenge involved sewing! (I know, you’d be chewing on a protein bar too.)

Here’s the two yards fabric they sent me. For free. Cost = $0 Don’t you LOVE it?!

The super specific and detailed rules were to create a sewing project with this fabric. Again I say: cut throat. Well, I own a sewing machine, and I know how to sew… but I’m no seamstress. But copy? THAT I can do… The universe was clearly giving me a sign (as it’s prone to do when DIY is involved) when it sent me the Land of Nod catalog the same week as this challenge got underway. How cool is this numbered pouf?! Yes, universe… I hear you.

As much as I loved the fabric that was sent to me, I also loved the graphic numbers on the neutral background from Land of Nod. Like most bloggers worth their salt, I have a stash of painters drop cloths on hand. I adore the neutral color and drop cloth is often softer than duck cloth and, ahem, way cheaper. They were a little dark, so I soaked them in bleach to lighten them up a bit. Two fabrics ready and time for math.

Shout out to my middle school math teacher for everything I know about geometry. Stay in school, kids. The Land Of Nod pouf is 24″ wide and 24″ tall. Find your New Kids on the Block binder and peg your acid washed jeans and remember circumfrence=2πR. Which means that the circumference of this pouf is approx. 75″ [24*3.14]. Are you with me? Once I knew the circumference, I could figure out how many panels of fabric were needed to create the sides. Because the height was going to be 24″, I didn’t want each panel to be too narrow… Ultimately I felt that panels between 8 and 9″ wide were about right.

To make the top and bottom circle, I took a little shortcut. Starting with a square the same size as the radius (14 x 14), I folded it in half 4 times (you’ll have a triangle). Mark 14″ from the center point… then cut along this dotted line.

With panels ready, I grabbed my iron on transfer paper. A few minutes playing around with fonts (I went with Modern No. 20) and the numbers were ready for some heat. (Iron-on 101: Print your images in reverse… most printers have a “mirror image” setting.) Cut out your image, iron and remove backing paper.

I started this project after dinner one night and was so jazzed that I couldn’t stop… partly due to a Four Weddings marathon on TLC. Good for the project, bad for pictures. I got none. But here’s a step-by-step graphic for you to get a sense of the construction. Kinda sorta.

Along the bottom edge, I sewed two velcro strips. I was too lazy to get into a zipper, but I wanted the stuffing to be accessible.

Speaking of stuffing, I had a pile of extra Ikea pillows as well as some old down comforters leftover from our smaller bed in the city. If you don’t happen to have a pile of down kicking around your house, the clearance section of Homegoods, Ikea, etc. are good places to look… I like using pillows/ comforters since they’re neater and easier to handle than the buckets of stuffing this pouf would require.

It should be clear by now that my DIY stars were aligned with this project, and it all came together as I envisioned. I.e. my limited home ec sewing skills were never really challenged. (Phew.) Plans are for this beauty to end up in the new bedroom/ nursery we’re building, but I might just drag it around the house so I can look at it always. Ob-sessed.

As you can tell, this actually didn’t take that long to finish… I cut all the pieces and ironed on the numbers during nap time one day. And then the sewing took one evening/ Four Weddings marathon. So maybe 5 hours total? And I happened to have everything but the iron-on transfers on hand so cost was… $8.37. If you DON’T have a stash of fabric, then factor in about 2.5-3 yards of fabric and whatever you want to use for stuffing… Still not a very expensive project considering that the Land of Nod version is $99 (+$16.95 shipping…).

 

Love, love, love it, Charlotte! Comfy and custom, just the way we like our home furnishings. 🙂 Thanks for sharing! And be sure to head over to  Ciburbanity to check out all of the other beautiful things that Charlotte creates.