Category Archives: furniture

Giving Outworn Furniture a New Life

DIY, furniture, Projects, Upcycle

One of our mottos at White Elephant Creations is giving outworn  objects a new life. Although the idea for our blog was started 12 years ago,  you could say that the White Elephant mantra is in our blood. My paternal grandfather, Robert Ralph, operated a furniture upholstery shop out of his basement in Point Pleasant, NJ, for 40 years. As a kid, I remember spending time in my grandfather’s shop watching him upholster couches while he whistled along to Big Band music playing from his radio.

A while back, I had a vinyl covered mid-century love seat that needed to be fixed.  Since my dad had worked for my grandfather when he was younger, I asked him to help me with the project. While I did get to assist with the recover, my perfectionist dad ended up doing most of the work. I do have a another vinyl chair that needs to be re-covered, so hopefully, I’ll get my chance. With our throwaway culture, upholstery has become a lost art. But I look forward to carrying on the Ralph family tradition.
-Mike

My dad demonstrating a peculiar trick of the trade. To save time, he fills his mouth with tacks (they come sterilized) sticks the magnet end of the hammer in his mouth, and then tacks down the cover. 


man fixing couch

View-Master Reel Coasters

DIY, furniture, repurposed, Upcycle, , ,

If you were a kid from the 60s through the 80s, you most likely played with a view-master. I remember looking through one to view the Grand Canyon in 3D. There were lots of ones from National Parks, scenes from kids cartoons and shows, and lots of Disney movies. I. came across a set of ones from the Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the quirky Saturday morning show from my youth that launched a series of cult films with it’s odd-ball title character, Pee Wee Herman. Using some cork plant pads and Mod Podge, we transformed the reels into coasters to add a fun nostalgic look to the coffee table.

DIY Vinyl Record Clock

DIY, furniture, Projects, ,

Check out this easy to make colorful vinyl record wall clock that we made for our daughter’s bedroom. Using a 78 record, we attached the numbers and clock hardware from a kit we purchased at the craft store (or you can reuse one from an old wall clock). We had to drill the hole in the record a little bit to fit the hardware and then used some legos to help reinforce the battery casing in the back. A simple project with fun results.

 

 

 

 

Graphic T-Shirt Wall Art

DIY, furniture, Projects, ,

Got some old favorite graphic t-shirts that you just can’t part ways with? How about turning them into wall art? We made up some t-shirt wall hangings by cutting out t-shirts that Mike had previously designed (check out his graphic design side gig at mikeralphcreative.com) and wrapping them around canvas. Once you have wrapped the shirts around the canvas, you can glue or staple them to the back of the frame. We made these to display in the youth room (Mike’s main gig). 

Star Wars Bathroom Signs

friends, furniture, Projects,

We have had a lot of fun over the years reimagining  the standard men’s and women’s public bathroom sign to create our own themed signs. We have made a superhero set, a hippy couple set, an astronaut set, and more. For my brother’s recent wedding gift, since he and his new wife are big Star Wars fans, we decided to make a Star Wars themed set. This time the men’s sign was made to look like Hans Solo and the women’s sign made to look like Princess Leia. Typically the signs are small and made out of card stock, but this time we took 2 feet long wood cutouts and painted them to look like the famed Star Wars couple.  Check out some of our past themed bathroom signs here.