Transform an old fridge basket into a comfortable footstool, which is very appealing to the eye and so rewarding and worth every effort made. If the aging technique is too much effort for you, the basket can be spray painted. This project is a lot of work because it needs so many pom-poms made.

The following items will be needed to make the pom-poms:

• A circular object with a diameter of about 8cm
• A circular object with a diameter of about 10cm
• About 2m of wool per pom-pom – you can decide on the colours that you want to use
• Fabric scissors
• Cardboard

Method of how to make pom-poms:

• First things first, place the cardboard on a flat surface. Take the 6cm diameter item and place it on the cardboard, draw amount it. Repeat this twice.
• Take the 8cm diameter item and place it in the large circle already drawn. Draw the 8cm diameter in the centre of the 10cm diameter. Repeat this twice.
• Cut out around the large 10cm diameter of both circles. Once done, cut out around the 8cm diameter of both circles. You should have two doughnut shaped rings.
• Take the two rings and place them on top of each other. Now you can get started in making your pom-pom.
• Hold the one end of the wool onto the cardboard with your thumb. Now you can start to wind the wool around your pom-pom. Continue to wind the wool around the cardboard until the entire cardboard is full and totally covered. The more layers of wool wound around the cardboard, the fuller your pom-pom will be. Do not worry about leaving the ends dangling.
• Work very carefully because the next two steps are the trickiest. Carefully insert the blade of the fabric scissors between the two layers of cardboard and snip the strands of wool. Try not to separate the two cardboard discs.
• Once all the strands of wool around the cardboard is cut, pass another piece of wool between the two cardboard discs and around all the strands of wool. Now you can pull it tightly around the gathered strands and tie the two ends firmly together. Once this is done, then you can remove the cardboard discs. If there are any protruding wool strands you can trim and neaten your pom-pom.
• Repeat the process until you have made all the pom-poms.

Method of how to make the footstool cover:

**** Follow the maturing in ageing technique on Craft techniques to give the basket a rustic look ***

• In the event that you would prefer to spray paint the basket instead of using the age technique, make sure that the basket if clean. Spray paint the basket in the colour of your choice and leave to dry. Make sure that the paint is completely dry before starting the next step.
• Turn the basket upside down and start to sew the pom-poms onto the wire frame. Try and get the pom-poms as close together as possible. The fuller the pom-poms are the better the basket will look and the more comfortable your new foot stool will be.
• Once you have covered your entire basket with the pom-poms, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the comfort of your handmade footstool.