Trash to treasure ottoman

The other day, a friend told me that she had been given some Omaha Steaks and asked if my boys would like the dry ice that came in the package to "play" with. (You can't really play with dry ice, of course, but it is fun to watch it pour off steam.) Along with the dry ice, my friend gave me the Omaha Steaks cooler.

After the dry ice was gone, I started to trash the cooler. . . but then it hit me. That cooler was just the right size and shape for an ottoman.

So I rounded up some old magazines, some foam, some leftover fabric, and my glue gun. I stashed the old magazines inside the cooler to give the cooler added weight. I glued the foam to the cooler.

Then I wrapped the whole thing in fabric just like I'd wrap a present. And presto! An ottoman.

At this point I had spent zero dollars, and I was pretty pleased with the result. But I realized that I'd like the ottoman better if it had feet. So I went to Home Depot and spent a few dollars ($3 each) on unfinished feet. I sprayed them with some brown spray paint I had on hand.

Here is the finished product:

I have it on my front porch, where it works as an ottoman and a coffee table. What do you think? I think it could use a bit more glue, and I need to straighten out one of the feet, but overall I like it!

For a full tutorial, click here!

Check out other cool projects at Metamorphosis Monday over at Susan's place and then more at Kimba's DIY Day!