Ottoman...Fail :0(

So I had it all planned out in my head last night...

I had an awesome project that I thought I could do quickly.

I came home last night excited to get started on it, 

and was sure I could get it done and have it to show you all today...

Last week, on my Thrifty Finds Week 2 (that I haven't got posted yet...oops.)

I found this awesome ottoman at one of our local thrift stores for $4!!!

 

I was so excited because I was sure I could recover it easily and it would look fabulous.

In my head I could see my plans all laid out...

Take it apart at the main seams, cut new pieces the same size as the old ones, 

make piping, sew back together..

Sounds easy right?

Then I started to take off the Mohair top and this is what I found....

Straw!!

Needless to say I was not a happy camper...lol..

That does explain why it was so heavy though..lol

So now I'm at a loss on how to save my ottoman. :0(

I could sew it back together and slipcover it...

but there's no telling where this was before the thrift store...and I'm not up for breeding possible creepy crawlies in the living room..eewww.. So the old straw has to go.

Not to mention it would look funny (in my opinion) because of the piping to slipcover it.

I thought about refilling it with new straw, but if I take off the leather outside, 

then I will be left with just a pile of old straw since there is no inside support 

other than the wooden bottom.

Another option and probably the most reasonable is to buy foam to remake the ottoman, 

but then my $4 ottoman project just got a lot more expensive...

So no clue what I'm going to do yet...

Has anyone else ran into this problem?

Any good ideas to fix it?