Tuesday Tutorial - Crate Seats

Hello friends! I'm excited to share with you the first big craft project that I've finished for my classroom!

Introducing . . . . {drumroll please}

CRATE SEATS!

These beauties are functional, pretty easy to make, and oh so cute! Not to mention, they go perfectly with my Disney classroom theme! Here's the gist of how I made them (with the help of my lovely boyfriend, parents, and the nice gentleman who works in the wood cutting department of my local Home Depot) :

Step 1: Buy your crates.

I got mine from Office Max, and it cost me $32 for 6. I like them because they are slightly taller than the ones you can get from Walmart, and I thought the extra height would be more comfortable for my longer-legged kiddos.

Step 2: Find some plywood and have it cut to fit your crates. 

If you have some plywood lying around that you don't mind cutting yourself, then that's the cheapest way to do this. If you have to go buy some (like I did), just be aware that you will have to buy the whole sheet, even if you only need less than half of it! If you do end up buying it, the people in the wood cutting department at Home Depot will cut it for you for free (one of my favorite words!). I literally took one of the crates in with me when I went to buy my plywood, which may have gotten me some funny looks, but it also got me 6 pieces of plywood that fit perfectly! (I had the rest of the sheet cut for some other projects that I have in mind - stay tuned for that!) I used 19/32" plywood for my seats, and it is just about level with the top of the crate. All I (eh, I mean my dad and boyfriend) had to do was round off the corners using a sander and VIOLA!

Step 3: Buy a mattress pad, a sharpie, and a sharp pair of scissors.

Ok, so you may have the sharpie and scissors on hand, but you will need to buy a mattress pad to make the cushions. I bought a cheap full size mattress pad from Walmart, and it was enough to do all 6 seats as well as some left over. I laid my mattress pad out and traced one of my plywood pieces 12 times (two pieces for each seat), then I cut them all out. The mattress pad I used was on the thinner side, so I decided it would be more comfortable to double up.






Step 4: Get yourself some fabric and ribbon.

Two yards (total) of fabric was more than enough to make 6 seats. I got these red and yellow polka dot fabrics from JoAnn's. If you would like to create a handle so that you can easily take off the lids of these seats, buy some coordinating ribbon as well. I was nearly giddy when I stumbled upon this Mickey Mouse ribbon at Michael's, which works PERFECTLY with my fabric and my classroom theme!






Step 5: Grab a staple gun and get to work.

Warning: This is the part where I slacked on the picture-taking, so hopefully this all makes sense!

Unless you are much more skilled in upholstery than I am (which you very well might be), I'd say this is definitely a two-person job. First, we laid down the fabric right side down. Next, we centered the two mattress pad pieces on the fabric, then laid the plywood on top. Starting with the corners, then the sides, my mom and I stretched the fabric up and stapled it to the wood. Once it was all stapled down good, we grabbed the ribbon and stapled it down as well. Once you're done with that, flip it over and . . . TA DA! You now have an adorable crate seat cushion!

I'm thrilled with how these turned out! I plan on having them around my small group table and storing supplies in the crates. One project down, several more to go!

What projects are you working on this summer?