Seat Crates

Ok...I've had several people ask how to make these crate seats...so here are the directions!

1. Pick crates you are going to use. You need the ones that hold hanging file folders because your seat will sit on these rails. I was able to get these for about $3.50 each from Walmart.

2. Bring crates to Home Depot, Lowe's etc. Ask the really nice wood cutter to select appropriate thickness of plywood and cut them to fit into the hole. I have to admit, I really lucked out with the gentleman I got at Lowe's; he was WONDERFUL! He worked really hard to get me as many seats as possible out of the plywood and cut them perfectly. AND he didn't charge me to cut it once he found out I was using them for a classroom, which sometimes they do! The sheet of plywood I purchased was a little less than $25 and I was able to get 9 pieces for seats (plus 3 smaller boards...I'm sure I'll think of something to do with them!)

3. Place wood on top of foam and trace around the wood. I found buying an eggcrate (for a mattress) from Walmart was much cheaper than buying foam by the yard. I bought a full size eggcrate and it did the 9 boards with enough extra to do at least 3 more (and still give a bunch of scraps to my 8 year old daughter who was ecstatic!). I think the full size was about $11. The downside to this is now-a-days they like to make their eggcrate all fancy so I had to be creative with my cutting to ensure that it was all the same for a single crate. So I have some crates that have foam with wavy lines, some with circles, etc., but it's all the same for that single crate.

4. Cut out foam.

5. Cut and Iron fabric. (Sorry about the fabric change, I took pictures at two different times and was working on different crates each time.)

6. Lay fabric on table wrong side up.

7. Lay foam on top of fabric, wavy side up. You can kind of see from this picture the very far side of the foam is different. Make sure this doesn't happen. I actually "staged" this picture as I forgot to get pictures of every step, so this is not a seat that I actually used. It was purely for documentation.

8. Lay wood on foam. If one side of the wood is nicer than the other, put the nice side up.

9. Start stapling. First, I like to pick one of the shorter sides, then pull the fabric up and staple right in the middle of the board.

10. Go to the corner, and pull fabric to the side (sort of like you are wrapping a present).

11. Pull fabric up, in two parts and staple.

12. Continue around the board until all sides are done. Tack down any fabric that needs to be pulled tighter.

13. Cut ribbon for handles.

14. Staple ribbon for handles.

15. Viola! Your crate seat is finished! You'll notice the back doesn't look grand.
Being a perfectionist, at first that bothered me and I was going to cover a thin piece of wood and attach it to the bottom so it looked pretty - and then I was like, you know...this is something you can just let go of...so I did. No one is going to see the bottom, and really WHO CARES?! Ok...I do a little...but I really am going to let it go!

Here are the 9 different crate seats I made. The fish are for my classroom. The rainbow wavy stripes are for my daughter's room (they complement her peace and love sheet set, the fabric was actually pillow cases I cut up!). The motorcycle one is for my son's room. He'll get curtains to match, and my classroom will get fish curtains to match!

That's What I Call Progress

Such a productive evening! Previously I had finished two of my six crates for my classroom and two crates for my daughter. Today I finished my last four crates for my classroom and made one for my son, too. I bought enough material to also make new curtains for my classroom and my son's room.

I also glued the magnets on my lunch count fish, I still need to make the headings, drill holes in the top of the cookie sheet, and add ribbon, but then this, too, is done! Things are starting to fall into place! Yippee!

Oh, and did I mention I got some great deals at Walmart today. I got tablecloths (that I'm going to use for bulletin boards (one is dots, the other is fish), cute fish bowls, medium sized dot plates, small fish plates, and cups. The tablecloths total make sense and the big bowls I'll use for class parties...but the cups and small fish plates are a little over the edge! I'm sure I'll find something cute to do with them, though!

Pinterest Projects

Ok...so, it's official, I'm addicted to Pinterest. I mean, really, who isn't?! So I'm going along pinning my little heart out...and I think to myself, "At some point I'm really going to have to do some of these, and not just sit here all day pinning!" So, I picked a couple of things I REALLY wanted to do and posted my list on Facebook - so now I have pressure to get them done, too, because all of my family and friends know that I'm setting out to accomplish these things!

Here's my list:
1-paint chip bookmarks (I'm going to stamp mine with something ocean to go along with my theme)

2-pirate cove reading area

3-ocean crate seat (to go in pirate cove) - this picture shows the seat upside down in the crate, so once I get mine done I'll post new pictures! I bought blue crates to go with my theme instead of the black.

4-dye clothespins (to later attach pushpins on to use in classroom!)

And I have to say, my progress was pretty good!
1-got paint chips, and have the rest of the supplies at home

2-no progress made here! My husband thinks it would be a good idea if we measured it out and all that silly nonsense first! Hmph! (I'll never admit it to him, but of course he's right!)

3-bought crates and wood (and had them cut to size!), need to get foam and fabric

4-bought clothespins and dye - Walmart only had a navy blue, so I got it to try it - but it was much darker than I wanted so I need to go get some lighter blue and some pretty green! However, it totally worked and I now have 15-20 navy blue clothespins waiting for thumbtacks to be put on the back of them. My classroom is paneling (insert gagging here!) so I plan on using them to push into the wall - whereever I want! to hold posters and whatever else comes to mind! I guess wood paneling is good for something sometimes! I have pictures of the clothespins, which I'll add at a later date, but they're still on the card in my camera, and I'm in a hotel room 200 or so miles from my house.