I finally made my own crate seats after much Pinspiration!! I have had many requests to share the process with you and I just couldn't wait for Monday Made It!
Things to consider:
* The crates I purchased were from Walmart. They are not the standard sized square crates. These measure 12 by 9 inches whereas the typical square crates are 15 by 15 inches. You can choose whichever works best for you. If you have older students, you will probably want to go with the regular sized crates.
* I chose plywood from Lowe's that measured a half inch in thickness. You can go smaller, but I wanted to make sure these were durable and last me a LONG time!
* Choose a fabric that will match your room decor! Duh!
* I used a TWIN XL mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond, but if you make these using the regular sized square crates, you will want to buy a larger size depending on how many crates you are making.
I made a total of 8 crates to go around my kidney table.
Here is what I purchased:
* 8 crates from Walmart for $4.97 a piece (You can probably find them cheaper, but I got tired of going to different places to find the ones I wanted.)
* 1 large piece of half inch thick plywood from Lowe's for $17.47.
* 3 yards of fabric for $5.33 per yard. (Determine how many yards you need based on the size of your crates and how many you plan on making.)
* 1 foam mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond for $19.99. (You can get them from Walmart too, but I wanted a higher quality so that they would last longer)
* Staple Gun (FREE because I already had one!)
What I spent: $93.21
Here's how I did it:
1) Measure the length and width of your crates so you know how your plywood needs to be cut. Or, do what I did and just take your crate into Lowe's with you and have them measure it for you! =) They're super nice! We had to cut the plywood a bit smaller than the exact dimensions so that it would be easily pulled out for the storage space underneath. The people at Lowe's or Home Depot will cut the plywood for you for FREE!
2) Lay your plywood on top of the mattress pad and trace as many as you need. I wanted to have two pieces of foam per seat, so I cut out 16 pieces of foam total.
3) Cut out your fabric making sure to leave enough around the edges to fold over the seat. We placed the plywood on the fabric and cut that way. My mom even taught me a little trick! If you just make a small snip in the side of the fabric, you can just rip it the rest of the way and it makes a clean line! See as my mom demonstrates! haha
4) Place your foam pieces down on the plywood.
5) Flip your plywood over face down on the fabric.
6) Pull the fabric around and staple it to the plywood! We did it like we were wrapping a present!
7) Staple your ribbon to the plywood where you stapled the fabric so that you have a handle to pull your seat up and access the storage!
That's it folks!
It took us a little over an hour to make all 8!! They came out super cute and I love them!
Stay tuned for my room theme 2012-2012 reveal! I'm excited!
