Milk Crate Storage Seats

DIY Day - Milk Crate Storage Seats!

By popular demand, I am making a post all about my new Milk Crate storage seats, which I made this weekend! I want to stress that this project is very simple and very quick to complete, but you will need to use some power tools so BE SAFE! First of all, I did not reinvent the wheel with this little project, I did find a tutorial on Pinterest. There are MANY out there, so check them all out and find which one reflects the crate you prefer! This tutorial is for milk crates that I bought at Target in the summer of 2014. 

I made 6 seats using the following amount of supplies!

Materials: 

Milk Crates!
I found mine at Target for about $4 each.
They came in a few colors (red, teal, pink, white, and black)
I chose red for my crates because my classroom is a Primary Color theme.
You would buy the same number of crates as seats you would like to make.

2 yards of Fabric!
I love everything about chevron, so of course,
I had to go with chevron fabric for the seats!
I chose the navy and white chevron to match with the primary color theme.
I bought my fabric at Hobby Lobby, where it was $6.99 a yd PLUS 30% off!
I ended up getting each yard for about $4.50.

1 spool of ribbon (1.5" x 3yd)
Of course, the primary theme needs a little pop of yellow!
Polka dots are a cute complimentary pattern to the chevron.
Make sure you choose a ribbon that does not have wire inside,
as well as choose a ribbon that is thick (1.5" wide is perfect!)
This will be used for the handle to lift the lid out of the crate.
I bought my ribbon at Hobby Lobby as well, and each spool is $1.99 and 30% off!

Foam squares (1" thick is perfect! Make sure it is also 15" by 17")
The foam pads are a little expensive. But they are so worth it.
I had seen tutorials which instructed you to buy a roll of foam and then cut to size.
I found it cheaper to buy the pre-cut squares, and then cut those down to size.
I bought these at Hobby Lobby, and each was $3.

You will also need some plywood - I do not have a photograph of my plywood, but I can give you the measurements. The wood I used was about 1" thick (that's from my rough "girly" estimate. I don't usually work with plywood when I am DIY-ing ;) The wood will need to be cut into 14.5" by 12.5" rectangles. My suggestion is to measure the inner lip of the crates you purchase, just to be sure it will fit. This is the hardest step! We had to trim down our first cuts because they did not quite fit inside the lip of the top of the crate. I did not purchase my wood (thanks to some left over shelves that I took from my newly renovated closet) but from what I read you can purchase wood at Home Depot, and they will make cuts for you (and possibly for FREE!) If you are cutting yourself, make sure you have someone near who knows what they're doing with a circular saw, and measures correctly. My wonderful Dad cut my wood for me, so if you have any specific questions regarding this step, leave it in the comment section and I will get back to you!

You will also need my favorite power tool; a Staple gun! 

Instructions:

1. Cut your plywood! (1" thick, 14.5"x12.5" rectangles)

2. Trace the outline of your plywood onto the foam squares and cut the excess off. I used regular paper scissors to cut the foam, and it worked really well! It was very easy to cut. MAKE SURE to keep your foam pieces and wood pieces that match together. Some of the wood/foam were just slightly different dimensions (no one is perfect!) so I tried to keep them as a matched pair as best I could. This will help keep each seat looking neat and clean.

3. Lay fabric out on a large flat surface and lay a foam/wood match pair on top. Measure out so that you have about 2" inches around each side. I was able to get all 6 fabric pieces out of my 2 yards of fabric. Measure carefully so you don't waste!

4. Get out your STAPLE GUN! Lay out the fabric on a flat sturdy surface, place the foam piece down first, then place your wood rectangle on top of the foam. Make sure that if your fabric is patterned that you put it down the same direction each time. For example, my chevron pattern runs along horizontally on all of my seats. 

 - pull one side of fabric up tight around the foam and wood, staple all along that side. (If you do not know how to use a staple gun, have someone who does show you how to use it first. Safety first, people!) 

 - Next, staple the side opposite the side you just finished! Go along the whole side again.

 - To finish your seat top, fold up the remaining sides, similar to wrapping a present. Staple down the corners really well, as well as the remaining sides.

 - I always flipped my seat cover over to see how it would now look from the top! Make sure it is tightly pulled around, and looks good to you. 

5. Grab your ribbon and cut 6 pieces 1/2 yard long. Fold your ribbon in half to create the "loop"

6. Turn each of the finished seats over to the stapled side, and place the folded ribbon loop on one of the 12.5" sides of the seat. Make sure that enough ribbon is hanging off the side so that once it is placed into the crate it will hang out the side. You need the ribbon loop to lift the lid out of the crate. Staple the ribbon to the wood.

7. Place seat lid into the crate and ENJOY your new milk crate storage seats!!!

That's all I've got for you, pals. Please please please comment any questions you have, or let me know if any of the instructions don't make sense! I like to think I explained it well, but I also put them together first, so I may have left something out. Happy DIY-ing and make sure to share your finished products with me! Post them to the Kindergarten Alphabet Soup FACEBOOK page or follow me and tweet me your pictures @littlemissABC on Twitter or @xo_teach on Instagram!

xoxo,

Little Miss ABC