Materials:
- File crates
- Fabric
- 1-inch plywood
- Foam
- Adhesive
- Staple gun
- Hammer
- Permanent marker
- Scissors
First, some notes about the materials:
File crates: They must have the lip inside that would normally hold hanging file folders. These can be found either at big box stores, in the school supply area, or at office supply stores.
Fabric: I use
oilcloth as it can be wiped off and disinfected easily. Another idea is to use
heavyweight vinyl tablecloths. Regular fabric works well, too, but you cannot
clean it as easily.
1-inch plywood: Take a crate to your local home improvement store in order to get the measurements correct. Usually if you tell them you are a teacher, they will cut the wood for free.
Foam: I use a foam/egg-crate mattress pad. This is less expensive than purchasing foam from your local fabric store, and a twin foam pad is more than enough for six crates.
Adhesive: You need either a spray adhesive or some type of glue to hold the foam to the boards. Craft glue for fabrics will work.
Staple gun: A staple
gun is needed for stapling the fabric to the plywood. A small finishing nail
gun would work, too, as long as the nails are short enough not to go all the
way through the plywood.
Hammer: Use this to make the staples flush with the wood.
Permanent marker: This is for tracing the board dimensions onto the foam.
Scissors: Needed to cut the foam.
Directions for the storage seats:
- Roll out the foam and lay boards on top.
- Trace around each board with the permanent marker.
- Using scissors, cut out the foam.
- Apply glue or spray adhesive to each piece of plywood, then place the foam piece on top of the glue. (I leave the smooth side up and glue the bumpy side.)
- Push gently to help the foam adhere to the plywood.
- Let the glue dry about 20–30 minutes before moving onto the next step. (It doesn’t have to be completely dry, just enough so the foam doesn’t slide about.)
- Once the glue has dried, lay the plywood, with foam side down, onto the wrong side of the fabric
- Cut the fabric, leaving about four or five inches all around.
- Fold the fabric up each long side and staple about every three inches. Then fold the ends like you'd wrap a gift and staple. (This part is easier to do with two people.)
- If you want a handle, to help lift the seat off, you can wrap and staple ribbon around the center, or create a ribbon loop at the edge and staple. I chose not to have any handles. The seats pop out easily enough for me when I need them to.
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