Crate Seats

Have you seen those adorable crate seats on Pinterest? I'm sure you have! I have been eye-balling them since the first time I saw them.

Last year I really had no place for them in my classroom, as my reading groups and math groups met on the floor around a really low table. Well, that is all going to change this year! I first thought to make these for my small group table, because this year I plan to use some trapezoid tables from storage, that will double as my desk and a small group table. So after doing some measurement, I didn't think the crates would be tall enough for the kids to reach the table. I need the table to be tall enough for my knees to fit under it as well, if it is going to be my desk as well. So I crossed that idea off.

Until... I started to see posts like Heather's, Jennifer's, and Briana's. I had other plans for a rolling cart in addition to another shelf for my library but this is going to be in that spot instead. My one shelf holds 9 giant buckets of books and I have a spinning rack. And now I will have 3 more book bins in my new crate bench!

So how did I do it? Here ya go!

Tools & Supplies You'll Need:
- crates
- wood

- foam

- zip ties

- staple gun & staples

- fabric

- scissors

- pen or pencil

- drill

- zip tie cutter

- measuring tape

- electric saw

- box cutter

Tools you will need: zip ties, 1/4" staples, and a staple gun

Shopping & Prep Work:
First of all, I did a lot of looking around for plastic crates in the month of June. Everyone's posts said just pick up some crates and I had the hardest time finding some, I don't know if it is because of Maine or what. I found some black ones at Walmart in the office storage section for $5.99, but I really didn't want black and thought they'd be hard to paint. I kept looking for the college dorm sections in popular stores, and I finally found some at Target. I found them there on a Sunday and I wasn't sure if I should get them or not, but by the next day I had decided to go for it! When I went back, half of them were already gone! So I'm glad I got them when I did. By the way, they were only $2.99! Now that it is July, I have also seen them at several other stores including Christmas Tree Shop and Staples for under $5 a piece. So I guess I was just searching a little too early! Who? Me? Early? Hahahaha... that's me!

Next I bought the fabric at Joanne's, it was originally $12.99 a yard! Which is outrageous and I don't know why it was that much, but I got 30% off with a current sale. Not as much as I wanted to get off of it, but I didn't know they were having a sale and I already had it cut, so I didn't want to be the jerk that decided not to get it after they already cut it. Plus aren't the colors perfect?! I'm hoping the small amount of white in it isn't a problem down the road. Crossing my fingers...

I picked up the foam at a local discount store here called Mardens. They get all their merchandise from stores that have had mishaps like fires or even natural disasters and employ people from that area to help sort out what is still good to sell. It's a messy store but you can really get a good deal. I knew they had foam at one location, but was nearest their other location and I was lucky they had a couple pieces. Mine was a little bigger than I actually needed and it was $6.99.

The staple gun, staples, and wood were purchased at Home Depot, where we get 10% discount for my husband being in the military. He was really annoyed we had to buy a new tool (-; and for such an affordable price. The staple gun was $15.97 and the staples were $2.76. For the wood, we asked if they had any scraps and they told us about a cart in the back. Luckily, there was one piece that was big enough for what we needed and it only cost us $4.71! Larger ones were $8-$12, but they wouldn't of fit in our car, plus we don't need extra wood lying around. 

The zip ties were purchased at Harbor Freight, for way less than the ones I saw in Michael's ($6.99). I think my husband paid $2-3 for 100 black zip ties.

Step 1: First my husband measured the crates and decided to cut the wood into 10.5" x 15.5" sized pieces. He trimmed it in the basement with an electrical saw and then brought up the pieces. Here he is marking the wood with pen for where he wants the holes for the zip ties to go in.

My helpful husband, Aaron, marking the spots he is going to drill.

Probably not the safest way to drill but it was quick!

Step 2: Now we can put the zip ties through the wood and it won't get in the way of adding the foam or fabric. This will ensure that the cushions won't move around when the kids sit on it. I don't want any pinched fingers! We decided two zip ties was sufficient, so drill 4 holes.

The zip ties going through the holes, notice the direction it is facing- that's important!

Two zip ties per piece should hold pretty well!

Testing it out to see if it will work. See the black zip ties hanging down?

This is what it will look like before you staple on your fabric.

Step 3: Cut your foam to fit. I cut my first piece with scissors, but then my husband suggested a box cutter and that was easier on the hands, so I suggest the box cutter. About 4 swipes and it cut all the way through.

Layers: foam, wood with zip ties in it, crate. Next is fabric!

Step 4: I laid my fabric out on the floor and layered the foam, then the wood on top of it and cut around it. This was my first piece and I had a lot of extra fabric, so you don't need to leave this much around the edges. 

I wrapped the ends first.

This is how we decided to fold the fabric to do the long sides. Two staples on each side for the flaps.

 

Then three more staples to secure the last flap.

Step 5: Trim away any extra fabric that you feel is too long or in the way. Then place your upholstered cushion on top of your crate. Make sure your zip ties go through some holes. Then affix the zip ties and trim their tails.

Now you can see the fabric. We're ready to attach the zip ties.

Here's how a zip tie works, because I didn't know!

Pull the zip ties tight.

Trim the zip ties.

Wallah! A comfy seat is done!

Here's the top view. 

All three together looking beautiful! It's going to look so great in my classroom library!

A top view- "The fabric doesn't line up," my husband said, but I don't care!

A closer look at the corners.

It only took us about an hour to assemble. Great teamwork! I think I am going to love them even more when I put them in my new classroom. I also picked up some coral bins that fit right inside each crate. They didn't have three all the same, so I got one tall and two shorter ones- all will be perfect to hold 3 more bins of books! 

Brag Tags Part 1

This summer I have been trying to research a lot of classroom things that are new and different from what I do. So far I have learned about Rocket Math, Read the Room, Reading Genre Passports, Fluency Cards, and finally Brag Tags! Some are very popular but not something I learned in college in Pennsylvania or something my school uses in Maine. I really like a lot of them and am going to try to implement some in my 1st & 2nd grade classroom this upcoming year.

So here goes my preparation for Brag Tags! If you haven't heard of them either, brag tags are a fun way to recognize students and hopefully bring a positive climate to the classroom environment. Children each get a chain necklace and they earn tags that they can "brag about" when they reach certain goals, or even just for different holidays. Teachers usually have them attached to backpacks as keychains (smaller length of chain) or hang them on a bulletin board in the classroom. I like the latter because I can just picture some getting pretty roughed up on a backpack or even getting ripped or lost. It also seems like most teachers allow students to wear their brag tag necklaces every Friday or to school assemblies or even field trips. I'm not sure what I think of that... bringing something to play with around your neck to assemblies? It sounds like a distraction to me and although I want my students to be proud of their accomplishments, bragging about them at every assembly (even if passive) seems like a push in the wrong direction- however I realize they might not even get mentioned at all at an assembly. I'm just in a small school, where it will be sure to seem out-of-place or obviously noticeable. I haven't decided when I will allow my students to wear their brag tags yet, but I'm sure it will be something along the lines of one day a week or the first of the month, etc.

With all that said, I have begun to prepare how I am going to utilize brag tags in my classroom. I purchased all my supplies at Michael's... my favorite store! They had all sorts of storage containers for beads or rainbow loom bands starting as low as $2.99. I settled on a 23 compartment storage container from Bead Landing, which has a built in handle and two clip closure things. It was $11.99, but I got 25% off my entire purchase with a current running coupon. I could have also used a 40, 50, or 60% off one item coupon as well (Michaels will allow one coupon for the entire purchase and one for one item- I used to cashier there), but I didn't have one on hand and forgot to search for one (or even a competitors) before I reached the register. So I could've saved about $4 more if I had done that. I'm really glad I went with this one, as some of the $2.99 boxes would've probably been had compartments that were too small for most of the brag tags I've downloaded.

Speaking of the downloads, I did a search on TpT for free brag tags and found a plethora which I will share the links for the ones I liked below. Any particular ones I didn't find, I made myself and you can pick those up for FREE in my Tpt store: Mrs. Garnier's School Store

Over 50 Behavior Brag Tags
Substitute Brag Tags
Earth Day Brag Tags
Valentine's Day Brag Tags
Perfect Attendance & Honor Roll Brag Tags

Next I bought the ball chain on a spool for $9.99. It had 12 yds, which I thought would be enough, but I only got 14 1/2 necklaces out of it. I only needed 12, but I wanted a couple extra in case I get a new student in the middle of the year. I could've got it for 1/2 price if I strategically waited for a coupon, but I'm over it. It came with only 4 closing connector pieces, so I searched and searched and couldn't find more separately. After asking the store associate for help, she suggested the Jim Holtz 3 bead chain necklace set (pictured below). It was the only thing I could find so I don't mind that the connectors are slightly different colors. I'm saving the nicer chains for future craft projects.

So all in all I spent $27, but that was because of my own choosing. You could spend way probably as low as $10, if you used half price coupons and made multiple trips to Michaels. I don't want to pay for brag tags, so I will probably keep making any more that I find I need.

Stay tuned for a future brag tag post later in August, when I hang them in my classroom and start utilizing them. My plan is to have the extras in a storage container where the students can peruse them so that they will be excited. I can just hear them now saying, "Oooh, I want to try and earn this one!" or "Look at this one we will earn on Valentine's Day!" 

Sorry I crumpled up the wrapper and then realized I should take a picture to show which brand I got.

Just storing the chain necklaces in there for now!

Testing the box out! They fit!

Printed out a couple just to see the sizes.

$4.99 for 3 chains and 18 connectors

12 yds for $9.99