Wood Crate Makeover and Potty Trained Girl!

See this little girl sitting on that cute little crate, drawing Mickey Mouse on the chalkboard? Well, she is 100% potty trained! DAY AND NIGHT! No accidents for over a week and a half.

The cute little crate that she is sitting on is probably one of my favorite projects that I have EVER done! 

I bought a bunch of wood crates in the Summer of 2010 when I was pregnant with Julian. I used them for my craft shows. But, I haven't used them for anything since then. They have just been taking up space. 

I got them for at amazing prices (on clearance) for only $2.99 (regular $10-12 I think). When I saw them on sale, I bought up at least 8. I think I bought all of the ones that they had in the store at the time. I don't know why there were on clearance, because Michael's still carries them. I just got lucky. :)

What you'll need for this project:

• Wood crate(s)
• Fabric to match, about 4 inches larger than your crate top on all sides (I used Home Decor weight)
• Foam cut to the size of the top of your crate (it comes in a ton of different thicknesses, whatever you choose)
• Thin plywood cut to the size of the top of your crate
• Casters (found them cheapest at Ikea- 4 casters for $2, a lot less than anywhere else)
• Staple Gun 
• Packing Tape or Duct Tape (optional)
• Sand Paper
• Felt or Quilt Batting (not pictured)
• .5" x .5" wood cut slightly smaller than the size of the crate (I bought this at Michael's...You will see a picture at the end)

Here's what they looked like before....I started with teal blue and green, but couldn't find a fabric that I liked to match the blue. 

I spray painted the outside, and once they dried, I flipped them over and painted the inside. Remember how much I love spray paint? My sister came over one day when I had been spray painting a bunch of stuff white, and she asked me why I asked so many boogers in my nose...I was like what??? Then I looked in the mirror, and it was white spray paint! I probably should have worn a mask...that stuff can't be good to breathe in.

Isn't the blue one pretty? I'm still deciding what to do with it. Right now it's holding toys in Julian's room.

Cut the fabric 3-4 inches bigger than your crate top on all sides. It doesn't have to be exact. Place your pretty fabric down, then your felt or quilt batting, then the foam. The felt in between, helps soften the edges around the plywood. I used felt because I already had it on hand, but feel free to use something else, like quilt batting.

Sand the edges of the plywood to smooth them out. I was kind of worried about the edges of the wood ripping through my fabric, so I taped them. You can use any kind of tape that you have on hand.

Place the ply wood on top of the foam, pull the fabric around the edges, and staple with the staple gun. Make sure to pull tight. I knelt on top of the ply wood to compress the foam a little bit. Then trim any excess fabric. 

Add the casters to the bottom four corners. You can't see very well, but the .5" x .5" plywood is cut slightly smaller than the crate, and nailed down as a frame on the bottom side of the lid. This makes it so that when the kids sit down, the lid doesn't slide off the top. 

You can sit on it....

Or sit IN it....

The stool fits perfectly under the easel in Isabel's room. I'm going to store craft supplies in it.

 The easel used to look like this. It was purchased at Ikea for only $15....

It's perfect for her to sit on and draw on her easel. A big girl stool and a big girl easel, for a potty-trained BIG GIRL!

Look at the Mickey Mouse she drew! Pretty good for a 2.5 year old!

PS: I have a confession....I gave up on the herb seedlings, and went out and bought plants at the store. The seeds were doing so well, but they all quickly went downhill. I think I waited too long to harden them off, and they weren't getting enough sun inside. The basil still looks promising, but I'm giving that to my mom. Adrian wasn't opposed because he said that he wanted herbs NOW!

We worked on the garden for a couple hours today while the beef stew was cooking. Everything will probably be finished tomorrow...can't wait!