Archive for June 2018

During an EdCamp in the Spring, one of the classrooms I visited had a raised kidney table in the corner of the room. The chairs were stools and I absolutely loved it! I wanted to do something like that in my room. I already have a bar stool/chair for myself (I’m painting that later this Summer!),the kidney table, and the risers. So, the only thing I am missing is the stools.

First layer of spray paint. You can’t see the mess I made everywhere!

My goal was to buy/make/obtain four or five stools for class an decorate them in my superhero theme. I had a neighbor moving out and they were throwing away 2 stools which had been on their back porch in the weather – score! I bought one from Craigslist for $8 – more than I wanted to pay, but I was excited to get them done.

They were in pretty decent shape, so I didn’t have to sand or strip them – just a quick wipe with a cloth and I began to paint. I started with Krylon spray paint, which covered the wood nicely, but went everywhere – concrete, trash cans, other legs I didn’t want to paint – it was quite a mess! After a quick run to Michael’s, I had some brushes and bottles of paint in hand and finished painting the legs. It was looking pretty good and I began to get excited.

Tracing and trimming out the foam seats.

But the REAL excitement for me was putting the padding on. It was WAY easier than I thought it would be. First, I went to Walmart and bought fabric squares ($1.25 each) and foam seat cushions (about $6 for 4). The squares were almost the exact size to cover the stools! I traced the foam with a sharpie and cut it. Once that was done, I placed the fabric down with the foam on top, then the stool turned upside down on that. I pulled and stapled opposite corners, then worked my way around the circle pulling the fabric and stapling it.

I am so happy with the results!

I found two more shorter stools at Goodwill for $4 each and am going to be creating a Superman one and another TBD character stool. I’d love to do one with Captain Marvel or Batgirl, but need to find the fabric. Total cost for 5 stools:

• Stools: $16 (2 – Free; 1 – $8; 2 – $8)
• Fabric: $6.25 (5 at $1.25 each)
• Pads: $6
• Paint: $13.74 (3 Spray Cans – $3 each; 6 bottles – 79¢ each)

TOTAL: $41.99 or $8.40 each