Maggie's Kinder Corner

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Bucket Seats on the Cheap!!! Here is my version of the 5 gallon bucket seat!

22 Comments

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I have been thinking this over for more than a month, but finally today, I tried it! I had purchased a dotted table cloth for 2.00 from Big Lots back in May, and some clear contact paper.  We went to Home Depot a few weeks ago and purchased five buckets and lids (about 6.00 per set).  I also purchased some vinyl spray craft paint in orange.  Spray paint doesn’t last long, so I was happy to use the orange on already orange buckets to cover the HD logo stuff.  While the buckets dried, I cut cardboard circles out, cut fiber fill circles to fit(the fiberfill came out of an old king sized pillow that hubby didn’t want anymore), and cut the table cloth and clear contact paper to fit (leaving the dotted cloth and contact paper about 3″ larger than the cardboard).  Have you guys heard of Gorilla Duct Tape? It is the most wonderful stuff, lol! I laid the dotted cloth (wrong side up) followed by the fiber fill, then the cardboard circle.  I pulled the dotted cloth (actually plastic) up to the cardboard and taped down with the gorilla tape until the entire circle was upholstered.  Then I peeled off the paper, put the contact paper sticky side up and pulled it up and secured it with the gorilla tape.  All I had to do was turn the gorilla tape inside-out then tape the new cushion to the lid as you see in the picture.  This process took no more than an hour to put together.  The paint dried in 20-30 minutes outside so by the time I had the lids finished, the buckets were ready.  The extra dots on the buckets are scrapbook paper.  I still have to add pink and blue, but adding these dots makes the buckets match the green wall in my room as well as the new chair pockets I am working on.  I finished it off with a simple length of wide dotted green ribbon tied once on each side of the handle.  This is something I would do again since, if the color of my room or theme changes, it is easy to untape and cover with a new fabric.  What do ya think? I am thinking they will hold up pretty well, and just think:   have 5 new places to stash items not currently being used in centers.  My reason for using the vinyl rather than fabric is from past experience with kinder spills or potty accidents.  I know none of you have ever had spills or accidents in your rooms, hee-hee! The sideways file is a mystery.  It was saved right side up on my computer? I added the top pic after finishing all of the buckets.  I also added more dots.  I have lost my circle cutter, so I cut those puppies out by hand! Must get another circle cutter!

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Comments

    • 2

      I think they will be able to sit on them okay. They are taller, which will work better for my horseshoe table. My kids always stand on their knees in a chair, so hopefully, this will have them high enough to lean over their work during small group time and not be tempted to stand on knees.

      Reply
  6. 7

    Love Maggie! I won't have enough chairs this year, so I think this might be the answer I have been searching for!!! I may have to email you if I can't figure it out, but I am going to try for sure!!! šŸ™‚ Can I pin this??? šŸ™‚

    Reply
  7. 8

    Absolutely! The thing I like about my "experiment" is my hubby didn't have to cut circles out of plywood or mdf board. The alternative if the plastic covered with clear contact paper doesn't work, is to go with fabric upholstered to the mdf or plywood. I am sure hot glue would be a little more sturdy too, but I am hedging my bet on the gorilla duct tape just to make things easier. I actually thought about getting the fancy duct tape and just covering with it, but I don't think the seat would look as round. By all means, pin, pin away! lol Thanks for stopping by…glad to see you in the blogosphere!

    Reply
  8. 9

    How cute! What a great idea. I think this is definitely a task I can take on. I think that they are just right for my little kinders to sit on and they will love it!

    Reply
    • 10

      So glad you like them. I hate to ask my poor hubby to do things for me all the time with all of the farming tasks he has. I actually know how to do construction tasks like a table or band saw, but it makes me sneeze! lol This was a way to do them without complicated pieces. I actually have enough orange dotted tablecloth fabric left to use on a small half round table in my library center. Can't wait to put my room together šŸ™‚

      Reply
    • 12

      Thank you again, Cheryl! I left a note on your blog about buying maybe 3 cans of paint if you paint entire orange home depot buckets another color. I purchased all of the primary colors of the Krylon for plastic paint and love it! It sticks to anything! Am getting ready to post a pic of my crayon organizer cans in process for the cute organizer down further on this page. It took maybe 30 minutes to spray all of the cans. The hardest part was getting the label glue off! Have fun!

      Reply
  11. 14

    These are soooo cute! I would love to try this! Do you think 5th graders are to big for these seats! They are definitely to big for the crate seats.

    Reply
    • 15

      I know that my hubby has used the bucket seats with the factory made rounded seat that fits on top in his shop (he is a retired tech teacher). The round shape is one of the strongest shapes, and should hold up with a lot of weight. You might consider trying the vinyl and cardboard rounds. If they don't tear, it should be fine. If not, I would be tempted to make round cushions for the top of the lid. I wanted something a clorox wipe would clean off, so I'm trying to clear contact paper first!

      Reply
    • 16

      I am a big woman and I made one out of the home depot bucket, an old seat cushion, and a wooden round — It holds me in relative comfort. So, I'm betting these should suit your fifth graders fine!

      Reply
  12. 17

    Your seats are very cute!! I really like the colors you used. I happened to be planning to recover the cushions to my milk crate seats, when I ran across your blog. I especially like the idea of covering the seats with a plastic table cloth. I was wondering however, why you felt the need to have a second layer(contact paper) of plastic on the seats?Wouldn't one layer do the trick? Does it make it more durable? Do you think a clear shower curtain would to the same thing? For that matter, maybe a plastic patterned shower curtain would work as well. What do you think? Thanks for any input you can provide.

    Reply
    • 18

      I used the clear contact paper because the tablecloths at Big Lots were very thin plastic with flocking on the back. I think a shower curtain would work well as long as there is some stretch in it. I was all about dots, lol, so that's why I grabbed them. Clear contact paper has some stretch, so I'm hoping it holds up for at least this year. šŸ˜‰

      Reply
  14. 20

    LOVE your bucket seats. I've had a set in my room for about 5 years. My mom had originally sewed me a set of round cushions that I velcroed to the lids so they could be washed. It is time for a new set. I think I'm going to try the table cloth version! Thanks for sharing!!!
    Randee
    How about them apples?

    Reply

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