My otomotomotoman

Yesterday I mentioned that I finished one of the 68 projects I've wanted to create for my house.

I found this tutorial here.

And fell in love.

In our new place, we're actually sort of kind of setting up a nursery. This is a new thing for us. When Girly-Lou was born, we were in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. She was in the second bedroom, but so was all our extra storage and my sewing stuff. When Buddy Boy was born, he shared our bedroom. Hubby and I are rather excited at the idea of the baby having its own room.

But we're not going overboard. Oh no. I have great amazing decorating ideas for both kids bedrooms, one boy and one girl. So the bigger room will have two kids in it. But we don't know if that will be for boys or girls yet. So really, this nursery isn't decorated, just set up with the necessary stuff.

On of the last things I needed for this nursery was a place to put my feet up while I feed the baby - especially at night. I've never really had a great set up for this, but usually ended up ramming my feet between the bars of the crib. (which, by the way, really hurts if you fall asleep that way for a few hours!)

So, without further ado:

My ottoman:

Now, please know, this is the first time I've ever attempted to upholster furniture. And it's not the best job. But it's cute.

I didn't have a real milk crate, so I got a storage crate from Walmart. It's not as stable as I wish, but it works. Going for cheap, the side batting is actually two ratty old towels, and all the fabric are remnant scraps from Joanns. I also picked 2" foam for the top, and kind of wish I would have only done 1" - it's super thick. I sewed the shape for the outside and the lining, but everything is just glue-gunned on. I did add the feet on that she talked about - just a 2x4 scrap we cut into 4- 2" pieces and nailed on.
Costs:
crate: $5
foam for top: $6, used 40% off coupon, so $3.5
fabric: $5
hinges: 1.5
batting: free
plywood top: scrap lumber = free

Grand total: $15. Much better than the $70 ones I was looking at online!

Tips: Do the steps in order that she gives. I made my top first (since I needed to know how much fabric I would have left for the sides), and made my top way too big. And when she says cut the wood slightly bigger than the box, make your slightly bigger like 1/4 inch. Otherwise you'll get to spend 20 minutes with your blow dryer heating up all that glue to rip it off. Looking back, I kind of wish I would have made the whole thing out of our scrap plywood so it would last longer. But if you have access to some real milk crates, I think it would be very sturdy for a long time.