How to Make Footstools

You can rest your feet on a footstool made of coffee cans.

After a tiresome day at work or a hectic day of running errands, you may want to take a load off and put your feet up on a plush footstool. Footstools can be made from wood and other materials. If you have some old coffee cans lying around, you can put those cans to use and make footstools. Because coffee cans are strong and sturdy, the footstool can hold the weight of your feet. The cans are covered with fabric and other materials, so no one will know that the footstool is made from coffee cans!

Things You'll Need

• To make a footstool, you will need the following:
• 14 coffee cans
• Duct tape
• 3 large pieces of cardboard
• Batting
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Scissors
• Fabric and trim
• Fiber fill

Instructions

1. Make the frame of the footstool. Tape seven cans together using duct tape. Run the tape across the top and bottom of the cans in a criss-cross pattern. Wrap tape around the sides of the cans until all cans are secured firmly. Repeat the steps for the remaining seven cans.

2. Secure the two stacks of seven cans together. Place one stack of seven cans on top of the other and wrap duct tape around them until they are firmly secured.

3. Cut the top piece for the footstool. Cut 3 equal size circles from the cardboard that meet the edges of the top perimeter of the cans (circumference).

4. Secure the top and bottom piece to the cans. Tape your round cardboard pieces to the top and bottom of the cans.

5. Add the batting. Cut a rectangle piece of batting a little longer that the perimeter of the stack of cans. Wrap batting around the perimeter of the cans and use the hot glue gun to secure the batting to the cans. Use scissors to cut any excess batting.

6. Cut your fabric. Cut a piece of fabric that is long enough to come up and around the top and bottom of your footstool frame.

7. Secure the fabric to the footstool. Place your fabric on a clean floor or table and put the footstool on its side in the center of the fabric. Pull the fabric around the cans until it fits snugly to the frame. Fold down the fabric at the bottom of the can and hot glue the folds onto the top of the cardboard until all the fabric is secured to the frame. Sit the footstool up and repeat this for the top of the can.

8. Make the pillow top. Get your third round piece of cardboard and cut a small rectangle door out of the center big enough to insert your fist. Do not cut the cardboard door off. Leave it open to the bottom of the cardboard.

9. Cut a round piece of fabric a few inches larger than the circumference of the round piece of cardboard. (After hot gluing the fabric to the bottom edges of the cardboard, there must be room to stuff fiber fill inside of the fabric.)

10. Place the top side of the round cardboard piece in the center of the fabric. Hot glue the round piece of fabric around the bottom edges of the cardboard. Let the glue dry.

11. Push fists full of fiber fill into the rectangle door opening. Duct tape the door down to the cardboard once you have stuffed enough batting into the fabric to make a firm round pillow top.

12. Finish the footstool. Place the pillow top piece on top of the coffee can frame and hot glue it on to the frame. Hot glue trim around the top and bottom of the footstool. You may also add tassels or other decorative pieces.

References

• TribLIVE News: Turn old coffee cans into footstool