How to Make a Sit Upon

First off, your first question must be, especially if you are not in the scouting world, what in the world is a sit upon?

Well, a sit upon, is...

Well... let's back up... 

You know how you go to the football game or on a camping trip and you take with you a padded cushion so your bum doesn't get hurt sitting for hours in the hard stadium chairs or the hard ground while camping? 

That is practically what a sit upon is. The beauty of sit upons is that they can come in many ways, shapes, and forms.

It is often that you can get a reusable shopping bag, some stuffing or newspaper, some duct tape and sew it shut. Now, that is an easy one that many scouters and scout leaders do. 

But this one I did with my girls serves many different purposes and the reason for that being that they can have all their essential camping gear in the 5 gallon buckets. It's an easy place, like a shelf, that their mess kit (reusable dishes for camping), water bottle, bug spray, sunscreen, sunglasses, flashlight, poncho, etc etc can be stored that they don't use otherwise. Let's be honest, that as a parent, as soon as we get home from camping, we throw the stuff in a closet and then the night before, scramble to find all the camping gear.... just saying.... you know, because the scout leader (me) has *never* done this before. (Total sarcasm) 

Many uses beyond storing camping gear include gardening stuff, time capsule for their scouting experience, and so many others. One of them being, as one of my girls, R, said, she is going to take the bucket to her family's farm and pick fruit with it too. That's my girl! 

So how do you make a sit upon? (with a 5 gallon bucket)

Supplies:

* 1 5 gallon bucket per girl

* 2-3 rolls of coloured duct tape (15 feet each at least)

* 1 roll of clear duct tape

* Pillow Stuffing, either bought or from existing pillows 

* Stickers

These buckets are from Lowes, who partnered with me to make this happen for my girls- So, thank you Lowes! The coloured duct tape I bought from the dollar store and other rolls were given to our troop by another troop who had finished their duct tape craft. The pillow stuffing, literally came from pillows we no longer needed and were in good condition. Stickers came from the dollar store.

If you were to buy all the materials on your own, plan to spend $10-$20 on each bucket depending where you shop and if you reuse materials. Buckets are about $5 each. Duct Tape can be $1 at the dollar store but other places like Wal Mart or Ace, it can easily be $3-4 each. Then the stuffing is the cheapest as a pillow at Wal Mart for $2.37 each. The stickers you likely own but some of mine were bought at the Girl Scout store itself and some were at the dollar store.

Come look and enter to the current giveaways on the blog! 

How To Make the Sit Upon

1) Buy the Supplies

While this may get a "duh" out of you, I have gone, yes, I got everything I think I need and then sit down and realise I don't have everything. So double check that you got what you need! 

2) Rip the Stuffing Out and Measure it to the Lid

Whether you bought a new pillow or using an old one, rip it open and take the stuffing out. You are going to take the lid of the bucket and measure the stuffing over the lid and get it round to fit the lid. 

3) Line the TOP of the line with clear duct tape

It took doing a few of them to get this down pat. The point of this is to make sure the stuffing stays in place on the bottom so when you continue to tape it, it is not only secure, it is easier. So you take the tape and line it with the tape with some of the tape sticking up to secure the stuffing in place.

4) Decide on the design for the top 

This means you can do all one colour of tape or you can do a pattern. Some kids decided they wanted to alternate colours and some wanted 5 colours or patterns while others only wanted one.

5) Start taping

Two ways to do this:

One- start from the smallest side if you are alternating that way you can alternate better between the colours. 

Two- if you are doing a solid colour, start in the middle, work to one side then do the other side.

Tips:

- Make sure to line up the tape well! Don't worry if it doesn't stick all the way.

- As you tape- if you want to add more stuffing you can as you tape. This means that the part you have already tape, you can push in the stuffing a little bit to get the most even look to it and then add more. 

- Don't tape too tight or too loosely-- it will impact how it looks.

6) Add Stickers or Name to the Top

This is important when going to service unit encampments or summer camps because it is a way to make sure you identify your child's sit upon! Some of the girls did this with permament marker, some did with stickers. 

7) Add the Clear Duct Tape... In the Opposite Direction

Why? 

This "seals" the sit upon from water and damage and get the best use of it! Make sure to tape to the under side of the lid a little bit to totally seal it and hold the beautiful design you have just made in place!

8) Decorate the bucket itself 

You can add duct tape and stickers anywhere you want. This can be as detailed or simple as possible on the artist's side. 

9) Use and Enjoy

Use it for many things! Have fun with it!