Storage Solutions for Stuffed Animals

I really never thought I'd be the mom that let her kids keep so many stinkin' stuffed animals! I always thought an over-abundance of stuffed animals was a little ridiculous, hey, I still feel that way. But, the secret stuffed animal lover that's hiding deep down inside me just seems to cave every time I look into their cute, cuddly little faces. I had seen pictures of the storage system found here and thought it was a great idea! I'm super cheap though, and I may be willing to admit my secret love of stuffed animals, but I'm not really willing to pay money just to keep them around. I had even stumbled upon the tutorial found here, but didn't want to pay for the materials, I just wanted to make something using what I had laying around the house.

Here's what I came up with!

Yes sir, totally works and I totally didn't spend a dime :)

I used 2 crates that were already on hand (their previous contents have found a new home!). I had some scrap wood that I simply cut to length and wrote on using a Sharpie paint pen. I drilled very small holes in the top and bottom of the crates, then pulled ribbon through and knotted the ends. I would have rather used a light weight bungee cord, but all I had were some standard, thick bungees that just didn't look right. I used what I had! I reinforced the knots on each end by covering them in hot glue. I hot glued the "Zoo" sign onto the crates and secured the whole thing to the wall by screwing it into a couple studs. Wallah!