Do It Yourself: Organized Your Stuffed Buddies

Ever felt like you wanted to get rid of your stuffed animals because they are always on the floor and in your way? There are lots of different ways to organize your soft buddies. Say goodbye to the mess with this great hanging storage solution. It's inexpensive, easy to construct, and will make your life easier and neater...

Supplies Needed
Precut hobby wood 4" wide and 1/4" thick, 2 feet long
48" wood lath cut into 1 and 2 foot pieces
Hooks
Clothesline or rope
Wood dlue
Drill
Staple gun (optional)

Step #1
For a tri-level swing, you’ll need six 4in wide by 1/4in thick by 2ft long hobby precuts, about 30 ft of rope, two hooks that can screw into ceiling studs, and 5 4ft wood laths. Look for the precut wood in the “hobby wood” section, and wood lath somewhere in the pine boards section at Home Depot. The hobby precuts are a couple of dollar each, and the wood lath is about 50 cents each (pick the lath carefully, looking for ones that are straight and have minimal knots).
Start construction by sanding your wood. The hobby precuts will need minimal sanding, but the wood lath will need more.
Next, cut your wood lath. For each level you need two 2-ft lengths and two 1-ft lengths.
Lay two of the hobby precuts down on the ground with about 2-3 inches between them, as shown below. Use wood glue to glue a 1-ft length of lath on each end of the hobby precuts. Make sure the lath piece extends a bit off to the side of each precut.

Step #2
Glue together the swing seats for each level (clamp together or lay something heavy on each lath while the glue dries) and let dry completely. Then you’ll drill a hole big enough for your rope to go through on each end of the lath pieces.
Cut 4 lengths of rope – 8 feet is probably plenty, but this will depend on how high your ceiling in in the room you want to hang this swing and how low you want it to hang. Put a knot at one end of the rope, then thread it through the swing seat. Place another knot right on top of the swing seat. About 4 inches above the swing seat wrap the rope around a 2-ft piece of lath, which acts as the swing bar. Either knot the rope or secure with staples.

Almost Done...
My swing seats are space about 18 inches apart, but you can make them as close together or far apart as you’d like. Just repeat the process to add the next level. When you’re done, knot the ropes together on each side and hang from hooks that you’ve screwed directly into studs in the ceiling.

You're Done!
Not too difficult and not too expensive – and now all the stuffed animals are off the floor and out of the way. We can even vaccuum the floor now without having to move a truckload of toys first. Now if we can only get the legos organized as well…