Family Fun
Youth Chairs are designed for young children who have grown beyond the need for
a high chair but still require a certain boost in height for eating meals or participating
in playtime like arts & crafts. When you purchase a Youth Chair it creates an opportunity
to help make your loved one feel special. He or she will be delighted that you gave
them their "big boy" or "big girl" chair.
Since several varieties of our Youth Chairs come unfinished (without a polyurethane,
stain or paint) many
customers choose to customize the chair for a one-of-a-kind end result. This "blank
canvas" approach allows for personalization as well as unleashing creativity. Decorating
a Youth Chair with your child (or grandchild, godchild, nephew, niece etc.) is not
only fun, but it can get the child away from the T.V. and involved with a hands
on process. It is through such experiences that fond family memories are created.
Imagine a bonding time that instills creativity, imagination, and fun for all that
they will be able to enjoy everyday when it is done!
Below we have included some suggestions for creating a personalized chair. It's
a budget friendly way to make something just for the little ones in your life. Best
of all they can participate by helping decide on colors and other decorative elements.
Make a Sticker Chair!
This innovative idea comes from, Matt, a Youth Chair customer who wanted to make
his nephew Tommy a "Sponge Bob Square Pants" Chair.
Step One: Lightly buff with finishing sandpaper. Remove excess dust with
a soft cloth.
Step Two: Select your choice of wood paint (available at craft or hardware
stores). For Tommy's chair Matt went with "the color blue seen on Sponge Bob items"
and a "Sponge Bob yellow." First, Matt painted blue all over and let dry.
Step Three: Once the paint has dried, its time to add stickers. Matt said,
"We bought Sponge Bob Square Pants stickers, let Tommy pick his favorites and select
where he wanted them to go on his new chair." YouthChairStore.com suggests using
super glue to apply the stickers to make sure they stay adhered. Regarding the use
of super glue Matt says the stickers, "really have to stick down good because when
you seal over them and they tend to curl up with just the normal sticker adhesive."
Step Four: As the super glue was drying Matt used the "Sponge Bob yellow"
paint to inscribe Tommy's name on the back of the chair.
Step Five: Once the stickers and yellow paint are fully dried Matt applied
a clear water-based Polyurethane* coat on the chair. He said, "We put about 10 coats
on; we really wanted to seal in the stickers so no little fingers started picking
at them. You may be temped to put on thick coats in the beginning because the first
couple of coats don't seem to do much, but they build up quick after that and thick
coats just end up sloppy."
*One benefit of water-based Polyurethane is that it is
nearly odorless. Therefore, it can be used indoors (while still maintaining proper
ventilation). If a small spill occurs, it cleans up well with water and has no tinting
effect like oil-based Polyurethane which leaves a yellow hue.